Sports & Racing · 2025 · Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 9 · local · online
Mario Kart World
Mario Kart leaves the single track behind: between races you drive across one connected world map.
What it is about
The tracks no longer sit side by side in isolation but on one connected map. Between two races you drive the link yourself, and in some modes that drive is the competition.
Alongside the familiar Grand Prix there is Knockout Tour: a long route across the map where the drivers at the back drop out after each stretch. Stay ahead and you keep going; fall behind and you watch. There is also free roam, where nobody wins and you simply roll across the map.
Up to four people race on one console's split screen, up to eight wirelessly across several consoles, and twenty-four over the net. The game fills any empty places with computer drivers so the field is always full.
Our verdict for couples
The comparison with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is unavoidable, and it does not come out clearly. The races themselves are more familiar than the new world map suggests; what is genuinely new is Knockout Tour, where the last drivers drop out after each stretch. For two people on a sofa, nothing essential changes: one console, one copy, two controllers, four minutes per race. If you have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and are happy with it, you can take your time. If you are starting fresh on Switch 2, this is the game you can put on in the evening without discussing it first.
Pros
- Four on a split screen without it bogging down
- A race is over in four minutes
- Steering assist and auto-accelerate bring any newcomer along
Cons
- Knockout Tour is harsh if one of you is the weaker driver
- Free-roaming the world map does not sustain itself for long
- If you know Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, little here feels new
Suitable from
Casual
- Conflict potential
- Spirited
- Cosiness
- Mixed
- When you can stop
- After 15 minutes
- How long it lasts
- No ending
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