Mario Kart, but in an open world. It’s one of those combinations that didn’t seem blindingly obvious until Nintendo went and did it, at which point suddenly it made perfect sense. For the developers, it must have been a moment akin to the first time someone accidentally elbowed a salt shaker into a batch of caramel and invented the best flavor on the planet.
We’ve had a chance to play Mario Kart World ahead of its launch alongside Nintendo’s new Switch 2 console on June 5 and we’re pleased to report it’s the most exciting Mario Kart since the first one way back in 1992. In the same way Forza Horizon completely revolutionised the Forza series, the open world in Mario Kart World promises to do the same for Nintendo’s kart racer. Only with significantly more banana peels.
Not that we didn’t have a few concerns when Mario Kart World was first announced. There was a danger that some of the distinctive character of Mario Kart’s courses would be lost with the transition to a single, giant sandbox. But whereas a Forza Horizon game has to be a vaguely coherent landscape in a particular region, Mario Kart World’s map boasts diversity that other more grounded racers can only dream of. You’ll seamlessly transition from racing along Terminator 2-style dry canals, into a snow-capped peak, through a wild west canyon, and then on to a construction site that’s home to a giant robotic ape. It’ll be some time before we see that last one in a Forza game.
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What’s more, each area isn’t just background scenery; the tracks within that open world boast the same fiendish design and Nintendo attention to detail we’ve come to expect from a standalone Mario Kart circuit. Our favourite was a haunted cinema course that allowed you to leap directly into the screen and power slide along film reels through a silent, black and white horror movie. Having previously tried to sit through the original 1920s Nosferatu film, we’re now certain it would be elevated with the addition of a go-kart race.
The other thing the open world allows for is Knockout Tour, an online multiplayer mode which could well become your new favourite way to play Mario Kart, as long as you can handle the enormous amount of temple-throbbing stress that comes with it. It’s a mad, sustained dash across the whole map, stopping off at a series of locations along the way.
At each checkpoint, the 24 starting racers are whittled down, with the trailing four karts knocked out permanently, and, this being Mario Kart, the race order is constantly shifting as players get clobbered with power-ups, including the dreaded blue shell. It might be worth getting in early with a prescription for blood pressure medication just so you’re good and ready for launch day.
Mario Kart World doesn’t appear to have lost anything in the transition to an open world design and, worry not, if all you want to do is play classic, split-screen Mario Kart races on a single circuit that’s catered for as well. We’re yet to find out what activities are available when cruising around the traffic-filled roads of the Mushroom Kingdom between races, but with Nintendo’s reputation for prioritising fun, we’re not likely to be short of things to do. That’s if we can tear ourselves away from one more go at Knockout Tour...
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
