Mario Kart World patch makes it harder to have a standard three-lap race online
The version 1.1.2 update makes it harder for players to avoid ‘intermission’ races
Mario Kart World has received a patch that makes it harder for players to have a standard three-lap race online.
The game is split into two types of course – the traditional lap-based courses seen in previous Mario Kart titles, and what’s become known by the community as ‘intermission’ courses, where players spend most of the race travelling to the track, then completing a single lap on it when they get there.
It’s become understood among the community that intermission courses are an acquired taste – while some players like the way they integrate the game’s open world, others feel they consist of too many straight, wide roads and prefer the traditional three-lap setup.
Each of the 30 tracks in the game has a three-lap variant, as well as a number of intermission courses which start at that track and end at any of the connecting ones around it. This makes for a total of 232 courses, 30 of which are traditional three-lap ones.
When playing an offline VS race, players get to choose any of the 30 tracks in the game, at which point they can choose that track’s standard three-lap course, or any of its possible intermission courses. In this way, players who don’t like intermission courses can theoretically avoid them by only choosing the three-lap versions.
During online VS races, however, players are only able to choose between three intermission courses to vote for, or a ‘Random’ option.
Players soon realised that the Random option didn’t pick a random selection from the three intermission courses available – rather, it chose a random three-lap race from any course. As such, the Random option quickly became popular online among players who prefer more traditional Mario Kart races.
Nintendo has now released a version 1.1.2 patch for the game, however, which changes the way the Random option works. According to dataminer OatmealDome on Bluesky, the Random option still includes the possibility of a three-lap course, but can now also choose from the three intermission courses made available to the player.
This means players can no longer guarantee they’ll get a three-lap race if they vote the Random option – there’s still a chance it could be an intermission course.
VGC’s Mario Kart World review said that while the game’s open world feels somewhat undercooked, the core Mario Kart racing remains as entertaining as ever.
“Despite its new open world gimmickry, Mario Kart World is at its best when it’s doing what the series has always done,” we wrote.
“Choose Grand Prix, VS Race or online multiplayer and the game is up there with the very best in the series’ history, and while the highway racing and wider tracks may not be to everybody’s tastes, the move to 24 racers only adds to the carnage that the Mario Kart series is loved for.”
