At what point does a spinoff become the main event? Mario Kart 8 is one of the best-selling games of all time, easily moving more units that any other Mario game. Many people, though, including Nintendo itself, would consider the line of Super Mario platformers that predates the kart racers to be the main franchise—the trunk from which every other branch, including Mario Kart, grows. And, since 1996’s Super Mario 64, specifically the 3D line of Super Mario games, whose most recent full game was 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey—which arrived six months into the original Switch’s lifespan. The debate over what constitutes a “mainline” Mario game will probably never end—Kyle Orland will be writing about that for the rest of his career—but Mario Kart has always clearly been on the outside of that conversation. It is its own unique thing, one that just happens to have eclipsed the thing it grew out of in terms of raw numbers. And that won’t change any time soon, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continuing to sell millions of copies a year, and the brand new Mario Kart World launching as Nintendo’s only major new release for the Switch 2.
If a Nintendo system just had to launch with only a single major first-party game, Mario Kart is definitely the franchise to pick from a popularity standpoint. And based on a feverish night of racing (and a few rounds at April’s Switch 2 preview event) I’m pretty sure Mario Kart World will thrill its fans as a welcome follow-up to 8, whose Wii U guts are over 10 years old at this point. The Kart faithful have had a long wait for a wholly new race, and that’s the most notable thing about World: it does feel entirely new, like the next generation leap you’d hope to see from Mario Kart 8. And sure, that leap might be solidly into the last generation of gaming consoles—imagine a PlayStation 4 game in comparison to Mario Kart 8’s PS3 game—but Nintendo fans should be used to not being on the cutting edge of technology at this point. The only thing that ultimately matters with games like this is how fun they are, and that’s been the main currency of Nintendo games for 40+ years.
If you’re looking for growth from the Switch 2, well, Mario Kart World plows right into the online gaming world of 2008. It hooks you up with quick, pick-up-and-play matchups with other racers from around the world, and even the ability to chat with others… as long as they’re on your friends list. This is still, almost absurdly, relatively new turf for Nintendo, who have been notoriously reluctant to embrace the kind of online communications that have been common in games since the second Bush’s second term. And, honestly, more power to them: anybody with any sense learned talking to online gaming randos was an endlessly repellent experience. (I haven’t let the chat rip with strangers since an especially unpleasant match in whatever Gears of War game introduced Horde mode.) World values online play to an extent still rare from Nintendo—its vaunted Knockout mode, its greatest new addition, practically depends on it—and clearly reaps the benefits from Nintendo’s caution towards online biz.
That Knockout mode is just as exhilarating at home as it was at the April preview. This is the battle royale-ish multiplayer scrum that eliminates four races after every course until there’s only a final four left. Mario Kart’s long history of rubber banding can be a major factor here—I’ve had at least one race where I went from first place to elimination mere seconds away from the finish line—but the cycle of stress and relief makes Knockout the ideal way to play Mario Kart online. The stakes simply feel higher when you’re racing not for some meaningless trophy but for the right to keep racing. And with every Knockout race using six different tracks, it’s a quick way to get experience on all of the game’s courses.
World also expands Mario Kart’s scope by being an actual open world, one you can explore and roam throughout when you aren’t in a race. It fills that world out with various short missions to pursue and interactive elements—cars to dodge, ramps to stunt off of, wilding hordes of buffalo to charge into—and the kind of changing landscapes you find during actual cross-country drives. This has earned World many comparisons to the Forza Horizon series, but temper those expectations; as interesting as it can be to aimlessly drive across these vistas, this world is a little too empty and lifeless to really capture my attention. It might seem a little goofy how Horizon has ghost cars bearing your online friends’ user names racing through its streets, but that does add something alluring and palpable to that world; you won’t see other karts or characters while roaming in Mario Kart World, which makes it feel a little dead, no matter how busy the environment gets. It also misses the radio stations from Horizon; driving through the countryside is always easier when the radio’s humming. Free roaming is a good idea and marks a real step forward for Mario Kart, but it’s not really fulfilling outside of an occasional change of pace.
Honestly, though, I’ve never been a massive Mario Kart fan. I prefer a plumber who runs and jumps, not races. No matter how popular it gets, Mario Kart will always feel like the spinoff it is to me. Mario Kart World is the most I’ve enjoyed one, though, and largely because of the open-ended challenge of a Knockout race. It also expands on my favorite thing about Mario Kart 8: just how adorable it all is. World’s roster is the most diverse selection of almost painfully cute racers yet. The early favorite, understandably, is Cow, a cow, whose celebrations after a victory might be the cutest thing ever seen in a videogame. Cows not the only critter to take the wheel, though; there’s a bee who seeks to be all business, a mole who totally looks like a teamster, and even Chargin’ Chuck, the football playing Koopa who flexes both biceps when you try to use an item without having one. Mixing and matching the game’s myriad weirdos with its garageful of motor vehicles is as deeply satisfying as any race.
It’s still early for Mario Kart World, of course. I’ve spent maybe five hours with it so far. I’m enjoying it more than I ever did Mario Kart 8, though, and I think it’s more tolerant attitude towards online play will make it similarly more popular with anybody who doesn’t have an easily accessible group of friends to play with in real life. It still can’t compare to any halfway decent Mario platformer, but more than ever I can see why this child has started to overshadow its parent.
Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, TV, travel, theme parks, wrestling, music, and more. You can also find him on Blue Sky.
