Where Is Our Mario Kart World Review?

Drivers, acceptable your A buttons, due to the fact that Mario Kart World’s countdown timepiece is yet astir to tick down! Unfortunately, Nintendo opted not to nonstop retired the Switch 2 for immoderate aboriginal coverage, truthful my reappraisal is inactive successful the store getting tuned up. The bully news, however, is that I’ve already gone hands-on with Mario Kart World twice, and erstwhile this nonfiction is published, I’ll astir apt already beryllium lasting successful enactment to prime up my transcript truthful I tin leap close backmost in. (Sorry, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but you’ll person to hold a spot longer to get my 10 bucks.)

You tin work my astir caller thoughts connected World from a preview earlier this week, but I besides wanted to instrumentality a infinitesimal to concisely stock who I americium and wherefore I’m assigned to this review. (Those who person been watching our video reviews to the extremity whitethorn person seen america sharing immoderate discourse astir our reviewer’s tastes and past determination arsenic well.) Earlier this twelvemonth I took implicit hosting duties for IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, and I’ve been excitedly reporting connected Nintendo for astir a decade. I’ve besides been doing much and much Nintendo reviews for IGN, including some Super Mario Party Jamboree and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door past year.

I’m besides an enormous Mario Kart fan. I’m not definite there’s a video crippled franchise I’ve spent much full hours playing than this one. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my favourite introduction – and successful my apical 10 favourite games of each clip – and I’ve logged implicit 500 hours of way clip determination alone. That’s not adjacent counting the basal Mario Kart 8 connected Wii U, which I proudly picked up astatine motorboat backmost successful 2014 arsenic 1 of the fewer Wii U owners retired determination astatine the time. (There were dozens of us!) With its gorgeous creation direction, astonishing way design, and awesome magnitude of contented (including the instrumentality of F-Zero!), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe felt similar the franchise reaching the decorativeness enactment of the more-or-less linear Mario Kart look that began connected Super Nintendo, truthful I’m precise excited that World is tackling thing wholly caller to this bid alternatively than simply iterating connected what came before.

Beyond that one, my favorites are Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 64, which are the 2 I spent the astir clip playing with friends and household increasing up. Double Dash’s two-character mechanic is specified a blast and 64 is an undeniable classic, but I’ll besides outcry retired the 3DS’s Mario Kart 7, which I judge is the astir underrated introduction successful the series. I’ve ever loved conscionable playing arsenic Mario successful Mario Kart – which leads immoderate of my friends to telephone maine brainsick – but I americium looking guardant to racing arsenic the new-look Donkey Kong successful World.

As I mentioned, I bash person a spot of a caput commencement present due to the fact that I’ve already played a steadfast magnitude of Mario Kart World astatine a brace of Nintendo preview events. I went hands-on with the Switch 2 and Mario Kart connected the aforesaid time arsenic their uncover Direct, and I was intrigued by what I saw from the caller Knockout Tour mode – adjacent though that archetypal demo was reasonably limited. But earlier this week, we published my impressions from a much robust Mario Kart World preview lawsuit wherever I got unmitigated entree to the motorboat version. You tin cheque retired my last preview portion you hold for the afloat review, but determination I said, “I’m assured Mario Kart World’s thrilling racing volition footwear disconnected Nintendo’s eighth procreation with a rocket start, adjacent if I’m inactive not wholly sold connected its open-world exploration.” The operation of that hands-on clip means I’m going into motorboat with astir 8 hours of gameplay already logged, truthful I tin deed the metaphorical A fastener close aft the “2” flashes to person a bully boost disconnected the line. I’m hoping to get our final, scored reappraisal published earlier the extremity of adjacent week.

I’ll adjacent beryllium moving connected my reappraisal from the level of IGN Live 2025, which is happening successful downtown Los Angeles astatine The Magic Box this weekend, June 7-8. There’s a ton happening astatine the show, and you tin travel connected down to IGN Live yourself for a accidental to beryllium portion of the reappraisal process by playing against me. We’ll person an authoritative “Game with IGN” setup featuring Mario Kart World wherever you tin play against IGN editors similar myself, our co-founder Peer Schneider, and galore others – and if you spot maine connected the amusement floor, you tin transmission your interior Pokémon trainer and situation maine to a race. (You can’t backmost retired of a trainer conflict erstwhile a alien locks eyes with you, that’s conscionable however it works.) Last twelvemonth astatine IGN Live 2024, I had a large clip playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe against fans that came retired to the show, and I can’t hold to bash it again – this clip with a brand-new Mario Kart.

You tin look guardant to immoderate updated thoughts connected Mario Kart World successful the coming days – and, if you managed to unafraid a Nintendo Switch 2 astatine launch, past I’ll spot you connected the unfastened roads!