Mario Kart World amps up the chaos with more characters & racers than ever

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released almost eight years ago, and while the game has seen great updates from Nintendo, a proper sequel has been long overdue. Fans have wondered where the franchise could go from MK8D, and the wizards at Nintendo have an answer in the form of Mario Kart World.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Experience demo of Mario Kart World showcased two modes. First was a basic Grand Prix style race mode. The other was a more chaotic 24 person race across the world that is absolute insanity.

The first thing players will notice when they fire up Mario Kart World is the improved visual fidelity. Nintendo’s representatives would not tell me the game’s resolution or how many frames per second the game was running at during the event, but I can say that it feels improved from its Switch predecessor.

While improved graphics are nice, the best part of the demo was experiencing massive new tracks with multiple paths and plenty of ways to destroy friendships with even more unfair power-ups.

There are a ton of different character options, but also variants of characters like Cowboy Mario or Biker Bowser. It will be fun to see just how wild Nintendo gets with the customization of characters, karts, and whatever else they can think of. It might be hard to beat everyone’s favorite new racer: the Cow from Moo Moo Meadows, but I hope the developers are just starting to cook with these new options.

Players are able to wall ride in Mario Kart World as well as drive in hovercraft mode on water, creating a few new ways to race that are a bit different than the gameplay mechanics of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Even the glider mechanic from MK8D has been replaced by a transformation into a plane while in the air that really reminded me of the classic racing game Diddy Kong Racing. 

The power slide feels a bit different in the game, making tight turns a bit easier. The races that I played in during the press event all had rolling starts which definitely feels different while still allowing players to get that perfectly timed boosted start. 

Another change to the gameplay formula that I noticed after multiple races is the rubber banding. The 24 racers have undoubtedly added to the chaos of multiplayer Mario Kart. With more people playing in each race, the bottom third of the race is now 8 players as opposed to just four people in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I can’t exactly quantify how different it feels, and I might still be salty about how that one Knockout Tour race I played ended for me.

Nintendo announced that there will be a Mario Kart World Direct in a few weeks, so we are likely to learn about new modes and what else players can expect from this first open world Mario Kart game. There are elements of some non-Nintendo racing games like Forza Horizon and Burnout Paradise that players will detect early on when playing Mario Kart World. It’s going to be a tall task to knock off the reigning champion Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but this preview has me extremely excited to learn more and play more when the game launches with Switch 2 on June 5.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.