Sometimes, when I wind the window down in my car, I think about Mario Kart World. I’m sitting alone in the driver’s seat, radio playing some mid-2000s indie or alt-rock, a breeze blowing through my hair. It might be a quiet morning, the traffic light but the sun bright and warm. I could be admiring the scenery in a country I’m mostly used to, but still always curious to see what I spot. Or maybe I’m thinking about throwing a banana peel at the car ahead of me (I’m not, don’t do that).
I love Mario Kart World; it’s an oxymoron of a racer, the calmest and most chaotic experience you can have with friends or alone. It’s like going on a sightseeing road trip where, every so often, you’ll be thrust onto a motorway where cows and turtles and lightning bolts are being flung around everywhere.
But it also had the unenviable task of being the game to usher in the Switch 2 generation, the first brand new Mario Kart game in over a decade, and the follow-up to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, arguably the Mario Kart game, bursting with almost 100 courses and 50 playable characters, if you include DLC. This shouldn’t be the standard for the series, because it’s unattainable. It’s the Smash Ultimate of Mario Kart.
So I wish people would stop comparing World to 8 Deluxe. The latter is a celebration of all things Mario Kart and a complete blow-out for the series: it’s a complete anomaly, too, being not just the best-selling Mario Kart game of all time, but the best-selling Mario game ever. It’s also a pretty tame sequel: yes, there’s an abundance of content, but what’s really new about MK8? Anti-gravity? Four new items?
Because at the core, Mario Kart World’s pure casual racing isn’t all that different. If I’m sitting down to play with friends and family in a standard race, we’re getting a similar experience to what’s come before. It’s still great, and it looks fabulous on Switch 2, but it’s Mario Kart. What else is there? Pop the hood and you’ll see.
I know people were disappointed by the open world, which some saw as World’s defining feature. And in many ways, it is a little lacklustre, though that’s partially down to expectations. It’s not some Forza-esque world where you need to tick off a checklist; it’s really just a big playground with things you can do, and nothing you have to do.
I spent a lot of time just driving from place to place, checking out every corner of the map, hunting for P Switches and collectibles. But it allowed me to take in the beauty of each environment. The way the lush leaves surrounding Peach Stadium slowly melted from green to gold in Cheep Cheep Falls. I’d drop into the river and let the currents sweep me down to Salty Salty Speedway, where the rust-coloured cobbles would spit me out into the ocean, towards the desecrated ruins of Wario Shipyard.
From the rotting fortress next to the ship, I could see the icy lands to the north, the sparkly beach to the south. Never before could my eyes take me this far in Mario Kart. These weren’t just a bunch of courses plucked out of thin air; they all made sense in their order, their placement, and their layout.
The open world is your oyster, and you can do anything in it. Make up pretend races, go find that Donut Plains tribute, take really stupid photos. Where many racing games are a kaleidoscope of colours and a shock to the senses, MKW gives me a moment to breathe. Breath of the Wild did the same: there’s stuff to do in the world, and there is a story, but ultimately, the world is a canvas and I am its paintbrush.
So, when I’m on the courses, when I’m racing others or completing optional challenges, my tools are more expansive than ever. I think Mario Kart is often oversimplified, but World adds a ton of mechanics to the experience that make it the deepest kart racer I’ve ever played.
I’m good at 8 Deluxe because the racing is ultimately pretty simple, and I know the courses well. One match online in Mario Kart World is a complete bloodbath and I’m left in the dust because everyone and their mother is amazing at wall jumping and grinding and skipping swathes of the course, only for them to finish in third behind two racers who are just world-class.
I’m over the moon whenever I do a perfect wall-ride and hop in an alleyway to reach a Peach Medallion, but ask me to replicate that in an online Knockout Tour to hit 16th over 17th and I buckle under the pressure, the sweaty hands, and the barrage of red shells hitting me and slowing my speed. I can’t just pick up coins and aim perfectly and drift at just the right time to win anymore; I actually have to learn how to play the game intimately. I admire that approach.
The amount of tricks and backflips required to shave milliseconds off of a race time is absurd, but watching someone pull off all the tricks in the book successfully really is something to behold.
Really, all I do whenever I race online (or with friends) is embrace the chaos of those 24-man races. Knockout Tour, to this day, is my favourite aspect of World. It’s a complete mess, where balance and skill can and do matter, but in a Mario Party sense, you sometimes just have to succumb to fate or lack of luck.
The sheer amount of litter on the road is enough to make me both laugh and send me into a fit of panic. Why do we need this many bananas or coins or traps in one spot, let alone the fact I’m trying to avoid triple red shells around my neighbouring competitors (yes, I’m sandwiched between them).
When I am good enough to make it to the final four, it makes for an amazing 10-15 minutes of white-knuckle racing, hair-splitting differences, and scrambling to the finish line. Do I care if I win because of luck? Not really! It’s Mario Kart; I’m here to have fun, to embrace the chaos, and then decompress afterwards.
That last part is the key part that makes all the difference, the part that makes this Mario Kart cocktail taste different from the last one. Mario Kart has always been a series I’ve brought out for a few races with friends for an hour or two, and then it just gets tucked away until the next get-together. We’ll chat between races, but now we’re not just leaving it on an idle screen, we’re racing around the savannah or the black volcanic terrain, taking in the sights.
I called Mario Kart World “the perfect introduction” to the new generation of Nintendo, a year ago, and I feel even stronger about that now than I did then. In Donkey Kong Bananza, you can smash things up to your heart’s content. In Pokémon Pokopia, you can rebuild the world however you wish. In Kirby Air Riders, speed and drama is unlimited. All of these games blend familiarity, calmness, chaos, and freedom. And Mario Kart World started it all.
I know it’s not a huge reinvention, but it is a shift. The Switch 2 is capable of so much more than the Switch, and World showed us that from the very first day. Do I want a bit more than 30 courses? Sure, I’d take DLC, but the year of patches have also done a lot to iron out some of the rougher edges.
Before 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart never got DLC. There are ample opportunities in the open-world to make your own fun, and once you let go of the winning mentality, Knockout Tour is a blast.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is Mario Kart as we’ve long known it, but World is something a bit different. It isn’t just a soda water with lime, it’s the most-refreshing summer blend of citrus flavours where you can either chill out or have chaotic fun. A defining game for the Switch 2, and worthy of much more love than it gets.
How do you feel about Mario Kart World a year after release? Let us know in the comments.
