Mario Kart and I go way back. I remember grinding out every shortcut in Double Dash on my old CRT, cursing blue shells and clutching first place with white knuckles. So when I finally got my hands on Mario Kart World for the shiny new Switch 2, I was hyped but wary – Nintendo’s always a bit unpredictable with their big series shake-ups. After a week of living and breathing this game, through frantic multiplayer nights and quiet solo “Balade” explorations, I’ve got a lot to say – and it’s not all “Mamma mia!”
My first impression, honestly, was just how familiar it all looked — and then, five minutes later, how absolutely weird it started to feel. The opening race threw the new “charged jump” mechanic at me before I’d even wrapped my head around the controls. I found myself holding the jump button way too long, overshooting jumps and crashing spectacularly. Rail grinding? My first attempt, I missed the rail entirely and ended up in a pit. Classic “try, fail, laugh, repeat” Mario Kart energy, but with an extra layer of “what am I doing?”
But that’s the thing: this game demands you unlearn a bit of your Mario Kart muscle memory. You can totally play it “normal” and do fine, but the speedrunners and try-hards (guilty) will find a whole new skill ceiling here. It’s closer to the feeling I got the first time I played Tony Hawk — when you finally stick a rail-jump combo, you feel like a genius. When you don’t, well…you lose three places and curse Toad like never before.
Charging jumps changes everything. You can hold the jump button in place to build up for a mega-leap — which, on some tracks, is the only way to snag elusive shortcuts. It took me a good two hours before I was hitting those consistently, and even now, I still mess up if I get greedy. The rail grinding, meanwhile, is pure “risk versus reward”: lining it up perfectly nets you huge momentum, but one slip and you’re basically giving up your spot. The vertical driving stuff — walls, ceilings, Mario Galaxy vibes — is less flashy than I expected, but it does freshen up the track layouts. Some of the best moments are when a shortcut sends you spiraling up a building, dodging obstacles while upside-down. It’s not quite anti-gravity from the previous game; it’s more “hang on, this is wild!”
There’s a bit of a skill gap here. My more casual friends were still able to hold their own in the lower CCs, but once we hit 150cc and above, the new mechanics separate the tourists from the die-hards. The best part? You can totally ignore most of the new tricks and still have fun — but if you want to climb the leaderboards, mastery is required. After 10 hours, I was still finding new places to take risks. That’s the kind of depth that keeps me coming back.
Nintendo hyped up the new Balade mode as the “big reinvention,” and I’ll admit, the first hour or two was pure joy. It’s basically a huge Mario Kart playground — you’re free to roam across beaches, forests, urban sprawls, volcanoes, all dotted with secrets, collectibles, and bite-sized missions. I spent way too long trying to nail the perfect time on a “Mission P” coin dash, only to realize the reward was…a Peach sticker. Cute, but not enough to really hook me long-term.
Here’s the rub: Balade mode feels more like a chill training ground than a core progression path. No unlocking main karts, no meaningful tie-ins to the rest of the game. You get cosmetics — which, hey, I won’t say no to a funky Koopa Troopa decal — but after three nights, my interest drifted. The mini-map is great, the rewind feature (for when you biff a shortcut) is a lifesaver, but without a sense of progression or high-stakes unlocks, it feels more like a Mario Kart theme park than an adventure. Fun for a break, but not the main event.
If anything in Mario Kart World “changed the game” for me, it’s the Survival mode. Think: 24 racers, one long point-to-point track, getting eliminated at each section. It’s fast, it’s brutal, and it’s exactly what my competitive heart wanted. My first Survival run, I got cocky after nailing a rail grind, only to watch the elimination gate close in my face right before the finish. The tension here is real — every item, every shortcut, every risky jump matters. The maps are tuned for this, with insanely tight cutoffs that make you sweat.
There’s a competitive online ranking (which I’m nowhere near the top of), and nothing beats the adrenaline of scraping through an elimination zone thanks to a perfectly timed mushroom boost. Only real complaint? No proper spectator mode — I wanted to watch my buddy clutch a win after I got knocked out, but right now, you’re stuck twiddling your thumbs. Feels like a missed opportunity for the streaming crowd.
Mario Kart World is a stunner, no two ways about it. Every region in Balade mode feels hand-crafted, from the glowing lava flows to the neon-lit city highways. The art style is super cohesive — a real “Saturday morning cartoon” vibe with little environmental stories tucked into each track. The new Switch 2 screen makes the colors pop in handheld, and playing docked on a big TV is just as pretty. I kept stopping in the middle of races just to gawk at a temple ruin or a massive thunderstorm in the background. (My stats took a hit, but it was worth it.)
Performance is mostly solid, but not flawless. In single-player, it’s buttery — no complaints. But during local multiplayer (I did a four-player split-screen session with family), and especially when the weather got wild (rainstorm on the volcano track, I’m looking at you), I definitely saw the framerate dip to 30 FPS for stretches. Not a dealbreaker, but if you’re sensitive to this stuff (I am, especially after years of fighting games), it’s noticeable. Also, the music: still classic Mario Kart, but nothing stuck in my head this time. A nice touch would’ve been displaying track names or remix info, but that’s a nitpick.
Let’s get the basics out of the way: Grand Prix (50cc, 100cc, 150cc) is all here, plus Time Trials and the good old Battle mode. If you’re looking for pure karting mayhem, you won’t be disappointed. The only real bummer is the lack of 200cc at launch — which, as someone who likes their Mario Kart fast, is a bit of a letdown. I know they’ll probably patch it in later, but still.
Track variety is strong — some clever reimaginings of classics (Rainbow Road, Boo Cinema), plus plenty of new wild designs that make creative use of the new mechanics. Customization has been streamlined a bit, but your stats (speed, acceleration, weight, handling) still matter. The meta will probably get sweaty fast online. As always, the game is stupidly easy for kids or non-gamers to pick up, but there’s a meaty skill ceiling if you want to push yourself. That’s what keeps me playing Mario Kart year after year.
If you love the chaos and competition of classic Mario Kart, you’ll absolutely have a blast. The new mechanics add serious depth for those who want to master the nitty-gritty, and Survival mode alone is worth the price of admission for competitive types. The open world stuff is more chill — great for younger players, families, or completionists who want to see every corner but not essential for everyone.
If, like me, you come from a background of loving technical racers (and fighting games, where every frame counts), you’ll notice the performance dips, and the lack of 200cc at launch stings a little. But on the whole, this is a worthy evolution, not a revolution, of the formula. It’s not Shenmue-level deep, but the satisfaction of nailing a shortcut with a perfectly-timed jump is real.
Mario Kart World is the most fun I’ve had with the series since the Wii U days — and it’s the first time in ages that I’ve felt challenged to rethink how I play. The new mechanics are smart, the Survival mode is genuinely addictive, and the visuals are top-tier. But the open world feels like wasted potential, and the technical hiccups keep it from absolute greatness. If you’re a Mario Kart lifer: buy it. If you’re a casual fan: you’ll still have a great time, even if you bounce off Balade mode after a weekend.
My real score is 8.5/10 — could’ve been higher with smoother performance and a more meaningful open world, but this is still a must-play for anyone even remotely into kart racing.