Fresh off of fully unveiling the game at the big Switch 2 Direct earlier this month, Nintendo has just given us an even better look at what will arguably be an evergreen hit on the system – Mario Kart World.
Across a 15-minute Mario Kart World Direct presentation, we were treated to a deep dive into the game’s suite of modes, characters and courses, new gameplay features, online functionality and everything else across its bold, interconnected world of racing. It wasn’t a whole lot that we hadn’t seen before, but the excitement is certainly there.
If you missed it, you can watch the full thing in the video embed just below, or scroll and read on for the bits that stood out to us and make the wait for the game’s June 5th release date just that little bit harder:
It’s Time For Some Car-kour
One of the more interesting gameplay innovations that we’ve caught glimpses of before but has now been more clearly defined in this latest Direct, is Mario Kart World’s new acrobatic flavour of driving. Racers can now perform a Charge Jump to avoid obstacles as well as wall ride and grind on rails, adding new dimensions to races and opening up a ton of potential for shortcuts and skilled play.
This also comes along with a new “Rewind” feature, not unlike something you’d see in a Forza game, though in this case rather than rewind a whole race for a few seconds, it’s only your kart that goes back in time while your rivals continue driving as normal. This makes it handy for reversing severe mistakes, but potentially detrimental if not used sparingly.
A Rainbow At The End Of A Pot Of Gold
Rainbow Road is obviously a series staple, so a new Mario Kart game without some rendition of the classically-punishing track would go down like a lead Lakitu. This time around though, it appears that Rainbow Road will be dished out as a bit of an unlockable end-game reward, answering the question of where it fits into the game’s open world map. The new Direct confirms that players will need to complete every Grand Prix cup on offer before getting access to this traditional skill-check of a course.
Courses Best Served Fresh
On that topic, the Mario Kart World Direct provided a few slices of footage of some of the brand-new courses that’ll be included in the game, and they look universally fun. The video shows future classics like Mario Bros. Circuit, Crown City, Salty Salty Speedway and Starview Peak, but the highlight for this writer had to be Boo Cinema, which couples spooky castle vibes with classic cinema, complete with a desaturated colour palette.
Courses will also take place either in day or night, which should add to the variety even more.
Instruments of War(io)
Further solidifying that Mario Kart World is taking every measure to evolve the racing action, this new entry offers no less than six new items to deploy in races – and they’re some of the more inventive ones we’ve seen.
New twists on classic items include Coin Shells, which behave as you’d expect from a shell item but also leave a trail of coins for you (or an opponent) to collect, Ice Flowers which freeze your rivals rather than burn them, and Mega Mushrooms which, well, make you get huge.
Also new are Hammers, based on those wielded by the classic Hammer Bros. and acting in a similar way in which they’re thrown in an arc in front of you, Feathers to give you an even bigger jump, and one of the most curious new items – Kamek, which seemingly has a number of mysterious effects including transforming your rivals into various things.
Free Roam, Free Lunch
Speaking of transforming, you might have been wondering where all of the neat, unique character outfits seen in previous footage where coming from, and the Mario Kart World Direct spells it out very plainly – eating food from a Yoshi’s drive-thru gives you a new look based on the food you’ve just eaten. It’s science, really.
Thankfully, once you’ve found a Yoshi’s location and collected your bag of positively delicious-looking grub, the associated outfit is unlocked permanently for use anywhere afterwards.
Fresh threads aren’t the only thing you’ll find out in Mario Kart World’s freely roamable map, though. As expected, the world offers a ton of reasons to drive off the beaten path including special missions found via P Switches, hidden collectibles and more.
Bonus Round: The Cow’s Name Is Just Cow
I mean, I don’t know what else I expected here given Nintendo never names its generic guest characters, but it’s not like this is a Mario-specific creature with a fun moniker like Shy Guy, Koopa Troopa or Goomba. It’s a cow.
Folks have been enamoured with this once since it was confirmed to be playable in the previous Direct, too, which just adds to “Cow” being a hilarious name, I reckon.
Mario Kart World launches on June 5th, 2025, along with the Nintendo Switch 2 console.
Will you be jumping into Mario Kart World from day one? What did you think of this Direct? Let us know in the comments below or over on social media!
