Put the pedal to the metal in a vast interconnected environment. Race seamlessly across connected courses like never before. Participate in the new knockout tour elimination mode, where you’ll barrel through back-to-back courses and checkpoints. And in free roam, it’s possible to go off the racetrack and drive in any direction you wish, explore areas that pique your interest and take some photos at scenic spots with a group of friends.
at://did:web:gamesgamesgamesgames.games/games.gamesgamesgamesgames.game/3mgm6r6acz22l| Language | Audio | Subtitles | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Japanese | ✓ | ||
| Chinese (Simplified) | ✓ | ||
| Chinese (Traditional) | ✓ | ||
| Spanish (Spain) | ✓ | ||
| French | ✓ | ||
| Italian | ✓ | ||
| Dutch | ✓ | ||
| German | ✓ | ||
| Spanish (Mexico) | ✓ | ||
| English (UK) | ✓ | ||
| Russian | ✓ |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | ✓ |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | ✓ |
| Korean | ✓ |
| Polish | ✓ |
Really fun new entry to the Mario Kart series, wish there were some more costumes for the creatures and divas like Pauline. The gacha to unlock the creatures is painfully RNG based and not even remotely as satisfying as Xenoblade 2 so it has to be knocked down (also free roam would be fun in multiplayer)
It’s like I made this game in a lab.
I was, in hindsight, a very autistic child. Mario was one of hundreds of special interests I had, and I always wished (in the vastness of what you can already do in Mario games) Mario could leave the boundaries of a given level and explore the Mushroom Kingdom.
I guess that was part of why I was so enamored with Super Mario 64, growing up. Though it would later be the more important game in my life, Super Mario Galaxy’s out-of-this-world spectacle couldn’t compete with the down-to-Earth world of the Nintendo 64 classic.
Just getting to mess around in Princess Toadstool’s castle, run and bump into things at Bob-omb Battlefield, it was the “playing outside” that my autistic mind was drawn to. The only way it could’ve been improved upon was just to make the digital playground larger.
Which brings us to Mario Kart World - a video game that, seemingly not content JUST to have the most perfect version of Mario Kart’s gameplay yet, gives players an entire open world filled with mini-challenges to complete and as positively-brimming with rewards as Super Mario Odyssey.
In this game, I can go virtually anywhere. There are tracks, lined with billboards and such, but I can drive behind those billboards and (rather than get punished by Lakitu) find a golden medallion or question mark block panel that then rewards me with a new sticker to place on my vehicle.
It honestly feels like I’m taking my inner child to a Disneyland with no lines. Everything is so convenient, with an amount of friction scientifically-measured not to frustrate but to satisfy when you acclimate to it. In a video game industry that’s only making more games designed to vacuum up your wallet, while giving you only enough dopamine to feel like you need to give the game even more money, Mario Kart World wants to satisfy you.
Even setting aside the thrilling and engaging mini-challenges the open world is filled with, just driving around is fun… but adding Cluster in as my player two takes that fun to the next level! We’ve spent so much time taking photos with one another, making lovey-dovey shippy photos of our favorite characters in the game’s excellent photo mode.
I haven’t even gotten to the cups in the Grand Prix mode, which are excellent. I haven’t talked about the tracks themselves, which are all great. The routes steal the show, however, adding continuity and variety to every session. I fully believe the pushback from gamers online only exists because the majority of said gamers were just told they were “supposed” to not like them.
What can be said about the amazing soundtrack that hasn’t already been said? I’ve been listening to it playing from my paused game as I write this review and my cheeks are actually beginning to hurt from smiling too much. Ow. Gonna mute that, for now.
Nope, still smiling. Ow. :’)
There’s so much to the game, I couldn’t get to it all if I tried. It’s honestly overwhelming! But I’m okay with it, the incredible scale of this game, because I know (like Mario Kart 8 before it) I am going to be playing this game for years. Fitting, since it took the developers years to make!
Yes, Nintendo gave their developers an unprecedented amount of time (and consequently paid them an unprecedented amount of money) to develop this title. As a result, the MSRP for the game is $80 USD.
This caused some blowback from gamers, which I could not relate any less to. Some insistently stated over and over, echoing one another as if saying it once wasn’t enough to convince themselves, that the game was only worth getting if you happened to buy it in the $500 bundle for the Switch 2.
I was not able to get the $500 bundle when I got my Switch 2 in June. The only one available was the standalone system, and I just barely managed to get it before it went out of stock. I worked really hard saving up for it, and it took a bit before I could afford to get Mario Kart World - which I paid the full $80 for.
I’m proud to have paid full price. I can think of no better way to tell the developers that what they did mattered, that they earned every cent. I’m also happy that Nintendo didn’t immediately race to sell people DLC (or make their devs churn out free DLC “support” within months of it launching).
I think we really need to get back to just accepting the game you bought is the game you got. Not waiting for it to become an even bigger game, not viewing it as an empty shell that can only be hollow if it isn’t filled with additional content after its release, but enjoying it for what it is today.
I loved Mario Kart World on day one. Today, months after I started playing it, I still love it. It’s a masterpiece, in every sense of the word, and it’s the game I’ve been waiting for since I was a kid.