Mario Kart World takes players off the track into an open world

By Jesse Lennox Published April 2, 2025

Mario in Mario Kart World. — Nintendo

The latest entry in the Mario Kart series is here and will be called Mario Kart World, and it boosts the number of racers to a total of 24 at one time and all new game modes when it releases on June 5. Double the players, double the shells, double the chaos. Don’t worry, though — while there might be more racers on the track at any given time, your favorite characters are still present, with familiar faces like Yoshi, Toad, Peach, and many more making an appearance. More information will be given about this upcoming Switch 2 game on April 17.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct didn’t open with hardware details like we expected, but a deep dive into the new Mario Kart World, which will be a launch title for the Switch 2 on June 5. We already saw a few of the new racers in the teaser, but this new look at the game showed off a ton of new features and racers to look forward to. The big new addition to World is the new free roam mode where players can drive freely all around the various courses in a more casual mode with friends and take photos together. There’s also a Knockout Tour mode where players will race from one end of the world to the other through multiple checkpoints. However, only a certain number of players can pass a checkpoint before anyone behind will be kicked out until only one racer remains.

The Grande Prix mode is back with seven themed races with four courses in each, but now it supports up to 24 racers at once and you will race from one course to the next rather than go back to the menu. Weather will also be a new factor to consider in World, with various conditions changing the conditions of the track. New modes of racing are also shown off, from grinding on rails and power lines, riding along walls, and snowmobiles and jetskis for crossing snow and water, respectively.

Recommended Videos

Mario Kart World will launch exclusively on the Switch 2, with more information coming up soon on April 17.

Jesse Lennox has been a writer at Digital Trends for over five years and has no plans of stopping. He covers all things…

Topics

Gaming

All confirmed tracks in Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World map

The big attraction for Mario Kart World is the fact that all the courses exist in the same open world. For the first time ever, we will be able to roam around between tracks in one seamless world to practice driving, find secrets, or just hang out with our friends. This will easily be the biggest Switch 2 launch game, but exactly how big is the world in Mario Kart World? Or more specifically, how many tracks are there? Nintendo hasn't revealed all the courses we can look forward to racing on, but we combed through all the footage to pick out every new and returning track revealed so far.

Every new track in Mario Kart World

Gaming

The Switch 2’s most important launch game isn’t Mario Kart World

Peach jumping on a motorcyle in Mario Kart World.

On June 5, the Nintendo Switch 2 will finally grace us with its presence. Nintendo is rolling out the big guns for the big day too, as it will launch the system with Mario Kart World. The racing game is all but assured to be a hit, giving the console a Breath of the Wild-like water cooler game that everyone will be playing at the same time. A lot is riding on that one game, as it has the burden of being the Switch 2's all-important killer app. If it fails to move millions of units in its first month, Nintendo might have to rethink its whole strategy for its new generation. While those are some high stakes, they're ones that Mario Kart World will realistically clear without issue.

With that in mind, there's another Switch 2 launch game coming on June 5 that's just as important, if not more so, from my perspective. That would be Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. While it won't be crucial to Nintendo's bottom line, it's the first real test of the hardware, which looks to make a name for itself in a much more crowded portable landscape than the one the original Switch launched in.

Gaming

It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone

Mario and Peach racing in the foreground of a screenshot of Mario Kart World.

Over the years, the Nintendo brand has shifted to meet the times, but through it all, it's at least felt synonymous with one image (or turn of phrase, I guess): E for Everyone. Over the decades, the legendary developer and publisher has always had an ethos that has guided its games and consoles into the hands of gamers regardless of age and background. With the Switch 2, it's beginning to feel that that may not be true anymore.

The Switch 2 was fully unveiled earlier this month, and despite the fervor and excitement surrounding it, there's been a pretty noticeable tension around its various exorbitant prices. The system itself was tentatively priced at $450 and a bundle including Mario Kart World was coming in at $500 before the threat of US tariffs on every conceivable stretch of land -- even those with no human life on them -- forced Nintendo's hand, delaying preorders in the US and Canada. The thinking is that when they do become available, they will have already experienced a price hike, which is wild considering the fact that the newest Mario Kart game alone was being sold at the prohibitive cost of $80.