Drivers, ready your A buttons, because Mario Kart World’s countdown clock is finally about to tick down! Unfortunately, Nintendo opted not to send out the Switch 2 for any early coverage, so my review is still in the garage getting tuned up. The good news, however, is that I’ve already gone hands-on with Mario Kart World twice, and when this article is published, I’ll probably already be standing in line to pick up my copy so I can jump right back in. (Sorry, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to get my 10 bucks.)
You can read my most recent thoughts on World from a preview earlier this week, but I also wanted to take a moment to briefly share who I am and why I’m assigned to this review. (Those who have been watching our video reviews to the end may have seen us sharing some context about our reviewer’s tastes and history there as well.) Earlier this year I took over hosting duties for IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, and I’ve been excitedly reporting on Nintendo for roughly a decade. I’ve also been doing more and more Nintendo reviews for IGN, including both Super Mario Party Jamboree and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door last year.
I’m also an enormous Mario Kart fan. I’m not sure there’s a video game franchise I’ve spent more total hours playing than this one. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my favorite entry – and in my top 10 favorite games of all time – and I’ve logged over 500 hours of track time there alone. That’s not even counting the base Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, which I proudly picked up at launch back in 2014 as one of the few Wii U owners out there at the time. (There were dozens of us!) With its gorgeous art direction, amazing track design, and impressive amount of content (including the return of F-Zero!), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe felt like the franchise reaching the finish line of the more-or-less linear Mario Kart formula that began on Super Nintendo, so I’m very excited that World is tackling something entirely new to this series rather than simply iterating on what came before.
Beyond that one, my favorites are Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 64, which are the two I spent the most time playing with friends and family growing up. Double Dash’s two-character mechanic is such a blast and 64 is an undeniable classic, but I’ll also shout out the 3DS’s Mario Kart 7, which I believe is the most underrated entry in the series. I’ve always loved just playing as Mario in Mario Kart – which leads some of my friends to call me crazy – but I am looking forward to racing as the new-look Donkey Kong in World.
As I mentioned, I do have a bit of a head start here because I’ve already played a healthy amount of Mario Kart World at a pair of Nintendo preview events. I went hands-on with the Switch 2 and Mario Kart on the same day as their reveal Direct, and I was intrigued by what I saw from the new Knockout Tour mode – even though that initial demo was fairly limited. But earlier this week, we published my impressions from a more robust Mario Kart World preview event where I got unmitigated access to the launch version. You can check out my final preview while you wait for the full review, but there I said, “I’m confident Mario Kart World’s thrilling racing will kick off Nintendo’s eighth generation with a rocket start, even if I’m still not completely sold on its open-world exploration.” The combination of that hands-on time means I’m going into launch with roughly eight hours of gameplay already logged, so I can hit the metaphorical A button right after the “2” flashes to have a good boost off the line. I’m hoping to get our final, scored review published before the end of next week.
I’ll even be working on my review from the floor of IGN Live 2025, which is happening in downtown Los Angeles at The Magic Box this weekend, June 7-8. There’s a ton happening at the show, and you can come on down to IGN Live yourself for a chance to be part of the review process by playing against me. We’ll have an official “Game with IGN” setup featuring Mario Kart World where you can play against IGN editors like myself, our co-founder Peer Schneider, and many others – and if you see me on the show floor, you can channel your inner Pokémon trainer and challenge me to a race. (You can’t back out of a trainer battle once a stranger locks eyes with you, that’s just how it works.) Last year at IGN Live 2024, I had a great time playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe against fans that came out to the show, and I can’t wait to do it again – this time with a brand-new Mario Kart.
You can look forward to some updated thoughts on Mario Kart World in the coming days – and, if you managed to secure a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, then I’ll see you on the open roads!
