Switch 2’s Mario Kart World introduces two of the series’ best features

Switch 2’s Mario Kart World is more of a departure than it looks.

Of course, the move to a large, open world is already a hugely significant shift for the Nintendo series best known for its four-race cups and multiplayer time trials. Not least because its interconnected map means that Grand Prix, with an expanded 24 racers, have become more like frantic A-to-B excursions, rather than the multi-lap affairs we’re used to.

But the thing that surprised me most during a recent several-hour play session was that, though the racing gameplay looks deceptively similar to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in videos, if you approach Mario Kart World like previous games, you’re going to quickly find yourself far behind other, more experienced players.

Watch our exclusive Mario Kart World Switch 2 gameplay…

That’s because, taking a page out of mobile title Mario Kart Tour’s logbook, hidden in plain sight along World’s colorful tracks are a skate park’s worth of rails to grind, and walls to skim, turning races into a near-endless chain of tricks and shortcuts for players who dare to shake off the hop-and-drift muscle memory.

Initially, you’ll approach World like any other Mario Kart game: timing your corner drifts, picking a tight racing line, and hoping you don’t get whacked by a red shell along the way. However, look closer, and you’ll notice the courses are now made up of a myriad of possible routes, for those prepared to take on the risk.

If you’ll forgive a now-20-year-old reference, it reminded me of EA’s seminal snowboarding title SSX Tricky, in which expert players could essentially combo their way through the entire one-lap course, if they were good enough.

Approaching a chicane or corner has now become a choice between timing a safe and efficient drift boost, or charging a new hop manoeuvre instead, hoping to use it to connect with a railing, leading to a combo of speed-spewing tricks onto areas of the course that were previously inaccessible, with players able to hop from one rail to the next, onto a wall, and back again.

We played several hours of Mario Kart World and, even with the help of a new Forza-style rewind mechanic, still felt like we were missing a lot of unexpected depth within its mechanics. We get the feeling that pro players are going to get a lot of enjoyment out of testing the guard rails of Switch 2’s racer.

It’s a Knock Out

When we first watched the Mario Kart World reveal trailer, it was the game’s shift to a large open world that excited us most. With years of generous DLC support, 8 Deluxe felt like it had really perfected the old Mario Kart formula, so the shift to something more like Forza Horizon felt exciting, especially for solo players looking for something meatier than CPU races.

(That said, on the subject of CPU, one of the smartest tweaks in Mario Kart World is the separation of CC speed from AI difficulty – so now younger players can play fast 150cc races against easier opponents).

Nintendo’s isn’t facilitating pre-launch Switch 2 reviews. However, after a few hours with Mario Kart World at a preview event, surprisingly, the sandbox wasn’t the aspect of the game that I found most compelling. Having racers drive between the end of one race course, to the start of another in GP is a neat trick, but ultimately the routes felt pretty straight and the gameplay inconsequential. In Free Roam, which I did not get to try extensively, the world even felt – dare I say – a little sparse.

By far the most exciting part of Mario Kart World so far is its new Knockout Tour. With 24 players and an epic, one-route sprint through four connected race tracks, this feels like the absolute perfect mode for Switch 2’s Mario Kart. With so many characters and items on screen, races are chaotic, exciting, and reward players with the skill and courage to take on those new wall-grinding shortcuts.

This is also where the sandbox turns into something of a social hub, with players able to drive around as the lobby fills up, sending templated messages to other players, and posing for pictures in photo mode. We suspect this is one area where Game Chat will significantly enhance the World experience.

Another surprise, which has cost me $50 in additional pre-order spend, is Mario Kart World’s Switch 2 camera support. After calibrating the settings (players place and resize a circle over their faces), multiplayer matches will include ‘live’ icons of each human racer as a UI element over their kart, so that you can see every grimace and cheer (you can see it in action at the end of our gameplay video above).

It’s a small touch, but it works elegantly and was a ton of fun. As soon as we were done playing, I knew I needed a Switch 2 camera for multiplayer matches with my family. Like Mario Kart’s arcade spin-offs, it really elevates the social experience, and I can’t wait to try it with my kids. Combined with Game Chat Free Roam exploration, this could make the Switch 2 camera a pretty essential accessory for Mario Kart fans. Thankfully, some existing USB-C cameras will also work, if you have one going spare.

Mario Kart World releases on June 5, alongside Nintendo Switch 2. Sadly, VGC won’t have a review until after launch.