Mario Kart World Direct - April 17 2025 - roundup
Nintendo is bringing us more information about one of the Switch 2 titles, in the form of a Nintendo Direct solely focused on Mario Kart World. This 15-minute video showcases more gameplay footage and extra information not seen in the initial reveal trailer.
First up are the new courses. Mario Bros Circuit is a desert themed track, while Crown City is more of a traditional downtown city course. Salty Salty Speedway lets you race in the canals. Starview Peak has icy tracks to navigate. Boo Cinema merges haunted mansion themes.
Toad's Factory, Peach Beach, Wario Shipyard, and more will also be in the game.
Older courses are making a return, in a reimagined way.
The roster you expect are here, but new characters will be playable, like Goomba, Spike, and a Cow. Lakitu is included. Baby Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina are on the roster. Pauline is shown. Mario 64 Penguin is playable. There's a playable Snowman.
Just like before, you can customize your vehicle for adjusted stats.
There's a 24-playable multiplayer.
The Grand Prix races are like how cups in previous games work, a lineup of tracks to race through. But this time, you'll need to drive to each track's location between races.
Knockout Tour are extended races that go across the entire map. You'll be kicked out of the race if you don't do well enough.
Coin Shell lets you toss a shell that drops coins for you to collect. Ice Flower lets you freeze enemies. The hammer lets you chuck hammers like a Hammer Bro. The Mega Mushroom turns you giant so you can run others over. Feather gives you a big jump. Kamek will transform opponents when used as an item.
Tilt controls and the Mario Kart Wheel accessory make a return.
There are items you get from locations on the map, that unlock outfits for the cast. They'll let you use those unlocked costumes in races, too.
Drifting while moving straight will give you a charge jump.
You can grind on rails now, to avoid items and take shortcuts.
Wall jumps are a thing.
There's a rewind mode that you can use to move yourself back after a mistake, but time won't rewind with you. When you use the rewind, you'll go back a few seconds, but the other players will continue onward, unaffected.
Time Trials return.
VS Race will let you race classically with 3 laps, or you can make races from course-to-course.
Balloon Battle is back. Coin Runners is a battle mode where you collect as many coins to win.
Free Roam is where you can explore the open world and do missions. You can collect coins hidden in the world, and find new things. There's a photo mode in this mode. \
There's 4-player splitscreen on one console, or 8-player local wireless. Up to 24 for online play.
While waiting for online matches to start, you can drive together in the open world map.
It supports the new Switch 2's GameChat. The Camera will put your face on the player bubbles so you can see their expressions as you go by.
That's the Direct!
