At yesterday’s Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo revealed launch game Mario Kart World. It’s an evolution of the series by going open world, but how does that impact its Grand Prix mode?
Today, in a Nintendo Treehouse: Live presentation, more of the game was shown, which answered some questions. For instance, if the map is one continuous world, will the races still consist of standard lap courses?
The answer is yes and no. If you’ve played Mario Kart 8 (who hasn’t), you’ll be aware of the Mount Wario track (and others) that’s not in laps but is one continuous track split into sections. It seems that’s how many of Mario Kart World’s courses will operate, to give the flow of multiple locations existing in one world.
In the Treehouse example, Nintendo showed the Mushroom Cup consisting of four tracks: Mario Bros. Circuit, Crown City, Whistlestop Summit, and DK Spaceport. These are distinct locations, but blend together into a consistent Grand Prix.
Mario Bros. Circuit takes place in the desert, with the Yoshi Diner and more from the game’s initial tease. It begins with a standing start and runs over three laps, as usual. (Note, though, the weather does dynamically change as the race plays out)
Things change with the second course. After the first race concludes, the second continues from the same location in a rolling start. The track blends into Crown City as one path split into three “laps” towards the finish line, the environment slowly morphing from desert motorway to cityscape.
The third track operates in a similar manner, beginning with a rolling start and then the environment slowly changing over one continuous track split into lap sections. However, the final two laps form a complete circuit for a more traditional race feel, overall blending the two styles.
My favourite of the tracks was the final DK Spaceport, clearly inspired by the classic Donkey Kong arcade game with its red rails and giant barrels, and taking place continuously over eight lap sections.
After the Grand Prix, Nintendo showed the Free Roam mode. Players can effectively drive across the entire world however they please, which, more than anything, shows the genius of Nintendo’s level design that not only do the courses work individually, but they blend together into a continuous world too.
Free Roam also allows players to teleport to a specific course, and includes a photo mode to tinker with screenshots before uploading to the improved capture sharing on the revamped Switch app.
For more on Mario Kart World, check out Eurogamer editor-in-chief Tom Phillips’ hands-on impressions on why Mario Kart World is the Switch 2’s killer app.