Will Mario Kart World Satisfy My Single-Player Demands? – Editorial

Depending on how you look at it, six or 11 years have passed since the last brand new mainline Mario Kart game. Yes, technically Mario Kart Tour is a mainline Mario Kart game. I understand you might not totally agree, but we here at Nintendo World Report contain a few of the dozens of people who really enjoyed Mario Kart Tour on mobile. Tour also illustrates a few ways that the single-player in Mario Kart could be embellished and improved. Sure, it’s built around some familiar mobile gameplay elements, but the thrust of that game was about getting high scores by finishing races, collecting coins, doing drifts, and much more. I personally put a ton of time into Mario Kart Tour and had an absolute blast. I’ve also been stumping for a great single-player mode in Mario Kart for years at this point.

Now that we’re mere weeks away from Mario Kart World, the bold new entry in the franchise that will launch alongside Nintendo’s brand new Switch 2 console, I’m hoping that some of Tour’s DNA will work itself into Mario Kart World. From what we’ve seen so far, I’m encouraged. The expansive overworld that features pathways and connections between each race is incredibly neat. It looks like it has the bases covered with expressive visuals, cool new tracks, and a few new gameplay elements. But what about if I sit down to play this game as a solo player? Will this finally be the Mario Kart game that can bring back some of the clever fun of Mario Kart DS’ Mission mode? Will this be the one that calls to mind the great single-player campaign from Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed?

We’re still in a state of “to be determined,” at least until April 17’s Mario Kart Nintendo Direct or potentially the June 5 launch of Mario Kart World. As of now though, I’m encouraged but still skeptical. The free roam mode looks like it might be the key to single-player content. It’s already a big step forward that you can just mosey around the environment in the open world. That’s already a new solo interaction with Mario Kart that almost instantly makes it a step forward from the last few entries. From what Nintendo has shown, there appears to be some sort of unlockables as well as hidden nooks and crannies throughout the open world. There are even some sort of achievements for doing things like driving certain amounts of distance in the world.

The unlockables appear to be the costumes highlighted in the trailer during the Switch 2 Direct. To what end those costumes do anything is to be determined. They were variant characters in Mario Kart Tour that you could level up. Maybe there will be some sort of leveling up mechanic for costumes in World. It’s also possible that new karts or kart parts could be found and uncovered throughout the world. Maybe there are also missions and bosses nestled there too? I don’t want to get my hopes up too much that Mario Kart World might quell my desire for a more interesting single-player aspect for the series, but I’m very encouraged so far.

We should all know one way or another on just how big of a solo focus Mario Kart World has since it comes out on June 5 alongside the Switch 2. Heck, if Mario Kart 8 is any hint, maybe the game will get a big story-mode campaign in the 2030 release of Mario Kart World Deluxe. What do you think? Will Mario Kart World have a cool single-player mode? Will World trump Mario Kart 8 Deluxe overall? Will World still sell a bajillion copies even if it costs $150? Time will tell. It has a cow though. You can race as a cow. We should all stump for Moo Moo Meadows Cow for Smash.