Mario Kart World Review

Mario Kart World is not as great of a game that everyone says that it is. I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

The Bad The transition tracks, the tracks between tracks, take away from the actual tracks. In the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th tracks of a cup, you race through 2 sections of a transition track & race only one lap of the actual track. In the first track of a cup, you race 3 laps. This format brings down the tracks & the grand prix overall. You can't really enjoy the tracks. There is a setting where you can turn off intermission tracks to race 3 laps on all tracks. The open world concept & grand prix are not a good mix.

Mushroom Cup tracks like Moo Moo Meadows & Toad's Factory representing the Lightning Cup is a massive letdown. Lightning Cup tracks need to be made up of Star & Special Cup tracks. Also in the Lightning Cup is N64's Choco Mountain which is a shell of itself. Choco Mountain looks like a failed monster truck stadium. It has too much going on. Sometimes less is more. When recreating a track, the essence of the track needs to be maintained. The Mario Kart DS & Mario Kart 8 Versions of Choco Mountain are a good example of this. Peach Stadium is underwhelming. Leave the stadium tracks to Wario & Waluigi. The Shell Cup version of Peach Stadium is equivalent to Baby Park. The Special Cup version Peach Stadium is better but still underwhelming. The Battle Mode version of Peach Stadium is the best version of the three.

Nintendo tried to insult our intelligence by presenting the Koopa Beach 2 track from Super Mario Kart by naming it Koopa Troopa Beach. Koopa Troopa Beach is from Mario Kart 64, a completely different track. Misleading. The Mario Circuit track in the special cup can look misleading but it's actually a combination of Mario Circuit 1, 2, & 3 from Super Mario Kart. I would've been ok with the track being named Mario Circuit 123 One Hundred Twenty Three . I understand why the track was just called Mario Circuit.

Some characters are just unnecessary. We don't need the baby characters such baby Mario & baby Luigi. Animal characters such as Cow, Penguin, Cheep Cheep, Fish Bone, Sidestepper, Swoop, Stingby & Dolphin are not necessary. The animals should have a name. The Koopalings Bowser's children should've been part of the character roster. I like the enemy characters such as Nabbit, Hammer Bro, Dry Bones, Wiggler, Pokey, & Spike.

The new tracks lack a wow factor. The Mushroom, Flower, Star & Special Cups in Mario Kart 64, Double Dash, DS, Wii, & Deluxe have that wow factor. I think my favorite of the new tracks is Cheep Cheep Falls. I think mixing old tracks with new tracks in cups drags down the new tracks. Nintendo should stick with the Nitro & Retro Grand Prix formats.

I find that retro courses are a better fit on the world map than the new courses. Replace Crown City with Mushroom City. The bridge connecting Faraway Oasis & Crown City easily could've been Mushroom Bridge from Double Dash. Mushroom Bridge & Mushroom City linked together, what a concept. Mount Wario from Mario Kart 8 is a better fit for the Star Cup than Sky High Sundae and Wario's Shipyard. Replace Dry Bones Burnout with Wii's Grumble Volcano. The current music for Dry Bones Burnout does not fit the track. Replace Whistletop Summit with Mario Kart 64's Kalimari Desert. You could replace Peach Stadium with Sunshine Airport or Cloudtop Cruise from Mario Kart 8 which would be a perfect transition to Rainbow Road. The boardwalk approaching Boo Cinema could easily be Mario Kart 64's Banshee Boardwalk.

Mario Kart World is not worth spending nearly $600 on, which includes the cost of Nintendo Switch 2 because you can't play Mario Kart World without the Nintendo Switch 2. Mario Kart World is a Nintendo Switch 1 quality game. Expect to spend more money on DLC's for Mario Kart World.

The Good The remixes of themes of tracks from previous Mario kart games & other games are a home run! Mario Kart World's Rainbow Road is the greatest Rainbow Road ever. The intermission track section of Rainbow Road leaving Peach Stadium is the only intermission track I like because it's the prelude to the greatness of this edition of Rainbow Road. It's a perfect crescendo. The knockout elimination rally races and the open world concept fits much better. A good test of stamina. Battle Mode is ok. I think the Dino Dino Jungle battle stage is the best of all battle stages.

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