Yesterday, Nintendo streamed a special Mario Kart World Direct. There wasn’t a lot of new information, though. Also, some moments concerned me a little, chiefly regarding Battle Mode.

It wasn’t enough to justify the price tag

Don’t get me wrong, Mario Kart World looks like an incredible game. They’ve gone full Forza Horizon with it (the tracks are embedded within an open world), and the character roster is massive; you can play as the Cow from Moo Moo Meadows (which makes me very happy).

Still, there wasn’t a lot in the Direct that hadn’t already been revealed. Nearly all of the information was shown during the Switch 2 Announcement Direct and Treehouse livestreams. It was short as well, just 15 minutes.

In itself, that’s fine; I wasn’t expecting any gigantic new mechanics. But the idea of holding a live-stream Direct, after already showing it off, did make me think there would be more.

Maybe that’s on me. This was essentially a long featurette trailer. But then again, the game’s price tag (this is an expensive generation) and its positioning as the Switch 2’s killer app does make it seem like there should be more.

As awesome as the open world looks, and as fun as it will be to race between tracks, I’m not fully convinced it’s enough to justify an $80/£75 price tag. It’s telling that Nintendo left the price out (again). They know it’s contentious.

What was new

As it is, the bulk of the new information was fairly standard. It’s stuff that every Mario Kart game has, like time trials.

There was also some information about multiplayer. It is cool that you can have up to four teams, and driving around the world with other players will be fun. But it was predictable.

Some small features debuted, as well.

They showed off the costumes, the new tricks and the new items. They’re pretty great. I particularly like the hammer throw, which temporarily blocks the road ahead of you. That’s going to be useful.

The new Golden Shell, which leaves a trail of coins, initially seemed cool (and in principle continues to be cool), but coins barely do anything. Technically, they make you go faster, but not by a lot. Though if you can have a lot of coins, instead of just 10, maybe that’s useful.

There’s also a new rewind mechanic, which I was sceptical of when it first appeared. It seemed like a built-in cheat system. But it’s not that. Other players and NPCs are unaffected by the rewind, so using it can leave you in last place.

Instead, rewind seems intended as a way to learn new skills and hone your ability without constantly replaying the same track. It could be useful, but it could still reduce the difficulty. I’m torn on this.

They also revealed some info about the open world. There will be challenges to do, and in the VS mode, you can drive between tracks using alternative routes. Rainbow road was hinted to be an off-world track that you unlock by completing all the Grand Prix.

Retro tracks like Toad’s Factory have also been worked into the world. I like that, it’ll show where the Mario locations are in relation to each other (if they included the Mario Kart Tours tracks, we’d find out where the Mushroom Kingdom is in relation to the real world).

Battle Mode

My chief concern is Battle Mode.

Balloon Battles, Coin Runner, and many other battle systems are a staple of Mario Kart (my favourite is the Cops and Robbers battle mode from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). But they have messed up in the past.

The original Wii U Mario Kart 8 didn’t include any purpose-built arenas. The battles all took place on the standard Mario Kart tracks. That was disappointing at the time and didn’t work. The tracks were designed for racing, not battling. In the Deluxe edition, for Switch 1, they overhauled this.

The Direct did confirm a battle mode in Mario Kart World, but only a brief glimpse. And it might be barebones again.

Some of the battling seemed to be taking place on standard tracks (though some shots were more arena-esque). Moreover, only Coin Runner and Balloon Battles were confirmed; other Battle Modes are conspicuously absent.

I might be wrong, and I hope I am wrong.

An open world with 24 players has a lot of Battle Mode potential. It could be one of the main open world mechanics, since the challenges are fairly small and travelling between tracks will chiefly stick to the roads.

Besides, if they’re elevating Mario Kart racing to its ultimate form, why not elevate the Battle Mode as well? Why not have a full-blown battle royale or something?

Moreover, a developed Battle Mode would help justify the $80/£75 price tag (at least a bit). It would be the final big feature that rounds out the package. Its absence or underdevelopment makes the price even more glaring.

Again, I’ll hopefully be proved wrong about this. But the fact that Battle Mode was rushed over during the Direct, and how short the Direct was, doesn’t fill me with confidence.

Final Thought

The game does look amazing, and the open world driving between tracks is a massive feature. But the Direct has made me a little concerned.

There wasn’t any new information, besides the little details and predictable stuff. Moreover, it’s made me suspicious about the Battle Mode.

If nothing else, the price is way too high.

-Dexter