Today, Nintendo held a new Nintendo Direct presentation in which the Japanese gaming giant showed off more gameplay details for the upcoming racer Mario Kart World.
Set to debut alongside the Switch 2 on June 5th, Mario Kart World represents the first entirely new mainline Mario Kart game since 2014’s Mario Kart 8, and Nintendo has packed in a fair few new features to reflect that. Here’s everything covered during today’s show!
New and returning courses in Mario Kart World
First, we got a look at some of the courses that will be featured in Mario Kart World. As you’d expect, there will be a number of new courses on offer, as well as several returning favorites.
New courses include the canyon-set Mario Bros. Circuit, the urban Crown City, and the spooky movie theater Boo Cinema, while returning courses include the likes of Toad’s Factory, Peach Beach, and Wario Shipyard.
As revealed at the time of the game’s original announcement, these courses will be integrated into a fully-explorable world, and you’ll need to drive between them when you’re racing in certain modes.
New and returning racers in Mario Kart World
Several new characters will be introduced as part of Mario Kart World‘s lineup. They include the likes of the series’ iconic Goomba, as well as a cloudless Lakitu, New Donk City mayor Pauline, and more.
Of course, you can also look forward to certain characters making a return; Mario and Luigi are givens, and Peach, Bowser, and many others will be coming back to race in Mario Kart World.
You’ll be able to choose which vehicle you want to use while racing, and each vehicle has different stats, as do the characters themselves. It doesn’t look like you’ll be choosing individual parts for your vehicles this time around, though.
Mario Kart World‘s many gameplay modes
We also got a look at the gameplay modes that will be featured in Mario Kart World. As has been previously revealed, the two main modes on offer are Grand Prix and Knockout Tour.
The former works like a classic Mario Kart Grand Prix mode; you’ll race across four courses, and the winner is the racer who accrues the most points, although you will also be driving between courses now.
Knockout Tour, meanwhile, tasks you with placing ahead of other racers to avoid being eliminated. Several different sets of courses will be available for both modes. Of course, classic multiplayer staples like VS Race and Battle Mode will also be available.
Mario Kart World‘s Free Roam mode is exactly what it sounds like; you’ll be exploring the game’s world, finding hidden switches and panels to take on missions. Nintendo didn’t reveal whether the missions will unlock any extra stuff, but they should be a fun way to hone your racing skills.
New items and gameplay tricks
Mario Kart World will introduce a number of new items you can use to get one over on your racing rivals. They include the Mega Mushroom, which lets you grow to a massive size and stomp your enemies, and the Hammer, which you can throw to create obstacles on the course.
These will, of course, accompany returning items like Bullet Bill and the Lightning powerup, although I don’t think I spotted the iconic Blue Shell during the Direct. Hopefully, it’ll be making some kind of return; a Mario Kart game with no Blue Shell is no Mario Kart game at all.
These items will be accompanied by plenty of new gameplay tricks, including wall-riding, grinding on rails, and Charge Jumping, which lets you hold the Drift button while racing straight to charge up a jump. You can then use that jump to dodge projectiles and other hazards.
We also got a look at Mario Kart World‘s drive-thru Yoshi’s, which will let you collect food items in order to unlock new outfits. You can then select these outfits on the character selection screen.
Several support features will be available, too, including smart steering and auto-acceleration, which you can use to level the playing field if you’re experiencing Mario Kart World alongside franchise newbies.
Perhaps the most intriguing of these is the Rewind feature, which lets you rewind yourself to a point before making a mistake. It only works on the racer using it, though, so be aware of that if you’re using it tactically.
That’s everything we got to see during today’s Mario Kart World Direct show! The game is due to launch exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5th.
