Nintendo is betting that gamers will believe that Mario Kart World will be worth playing on the new Nintendo Switch 2. But it may be hard to convince them to put their money down for an $80 game and a $450 game console.
Those prices were probably impacted by Trump’s tariffs, but they represent a big hurdle for players. So is the Mario Kart World worth it? For sure, it represents a generational change in improvement over Mario Kart 8, which has been showing its age. The Switch 2 Mario Kart Open World game, which I got to play a few times yesterday, is certainly impressive. The title has up to 24 human drivers speeding around a track.
In my first game, I forgot how to drive with the Joy-Con controllers and came in 24th. But by the fourth time I played, I was able to win the top score. The game brought out my competitive juices and I made a conscious effort to concentrate and get better. One of the cool things about the game is that the world is more believable as the map is contiguous in Free Roam w. You can take a side route from one track to another track and just explore the world through a random journey. It doesn’t even have to be a race.
The open world map means that players can travel through the world with their friends, relaxing in a kind of ecotourism or taking part in intense competitions. You can play “Knockout Tour” mode where there are five legs to a tournament. If you don’t finish in the top ranks in any given race, you’re knocked out. The final winner feels a real sense of accomplishment. But if you’re knocked out early, that’s no fun and it could motivate you to turn off your machine. That’s how I felt when I played my first round and was booted early.
The 3D graphics of the game look pretty good. I stared at the vibrant colors of the Switch 2’s 7.9-inch screen and did a doubletake on how vibrant and real the images looked. The color on the Switch 2’s own screen was certainly better than shown on the big screen TV.
Nintendo has clearly put a lot of polish into the game and given us a great deal of variety in terms of tracks and characters to play. They all just work. The game is beautiful and its action is still full of humor. But I’m not sure I want my Mario Kart to be like Zelda. Zelda deserves a huge open world. But do we feel the same way about a racing game?
Nintendo said more details on Mario Kart World will be available at 6 a.m. Pacific on April 17.
Disclosure: Nintendo paid my way to New York.
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