Mario Kart World Direct Details New Courses, Characters and More

Nintendo streamed a Direct presentation dedicated to its upcoming Switch 2 title Mario Kart World on Thursday, revealing more details about the game's new and returning courses, characters and more. The open world racing title will be the biggest Mario Kart game in series history, Nintendo said, featuring an interconnected world with up to 24 drivers across various modes. Mario Kart World will be released exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 as a launch title on June 5.

Mario Kart World Courses, Characters

The 16-minute Nintendo Direct showed off the diverse open world featuring cities, plains, a desert and an ocean, with courses spread across Grand Prix, Knockout Tour, Free Roam and other modes on the map. The world also comes with dynamic weather conditions and a day and night cycle.

Some of the new courses confirmed in the Direct showcase include Mario Bros. Circuit, the urban-themed Crown City and Salty Salty Speedway, where you race across winding canals. There are more new tracks, like the icy Starview Peak, where you race on a snowy mountain, and Boo Cinema, a haunted theatre track with ghosts and ghouls.

In addition to new tracks, popular older courses like Toad's Factory, Peach Beach, Wario Shipyard and more return.

Mario Kart World will feature a roster of racers featuring familiar and new characters. The stars of the game like Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Yoshi and others are of course here. New characters include Goombas, Spike and the already viral Cow.

Mario Kart World Modes

The game comes with two main racing modes, Grand Prix and Knockout Tour. Grand Prix is the classic Mario Kart mode, where players take part in four different races to win a variety of cups. In Mario Kart World, racers will need to drive from one course to the next, as tracks are interconnected in the open world.

The Knockout Tour, on the other hand, features extended rallies across multiple tracks with checkpoints spread across different points. Racers who don't make the cut will be knocked out. In addition to hostile racers, players will also have to fight off obstacles on the track in the mode. Both main modes can feature up to 24 drivers.

Aside from competitive races, players can also Free Roam across the whole map and explore the game's many vistas.

Mario Kart World will also feature new racing techniques like the Charge Jump Move, chained wall rides and more. New items include Coin Shells, which target racers ahead and leave coins behind; the Ice Flower, which freezes your rivals; a Hammer that squashes other racers, and more.

The Switch 2 launch title can be played online or locally, with up to four players supported on split screen on the same system. Mario Kart World also supports local wireless play with up to eight players (with up to two players per Switch 2 system). Online play allows for up to 24 players, the most in Mario Kart history.

Mario Kart World will launch on June 5 alongside the Nintendo Switch 2. The game will also be shipped as part of the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario kart Bundle.