00:00We previously talked about how crucial a major first-party title is to a successful launch of
00:05a new Nintendo console, and this time around Nintendo looks to have delivered. The Switch 2
00:11will launch with Mario Kart World, and while I'll admit I was skeptical at first, following both the
00:17Switch 2 and dedicated Mario Kart Direct, and being lucky enough to actually get my grubby mitts on
00:23the game at the London Switch 2 hands-on event, I'm now convinced this was a great call. Mario
00:29Kart 8 Deluxe continues to be the best-selling original Switch title, so the choice to launch
00:35the Switch 2 with its successor is an easy and sensible one, but that doesn't mean Nintendo's
00:40been resting on its laurels. So let's take a look at the Switch 2's all-important launch title,
00:46see what's new, what's been left out, and why this will be a great game to help launch Nintendo's
00:51next console. Hal from GamesRadar here, and welcome to Switch On, where we talk all things Nintendo Switch 2.
01:00Let's kick off with the karts themselves, and how they've changed over the years.
01:04After Super Mario Kart, 64, and Super Circuit all had the default karts, Double Dash introduced
01:10different karts inspired by the cast of characters, which DS expanded upon. We introduced motorbikes,
01:177 introduced driving underwater and gliding, alongside deeper kart customization, which 8 doubled
01:24down on, while also adding funky gravity hover modes. In World, it looks like we're taking a bit of a
01:29step
01:30back. Kart customization is gone, but there are still tons of vehicles to choose from. Driving underwater
01:36is out too, replaced with driving on water, Sonic All-Stars racing style. And gliding seems to be
01:43upgraded to full-blown flying, or at least in free roam mode. As for the anti-grav hover mechanic,
01:50that's gone too. Which I don't think is a major loss. Aside from purely visuals, and from getting a
01:57boost from Bumpy into other races, there wasn't really a gameplay benefit. Instead, we have interesting
02:03traversal tricks. There's a manual super jump, grinding on rails, barriers, and wires, and of
02:09course, wall riding. It all feels a bit Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, adding so much more opportunity for
02:15experimentation and verticality during races. And the tracks themselves seem tailored to make the
02:21most of these. We saw quite a few courses in 8 have multiple routes to add a bit of variation
02:26and
02:26chaos. And this looks to take it to a whole new level. The items are a pretty standard affair for
02:32a
02:32new Mario Kart. Some new additions, some returning favorites, and some omissions from the previous game.
02:39There's also the Dash food. Glowing to-go bags containing meals that, once eaten, don you in
02:45costumes inspired by the cuisine, which in turn seems inspired by the encompassing region. Not too
02:51dissimilar to our favorite plumber's various outfits in Super Mario Odyssey. Character-wise,
02:56we have a lot of new and returning faces, but interestingly exclusively from Mario's catalogue,
03:02no longer sharing the universe-blending Smash Bros approach of Mario Kart 8. Link, Isabelle,
03:09Inklings et al are gone, and it seems to tie in with the new theme of world, which is just
03:14that,
03:14the world of Super Mario. The tracks themselves are what we've come to expect. Well-thought-out circuits
03:20and sprints, both returning and lovingly updated, and brand new, with interesting obstacles and
03:26absolutely stunning backdrops. And talking of those. With each installment, the details, references,
03:34and overall quality of these backdrops has only gotten more and more impressive, hinting at the
03:39worlds that stretch beyond the tracks you're racing through. And finally, in world, we can leave the
03:44tracks and explore what lies beyond, with each track nestled in one big connected island. Not unlike
03:51how Super Mario Odyssey showed all the kingdoms in relation to one another on one nondescript planet.
03:56The landscapes are beautiful, and feature various biomes reflecting the tracks scattered amongst
04:02them. The tracks themselves seem to act as fast travel points too, so you can warp to a course,
04:07get in a practice lap, or run a race, then hop the fence and go explore. It's a gameplay loop
04:12reminiscent
04:12of Burnout Paradise or Forza Horizon, and I think it'll work perfectly for Mario Kart. The open world is
04:19peppered with P-switch challenges and hidden coins and panels to root out, so free roam is ideal for
04:25lazy jaunts, a nice change of pace from the frantic standard racing. I got a brief test of the open
04:30world while it served as its secondary purpose, one big waiting room for matchmaking, and it handles
04:36really well. It took a second to get out of the drive as fast as you can way of thinking,
04:41but once you do,
04:42it feels pretty natural and easy to explore. Now onto the racing mode, starting with Grand Prix, which works
04:48really interestingly. The first race is a conventional three lap gauntlet around the first course, or
04:53whatever is the norm for that particular track, just like the previous games, but then races two,
04:59three and four are a little different. In these, you race from the previous track across the open world
05:04to the next course, completing one lap to finish that leg. Now I have mixed feelings about this. While
05:11driving from course to course is a really fun premise, it does mean you spend less time actually on
05:17these incredibly detailed and beautiful tracks. When I played it, after the first race, the subsequent
05:22tracks felt like they were over in a flash, even though including the commute, the leg was just as
05:27long as a standard race. I realised it's exactly how I felt when I discovered that the Mario Kart 8
05:33remake of M64 Rainbow Road is a single lap sprint. It's all over before you've really had a chance to
05:39appreciate it. However, in the Mario Kart Direct, my concern was addressed with Versus mode. Essentially,
05:46the custom rules mode, where we have even more options now. You can play worlds versus mode just
05:52like previous games. Play three laps of a track, then three laps of another, and so on and so forth.
05:57Or you can choose to race between each track GP style. Now back in Mario Kart 8, you could select
06:0348 races as an option in the custom rules. So before the booster course pass, you could race every single
06:10track in the game in one long cup. Me and a mate did this once on a stream and it
06:15took us over three
06:16hours. Now that was an odyssey. But as the direct says, you can create routes that aren't featured in
06:22either GP or knockout modes. So that begs the question, how many races can you do in a row,
06:29and can you race every single track in world racing between all of them in one long marathon tour?
06:34Right, let's talk that new elimination mode, Knockout Tour. This I reckon will be extremely popular in
06:42online play, purely due to the chaos. 24 players take part and are gradually shaved off over one long
06:48race. And I mean long. The rallies, the series of routes these knockout races take place over,
06:54span six courses and the stretches of road in between. They make three laps of N64 Rainbow Road look
07:00like a brisk jaunt to the shops. After each stretch, the finish line of a track hosts a knockout checkpoint,
07:06whittling the players down from 24 to 20, to 16, 12, 8, then the final four in one last all
07:14-out sprint.
07:15Against human players, these are manic. I was lucky enough to give this mode a go,
07:19and each checkpoint felt like a final lap, nail-bitingly grueling as each one of us frantically
07:25threw everything we had to claw our way back up to a safe place. I made it to the penultimate
07:30cutoff,
07:31ultimately finishing third. And I gotta say, it was one of the most intense gaming experiences of
07:36my entire life. Open world aside, Knockout Tour is the big new selling point for world,
07:42especially from a competitive standpoint. The amount of drama that could be unleashed from this
07:46onslaught of a mode could fill an ocean with salt. I mean just think about it, 23 other players
07:51all hostile towards you as you're constantly fighting for a safe position. Let's round out
07:56multiplayer, as the recent Direct outlined just how comprehensive world's social capabilities are.
08:02Online, races and battle modes support up to 24 players, who can be divided into up to four teams.
08:08A 24-player free-for-all balloon battle sounds absolutely terrifying, and I am all for it.
08:14Free Roam also seems to support eight players too, for those casual Sunday drives. Over local
08:19wireless up to eight players can play, with each system supporting up to two players. And for those
08:24good old couch competitions, the standard four-player split screen holds true. And let's not forget
08:30its camera integration that plasters your mug on top of your racer for real-time reactions. And let's
08:35face it, we're all going to be channeling our inner sasspot Luigi here. I honestly wondered what
08:41Mario Kart could really do following 8 Deluxe. All in, it has 96 courses, 48 characters,
08:48over 13,000 kart combinations, and pretty much every gameplay mode you could think of.
08:54Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was seemingly the ultimate Mario Kart experience. And aside from remastering
09:00every single track that's ever been, and Super Circuit has five Bowser castles, so good luck with
09:06that, I didn't think there was anywhere of note the series could really go. But boy am I glad to
09:11be
09:11proven wrong. With this open world, racing modes that aim to utilize it to its fullest potential,
09:17and dedication to uphold what makes Mario Kart such a staple, World is a really interesting and
09:23exciting step forward for the franchise. I spent hundreds of hours getting lost exploring Mexico
09:29and Great Britain in Forza Horizon, and I can very easily see myself doing exactly the same in Mario's
09:36new racing landscape. And considering Nintendo has been supporting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for 8 years now,
09:42World certainly has potential to rack up those hours. You know what? I am looking forward to it,
09:47and it genuinely feels great to be excited about a Mario Kart game again. But what about you? Are you
09:54eager to play Mario Kart World? Will you be picking up a Switch 2 day one to play it? Let
09:58us know in the
09:59comments, and we'll see you next time for Switch On.
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