Mario Kart World review: Karting evolution opens up a new world of racing

MKW has far more competition from previously released and upgraded Switch titles (eg, the two recent Zeldas) or ports from other platforms (such as Split Fiction and Cyberpunk 2077). Nonetheless, if you want one Switch 2-only title that demonstrates the potential of the new platform, MKW fits the bill with a riotous combination of kart races featuring up to 24 competitors at a time and a voluminous open world. Oh, and it costs an eyeraising €90.

MKW faces the unenviable task of matching up to its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 – a Switch gangbuster that sold more than 76 million copies thanks in no little part to its copious tracks (96 at last count) and finely tuned mayhem.

On the surface, the new game is still Mario Kart as we know it – but with bells on. You can perform new tricks such as wall riding and rail grinding to trigger speed boosts and reach new areas in ways reminiscent of Tony Hawk’s skateboard antics. A host of new characters are at your disposal, and the tracks teem with shortcuts, opportunities for advantages and even some new special items such as outfits.

This glow-up of the core experience allied to a generous bunch of new tracks and returning favourites probably wouldn’t have been sufficient to distinguish MKW from MK8.

Thankfully, Nintendo has also rethought the Mario Kart experience, with the result that MKW doubles the player count for additional pandemonium and elevates the space between lap-based races into a sprint competition itself.

The main menu presents the usual options, including single-player and multiplayer, with obvious modes such as Grand Prix and Time Trials within. Select the familiar Grand Prix option – a series of four races, with the winner being the racer with the most points at the end – and MK veterans will be right at home.

You’ll immediately notice the impeccable frame rate – no slow-downs here – the immense track detail and the delightful chaos of competing against 23 other lunatics (not to mention obstacles such as wandering zebras or rolling boulders). If you’ve bought the €70 Switch 2 camera (or any other compatible webcam), you can superimpose your face above your kart to taunt your race rivals mercilessly. These upgrades come courtesy of the Switch 2’s upgrade under the bonnet.

Of course, all of Mario Kart’s long-standing greatness is also on show, from the comedy crashes to the self-inflicted insults where you blunder into your own bomb or, most heinous of all, you launch the infamous leader-killing blue shell at yourself.

Instead of just whisking you between stages, though, MKW makes you sprint through the neighbourhood to the next race, which exposes the other card up Nintendo’s sleeve – the open world underpinning the whole game. It’s reminiscent of the innovation in other racers such as Forza Horizon, although not nearly so fluent.

In fact, you may not fully realise the sprints are different from the multi-lap races but the open world is waiting patiently for you on the main menu as a much more relaxed option. Drop into the map at any point and you can explore to your heart’s content at your own pace. The entire land mass with its varying biomes is open to you and driving from one side to the other can take up to 10 minutes.

Along the way, you’ll find loads of mini-challenges and oodles of opportunity to just mess about with the terrain. Alas, the concept feels incomplete compared to the likes of Forza Horizon in that you can’t launch races from within the open world, see online players or easily keep track of the mini-challenges, which are each denoted by a P-switch haphazardly dotted around the landscape. It feels as if Nintendo has a way to go to crystallise the open world into something beyond a random meander.

Despite this reservation, Mario Kart World elegantly nails Nintendo’s goal of showcasing the Switch 2’s horsepower while shifting the series into a new gear to surprise and thrill a legion of fans.