I won’t waste anyone’s time with much of an introduction because a new Mario Kart game is way too exciting! During a dedicated Nintendo Direct today, Nintendo fans got another good look at Mario Kart World. Read on for information on the upcoming Switch 2 game’s courses, characters, races, items, roadside assistance options, multiplayer, and more!
Courses
Courses in Mario Kart World are inspired by their surrounding region. The game features many new racetracks. Mario Bros. Circuit is set in a canyon and comes complete with ridges and roads. Crown City is filled with sights and structures. You can even fly down main street! Salty Salty Speedway has you riding rapid water through a city’s canals. Starview Peak is snowy and very slippery. Boo Cinema is a new kind of ghostly drive-in movie theatre. There is also Toad’s Factory, Peach Beach, Wario Shipyard, and more. Nostalgic courses are reimagined and spread throughout the world, where races happen during the day and night.
Characters
Familiar faces include Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi. New drivers include Goomba, Spike, and Cow. Select your character and choose your vehicle. Characters and vehicles have different stats, creating different combinations to suit your preferred racing style.
Races
There are two main types of races, Grand Prix and Knockout Tour. Up to 24 drivers can participate in both modes. Watch out for cars that shoot Bullet Bills, attacks from Hammer Bros., and other course-related obstacles.
Grand Prix consists of four different races per Cup, held across the world. There are the Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, Shell Cup, Banana Cup, and more. Racers will need to drive between courses; for example, in the Mushroom Cup, you start at Mario Bros. Circuit, then the second race covers the distance from Mario Bros. Circuit to Crown City, and then you compete in the third race in Crown City. If you conquer every Grand Prix Cup, you’ll unlock a certain infamous colourful course.
Knockout Tour has you racing in rallies (examples include Golden Rally, Ice Rally, Moon Rally, and Spiny Rally) from one end of the world to the other, with checkpoints throughout. If you don’t make the cut, you’re out of the running. You need to pace yourselves during these non-stop sprints.
New items
Throw a Coin Shell, and a trail of coins appears in front of you—but anyone can grab them. Freeze rivals and send them spinning with an Ice Flower. Toss Hammers in an arc, and they might land on your enemies; Hammers also stay on the course for a brief time. Go big with the Mega Mushroom. Feathers allow you to jump up and avoid attacks, and can propel you to secret paths. Kamek’s mysterious magic transforms your rivals into… something. The worse your placement, the more likely you are to find powerful items like Bullet Bill and Lightning.
Roadside assistance
Mario Kart World’s added support features are designed to help new players, but they can also be a great help to returning players. There are toggles for Smart Steering (stay on the course), Auto-Acceleration, Auto-Use Item, and Tilt Controls (steer using motion controls with a horizontal Joy-Con 2 controller). A Joy-Con Wheel accessory that makes it feel like you’re really driving. There are also options for Vertical Camera and Horizontal Camera.
Drive-thru restaurants
Yoshi’s restaurants are scattered throughout the world. Roll up to a drive-thru to grab some Dash Food. These orders give you a speed boost and sometimes unlock meal-themed outfits. For example, if you eat pizza, you might get an Italian-themed outfit. There are plenty of food varieties and outfits to find, so head to Yoshi’s whenever you can.
New tricks
Charge Jump allows you to leap over obstacles, jump onto rails to grind, dodge attacks, and wall-ride. Chain together wall-rides and you can discover hidden routes. Rewind lets you do just that in Free Roam or single-player mode. Use it to reset your vehicle to its original position to fix driving mishaps, but keep in mind that your rivals will keep driving normally.
More modes
Time Trials has you race against the clock; you can also go online to compete with someone else’s ghost data. VS Race allows you to customize the rules of the road with options for Class, Teams, Items, COM Difficulty, Course Selection, and Race Count. You can also choose routes that aren’t in Grand Prix or Knockout Tour. And Battle Mode is back with classics like Balloon Battle and new courses like Coin Runners.
Free Roam
In Free Roam, you can drive anywhere on the map. Drive rivers, seas, the desert, and more. Jump off cliffs and make some fancy moves. Hit one of hundreds of P Switches hidden throughout the world to start missions that help you hone your driving ability. There are also hidden coins, hidden panels, and more. Free Roam also features a new photo mode: strike a pose, face the camera, choose a border, and snap away!
Multiplayer
One game cart allows up to four players to compete on one screen using one system. Local wireless play supports up to eight players, with up to two players per Switch 2 system. 24 players from anywhere in the world can join a race or battle in online play. Meet your friends in Free Roam to race, battle, or just take a road trip to see the sights together. Check the map to see where your friends are and instantly warp to their location. You can also take photos together.
GameChat and CameraPlay
Switch 2 features a built-in microphone, so chat with your friends while driving together or watch each other’s game screens. With the Switch 2 Camera accessory, your face will pop up beside your racer, and you can see your friends’ real-time reactions while playing online. If you’re playing locally on one system, one camera can detect up to four people’s faces that can also be seen in-game.
Mario Kart World will be released for Switch 2 on June 5.
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