Admittedly, it was a little odd when Nintendo unveiled the Mario Kart World Direct during the Switch 2 Direct a few weeks back. It was clear that The Big N wanted fans to enjoy the main Direct while also being excited for what was to come. Plus, based on the Nintendo Treehouse showings, it was clear that this launch title was far more expansive than any Mario Kart title that came before it. Sure enough, in the Direct, we got tons of new details that make the game even more robust than we thought. Here are the highlights:
- Alongside new courses, there will also be fully revamped version of classic courses for players to check out.
- New characters include Goomba, Spike, Monty Mole, Ostrich, new baby versions of classic characters and more!
- The game’s new items include the Coin Shell, Ice Flower, Hammer, Mega Mushroom, summoning Kamek, and using a Feather to avoid enemies and reach new places!
- The “Yoshi’s” food chain won’t just give you a special meal that’ll boost your speed for a while; it’ll help you unlock various outfits for all the characters! Once you unlock them, you can use them all you want in future races.
- Two new “tricks” to master include the “Charge Jump” for avoiding foes and leaping yourself to new parts of the map, “Wall Running” to give you new paths to grind through, and the “Rewind” feature to give yourself another shot at making a key move!
- Online mode has plenty of features, including having four teams of 6 players go at it in races or Battle Mode. You can also use the Nintendo Switch 2 GameShare feature to have three local players join you, and you can have eight local players play together, too!
- The Mario Kart World Direct also expanded upon the “Free Roam” mode, which will let you see the courses like never before. You’ll get to wander around, take on special challenges, pose for special pictures, and even bring in friends to roam around with!
Clearly, the game will be something special when it launches on June 5th.
