Nintendo has shared a fresh 15-minute look at Mario Kart World in a dedicated Nintendo Direct stream. The Switch 2 exclusive kart racing sequel is coming out alongside the new console on 5th June.
The Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct gave us a deeper dive into what this new entry in the long-running karting series will offer. From the game reveal a couple weeks ago we already learned about the larger 24-player races, the shift to an open world that’s filled with race circuits that you actually race between as part of many Grand Prix events, the new Knockout Tour mode, and plenty more.
There were also plenty of teases in the trailer, subsequent Treehouse Live showcase and hands on events, such as snacking on food to unlock new character costumes – they transform you mid-race but are then unlocked for the rest of the game – rail grinding and wall-jumping, new water vehicle transformations, the ability to commandeer some world vehicles, and more.
The Direct runs through the basics, such as picking characters and karts, each of which combines to give different stats for when you head out on track, much like in Mario Kart 8, the structure of Grand Prix and Knockout Tour, the menagerie of items new and old, and plenty more. There’s new additions like Kamek, who can transform rivals, and, yup, you’ll still get the more powerful items when you’re towards the back.
Similar to Mario Kart 8, newer players can use smart steering to help stay on track, or tilt controls (including with a Joy-Con 2 wheel) to make things harder. New features when racing include the Charge Jump – hold the drift button while going straight to jump up – which is great for dodging incoming attacks, hopping up onto grind rails and wall-riding. You can also Rewind, to roll your position back and let you redo a stretch of a race, perhaps to master a particular trick or jump – other drivers are not rewound though, so don’t use this too much or you’ll end up dead last!
Beyond Grand Prix and Knockout Tour, a standalone custom race you have more control over the race you take part in. You can choose to race a particular track three times round in as is standard, or do a point-to-point race style by racing from one track to another. This even lets you create races that you don’t get to experience in the main game modes.
Battle mode has also been confirmed with a showdown where you have five balloon lives, use items to try and knock out other players’ lives, and the last player standing (driving?) wins.
If you’re exploring the open world in Free Roam, you can look out for P switches that will start particular missions while driving around, such as collecting blue coins or heading to checkpoints.
The game supports four player split-screen multiplayer and up to eight players in local wireless play, while up to 24 players is limited to online play. Here you can party up with friends while free roaming – meet up with your crew in the world map and then cruise around together, battle and race.
We went hands on with the game at the first Switch 2 hands on event earlier this month, and had a great time checking out the expanded races, the point-to-point Knockout Tour, seeing all the new characters and falling in love with the ability to race as Cow.
Mario Kart World Preview – Can Nintendo revolutionise the karting world again?
Chatting about the Knockout Tour, I said, “Knockout Tour is one long cross-country race, with checkpoints to blaze a trail towards and the final four drivers to reach that point being eliminated. From twenty-four racers at the start, it will chop the field down to just four by the time you’re racing for the win. It ramps up the pressure in a very different way, and the sheer number of players, the volume of pickups going off makes for some seriously topsy-turvy moments as you tumble from 5th to 19th and the cusp of getting completely knocked out as you come to the next time gate.”
