When Nintendo revealed that Mario Kart World would be one of the flagship titles for Nintendo Switch 2, expectations were understandably sky-high. After all, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe spent years dominating sales charts and became one of the most successful games in Nintendo's history. The next entry needed to be more than just a visual upgrade.
After spending dozens of hours on the track, I can confidently say that Mario Kart World is both the most ambitious and the most contradictory entry in the franchise. On one hand, it offers the deepest and most satisfying driving mechanics the series has ever seen. On the other, some of its biggest new ideas fail to reach their full potential.
Driving Has Never Been Better
The greatest strength of Mario Kart World lies where it matters most: the driving itself.
It becomes clear almost immediately that Nintendo wanted to do more than simply create another Mario Kart. New mechanics such as rail grinding, wall riding, and advanced drift-based tricks significantly raise the skill ceiling and reward players willing to master them.
This is arguably the highest skill ceiling the franchise has seen since the days of Mario Kart Wii. Casual players can still jump in and have fun, but those looking to perfect every track will discover a surprising amount of depth hidden beneath the game's accessible surface.
The best part is that improvement feels meaningful. Learning a new shortcut, successfully chaining advanced tricks, or using a wall ride to shave precious seconds off a lap delivers a genuine sense of accomplishment that few arcade racers manage to achieve.
Familiar Tracks Feel New Again
The expanded movement options also breathe new life into both new and returning tracks.
The ability to drive on walls, navigate narrow surfaces, and approach corners from entirely different angles makes even familiar courses feel fresh. More than once, I found myself relearning tracks I thought I knew inside and out.
That's perhaps one of the biggest compliments I can give Nintendo. Mario Kart World doesn't just add content—it changes the way you interact with it.
Free Roam Is a Great Idea That Falls Short
The feature I was most excited about was the game's open-world Free Roam mode. Unfortunately, it also ended up being one of the biggest disappointments.
On paper, the concept sounds fantastic: a huge interconnected world filled with tracks, secrets, and activities to discover. In practice, however, the world often feels underutilized and lacking meaningful content.
Driving around and experimenting with the game's mechanics can certainly be fun, but once the initial novelty wears off, there isn't enough depth to keep players engaged for long periods. Free Roam works best as a playground for practicing tricks and exploring shortcuts rather than as a fully realized game mode.
24 Players Mean More Spectacle—and More Chaos
One of Mario Kart World's headline features is the introduction of 24-player races.
At their best, these races are absolutely thrilling. The larger player count creates constant action, dramatic lead changes, and unforgettable moments.
However, there's also a downside. With twice as many racers throwing shells, lightning bolts, and other items around the track, races can occasionally descend into complete chaos.
Mario Kart has always embraced unpredictability, but World sometimes pushes that philosophy to the limit. Skill still matters, especially at higher levels of play, but there are moments when item spam can make races feel more frustrating than exciting.
Grand Prix Doesn't Quite Deliver
Perhaps my biggest disappointment is the revamped Grand Prix mode.
Instead of relying solely on traditional multi-lap races, Nintendo chose to connect courses with extended transition sections designed to make the world feel more cohesive. While the idea is understandable, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
These intermission stretches often feel like long, uneventful straightaways that slow down the pacing between the moments players actually care about. Rather than enhancing the racing experience, they frequently interrupt it.
As a result, Grand Prix lacks some of the intensity and excitement that defined previous entries in the series.
Final Verdict
Mario Kart World is packed with fantastic ideas and arguably the best driving mechanics the franchise has ever offered. The expanded movement system adds depth, rewards mastery, and makes every race more engaging.
Unfortunately, not every new feature is a winner. The open-world Free Roam mode feels underdeveloped, Grand Prix loses some of the magic of classic Mario Kart, and 24-player races can occasionally become overwhelming.
Even so, when everything clicks, Mario Kart World delivers some of the most enjoyable racing the series has ever seen. It may not be the revolutionary leap many fans were hoping for, but it remains an excellent sequel and one of the strongest reasons to own a Nintendo Switch 2.
