There was a point in time where it seemed like Mario Kart 8 could be the last proper Mario Kart sequel. In its Deluxe iteration, it’s become something of an evergreen title and sold near a whopping 70 million copies, which is just mind-boggling for a single platform release. I wouldn’t have blamed Nintendo for backing down from the challenge of following that up, but I can equally see why a new entry is the perfect way to introduce the Nintendo Switch 2 to the world.
And so, thanks to an invite to check out the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience in Melbourne ahead of the consumer days, my very first hands-on moments with the Switch 2 have come by way of the impressively ambitious Mario Kart World.
This time with the game came in two separate experiences. The first was a very formal sit-down session with the game across both two-player split screen play on a TV screen, and then some time with the game in single player on the Switch 2’s handheld display. Seeing the game running on a high-res telly made the new machine’s technical chops immediately clear, showcasing Mario Kart in a way that it truly deserves. An event like this isn’t really conducive to a proper analysis, of course, but that initial, “Woah, a Nintendo can do this??” moment that I was hoping for was present for sure.
More importantly, the uplift in art here is evident almost right away. There’s an energy and personality in this new Mario Kart that, in hindsight, was sorely missing from the more straightforward and clean-cut Mario Kart 8. There’s just a whole lot more movement on screen, be it environmental details or the elastic animations of the racers and karts, and the increased level of detail means there’s more personality, more life and even a little more edge to everything. The character models, particularly the few costumed iterations we could see in-game and in the character select screen, are naturally a new benchmark for in-game Mushroom Kingdom mainstays, as well.
When it comes to the on-track feel of the thing, the handful of tracks we had access to were surprisingly pretty tame as far as showing off the revamped driving in World. Much has been made of all of the wall jumping and rail grinding you’ll be doing in the final game, especially in its open map, but what we played were more traditional grand prix tracks that you wouldn’t pick as out of place in the previous game. The closest I came to a taste of the connected world here was a portion of the Boo Cinema track that seemingly cut into a more jungle type area during a later lap, which feels like a neat design by-product of having all of these tracks exist within a larger space. I’m keen to see more of this in the full game.
The new power-ups are interesting enough at a first impression, too. The Feather is easily the most useful, giving you a one-off super jump that works both as a tool to reach high sections and create shortcuts, as well as one more counter to the dreaded Blue Shell. The Ice Flower was probably the least exciting of the bunch, although I didn’t get a chance to try Kamek or the Mega Mushroom.
Where Mario Kart World truly clicked for me, and where I think it might find its success in online and perhaps even eSports contexts, is in the elimination-style Knockout Tour mode. Here, 24 players face off in an elongated sprint across big sections of the whole world map, with the trailing four players at each checkpoint being booted from the race entirely until it’s just the final quartet vying for the crown. I witnessed multiple event-goers turn on a dime from relaxed curiosity to almost toxic competitiveness as soon as they were rolling, cheering and crying as fates were decided and banding together to bring down a prevailing Cow like we were in a beef-flavoured Chicken Run spinoff.
It probably helped that Nintendo had hired a dedicated commentator for the occasion, something that most folks won’t have the luxury of at home, but there’s no doubt that this will be an intoxicating way to play Mario Kart as a seasoned or dedicated player.
It’s unfortunate that the world part of Mario Kart World wasn’t on full display in my hands-on time with the game, given it’s arguably the biggest differentiator and upgrade on an already fantastic racer, so it’s impossible to make any real judgments until we have the full game available. That said, even a small taste of the Switch 2’s tentpole launch title has been enough to make the only weeks-long wait for the June 5th release that much harder.
Previewed at an event hosted by Nintendo ANZ
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