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Nintendo Direct: Mario Kart World April 2025 — *Image: Nintendo*

The first Nintendo Direct dedicated to a single Switch 2 game has come and gone, giving us a 15-minute deep drive (c’mon, that’s a keeper!) into everything we can expect from Mario Kart World when it launches alongside the system on 5th June.

If you’ve been keeping up with hands-on impressions following the Switch 2 Direct and the subsequent Switch 2 Experiences, the MKW Direct probably didn’t tell you much you didn’t already know, but it did give us an extended look at the titular world, the courses within, and confirmed the return of Battle Mode and more.

Let’s take a look and round up all the details from the Mario Kart World Direct.

Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct (April 2025) – The Full Presentation

If you’re keen to catch up, here’s the full 15-minute MKW Direct, originally broadcast at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST / 11pm AET on Thursday 17th April 2025.

Nintendo Life Live Reaction

And if you fancy a little watchalong with Felix and Zion, here are their live takes as the Direct happened.

Mario Kart World Direct Round Up

Okay, enough waffling – let’s drive right into things…

The New Courses

First up, we got a look at a selection of the new courses, including some specific callouts:

Mario Bros. Circuit
Crown City
Salty Salty Speedway
Starview Peak
Boo Cinema – Dracula Waluigi!!

We also saw some old favourites highlighted:

Toad’s Factory
Peach Beach
Wario Shipyards / Galleon

We got further confirmation of returning courses that have been reworked and integrated into the world (big up for Koopa Troopa Beach!), and Day or Night racing was also confirmed.

Characters

Image: Nintendo

Next up, an overview of some of the main characters. This included regulars such as:

Mario (shocker!)
Luigi
Peach
Bowser
Yoshi

…plus some less expected new drivers:

Check out the enormous roster of confirmed characters in our guide:

Game Modes

We then got a closer look at the “two main styles of race” — Grand Prix and Knockout Modes — both of which allow 24 racers.

Cars that shoot Bullet Bills and attacks from Hammer Bros. were highlighted as hazards to avoid, natch.

Grand Prix

Image: Nintendo

In GP mode, you choose a cup and race four courses. So far, so Mario Kart. The difference here is that you’ll have to drive between courses rather than just being plopped on the next starting grid after passing the checkered flag.

While not stating it outright, the trailer essentially confirmed that completing all the Grand Prix cups would unlock “a certain colourful course”, too. (That’s Rainbow Road.)

Knockout Tour

Image: Nintendo

This part covered known details, giving us another look at the elimination-style ‘rally’ mode, Knockout Tour. The Direct showed off Golden Rally, Ice Rally, Moon Rally, and Spiny Rally – epic six-course races that eliminate the four karters at the back of the pack every checkpoint.

We loved this new mode when we went hands-on with the game.

Items

Image: Nintendo

Next up, items. Plenty of old faithful in the mix, plus some newbies. Here’s what was shown:

Coin Shell (drops coins in your path)
Ice Flower (freezes enemies when thrown)
Hammer (you throw hammers that remain on the ground for a short while)
Mega Mushroom (a returner that makes you big)
Feather (a vintage item which gives you a big jump, letting you avoid attacks9
Kamek (transform rivals into other racers/things)

Support Features

A brief look at some returning accessibility features for new Mario Kart players, including Smart Steering, Auto-accelerate, and Tilt Controls. As with Mario Kart 8, everyone can get involved.

Food

By picking up snacks on the road, you can unlock costumes. Regional cuisine unlock regional threads inspired by the meal.

You find this fast food at drive-thru joints around the world.

New Tricks

Image: Nintendo

Two new moves here that should prove invaluable.

The first is Charge Jump, a mini turbo/trick you charge up by holding down the slide button while moving in a straight line. If you jump towards a wall, you can Wall Ride for a bit.

More interestingly, you can now Rewind during a race! This reverses your movement, so you can go back and nail a jump or shortcut you missed. HOWEVER (big however), everyone else keeps moving forward when you rewind, so you’ll need a pretty decent lead to make using it worthwhile. This can be used in Free Roam mode and also in races.

Modes

Image: Nintendo

Time Trials

Groundbreaking. You can download Ghost data from other online racers.

VS Race

Another returning mode, although this time with up to 24 racers in up to four teams. You can choose from the Classic ruleset (three laps of the same course) or go Tour style and race between tracks. You can also customise your routes between courses.

Battle Mode

Okay, now we’re talking. Balloon Battle is back (where you compete to burst your opponents’ balloons), as is Coin Runners (where you work to collect the most coins before the time runs out).

Free Roam

Image: Nintendo

While playing a version of Bob-omb’s Battlefield from Mario 64, various locations around the (Mario Kart) world were showcased with a breathless ‘go anywhere, do anything’ vibe.

In terms of new details, we saw P-Switches dotted around the world which initiate missions involving collecting coins, racing to a destination and more. There are “hundreds” of these switches around the world, apparently.

You can also find hidden coins (we saw the Peach Medallion), hidden panels, and “more” around the world, and the Photo Mode will let you capture your exploration and expression with special frames and poses.

Multiplayer

Image: Nintendo

Four-player splitscreen is back, and it looks like the frame rate will take a hit (it looked like 30fps to our eyes, but that’s unconfirmed at the moment.

There’s also the local wireless option, which lets you link up to eight Switch 2s together, with two players per console (if you like), meaning you can have 16-player local meetups.

Heading online raises the per-race player count to 24 players. You can also play with friends online, with Free Roam accessible whilst waiting for your pals to join. Alternatively, you can just go for a cruise and use GameChat to speak with your friends.

The game is compatible with the Switch 2 camera, and you’ll be able to see your friends’ faces onscreen even if four of you are playing locally – which should stop all the “Who’s that in front of me?” questions before you whack a green shell up their tailpipe.

Poll

Aaand that was it. Lots of known information there, if you’ve been keeping up to date with all the latest info, but a decent recap nonetheless. We just want to play it, to be honest!

Mario Kart World is out in a matter of weeks now, so keep your eyes on NL’s road if you’re keen to stay ahead of the competition – and let us know below how you’d rate the Direct as a whole.