For the past 11 years, Mario Kart 8 has been the most recent Mario Kart game Nintendo has released. While it was originally released on the Wii U, it was then ported onto the Nintendo Switch as “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” in early 2017.
With constant updates, changes, and even fantastic paid downloadable content, it seems impossible to top Mario Kart 8.
However, with the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 back in June of this year, alongside it, we got the release of Mario Kart World, the newest entry into the series. Now that it has been around for about three months, the game certainly has its glaring issues, but in my eyes, this game is almost everything I could have hoped for in a Mario Kart game.
To start out, Mario Kart World’s new gimmick is that it is an open game, where the tracks are fully interconnected on one giant map. This concept is something I would have drawn while sitting in class back in third grade. While the map in some parts is quite empty, being able to freely drive around a giant playground in a Mario Kart game is brilliant.
The free-roam element also makes it easier to practice high skill shortcuts on the new tracks, and also gives the player more time to fully take them in.
Along with that, there are plenty of collectibles and fun missions scattered across the map, giving the player an incentive to actually explore the map.
One final detail that adds more life to the open world is that it contains a day and night weather cycle. The longer you play, the sun will either rise or set. Depending on what region of the map you’re in, it will rain, snow or even item boxes will fall from the sky.
Another new feature Mario Kart World adds is the rewind feature. Very similar to another racing series, Forza, it simply rewinds the player’s past movements. For someone like me who loves to play the time trials mode, this is an absolute game-changer.
Rather than messing up a shortcut and having to restart the race entirely, rewinding makes it so you can go back to the spot right before you mess up and try to experiment again.
Compared to prior entries in the series, Mario Kart 8’s shortcuts were very lackluster. For the most part, a shortcut in Mario Kart 8 would be just to use a mushroom to cut off a turn. In Mario Kart World, the new wall riding mechanics and charge jump can be used to pull off shortcuts that the Mario Kart series hasn’t seen before.
For example, in Mario Kart World’s version of Bowser’s Castle, there is a wide turn at the start of the track that can be bypassed entirely by riding the walls and bouncing off an arrow sign. On one of the new tracks, “Great ? Block Ruins,” you can avoid slower airtime by bouncing off a ring and then riding off a wall, landing back onto the track.
While these shortcuts aren’t anything like Mario Kart Wii’s shortcuts, it is a great return to one of the critical elements the Mario Kart franchise is known for.
Like past Mario Kart games, there is an overall best character kart setup that people use to give them the best advantage possible. While Mario Kart World does have a “meta” setup, there are many other character and kart setups that are on the same level. It’s nice to see in online games diverse character and kart usage, rather than everyone using the same setup.
My final talking point is the character roster. It is relatively dull, having the usual traditional Mario characters, but in Mario Kart World, you can unlock different outfits for the characters.
This adds another layer of collectibles to the game, but also makes playing the same character over and over again very refreshing.
There is also a large number of miscellaneous playable characters that have never been racers before. This includes nabbit, a goomba, the pianta from Super Mario Sunshine, a cataquack and even the piranha plant.
Overall, while Mario Kart World has a few problems, for the newest entry into the franchise in over a decade, it is a fantastic addition that will only get better with time.
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