Mario Kart World Review – A Bold And Adrenaline-Inducing Experience

I have a unique history with the Mario Kart series as a whole. To my knowledge, I have absolutely played every single game in the franchise…But I haven’t owned all of them. Some was because of circumstance, and others I just didn’t want to buy. However, I have enjoyed them all, regardless of how I played them or who I played them with. In many ways, this is one of the most important franchises that Nintendo has, and every entry has to be on point to make a true mark. Thankfully, as my Mario Kart World Review will note, the latest entry does that in spades.

Game Name: Mario Kart World
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch 2
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Developer(s): Nintendo
Release Date: June 5th, 2025

…wait, are there spoilers to give in a Mario Kart game? Eh, we’ll just put it there and let you decide. Anyway, Mario Kart World is the “killer app” or launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, and the moment you fire it up, you can tell just how far things have grown since the racing greatness that was Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Graphically, the game is stunning, and you can tell that incredible effort was put into making each level stand out and truly feel alive and something to look at when you’re not racing for 1st place or battling it out against others.

I could truly spend much of this Mario Kart World Review talking about the courses across the many cups that you partake in and how visually stunning they were, as well as how creative they are in creating different pathways to get to the finish line. Now, yes, past titles have had “shortcuts” that diehard players will find to help get the fastest times and such, but these courses are more overt in giving you different paths to try out to get the victory. There were times that I honestly sacrificed a lead just to see how well a different path worked, and it added to the fun. That doesn’t even mention how you actually drive from one course to the other, which adds a whole new experience as you watch the terrain change while you never truly stop racing.

Plus, with the added “rails” that are all over the levels, you can find even MORE paths to take that’ll truly test your skills so that you can get to them. Going back to the visuals for a sec, some of my favorite courses include Boo Mansion, Bowser’s Castle, and, of course, Rainbow Road. Seriously, it’s SO BEAUTIFUL.

Arguably, my favorite part of these courses is seeing how “crowded” they were. In certain levels, you’re actively avoiding animals, cars, Bullet Bills, and sometimes even full-on dinosaurs! And yes, you can ride up those dinosaurs at times; it was awesome. The dev team really went far to try and create courses that felt like they were truly part of a populated “world.” You’ll not only see beings everywhere, but posters and signs for things that are “in the world” to highlight that this place really is lived in.

As for the modes themselves, it’s your standard fare mixed with some fun new twists. Grand Prix mode allows you to do races against CPU characters so you can get your bearings and unlock more characters and courses. Then, in matches, you can go up against other players in races or face off in Battle mode, where you can do Balloon Battle or Coin Battle.

However, more than likely, regardless of whether you play with friends or random people online, the match you’ll want to do the most is Knockout Tour. This is the all-new mode that helps set this game above all the rest in the franchise. It’s such a simple mode, to be honest. All you have to do is get to certain checkpoints with a ranking that’s above the cutoff point. If you miss it? You’re done!

In premise, it’s simple. In practice? IT’S PURE CHAOS!!!! However, to be clear, it’s the GOOD kind of chaos. When you have 24 people in online multiplayer going at it non-stop to try and get to the next checkpoint before you, your heart will be pounding with each second that passes, and you’ll clench up at every person that suddenly gets by you as the checkpoint looms.

Bar none, this is my favorite mode in Mario Kart World. I’ve played it numerous times and never get bored. Just when you think you got a good “buffer” between other players, something happens and you’re screwed. There were times I was legitimately in high rankings, like 2nd place, and then one thing would go wrong, and suddenly I’m in 12th. Yet, even when I (frequently) got knocked out, I got right back into the next race…because I wanted to try again!

Now, given its importance in the game itself, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about “Free Roam” mode in my Mario Kart World Review. This is the mode where you don’t do racing (in the traditional sense), but instead, just go throughout the courses and explore every nook and cranny of them. Nintendo did this so you could truly see just how vast the courses are, and when you’re racing in the other modes, you can tell the paths that are “blocked off” that you can now go on, because it’s all about roaming around.

If you’re up for just a casual driving experience with no real stress, this is it. While I didn’t spend too much time in this mode compared to the others, the time I did spend in it was relaxing. It was honestly fun going off the beaten path and seeing what awaited me there. Plus, there are “Challenges” that you can take on and special tokens you can find to help spice things up a bit.

The game also features new items that you can use, including summoning Kamek for some havoc, launching hammers at foes, or sending out ice flower blasts. Plus, there are a plethora of all-new characters you can be. Yes, including being a cow or a penguin. Personally, I was Dry Bones until I got Bowser Jr. To that end, thanks to the new “Yoshi’s” items, you can get special outfits for the vast majority of the cast, so you’ll have fun customizing them visually, and then, over time, unlocking more vehicles so you can have your “perfect combo.”

I’d like to pause for a moment and discuss the Nintendo Switch 2’s capabilities and how they enhance this game’s overall presentation. Yes, the visuals are important, but that’s not the only “boost” the game has gotten. Loading into other screens, going online, or just starting up a mode takes little to no time. In fact, in the start menu, you can literally press the “+” button and go RIGHT INTO Free Roam with no loading screen at all! The only times I’ve really had to “wait” on things in the game are because of other players, never the game itself.

To that end, in multiplayer mode, I haven’t seen any lag or framerate drops despite it having 24 characters on screen and a whole bunch of internet connections bringing us all together.

Just as important, I did multiple gaming sessions with my Nintendo Entertainment Podcast crew, and we used the GameChat feature to keep in touch, and it was just as flawless. We could hear each other, and we reacted to what was going on without it blaring through the speaker. It was really cool, and it’s a feature I will be using in the future.

Alright, now that all that’s been said, it’s fair that this Mario Kart World Review would take a “detour” into the negative, because there are some things that stand out that can bring things down a little bit.

For example, while Free Roam can be fun and relaxing, I acknowledge that it’s not something that everyone will like or want to “see every part of.” Personally, I would rather be racing than doing that mode, especially since some of the challenges are all about skill levels that are often higher than what I have. Plus, as other players have noted, the mini-map in the mode isn’t the best and doesn’t even tell you if you’re near a challenge spot.

As for the roster, while the dev team clearly had fun going a bit “wacky” with it,” I feel those spots could’ve been served better by doing more “classic” choices, OR, bringing in other Nintendo franchise characters to have fun. Going from the Inklings and Link to Cow and Ostrich? Not how I would’ve done it…

Finally, I do wish there were a bit more customization in the online battle modes when you’re playing against random people and not just your friends. When you go into it, you don’t even choose the mode you’re in, so you could do multiple Balloon Battle modes and then suddenly get thrown into a Coin Battle. The modes play fine, just to be clear, but if you’re a fan of one versus the other, you better hope the game picks your favorite repeatedly. You do get more control when you play against your friends, but the CPU players only do so much against you.

All that being said, my Mario Kart World review will end with a 1st place finish in terms of score because the game is truly a lot of fun. Whether you play by yourself or with friends, there’s plenty to do. The nature of the game itself is meant to be one you can put down for a bit, get the itch to come back, and then play it whenever you want. With the Switch 2’s larger data space, you can keep this on the console as long as you want and keep coming back to it when you want to race!

Between the upgraded graphics, larger courses, epic new modes like Knockout Tour, and more, there’s plenty to praise here, and I can’t wait to get racing again.

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