Mario Kart World dropped on the Switch 2 back in June, and man, what a journey it’s been. And not in a good way, either.
I’ve been playing Mario Kart since the days of N64, and this new one is funky. It’s incredible and maddening all at once. Nintendo took some massive risks with this one, and depending on who you talk to, they either nailed it or completely missed the mark.
The Price Tag That Started All the Drama
So, let’s address the elephant in the room. $79.99 for a Mario Kart game. It’s a full $20 more than what we shelled out for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. People were ticked off about this to such a degree that “DROP THE PRICE” was already trending on Twitter before the game was released. As Nintendo’s Direct presentation unfolded, fans fumed and flooded the chat with demands for a lower cost.
Nintendo’s reasoning? There’s way more content in the game than in previous entries. They’re not wrong about that; with 50 playable characters and 30 main tracks (plus over 200 connecting roads between them), there’s plenty to see here. But here’s the thing: when you’re already spending $500 on a Switch 2, an additional $80 for the one game everyone wants to play is a lot of money.
Some people got lucky with the Switch 2 bundle that included the game, saving them about $30. But those sold out fast. Now if you want Mario Kart World, you’re paying full price.
What Makes This Game Different (For Better or Worse)
This isn’t just Mario Kart 9 with a new coat of paint. Nintendo was actually trying something completely new here, and this is where things get messy.
The game does this semi-open-world thing. You can steer around in Free Roam mode, exploring the map as you’d like. There are little Yoshi food stands all over the place to grab snacks, which unlock new outfits for your racer. Desire Mario in a cowboy outfit? Peach in a racing suit? It’s all there.
Now, the races themselves support up to 24 players, which is twice as big as we had before. You can grind on rails, drive up walls and take shortcuts that are more like parkour than racing. First time I had to ride the wall in order to dodge a blue shell? Pretty cool, not gonna lie.
But here’s where Nintendo screwed up: the connecting roads between tracks. They are called “intermission” courses, and they’re pretty much all straight highways. Not fun to race on. Not interesting to look at. Only…boring stretches of road that make you feel like you’re commuting to work, not playing a game.
The Update That Broke the Internet
Things really blew up in late June when Nintendo released an update. Seems small on paper, right? Wrong.
Before the update, if you picked “Random” in online multiplayer, you’d get traditional three-lap races on actual tracks most of the time. Players figured this out and basically everyone was doing it because nobody wanted those boring highway sections.
Nintendo’s update changed how the random selection worked. Suddenly, those intermission tracks started showing up way more often. Players were pissed. Like, really pissed.
One person on Mario Kart World Reddit said, “I already drive for an hour on a highway to get to work; now I need to do that in Mario Kart too?” One wrote that it has been “dropped from a 9.5/10 to like a 6/10 with the smallest update they could put out.”
The backlash was so intense that the game’s subreddit began banning negative posts. Moderators were overwhelmed with complaints. Fans review-bombed the game on Metacritic. Within a few days its user score plummeted from 8.3 to about 7.5.
Nintendo Finally Listened (Kind Of)
In September, Nintendo released another update that tried to fix some of the problems. They made it easier to get actual lap races online again, though some players say it’s still not quite right.
They also implemented collectible tracking on the Free Roam map, which should’ve been there since day 1. But here’s the annoying thing: Nintendo never described why it made these decisions in the first place. No communication. No “hey, we hear you.” Just quiet updates that partially fix things months after launch.
As of early November, the game has sold more than 9.5 million copies. And that’s huge for a game only out for less than six months. About 80% of people who bought a Switch 2 also got Mario Kart World, mostly through those bundles. So yeah, Nintendo is making bank even with all the complaints.
The Good Stuff (Because It’s Not All Bad)
Look, I’m complaining a lot, but there’s actually some really cool stuff in this game. The Knockout Tour mode? That’s where you race through multiple tracks back-to-back, and if you’re not placing well enough at checkpoints, you’re out. It’s stressful in the best way possible.
The Mario Kart World characters roster is wild. You can play as a Goomba who somehow drives without hands. There’s a dolphin from Super Mario World. A cow from Moo Moo Meadows. Nabbit, who’s been waiting years for his moment. Nintendo went deep into their character library for this one.
The soundtrack is insane too. Over 200 tracks, including remixes of music from old Mario games. The way the music transitions when you’re moving between areas feels smooth and keeps the energy up.
And the new movement mechanics? Once you get the hang of wall-riding and rail-grinding, it feels so much better than just drifting around corners. The skill ceiling is way higher now. Good players can absolutely dominate if they master all the new tricks.
Where Things Stand Now
As of November 2025, the game is in a weird spot. Nintendo keeps hinting that DLC is coming. There’s evidence pointing to Donkey Kong-themed content, maybe in a wave of updates. Some people think we might get new worlds themed around other Nintendo franchises—imagine racing through a Zelda area or a Metroid track.
The question is whether Nintendo will keep supporting this game long-term like they did with Mario Kart 8. That game lasted over 10 years and got tons of DLC. If Mario Kart World gets the same treatment, it could end up being amazing. But right now? It feels half-baked.
The competition is heating up too. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds just came out and people are saying it fills the Mario Kart hole better than World does. That’s gotta sting for Nintendo.
What You Should Know Before Buying
If you’re thinking about getting this game, here’s the real talk: it’s good, but it’s not perfect. The racing mechanics are better than ever. The character roster is huge. There’s a ton of content if you count all those connecting roads (even if half of them are boring).
But if you loved Mario Kart 8’s simple, pick-up-and-play vibe, this might not be for you. World wants you to learn new techniques. It wants you to explore. It wants you to try different modes instead of just running Grand Prix over and over.
The $80 price is still steep. If you can find a deal or a bundle, grab it. But paying full price when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is right there for cheaper? That’s a tough sell.
The Bottom Line
Mario Kart World is Nintendo swinging for the fences. Sometimes they connect. Sometimes they whiff. The game sold millions, but player sentiment is all over the place. Some people think it’s the best Mario Kart ever. Others went back to playing Mario Kart 8.
Me? I keep bouncing between the two games. When I want something fresh and challenging, I boot up World. When I just want to chill and race, I go back to 8. That probably says everything you need to know about where this game landed.
Nintendo has a chance to fix this with updates and DLC. They’ve got a solid foundation. They just need to listen to what players actually want instead of forcing their vision on everyone. We’ll see if they can pull it off.