Mario Kart World is badly underrated and the best game on Switch 2 – Reader’s Feature

A reader is convinced that Mario Kart World is one of the best games of recent years, and argues that it was underrated in terms of last year’s game awards.

I read with interest the news that Nintendo has let slip a big update for Mario Kart World next week and got quite excited. I’m not sure how big an update it’s going to be, and I doubt it’s the big paid-for one that is inevitably going to happen, but anything new for my favourite game of 2025 is welcome in my books.

Not many other people would call it the best of the year but then the reviews for it were all a lot more negative than I expected. No one said it was bad but listening to what critics said, and a lot of people I’ve spoken to online, it really doesn’t match with my experiences of it at all.

More importantly, it doesn’t match with anyone I’ve met in real life, all of who have loved it, whether they’re gamers or not.

Most of the complaints I’ve seen are for the open world but I do think they’re overblown. It’s absolutely not true that there’s ‘nothing in it’. You’ve got to look for the secrets and collectibles but they’re definitely there and some of the little challenges are quite difficult and interesting. There’s also tons going on in terms of bigger vehicles you can drive, including UFOs, and I’ve had a ton of fun with my nephews and nieces just driving around making our own fun.

You can race any track you want in the open world, because it’s all right there, or just make up your own little games of tag or trying to grind along the different objects and routes. It’s not hard to see how Nintendo could add more things to it but I’m sure that will come eventually, there’s no need to rush.

Even if you ignore the open world completely there’s plenty to do, because the actual racing is a ton of fun. The bigger number of players at once makes a huge difference and the graphics are great. You say that Nintendo hasn’t really shown off the power of the Switch 2 yet but I think they have with Mario Kart. The graphics might be cartoony but they’re 60fps and very detailed and varied.

The main Grand Prix mode is great but the new Knockout one is a fantastic addition that works particularly well online, I feel. There’s loads of other smaller modes too, including Battle, and I really do feel it’s good value for money and a worthy sequel to Mario Kart 8.

I haven’t played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which most people seemed to think was last year’s best game, but I don’t know how you’d compare something like that with Mario Kart anyway. For me Mario Kart is pure fun and it’s very social, which is important to me as I like playing with my family if I can, rather than being shut in my man cave.

Mario Kart World has already provided a lot of happy memories and while that might sound cheesy that counts for a lot to me, much more than ray-tracing or complicated stories or whatever.

But even if you take personal preference out of it, I’d still argue that Mario Kart World is a great game and a very good sequel. Mario Kart 8 was pretty much perfect so there was no point doing the same thing again.

World feels very different and the open world does add a lot, creating a lot more variety than if it was just a bunch of static tracks. The improved online, the new weapons and characters, the new modes… for me it is all well up to the standards of Nintendo’s best.

By reader Ghost

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