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Mario Kart World vs Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – who wins the race?

So you’ve just bought yourself a shiny new Nintendo Switch 2 and you’re thinking about whether you should buy Mario Kart World, or its older sibling, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This quandary might even make it hard to decide how you want to buy a Switch 2 in the first place – after all, you could buy it bundled with a digital copy of Mario Kart World, or for the same price, get the console without a bundle and buy physical copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for around the same price.

Both of these games are among the best Switch games (or Switch and Switch 2 games, I should say) and where Mario Kart 8 Deluxe essentially perfected the “classic” Mario Kart formula that was refined throughout its many prequels, Mario Kart World has carved out new territory with exciting new modes (read our Mario Kart World free roam guide to read about the biggest new addition). They’re both quite different experiences, and having played both extensively, I’m here to help you compare and contrast so that you can decide which is best for you.

Mario Kart World vs Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – who wins the race?

Graphics

If you want to have beautiful environments to admire as you race around the Mushroom Kingdom, then Mario Kart World definitely wins on the graphics front. It’s not really a fair competition, because while Mario Kart World is a 2025 Nintendo Switch 2 game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a rerelease of a 2014 Wii U game. When it first came out, it looked absolutely beautiful, and while it still looks good, it has started to show its age to some extent. Ironically, this is most apparent in its recent Booster Course Pass travels, but perhaps this is because it features a lot of ported-over tracks from the mobile game, Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart World screenshot showing Donkey Kong watching zebras run past in Faraway Oasis.

Mario Kart World’s sprawling, interconnected continent offers natural beauties, fantastical sights, urban cityscapes, and many other locales. They pretty much all look fantastic. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has all of this too, and the tracks that were present in the original Wii U version look especially great. The older game has a slightly different art style in general, one that leans slightly more towards realism (again, outside of the Booster Course Pass), and while I do admire it for that, it just can’t stand up to what Mario Kart World can do – and it shouldn’t be expected to.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe screenshot showing the character select screen, with Donkey Kong currently selected.

Characters

Both of these games have an enormous cast of characters, and both have quite a few additions that are not present in their counterpart. When it comes to raw numbers, though, it looks like this:

  • Mario Kart World has 50 characters to choose from, and 153 if you add alternative outfits to the mix
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has 43 unique characters, and 118 if you add alternative outfits and other character variants to the mix

Mario Kart World has a unique approach to its roster when compared to any previous Mario Kart game, turning many creatures of the Mushroom Kingdom into racers when they previously did not do so due to their weird body shapes. So now you can be Stingby (Super Mario 3D Land’s bee enemies), Goombas, Pokeys (the iconic segmented cactus enemies), and even truly otherworldly creatures like cows and dolphins (which were introduced in Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario World, respectively). Seeing all these weird creatures racing around is so wacky, and I love it.

Mario Kart World screenshot showing a portion of the character select screen where Stingby and other random characters are visible.

On the flipside, these new characters were added in place of some classic choices. As a huge Donkey Kong fan, I was excited that this was the debut of his new design, but I was disappointed by the absence of Diddy and Funky Kong, who are playable in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but not here. You also lose all of the Koopalings, and all of the crossover characters (which sucks because I love playing as Link in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). The beautiful abomination, Petey Piranha, is also missing, and so are a handful of other characters and variants. There’s also a sad loss on the inclusion front, because unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart World only has white humanoid characters (keeping my fingers crossed for Sonny’s alt from the N64 Mario Golf). There’s a lot of new stuff to be happy about, but there is an equally big loss on the character front.

Mario Kart World screenshot showing the world map.

Race tracks

When it comes down to sheer numbers, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has 96 race tracks, and Mario Kart World has 32 (and two tracks are being counted twice here due to having two fairly distinct variants). It might seem like a pretty clear case of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being the winner, but actually, the two games are doing very different things.

With the addition of the Booster Course Pass DLC, it felt very much as if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was positioning itself as the ultimate Mario Kart experience. Not only did it feature many of the most popular tracks from throughout the series’ history, but it even acted as a life raft for Mario Kart Tour’s exclusive tracks, which would otherwise have inevitably become unplayable in the future, once the mobile experience is discontinued.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe screenshot showing the base selection of cups it includes.

If you have fond memories of playing any of the older Mario Kart games and you’d like to return to those tracks of yore, then you’ll enjoy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a lot. Not only do you have faithful recreations of many classic tracks (mostly those from the Booster Course Pass), but you’ve also got a few (from the base game) that creatively reimagine them too. It’s also a celebration of Nintendo racing games in general, with tracks drawn from F-Zero and Excitebike in the mix as well.

While Mario Kart World does feature some returning tracks, they’re often heavily reimagined, and part of the experience of racing on them includes the experience of travelling to them. It feels more like a tip of the hat to the past, rather than any attempt to preserve it within a modern framework. If it were, it’d be doing essentially the exact same thing as 8 Deluxe.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe screenshot showing the selection of cups available in the Booster Course Pack DLC.

Also, while its track total is smaller, there are a few things to consider. The first is that this game has not yet had any DLC, and it almost certainly will. Nintendo expanded upon Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a lot in the years that followed its release, with new additions being added as late as 2023. I suspect we will see quite a lot of new things added to Mario Kart World in the years ahead. Besides that, it has one big thing that no other Mario Kart game has – a big open world to explore.

While some fans have complained that there’s not enough content in this world, there are still lots of fun challenges to enjoy, and it’s the kind of thing that seems to have been designed as a playground for you and your friends to mess around in. I also believe that it’s a lot of fun to just peacefully drive around and explore, scratching a therapeutic itch that the series has never really attempted to satisfy before. I can easily imagine myself spending countless hours doing just that if I had had the game as a kid.

Mario Kart World screenshot showing Donkey Kong in Moo Moo Meadows.

Price

The price of these two games isn’t as easy to explain as you might think, as there are a lot of moving parts, so to speak. I’ve broken down the price for you in as simple a way as possible:

  • A digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe costs $59.99, though it does not get you the complete game, only the initial 48 race tracks
  • The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC is $24.99 and is essential if you want to experience the complete version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. There’s a bundled edition as well, but the price is the same whether you buy it bundled or separately
  • It’s also possible to get the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass for free if you happen to subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, but as this costs $49.99, it’s not worth subscribing just for that (though it’s a handy bonus if you already have it)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe screenshot showing Link doing a trick on Hyrule Circuit.

So for the full Mario Kart 8 Deluxe experience, you’re looking at an $84.98 price tag. Meanwhile, for Mario Kart World, the pricing looks like this:

  • If you buy the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle for $499.99, which is $50 more than the Switch 2 on its own. So in this bundle, you’re essentially paying $50 for the digital version of the game
  • If you didn’t get the bundle, then you have to pay $79.99 for the game, with no difference in price if you go for the physical or digital version

In quite a real sense, you could say that Mario Kart World is cheaper than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Having said that, it’s worth keeping in mind that there will likely be DLC in the future, which will significantly expand the cost of the game and make it more expensive for those who want the whole experience. You’re paying for it in its earliest form, while you’re getting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in its final form. I’m holding out hope that there will be a Diddy Kong Racing DLC that gives you a whole new overworld to explore based on Timber’s Island.

Mario Kart World screenshot showing Pauline in a racing car at the starting line of a DK Pass race.

Multiplayer

For a lot of people, Mario Kart is all about the multiplayer. Both games deliver on this front, though they do both offer slightly different experiences. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it’s all about the racing (or combat, if battle mode is for you). It’s easy to while away the hours doing race after race, swapping around characters and vehicles between each one, and just having loads of fun.

You can do all of that in Mario Kart World, too – but there are two fairly big benefits for anyone looking forward to playing with their pals. The first is the addition of the free roam mode. If you just want to shoot the breeze in the Mushroom Kingdom, driving around and making your own fun with your dear friends, then Mario Kart World offers you an avenue to do so that isn’t really available in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This will be especially appealing for younger players who have not yet lost that sense of just enjoying being inside a game world and exploring all its nooks and crannies.

Mario Kart World also sets itself apart by having 24-player races, which is a big step up from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s 12-player races. Personally, these two things don’t feel all that different from each other to me, but it is true that getting caught far behind in Mario Kart World can be a little bit frustrating.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe screenshot showing an Inkling holding a red shell behind Toad on Royal Raceway.

Should you buy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Mario Kart World?

Ultimately, both of these games are worth buying and provide unique experiences. Though if you want to get just one, here’s what I suggest:

  • Buy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe if:
    • You want a classic Mario Kart experience
    • You want to revisit nostalgic race tracks
    • You like the idea of using crossover characters like Link
    • You don’t mind paying more for DLC
  • Buy Mario Kart World if:
    • You love exploring open worlds
    • You want a cheaper option
    • You’re happy with slightly esoteric character options
    • You want a shiny new experience

You can read our full Mario Kart World review from Connor Christie if you would like to read a little more about the series’ most recent installment. Our Mario Kart World items guide will also give you an insight into some of the hijinks you’ll experience in the game.

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