Edit this page Mario and Luigi clash in Mario Kart World / In-engine visual from Mario Kart World showing Mario and Luigi's vehicles clashing during a race. / Image credit: Nintendo
Mario Kart World European box art cover / The front of the Nintendo Switch 2 box for Mario Kart World, showing the game title, the PEGI 3 age rating, and a cartoon image of many characters from the game. / Image credit: Nintendo

Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World is a party racing game released as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2 system in June 2025. It was the first series entry to feature 24 vehicles per race and a fully open world, in which players can drive anywhere on the map and from one circuit to another.

Screenshots and images

Company and staff credits

Publisher
Nintendo logo 1975 / Image credit: Nintendo
Developer
Nintendo logo 1975 / Image credit: Nintendo EPD
Producer
This is a fallback image. No image is available. Kosuke Yabuki
Programming Director
This is a fallback image. No image is available. Kenta Sato
Art Director
This is a fallback image. No image is available. Masaaki Ishikawa
Planning Team Leader
This is a fallback image. No image is available. Shintaro Jikumaru
Lead Composer
This is a fallback image. No image is available. Atsuko Asahi

Platform comparison

Platform Released Local Link/LAN Online Interfaces Target FPS Video Sound
Switch 2 5 June 2025
Japan, North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand
1—4 players
Single, vs., team-based
2—8 players
Vs., team-based
2—24 players
Vs., team-based
Motion control, standard 60 1440p HDR -

Game details

Release dates
  • 5 June 2025:
    • Switch 2 (Japan, North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand)
Genres

Gameplay and content

1

Open world racing

Mario Kart World differs from previous series entries through a large open world, which players can roam freely. The space in between race courses P-switches that activate missions, hidden medallions, question-mark panels, and drive-thru food items that can be used to unlock new outfits.

2

Solo and multiplayer modes

Mario Kart World follows its recent predecessors in offering a single player mode, split-screen multiplayer for 2-4 players, and local network play for 2-8 players. In online play the game supports up to 24 players per race, the highest online player count in the series to date.

3

Time and weather changes

Mario Kart World features dynamic weather and time of day, which affect race conditions. One day in the game passes in around 24 minutes. Weather conditions include rain, snow, lightning, and bright sunshine.

3

New driving tricks

The large open world of Mario Kart World led the development to address the challenge of how to make long, straight roads that connect each circuit fun to drive on. The developers' solution was to include new driving tricks such as Rail Ride and Wall Ride. Tricks in Mario Kart World "give players a chance to use their imagination as they come up with ideas like 'I'm gonna drive up that wall,' 'Let me use that pillar,' or 'Can I ride that guard rail or power line?" according to producer Kosuke Yabuki.

Development and pre-release

4

Development origins

The development team started thinking about what to do for the next Mario Kart game during the development of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and began prototyping in March 2017, according to producer Kosuke Yabuki. Work officially started at the end of 2017, for the original Nintendo Switch platform. Development moved to the Nintendo Switch 2 platform in 2020. Programming director Kenta Sato: "Back then, we already had an idea of the next system's expected specs, but it wasn't until a bit later that we actually received working development units. Until then, we just had to proceed with development based on provisional estimates."

4

Developed by EPD 9

Mario Kart World was developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Group No.9. The game was produced by Kosuke Yabuki, who served as director of Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8 and was producer of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

4

"World" title inspiration

The choice of "Mario Kart World" as the title reflects the game's open world concept. "If the idea had just been to add more courses, then I think we would’ve called it Mario Kart 9," producer Kosuke Yabuki told an Ask the Developer interview. "We wanted to take the series to the next level. So, we decided to drop the numbering this time and go with a completely new title, Mario Kart World. So, we'd already added “MARIO KART WORLD” to the concept art from the early stages of development."

Graphics and visual design

5

Frame rate and resolution

According to a Digital Foundry analysis of pre-release footage from the game, Mario Kart World has a video resolution of 1440p running at 60 frames per second (fps) in docked mode. The analysis also speculated that the game offers a 120 fps mode.

Music and sound

3

Over 200 songs

Mario Kart World features over 200 pieces of music in its Free Roam play mode. Composer Atsuko Asahi: "These are all brand-new arrangements, and we also did live recordings. We prepared pieces from quite a wide variety of musical genres."

References

  1. Orland, K. (2025, April 17). What do you actually do in Mario Kart World’s vast open world?. Ars Technica. Condé Nast. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/04/what-do-you-actually-do-in-mario-kart-worlds-vast-open-world/.
  2. Nintendo UK (n.d.). Mario Kart World: Details. Nintendo. https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-2-games/Mario-Kart-World-2790000.html#gameDetails.
  3. Nintendo (2025, May 21). Ask the Developer Vol. 18: Mario Kart World — Part 2. https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-18-mario-kart-world-part-2/.
  4. Nintendo (2025, May 21). Ask the Developer Vol. 18: Mario Kart World — Part 1, 1—2. https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-18-mario-kart-world-part-1/.
  5. Digital Foundry (2025, April 11). Mario Kart World on Switch 2: Is This Really A Generational Leap? [video]. Gamer Network Limited. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-P1tKHnWjc.

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