It's no surprise that Nintendo decided on a mainline Mario Kart game to lead the Switch 2's launch line-up. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – an enhanced version of the Wii U entry – was by far and away the best-selling title on the first Switch. Mario Kart is also the go-to Nintendo multiplayer series to boot up when family and friends are around.
Given Mario Kart's popularity, Nintendo faced an interesting challenge on how it can evolve the series while also showcasing the potential of its newest console.
Mario Kart World is the result, with the twist this time around being that virtually every single track in the game is connected as part of one large world. This leads to races where you're actually driving from one course to the next via highways and other routes, and in Free Roam mode, you have the freedom to drive from one side of the map to the other, visiting several tracks along the way.
The racing itself is perhaps the best it has ever been in a Mario Kart game. The biggest change is that there are now 24 racers, up from 16, but Nintendo has been smart in refining the core parts of the gameplay to accommodate the increased player count.
Red shells don't feel as useful as in previous games when you're trying to claw your way from the back. Instead, you're more likely to receive golden mushrooms, mega mushrooms, and bullet bills – items that help you bridge the gap to the pack in front but also avoid hurting the others lagging behind. Mushrooms are great in World, with how many corners that can be cut.
Elsewhere, the lightning, which rarely spawns, now only hits players ahead of you rather than everyone in another change that minimises the punishment those at the back take.
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If you're further ahead, the boomerang's ability to pierce through defensive bananas and shells is, of course, powerful but here, the weapon feels a lot easier to aim and racers are more often bunched up than in previous games.
Tracks feel wider than before, perhaps as a consequence of there being more racers, but any reduced challenge from this is compensated by players now being able to grind rails and ride walls – new tricks at their disposal to take advantage of.
There are plenty more tweaks across the board that subtly improve the racing experience no matter which position you're in, and with 24 in a race, there's rarely a lull in drama or chaos. At the same time, even though races are action-packed, the game has been fine-tuned in such a way that frustration is very rarely felt, which is really impressive.
All of these changes go particularly well with the brand new Knockout Tour, a battle royale-type mode that's perhaps the highlight of the game. Players compete in one large and continuous race that's split across six segments. At each checkpoint, the bottom four racers are eliminated before the last four players still standing race to the end.
Knockout Tour sets itself apart from traditional Mario Kart races by delivering a consistent level of tension. In a normal three-lap race, it doesn't matter so much if you're stuck at the back on lap one. However, in Knockout Tour, the pressure is always on as you only have a limited amount of time to ensure you qualify for the next leg of the race.
The bunched-up nature of races can also result in entertainingly cruel scenarios where getting hit a couple of times in quick succession just before the checkpoint drops you from near the front to being eliminated – so you never want to sit too comfortably, no matter how good your position looks.
Mario Kart is obviously best enjoyed with your friends and family, but playing Knockout Tour online is the most fun I've had by myself with a Mario Kart game since obsessing over time trials in the GameCube era.
Knockout Tour is also the mode that makes the best use of the game's larger world, with the route of a race starting and finishing at opposite ends of the map as players seamlessly drive through six different and diverse locations. The structure makes lasting the distance and reaching the end feel more satisfying.
It's a shame then that the world map is less interesting elsewhere. In Grand Prix mode, the first race of four is a traditional three-lap course, but because the next three make driving to the next location part of the race, you often only get to enjoy one lap on the second, third, and fourth tracks. This is a bit of a disappointment, as the in-between segment of a race is often less memorable than the course itself. Many of the courses here have wonderful track design, but this new format makes appreciating them a little more difficult.
The highly advertised Free Roam is probably the most underwhelming part of the package. Putting aside the disappointing fact that you can't enjoy this mode in local split-screen, map exploration isn't that engaging.
There are challenges dotted around the whole world that ask you to pull off things like collecting blue coins or reaching a checkpoint within a time limit, but I think the issue is that the mode feels a little aimless and the map doesn't do enough to evoke a sense of place that the best open worlds do. There is ambition with Free Roam, but it ends up being little more than a diversion.
I would have loved an option to select three-lap races over point-to-point races in 'regular' online lobbies. However, these are gripes that ultimately don't take away from the laughs and the thrills you get from playing with friends.
Despite the 'world' part of the game's title not quite fulfilling its potential, Mario Kart World is a delight to play and a fitting launch game for Nintendo's new console.
There's so much to appreciate, and that includes the less headline-grabbing parts like the soundtrack – filled with brilliant remixes of songs across Mario's history – and the variety of cute and charming unlockable costumes. The costumes proved a big hit in my local group sessions in a way that kart customisation in Mario Kart 8 never was, allowing players to be more expressive without over-complicating things.
Taking into account everything the game does right, not least the top-tier racing and the Knockout Tour mode, World is arguably the most fun Mario Kart entry in a long time.
Mario Kart World is out now on Nintendo Switch 2.
