Nintendo’s brief Direct on Mario Kart World gave anxious players another small peak at the upcoming Switch 2 launch title. From specific tracks, items and moves, and social features, Mario Kart World seems chockful of new additions that could make it a worthy successor to the best Mario Kart of all time.
Since its reveal earlier this month, however, I haven’t been entirely convinced of the game’s top feature: its open world. Thankfully, Nintendo just shed some light on what this new twist brings to the Mario Kart formula aside from increasing its scale exponentially.
If you’re not up to speed, Mario Kart World will be set in a seamless open-world version of the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond. Races no longer take place in isolated courses, but connected sprints across numerous parts of the world. It’s essentially Nintendo’s take on a Forza Horizon game, replacing realism and scenic vistas with technicolor landscapes and adorable, bigheaded drivers.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I played during my hands-on with the Switch 2. The 24-character races feel chaotic in the best way. The battle royal-style knockout races are such a smart addition to the formula, one that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I played it. And drifting around corners feels as satisfying as ever.
But exploring the titular “World” in Mario Kart World hasn’t been the most compelling part of the package going into its release. The few times I got to free roam during my demos, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. There were a few NPC vehicles to swerve around and item boxes to hit. Large empty roads with few reasons to actually stop aside from admiring the little details of a storefront or pit stop. And even the idea of “going anywhere” didn’t grab me. Why would I want to go offroad in a Mario Kart game? Especially when it’s never felt as mechanically satisfying to drive on compared to the usual asphalt, roads, and waterways.
I’ve learned to never doubt Nintendo. It has a track record of keeping its most interesting and surprising features close to its chest (remember discovering The Depths in Tears of The Kingdom?). Whenever I decide to purchase a Switch 2, Mario Kart World will be a non-negotiable part of my library as I’m too big a fan of the series to not. If its open world was tk, that was the least of my concerns so long as the racing felt good and its new modes kicked ass.
Welp, I no longer feel as half-enthused about the game’s biggest new feature as I did during its reveal. Today’s direct showed that the world is littered with little skill checks. Hitting a P-switch or Question panel starts missions that tests players abilities and gives rewards. It’s the racing game equivalent to the shrines in the recent mainline Zelda games or the hidden shine challenges in Super Mario Odyssey. There are hundreds of these scattered across the map according to the Direct.
For me, this is exactly what I was hoping for. And while the few examples we saw in the Direct looked like fairly simple objectives (collect all the blue coins in a limited time, doge rolling rocks and reach the goal), I can imagine Nintendo will ramp up the difficulty, and more importantly the creativity, of some of these impromptu challenges. What’s even more genuis is the game will also have a rewind feature (Nintendo is clearly a fan of the Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios’ work in the genre). I’m already dreaming of the hours I’ll spend trying to perfect the most diabolical missions in the game, and hitting rewind hundreds of times with each failure. This is the stuff video game bliss is made of.
Mario Kart World already has a lot going for it. It’s a gorgeous new entry in one of Nintendo’s signature series. It feels better than ever to play. And it’s launching with an exciting new console. And now, Nintendo’s showed that what looks to be an open world for the sake of an open world will actually have a lot more depth than initially shown. It’s a great time to be a fan of the series.
