The recently concluded Mario Kart World Direct revealed a lot of details on the upcoming kart-racing title from the Mario Kart series. Read on to learn more about the game’s free-roam world and what it features.
Mario Kart World Direct Reveals
An Interconnected World
Nintendo just held Mario Kart World Direct on April 17 where they detailed several aspects and features of the game. Players can drive around Mario Kart World and explore different regions fans are familiar with and ones that are new to the series.
According to Nintendo, "In Mario Kart World, the game’s courses are interspersed across the world with roads leading from one to the next – so players can experience navigating roads in between courses!"
Discover the world of Mario like never before, with all the scenic views and iconic landmarks spread across the world. There are also hidden items and missions as players roam around to improve their driving skills outside of races.
New and classic courses have been revealed, including Mario Bros. Circuit, Crown City, Salty Salty Speedway, Starview Peak, Boo Cinema, Toad's Factory, Peach Beach, and Wario Shipyard. Classic courses have been reimagined to fit perfectly in this whole new Mario Kart experience.
Grand Prix and Knockout Tour
There are 2 main types of racing: Grand Prix and Knockout Tour. Both races can have up to 24 racers, the most in the series’ history. Racers must be aware of all the obstacles they may encounter in these races, such as cars that shoot out Bullet Bills, attacks from the Hammer Bros, and more.
For the Grand Prix, players must play through four consecutive races to win the Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and more. Unlike past games in the series, players must travel to the next race for them to continue with the Grand Prix. After completing all of the Grand Prix Cups, a certain "colorful course" will show up, which fans speculate to be Rainbow Road.
A new set of races called Knockout Tour was revealed, which takes players from one end of the world to another. These extended races are somewhat of a survival mode where players must have a place for them to proceed to the next race, or else, they’re dropped from the rally completely.
Items, Characters, and More
Mario Kart World features a new set of items players can use during races, with old ones returning. These include the Coin Shell, which can knock opponents out of the way and leave a trail of coins for anyone to collect, the Ice Flower, which freezes anyone it touches, the Big Mushroom, which makes players go huge and can splat other racers, and more.
Classic Mushroom Kingdom characters like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and others make up the colorful cast of racers. Additionally, new characters such as Goomba, Spike, and even Cow make their debut in this game. All of these characters have alternate costumes hidden in the world for players to find and try out.
Playing With Friends
The game has a slew of different game modes players can ride out and enjoy. Time Trials allow players to hop online and battle out ghost data of other players in the world.VS mode offers a wide array of customization, allowing players to create teams of racers to compete against one another. Battle mode returns with Coin Runners, where players must collect the most coins in a race to win, and Balloon Battle, a race to see who has the last balloon standing.
Mario Kart World offers both local and online play, with up to four players racing in split screen using 1 system. It also supports local wireless play where up to 8 players (2 per Switch 2 device) can race. Switch 2’s new GameChat feature allows players to chat and check out each other’s screens.
There are also additional options that provide players with some assistance for their races. These include Smart Steering, which helps players stay on course and not leap off tracks, Auto-accelerate to automatically drive racers forward, Tilt controls for added immersiveness with its motion control, and support for the all-new Joy-Con 2 Wheel for that added racer experience.
Mario Kart World looks to redefine the kart-racing genre with how it opens up the map, allowing players to freely explore the world of Mario and his friends. Mario Kart World is set to release on June 5, 2025 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2. To stay up to date with the latest information about the game, check out our article below!
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Mario Kart World Direct revs up new details on the biggest Mario Kart ever, coming to Nintendo Switch 2 at launch
Mario Kart World Direct 4.17.2025
