reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2

When Mario Kart World was released, it was hyped to the max. But is this new kart racer as good as the others, or is this one for the scrap heap?

Gameplay

The gameplay in Mario Kart World introduces two new mechanics: wall riding and grinding. Both feel great to use, and the visual feedback is excellent. Overall, the mechanics are the best in the series’ history, and the number of characters is crazy.

Unfortunately, some parts leave a lot to be desired. When playing in Grand Prix, you finish a race and then drive to the next course. It sounds cool, but these in-between sections feel boring and grow stale quickly. Free Roam mode lets you loose in an open world with absolutely nothing to do. It feels stale, boring, and like Nintendo didn’t put much effort into the open world.

Visuals

The visuals are great here, with the art style and animations looking the best we’ve ever seen in a Mario Kart game. Each kart and character looks fantastic. I really love the overall look, and I hope the next game looks similar.

Performance

The game runs smoothly at 60 FPS with no noticeable drops in either single-player or split-screen.

Music

The music includes plenty of tracks from other Mario games, like Odyssey. It’s a great soundtrack and, in my opinion, the best in the series’ history.

Level Design

This is where Mario Kart World struggles the most. While the actual tracks are good, as mentioned in the gameplay section, the other sections that take up much of the game are stale and boring. It feels like you’re repeating the same course over and over.

The actual tracks themselves are great — Boo Cinema is the best, with the section where you’re flung into an old TV being especially memorable. Unfortunately, you don’t get to play the real courses as often as you should because you have to drive between them.

Final Verdict

Mario Kart World had the opportunity to be a great game, but unfortunately, while it excels in almost every area, it fails at the most important aspect of a racing game: level design. Because of this, what could have been the best entry in the series is dragged down significantly because having it being very straight tracks so much of the time it means that it feels like Nintendo first designed the tracks and the whole open world was a afterthought

Score: 7/10