The Mario Kart series has already cemented itself as a household family game, known for its chaotic gameplay and whimsical characters. Mario Kart World (MKW) ambitiously amped up these pre-established antics without straying too far from familiarity—remarkably concocting a fresh formula.
Unlike most racing games, which instruct players on where they should drive to get to the finish line, MKW’s plethora of intertwining paths is self-dictating. The open-world design stretches through the core gameplay by encouraging players to be as creative and outlandish as possible to get from point A to point B.
Open-world racing
The game’s main selling point is that it takes place in an open world, as opposed to previous games’ tracks, which are locked into their respective levels. With a wide array of environments, e.g., tundras, deserts, overgrown forests, and even a spaceport, the island on which this game takes place is never short of unconventionally wacky races.
The primary gameplay loop is no different from other Mario Kart titles, but this rendition differs as it allows players to drive directly from one level to another. Each track is interchangeable to be drivable forwards and backwards—allowing players to start their race on one track, go through a “transition track,” and finish their last lap in another.
Other small details, such as the skybox shifting from day to night between tracks, and courses being visible from other places in the map, make the game feel more progressive and well-thought-out.
Main game modes
Staying true to the central experience of Mario Kart, the game’s main campaign consists of multiple cups, each with four tracks to race on, in the Grand Prix. MKW takes its open-world feature to full effect by having the racers drive to all of these tracks in order.
This open-world feature, however, has its fair share of good and bad sides. Letting 24 racers traverse through the map to access different levels enables them to gaze upon the intricate world-building. But while some of these “transition tracks” do offer a bit of challenge and creative stage design, the majority of them are essentially straight-line simulators with barely any distinctive obstacles.
The same issue could be found with Knockout Tour, an engaging “survival of the fittest” game mode. For each lap, the lowest-ranking players are kicked out and prevented from participating in the subsequent tracks—amplifying the tension.
While Knockout Tour is composed mostly of transitions, with no room to play through a single track, the stakes themselves make up the thrill and replayability. With the combination of MKW’s abundance of items and the game’s strategic provision of tools to players, it’s naturally easy to catch up to others but harder to maintain a lead.
Other ways to play
MKW offers two Battle Modes, which consist of Balloon Battle, an item-heavy brawl to see who pops each player’s balloons first, and Coin Runners, a time-constrained contest to see who collects the most coins. These two modes alone are, unfortunately, a letdown. Its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, offered three additional distinct battle modes: Renegade Roundup, Bob-omb Blast, and Shine Thief.
But if one wishes to escape the turbulent nature of Mario Kart, Free Roam gives the players the green light to stroll, à la road trip style, through the entire map without any boundaries. Though barren at first glance, the map offers a multitude of P-Switch missions to complete and countless collectibles for the completionist type of gamer to spend hours on.
From the 30 tracks to choose from, the game flaunts its imaginative stage designs with its blend of retro and new courses. Offering inventive traversal options, a few standouts among the new roster include Whistletop Summit, Great ? Block Ruins, Faraway Oasis, and DK Spaceport.
Former favorites that haven’t returned until this game, such as Airship Fortress from Mario Kart DS, Wario’s Shipyard from Mario Kart 7, and Toad’s Factory from Mario Kart Wii, also make a comeback—much to fans’ joy. The upgraded and thoughtful retro tracks were a major step-up from Mario Kart 8’s Booster Course Pack, whose tracks took a plummet in terms of quality.
Each circuit utilizes the game’s new mechanics to steer drivers away from the main road and onto split paths, secret trails, and, if skilled enough, faster lanes. In this game, boundaries are broken, and the road is merely an option.
Its predecessor, Mario Kart 8, attempted to break the mold from the series’ staleness, but its anti-gravity feature pales in comparison to the wall-and-rail-grinding mechanics of this game.
Despite how MKW presents itself as a worthy entry to the series, it doesn’t fall short of any missteps. The online multiplayer received flak because of how it chooses its tracks for the players. Before the 1.2.0 update, released on July 30, most players were forced to go through “transition tracks” because there was a low frequency of regular tracks showing up in the course selection in VS Races. It wasn’t until the uproar of complaints regarding this feature that Nintendo made the change.
Additionally, though unnoticeable at first, the offline multiplayer function does suffer from small frame drops due to ambitious graphics and a 24-player setup, which pushes the new hardware beyond its limits. Nonetheless, these downsides pale in comparison to its heaps of strengths.
MKW raced its way to the hearts of many with its in-game experience and engaging playstyle, and is awaiting new players with its ₱4,095.00 price tag, exclusively playable on Nintendo Switch 2.
