The next installment in the Mario Kart franchise looks like it’s going to be a big departure for the series. Mario Kart World is, as its name suggests, a grandiose affair that spans a lot of terrain. An entire, interconnected world awaits. Players will be able to travel between regions across a giant map, as well as ride between locations for races. Take a gander:
Mario Kart World will also boast a series-first with races that can accommodate up to 24-racers at once. That’s a whole lot of competitors! There’s also the new Knockout Tour to try out, where players go from race to race with no interruption. Finish a race, then zoom to the next checkpoint—but if you’re not positioned high enough once you arrive, you’re booted out. In Free Roam, meanwhile, players can explore the map without limitations.
What’s that? Rare did this first with Diddy Kong Racing? You cheeky devils.
All kidding aside, while it isn’t the first time a kart racing game has featured free roaming like this, it’s a departure for Nintendo and the Mario Kart series. Mario Kart World will be available at launch with Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025 as a standalone title or as part of a special bundle with the system. Prepare for some sticker shock, however, as it seems the game comes with an MSRP of $79.99 physical, $69.99 digital. There’s no official word on why the pricing is like this, but we’ll update when we learn more.
Character designs have clearly been tweaked for this new installment, especially Donkey Kong (who has been massacred in this writer’s opinion, but maybe it’ll grow on me). Nintendo was also keen to show off a litany of new costumes/skins for the cast, but it’s not clear if those cosmetics will be DLC-based microtransactions (here’s hoping not). There’s no sign of Link, Inklings, or any of the other guest characters in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but we’ll see what the roster is at a later point, surely. Possibly as soon as the special Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast on April 17 at 6 AM PST.
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