My first few days with the Switch 2 were almost entirely dedicated to Mario Kart World. It’s been 11 years since the last new MK game, so I was eager to see what Nintendo cooked up during this long wait.
At its core, I find MKW to be a super fun experience. It’s easy to get into, has a decent skill ceiling, and offers consistently excellent track design—all things you’d expect from a Mario Kart game, though perhaps not at $80.
It also features the best and most varied soundtrack in the entire series, combining catchy new songs with plenty of cleverly remixed classics. If only Nintendo didn’t hate the idea of sound settings so that you could raise the volume of music relative to VFX, but oh well.
MKW finally gives you a reason to play VS mode
One thing I feel was poorly explained in the April 2 Nintendo Direct was how the open world ties into the game’s track design, when it was said we’ll get to drive between Grand Prix races.
The way this was worded, you might assume Grand Prix races would have some downtime between them, while the racers get to the next location. In reality, this drive between tracks is part of the races themselves. And because of it, many Grand Prix tracks were relegated to having just one lap.
While this approach is a matter of preference, the old Mario Kart GP experience is still here. If you want traditional three-lap races with no weird connector tracks, just boot up VS mode.
Never before in the history of the franchise has VS mode felt so distinct from Grand Prix, and never has there been a clearer reason to play it.
Then there’s Knockout Tour, a battle royale-style mode that highlights two of the game’s biggest innovations: 24-player races and an open-world format. These chaotic, multi-region races are pure mayhem in the best way, and were the highlight of the game for me.
MKW Free Roam: A missed opportunity
Beyond serving as a great backdrop for Knockout races, the open world feels underbaked. Collecting costumes and medallions or completing mostly trivial challenges is about all there is to do.
How Free Roam isn’t the main way to unlock characters—like by meeting them out in the world—is beyond me. And the fact that there are almost no racing events you can start directly from the open world is another baffling omission.
Making things even more disappointing, Free Roam lacks basic quality-of-life (QoL) features like a challenge counter or map markers. The map shows how many challenges you’ve completed, but not where they were or how many are left—in a specific region or overall.
It’s strange to see Nintendo build such a massive, diverse map and then do so little with it. As it stands, the open world feels like a missed opportunity.
Is Mario Kart World more difficult than MK8D?
One last thing that stands out is the game’s difficulty: Mario Kart World is clearly more challenging than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
For starters, speed boosts feel less impactful, and AI rubberbanding seems more aggressive than in the last game. Building a lead in anything above 50cc feels nearly impossible, no matter how well you drive.
Even without that, the jump from 12 to 24 racers makes things harder by doubling the number of opponents who can roll a blue shell and wreck your run just before the finish line.
To make it even tougher, 150cc AI is surprisingly good at using shortcuts—even some wild, high-risk ones. Whether this difficulty spike is a good thing depends on your taste, but as someone who found MK8D too easy, I’m all for it.
Ultimately, MKW is a worthy new addition to the franchise, and while it doesn’t necessarily feel like a system seller to me, I’m sure it’ll move units. After all, MK8D is the best-selling Switch game by a frankly ridiculous margin of 20 million.
Is Mario Kart World worth it?
Mario Kart World doesn’t reinvent the kart, but it definitely tricks it out with some new flair. The open world? Kinda cool, mostly empty. Knockout Tour? Genuinely chaotic fun. Traditionalists can still grind laps in VS mode, and the difficulty spike adds just enough salt to keep things spicy.
Is it worth it? If you’re here for karting chaos and not open-world depth, absolutely. Just don’t expect a full revolution—this ride’s still running on familiar tracks.
Will this be the Switch 2’s breakout hit like Breath of the Wild was for the original? That’s a stretch—but it’s not out of the race just yet.
