Mario Kart World: The Racing Revolution in June 2025

Mario Kart World is the brand-new chapter in the cult saga from Nintendo. Due out on June 5, 2025 exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, this ninth installment promises to reinvent the experience of Mario Kart with an explorable open world, plus massive 24-player races and gameplay mechanics never seen before. After more than eight years of dominance by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo is preparing a revolution in both gameplay and technology. Here is a complete overview of a game that already looks legendary.

Contents

• A new era: Mario Kart goes open world
• Up to 24 players at once
• Knockout Tour mode: elimination and adrenaline
• The courses: between nostalgia and innovation
• Deep customisation
• New items and mechanics
• Game modes
• Compatibility and multiplayer
• Price and available editions
• A new standard for racing games?
• FAQ
• Conclusion

A new era: Mario Kart goes open world

This is the first time the franchise has dropped its menu-based course selection in favour of an interconnected open world. Just like in an adventure game, players roam freely through areas with wildly varied themes: lush green plains, deserts, tropical coastlines, snow-capped mountains and even the big city of Toadopolis. Each region holds several courses that you reach by finding them on the spot, which rewards exploration.

This setup may remind some players of the style of Forza Horizon, but adapted to the zany, colourful world of Mario. Side challenges, rare items, secret areas and even occasional mini-games are all on the menu.

Up to 24 players at once

Multiplayer moves into a whole new dimension. From now on, 24 players can battle it out on the same course, almost doubling the previous cap of 12. The change turns races into genuine festivals of speed and chaos, with optimised item management and collisions thanks to a brand-new physics engine.

Item distribution depends on your position in the race, in order to preserve the balance between fun and competition.

Knockout Tour mode: elimination and adrenaline

The game's flagship new feature, the Knockout Tour is a mode where the last-placed racers at each checkpoint are eliminated, until only one is left. The intensity climbs by the second, forcing you to hold on to your position at all costs. It is playable both solo and online.

The courses: between nostalgia and innovation

Mario Kart World will offer around thirty courses at launch, including several new ones and a few revisited classics:

• Rainbow Road – the series' iconic final course, waiting to be unlocked
• Crown City – a huge open city that acts as the hub of the map
• Peach Stadium – Peach's stadium, a central landmark offering several different layouts
• Revisited retro courses – Koopa Troopa Beach, Peach Beach, DK Pass, Moo Moo Meadows, Wario Stadium

Races will also feature multiple routes, plus random events (collapsing bridges, storms and more) and dynamic weather that will affect grip and visibility.

Deep customisation

Customisation becomes one of the main pillars of progression in the game:

• More than 40 playable characters: Mario, Peach, Bowser, Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Donkey Kong, Pauline, Diddy Kong and many more.
• Alternate outfits to unlock for every racer, notably by tucking into the Yoshi Meals scattered across the map
• Dozens of complete vehicles to unlock: karts, bikes and machines ready to drive (no parts to assemble)

Outfits and vehicles are earned by playing: Yoshi Meals, missions at the P Switches, hidden medallions and free exploration of the world.

New items and mechanics

The gameplay is enriched too, with brand-new items and terrain abilities never seen before in the series:

• Coin Shell – rolls forward, scattering coins to pick up along the way
• Hammer – thrown in a high arc to hit the rivals ahead of you
• Wall jump – lets you bounce off certain surfaces to open up new lines
• Rail grinding – skateboard-style grinding on colourful rails to build speed and stay off the ground

New mechanics also make their appearance: the charged jump, driving on walls and a day/night cycle that transforms the mood of each course.

Game modes

• Grand Prix – the classic cups, with courses linked by real roads you actually drive along
• Time Trials – with online ghosts, a worldwide leaderboard and community challenges
• Battle Mode – balloon battle and coin hunting in dedicated arenas
• Free Roam – a world with no constraints, where you dig up secrets, medallions and P Switch missions

Compatibility and multiplayer

Designed to make the most of the Nintendo Switch 2, Mario Kart World offers a rich set of multiplayer options:

• Split screen for up to 4 local players
• Online multiplayer with up to 24 players per session
• Modes of co-op for two and three players to tour the exploration mode together
• Worldwide leaderboards for Time Trials, plus online races with ranking points

Price and available editions

• Release date: June 5, 2025
• Standard edition: 89,99 € (physical edition) / 79,99 € (digital edition)
• Nintendo Switch 2 + game bundle: 509,99 €

A new standard for racing games?

With its technical innovations, its ambition of an open world, and its drive to blend competition with exploration, Mario Kart World has everything it needs to become a new standard for arcade racing games. Here, Nintendo manages to modernise the formula without betraying its soul.

Quick recap: Mario Kart World

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FAQ

• When does Mario Kart World come out, and on which console?
  The game came out on June 5, 2025, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, whose launch it accompanies.
• How many players can race against each other at the same time?
  Up to 24 players can race on the same course, twice as many as in previous Mario Kart games (12).
• What is Knockout Tour mode?
  It is an elimination mode: the 24 racers take on one long race across the world, and the last four are knocked out at every checkpoint until the finish line. It can be played solo or online.
• What changes with the open world?
  For the first time, the series drops the course selection menu for an interconnected open world that you explore freely (Free Roam mode), with areas of widely varied themes and courses linked to one another by roads.
• How many characters and courses are planned?
  Around fifty playable characters (Mario, Peach, Bowser, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Pauline and more) and 30 main courses, including revisited classics such as Rainbow Road.

Conclusion

Mario Kart World is shaping up to be a genuine turning point for the series. With its dynamic open world, its gameplay novelties, its next-generation graphics and its expanded multiplayer, it already stands out as one of the most anticipated titles of 2025. See you on the starting grid on June 5, 2025 for a race that could well redefine the rules of the genre.