{"id":3857,"date":"2025-06-10T08:06:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T08:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/?p=3857"},"modified":"2025-06-12T12:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T12:19:05","slug":"mario-kart-world-review-the-final-verdict-on-the-switch-2s-biggest-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/10\/mario-kart-world-review-the-final-verdict-on-the-switch-2s-biggest-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario Kart World review \u2013 the final verdict on the Switch 2\u2019s biggest game"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Mario\t<\/div>
Mario Kart World – the magic is back (Nintendo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The key launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2<\/a> is already the most controversial Mario Kart<\/a> ever but is it a bad game or merely misunderstood?<\/p>\n

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe<\/a> is one of the very few games we\u2019ve ever given a 10\/10 score. That\u2019s not something we regret either, especially after the extremely generous Booster Course DLC<\/a> that made it the definitive version of the original Mario Kart formula. That does make it a very difficult act to follow but the idea of making the next game an open world title seemed an excellent new direction to take the series, and yet curiously that\u2019s the only part of Mario Kart World that doesn\u2019t entirely work.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Nintendo not sending out review units<\/a> of the Nintendo Switch 2 more than a day before launch we\u2019ve previously only been able to do a review in progress<\/a> of World, during which it became clear that it is not quite the game that many imagined. The open world is huge and incredibly well designed but it\u2019s very poorly utilised, with lots of hidden secrets and yet nothing of substance to gain from them.<\/p>\n

The open world also has surprisingly little impact on race modes, with the option to explore it separately reduced to an easily missed aside on the title screen or a brief time waster while you\u2019re waiting for the online lobby to fill up. The open world has many positive elements, but it feels strangely underdeveloped for a Nintendo game, especially a vitally important launch title. Although the most curious thing is that this potentially fatal flaw doesn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n

How is Mario Kart World different from Mario Kart 8?<\/h2>\n

Everyone knows what Mario Kart is and how it works. Its simplicity is one of its core appeals and World is sensible enough not to mess with that, with its biggest new control addition being a charge jump that is quite hard to use, since you can\u2019t steer while powering it up.<\/p>\n

The new wall ride move – essentially wall running but in a car – is also tricky to pull off, and often needs a charge jump to begin, so this is definitely still a game of skill, no matter what you tell yourself between gritted teeth, when being blue-shelled right at the finish line.<\/p>\n

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There are a few new power-ups, with the golden shell that trails coins and the return of the jump-enhancing feather being amongst the most potent, but none of them are game-changers. What does make a massive difference though is the fact that there\u2019s now 24 drivers on the track at once – twice as many as the previous maximum.<\/p>\n

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