2025-06-06
Highway to Shell
Editor's note: Having only gotten our hands on the game and the new system extremely recently, this is — as you can see from the title — a review in progress. We just haven't had enough time with it yet, but we wanted to share our initial impressions (seeing as we're all playing it at once).
We'll be updating the text over the coming days and will deliver a final verdict as soon as possible. Until then, enjoy our early takes, and head down to the comments to let us know how you're liking (or maybe disliking!) the headline Switch 2 launch game.
True story: not long before Switch 2 launched, I passed my driving test in America. A new Mario Kart game perhaps isn't the best game to start after getting a licence in a different country, nor do I recommend taking lessons from a game that puts a cow in the driver's seat, but that's besides the point.
However, driving around Mario Kart World's huge courses and expansive open world is exactly like driving in a new country. I know that sounds crazy, but bear with me. The roads are slightly different, much wider, with more lanes and more cars. You can turn right on red, you can commandeer lorries by driving into the back of them, and even pick up food while moving... (I'll let you decide which are real-world and Mario Kart rules.)
What I'm trying to say is that this isn't quite a reinvention of Mario Kart or a completely new, innovative racing game. But the freedom, variety, and new modes mean that I haven't smiled this much playing a game competitively with others than... well, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
The Basics
So yes, playing World is like putting on a brand new pair of your favourite racing gloves. It controls basically the same, and Grand Prix and Battle Mode play out identically to previous iterations.
The big addition here is the increase to 24 racers, which ups the stakes tenfold. I was worried about how big and empty the roads might feel, but the larger number of competitors completely justifies it when I'm being juggled between a Bob-omb, a bus, and a Coin Shell in quick succession while coins and items are being scattered about everywhere. Races can be utter chaos in the best possible way, particularly online.
The larger roster and wider courses mean that I have a whole new slate of tracks to explore, some familiar, some very new. Cheep Cheep Falls' beautiful Asian-inspired scenery, Peach Stadium's blush-tinted cherry blossom grounds, and the thrill of chasing the robotic monkey in DK Spaceport are just a handful of highlights I've experienced with the new courses, but the old have something to offer too.
On Course
Because of the way the game's is structured, every single course is basically part of a wider 'World' and is connected to the next in either the Grand Prix or new Knockout Tour mode. I raced through Choco Mountain in New York back at the Switch 2 Experience and I didn't even recognise it; new twists and turns, metallic structures, cables and wires everywhere. Where is my ugly, chocolatey mountain from 1996?
The tracks work best when they blend twists and turns with finicky grind rails, often in the form of vines, cable lines, and railings. But there are times this formula doesn't quite work for me, though.
For one, a few courses are here as you essentially remember them. Unlike the drastically different Choco Mountain, Moo Moo Meadows, another frequent returner, is essentially the same course we've driven through hundreds of times. And Battle Mode does suffer from having roads and maps that are too big — who knew it'd be hard to find 23 other racers.
I also worry about my long-term enjoyment from some of the courses, given how there are many straighter sections. In Grand Prix, it's weird to essentially just drive through two straight laps and then do a final lap or two of the actual course at the end. So the glow of finding these new delights might wear off.
It's a Knockout (Tour)
I don't think that's the case with Knockout Tour, however. While 'World' is in the game title, Knockout Tour is the knock-out feature of Mario Kart World. It's a seamless race from one edge of the map to another, and this is where those more linear course designs actually work.
In what is essentially a survival mode, you drive through six course 'checkpoints' over a long stretch, and at every checkpoint the bottom four racers are eliminated, Knockout Tour is the most I've ever panicked at Mario Kart in a long time. With the right players, you can go from 1st to 20th in a matter of seconds because you're vying for more than just first place — you're racing to survive.
In one instance, in Ice Rally, I spent the whole second section of the race in first place, only to be sneaked up on and hit with two green shells one after the other at the start of Cheep Cheep Falls and fall down five places. Stuffing mushrooms like no one's business, I proceeded to cut completely through a winding downhill path, ignoring the roads entirely, and I managed to narrow the gap.
It's a real thrill, and I can't wait to keep improving and learning the ropes to become the Knockout champion.
I'm a Free Roamer
But the actual, real headlining feature of Mario Kart World is its world, a huge open map that you can explore in Free Roam mode.
I'm not surprised to find out Monolith Soft, the studio that gave us the Xenoblade series, worked its magic on this game. But you also shouldn't go in expecting an Aionios or Mira-sized map stuffed with landmarks and surprises. Breath of the Wild this ain't, and while I don't think it needs to be that, there's something... missing in the open roads.
Instead, what it is is a lush landscape that allows you to just drive around and soak in all the details and challenges that Mario Kart World has to offer. There are some killer sunsets in this big landscape, let me tell you, and perfect photo opportunities. As a self-proclaimed sucker for photo mode, this could be dangerous for me.
There are secrets in the form of P Switches, collectible medallions, and panels to hit, but the rewards for these are pretty lacklustre. I admit, stickers are cute, but it's not exactly the kind of thing I wanted to see picking up hard-to-find items.
P Switches, however, add a little flavour to the world with a variety of challenges from collecting Blue Coins, while others take you on a leisurely drive with NPCs where you need to hit time gates to stop the clock from running out. The ones that want me to wall drive, right now, are my nemesis. But every new one I roll up and discover, I'm curiously driving over the button only to be surprised every single time. I hope I feel like that even more as I dig into every corner of the map.
I wanted to explore the world map with my partner and take silly photographs together, only to find that you can't experience Free Roam mode in split screen co-op, an extremely weird and disappointing omission given how good splitscreen is elsewhere. I'll have to hunt down some friends online for a little road trip.
Audio-Visual Delights
Still, I'm glad Free Roam exists even if it's mostly to fall in love with the sights and sounds of Mario Kart World. Mario Kart has always been a colourful series, but World takes this to kaleidoscopic new heights, with every single course both blending seamlessly with the next while also having its own distinct audio and visual identity.
The draw distance and lighting in particular are a huge step up, and I love flying around the courses and seeing a different track that's three or four roads away from a huge distance away. It also runs perfectly docked and undocked for me so far, with only a little pop in here and there as I progressed through courses.
But here's where my other favourite aspect comes in — the animation. I am living for this new, expressive era of Mario kickstarted by Super Mario Bros. Wonder. I never get tired of seeing me, as King Boo, line up on the grid laughing at my opponents. Or my first-place Daisy eyeing up the second-place Donkey Kong as we battle it out for victory.
Even small things like the variety of costumes — of which I wish Pauline and DK had a few more, particularly given their first big appearance and new design — give so much personality and expressiveness to each character. I'm always excited
And gosh, yes Jim, the music — the music. Even just driving around in Free Roam, I've heard renditions of Tick-Tock Clock, Good Egg Galaxy, Dire Dire Rocks, Athletic...
Online + GameChat
If Free Roam is for chilling out and listening to the music, then Online is the complete opposite of that. Outside of exploring the open map, I think this is where I'll spend most of my Mario Kart World time — I've yet to play it with my partner, so that's on the agenda. But I'll also be dipping my toes in online too, because if you want the definition of chaos, well, it's Knockout Tour Online. And I can't get enough.
Match-ups are smooth and I've had absolutely zero problems playing with others online — no connection issues, no lag, no nothing, both docked and handheld. I know Mario Kart has always been pretty good at online, but I'm actually shocked to see how stable servers are this close to launch.
The thrill of online is just playing with a bunch of like minded people and getting pummelled — and pummelling others — with items and traps and tricks, trying to outdo each other as you crash and bash around these huge courses. If you are worried about the tracks feeling big, then any Knockout Tour race online will completely ease those doubts.
Source: Nintendolife.com
