Due to its Deluxe Edition and numerous upgrades that have spanned almost 11 years now, it almost doesn’t feel that long ago when we first got our hands on Mario Kart 8. Arguably one of the most fully fleshed out kart racers of all time, it has almost felt definitive, with a gigantic cast of characters and tracks that have ensured it stays culturally relevant for over a decade. Hell, when I visited Tokyo last year for my wedding, a highlight included battling some local gamers in a kitted-out unofficial Nintendo bar, with my victory-from-behind in the last race in a Grand Prix ensured it would embed itself as a core memory in my conscience forever. This, broadly, is the power of Mario Kart, and a whole new generation will get to experience it all over again now, with Mario Kart World as the biggest Switch 2 launch title.

After all that preamble, it feels great to say that Mario Kart World is another huge success. While not all of the new elements totally hit the mark, this is the same classic Mario Kart experience that everybody loves, looking and feeling better than ever. Simply put, Mario Kart World is the winner we all anticipated it would be.

At its core, the joy of Mario Kart is unmatched; ever since the Super Nintendo, it’s been a core part of my gaming experience, and the feeling of playing Mario Kart World in 2025 still manages to unlock that special kind of nostalgia that only video games can truly provide. The bright and colourful menus, the eclectic cast of Mario universe characters (with plenty of new ones like the popular Cow), the genuinely adorable twists on the many character costumes variations, the boppy earworm music that will seep into your brain every minute you’re racing… It’s all there.

To be truthful, the Mario Kart formula itself hasn’t changed dramatically from what made Mario Kart 8 so successful. There are some new tweaks: grinding on rails, jumping and wall-riding offer some devilish shortcuts if you’re skilled enough to pull them off properly. Most importantly, running on the Switch 2, it offers a smoother frame rate and much higher visual fidelity, meaning Mario Kart World easily cements itself as the best-looking kart racer in history. It’s bold, beautiful, and runs like a dream; and to run that smoothly with now more racers on the track than ever before at 24, turtle-shells, bullet-bills, invincibilty stars and lightning bolts popping off every few seconds, the fact that it runs as well as it does amongst the chaos is even more impressive.

Tracks are full of surprises, including the fact that many of them aren’t traditional “laps” where you repeatedly go around in a circle. Now, lots of races will just involve you tackling a giant, complicated course from point to point that weaves around in interesting ways. It means you won’t be lapping people as much in Mario Kart World, and that also means that strategically, you can’t just find an easy rhythm on the course where you know exactly what to expect. This mixes things up in very satisfying ways, as you seamlessly move from traditional karts, to racing over water, to flying through the sky, being pulled from thrilling moment to thrilling moment, much to the adoration of the multiplayer crowd.

Where Mario Kart World is sure to thrive, as it has across the series’ lifespan, is in its multiplayer modes. I’ve spent a lot of time here now, from simply racing one another, to checking out the Battle Mode, with Balloon Battle and Coin Runners returning. These battles feel more frantic, due again largely to the increased number of competitors on the course. Five balloons can only get you so far when you have 23 opponents all out for your demise; the team games do alleviate this, though, with 12 v 12 contests proving to be a lot of fun, if not a little bit difficult to actually strategise. That’s the nature of the beast, though.

Races are always more fun against a friend, and the Switch 2 Camera does enhance the experience a bit by having your little face hovering above your character on the track; I got great pleasure whenever I was in front of my competitor sitting next to me (shout out to Brodie from Press Start), forcing him to see my grinning goofy face as he tried to play catch-up. And yes, it stung just as bad on my side when he was at the front. Seeing your mate’s mug ahead of you adds even more motivation to defeat them. It’s also a blast online; I’ve enjoyed using CameraPlay with my pals, and it adds a genuinely nice ripple to proceedings. Everything is more personal, and that makes the losses sting even more, and the victories feel even sweeter. The CameraPlay stuff might be a novelty, sure, but it’s a cute novelty all the same.

Knockout Tour, however, is the evolution of Mario Kart that is sure to be the most-played and most-loved new addition. This mode has 24 players racing across a giant map that stitches four Mario Kart World tracks together into one, with the back 4 racers being eliminated at regular checkpoints. The feeling of being at the back of the pack as the clock ticks down gave me a level of pressure and competitive anxiety that I usually only feel when I’m in the final 2 of a battle royale like PUBG or Fortnite. It’s insanity, in the best possible way; I’d routinely go from first, all the way back to last, and then right back to the top of the pack again.

The long-form race itself allows for some stellar comebacks and laugh-out-loud moments, and it’s exhilarating. When you make it to the final stage and pull off the win, you’ll feel like a legend, and I can keep playing Knockout Tour all day and be happy with that. It’s even more frantic online; playing with 24 actual humans, items are everywhere, the lead changes constantly, and everybody is a serious threat. It’s a massive step up from the already-decent AI, and makes Knockout Tour completely addictive as you try to snatch the crown.

The other big addition in Mario Kart World is Free Roam; the ability to explore the open world of interconnected race tracks, take photos, complete missions or hang out with friends as you zoom around. This has been compared to other open-world racers like the Forza Horizon series, but after spending some time in Free Roam, I’d say those comparisons are pretty generous.

While driving around, you’ll see large blue P switches, and hitting them triggers a mission. These are a little more in-depth than I initially thought, and mix things up quite a bit. In one mission, I was avoiding a large amount of whomps on a track, while another had me driving through lava after using an invincibility star. Then, I was collecting blue coins while avoiding the attacks of frost piranhas, before grinding and jumping across the walls of a castle to reach a tricky finish line. Missions, along with the constant drip-feed of achievement stickers you’ll unlock from travelling a certain distance, gliding, clearing goals and so on, do enough to make Free Roam feel mostly enjoyable.

There are Peach Coins to collect, and even hidden ? blocks, but they seem to be collectible just for the sake of it; for the completionist, that’s fine, I suppose, but I’d prefer an actual reward for finding something neat in an out-of-reach place. The mere “you got a thing!” response just isn’t enough to make me want to keep finding more of them. It’s fun enough, but it feels a little quiet for my tastes; a contrast to regular Mario Kart vibes, sure, but also in a way that felt a little flat. You can only possess a giant truck so many times before it gets old.

That’s where I feel torn with Mario Kart World overall. Yes, it provides a fantastic new mode in Knockout Tour that is one for the ages. It’s the part I keep coming back to, and the feeling of intensity is unlike anything I’ve felt in a Mario Kart before. On the flipside, “World” is in the title, and the Free Roam mode falls a little bit short of being truly memorable. It’s a nice diversion, but nothing there really offered me the sense of wonder that I was hoping for. And yet, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has offered so much over the last 11 years, I can’t imagine going back to it now. Mario Kart World is undoubtedly another step forward in the evolution of everybody’s favourite kart racer. As I sat back with my mates on the couch, four of us racing one another in an epic Grand Prix, we smacked each other with items, celebrated close calls and lamented a blue turtle shell that hit just at the wrong time in the best-looking and smoothest Mario Kart ever, and my complaints pretty much melted away. That’s the power of Mario Kart.