Nintendo aired the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct this morning, revealing most of the content coming to Nintendo’s flagship racing series.
Nintendo pulled back the curtain on the next instalment of its best-selling Mario Kart racing franchise today in a special Nintendo Direct focused on the newest entry. The company gave fans a first look inside the title and showcased many of the new features coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 launch title, including items, courses, new in-race mechanics, free roam and more. If you missed the stream, the Nintendo Direct is approximately 15 minutes long and can be viewed below.
First off, the Mario Kart World Direct jumped right into the courses that will appear in-game. Mario Bros. Circuit, Crown City, Salty Salty Speedway, Starview Peak, Boo Cinema, Toad’s Factory, Peach Beach and Wario Shipyard have been officially revealed. Nintendo also mentioned it will “reimagine” older courses to fit with the free-roam open map that Mario Kart World injects players into.
Next, Nintendo released a list, which may not be complete at the time of this post, of racers players can use to challenge the courses. With a staggering 24 racers on a course at a time, Nintendo has pulled characters from across its IPs to fill the roster, including some previously featured as track hazards in the franchise. As of now, that roster includes:
- Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Daisy
- Yoshi
- Baby Peach
- Baby Daisy
- Baby Rosalina
- Rosalina, Koopa
- Rocky Wrench
- Conkdor
- Goomba
- Spike
- Cow
- King Boo
- Bowser
- Donkey Kong
- Waluigi
- Baby Mario
- Baby Luigi
- Birdo
- Bowser Jr.
- Lakitu
- Toad
- Wario
- Pauline
- Toadette
- Shy Guy
- Nabbit
- Piranha Plant
- Hammer Bro
- Monty Mole
- Dry Bones
- Wiggler
- Cataquack
- Pianta
- Sidestepper
- Cheep Cheep.
The two main modes in Mario Kart World are the returning Grand Prix and the new Knockout Tour. Grand Prix functions as fans would expect, taking on four races at a time and hoping you net enough points to be given the #1 podium spot. The Knockout Tour is a suspenseful elimination mode where racers must navigate from one end of Mario Kart World to the other. Racers will need to maintain a good standing place to ensure they aren’t eliminated. Two new features were added to World, in addition to the Knockout Tour, including the rewind and charge jump features.
Charge jump lets racers avoid obstacles, other racers’ items, and reach higher rails to grind on, making it an essential part of a racer’s utility belt on a gruelling course. Rewind allows players to play god, and rewind events that have already happened mid-race. This feature has been used in previous racing titles, such as Forza Horizon 5, and allows racers to correct mistakes they may have made up to a certain point.
The open world in Mario Kart World appears similar to other Mario-style titles, featuring a wealth of collectibles and obstacles to explore. P Switches, made popular in other Mario games, have also made an appearance on the world map, giving players more missions to accomplish and blue coins to collect.
Nintendo has included a photo mode for fans to share their favourite scenery or their best angry Luigi face with others. Exploring the world can be done in multiplayer, with up to four players on one console. Local play supports up to eight players using multiple Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, while Online Play allows up to 24 players from around the world.
That just about wraps up the details shared during the Mario Kart World Direct. Fans looking for more information can visit the official Nintendo website.
