‘Mario Kart World’ Will Have Its Very Own Battle Royale Mode On The Nintendo Switch 2

We learned a lot in today’s Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct. The 15-minute video is below if you’d like to watch it, but some of the highlights include:

• New tracks like the urban Crown City and Salty Salty Speedway, a Venice-inspired track, as well as Boo Cinema, a drive-in movie theater, and Starview Peak, an icy mountaintop.
• New items like a Coin shell that drops a line of coins for racers to pick up, a Feather that gives you an airtime boost, Hammers that you throw like Hammer Bros. and an Ice Flower that freezes enemies.
• Outfits that you earn by eating different food items like sushi. Food items will always give you a speed boost, but there’s only a random chance to unlock new outfits.
• New Racers like Spike and Cow join Mario, Luigi, Princess and Toad.
• New tricks, such as Charge Jump and Wall-Driving. You can also Rewind, letting you reverse on tracks in order to take a second try at something, though opponents will keep driving forward so this can be risky.
• Modes like Free Roam allow you drive around the open-world alone or with friends. Time Trials, Battle Mode and Teams are also coming to the game.
• Accessibility options, including an option to prevent steering off-track, auto-accelerate, motion controls for use with the Joy-Con’s motion capabilities and more.
• Online options that include voice chat and playing with friends online, though local play is still an option.

Knockout Tour

Perhaps the most interesting new addition to Mario Kart World is the new mode called Knockout Tour. The classic Grand Prix races will still be a major focus of the game, with 24 players per race, but Knockout Tour adds a decidedly Battle Royale twist to the experience.

The new mode takes place across several maps, making these much more varied races than we’re accustomed to (rather than go around the same track multiple times, you go from one track to the next across the big map).As you progress from checkpoint to checkpoint, lower-ranked racers are eliminated, just like in a Battle Royale match. You start with 24 players, but each checkpoint has a qualifying number, so after one only 16 players will be left, then 8, then 4 and so forth.

This is definitely shaping up to be an exciting new Mario Kart and given that Mario Kart 8 was my favorite game across the Wii U and Nintendo Switch (tied with The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild) I’m definitely excited to pick up a Nintendo Switch 2. Here’s the Direct:

The Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World launch on June 5th.