As of yesterday, Nintendo rolled out a new update for one of its Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives, Mario Kart World. Although it’s anticipated that new releases, especially launch titles, will see small patches coming through in the weeks following their release, Nintendo’s most recent one has left a sour taste in the mouths of MKW players.
As part of Mario Kart World‘s open world design, one of the highlighted features was that players would be able to drive right from the end of one race and into another through transitional tracks that seamlessly connected the racing tracks across its vast open world. While this is great for a mode like Knockout Tour, players weren’t too thrilled about the feature in VS Races.
MKW’s Update “Fixed” Something That Wasn’t Broken
A Strategy To Make Mario Kart World’s Online Races More Fun Is Now Gone
As was the case with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, players have the option in Mario Kart World to vote on the next track when in online races. However, given Mario Kart World’s attached tracks, the votes are limited to the tracks that connect to the one you’re currently on. This, unfortunately, left little room for variety and guaranteed that players would have to spend time on the pretty lackluster connecting segments.
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“This Might Kill The Game For Me”: Mario Kart World’s New Patch Causes Outrage From Fans
A recent update for Mario Kart World for Switch 2 has fans in a frenzy over its change to track selections during online play intermissions.
However, as with MK8 Deluxe, there is also the option to pick Random, which is typically selected if you simply don’t care or don’t like any of the options presented. That being said, for Mario Kart World, Random also served a somewhat extended purpose. By selecting Random, MKW would then pull a selection from any of its tracks, not just the ones available through intermission tracks. This allowed players to have variety, avoid those segments, and have an overall better time.
Now, as part of the new 1.1.2 update to Mario Kart World, that is no longer an option. Although the patch did fix some minor bugs, the main point of it was that it “adjusted courses selected in “Random” when selecting next course in a wireless VS Race”, so players could no longer utilize the Random method mentioned above. Instead, selecting Random will now only pull from the tracks connected by intermission tracks and not from the general tracks.
Nintendo Wants Games Played Its Way
Despite Following The Rules, Players Were Still Somehow Found To Be In The Wrong
While it would make sense to patch something like this out if it were a cheat that offered players an advantage they weren’t intended to have, this wasn’t that. An example of that would be the Frozen Meat glitch in Zelda: TOTK that allowed players to do something to earn money quickly that was never intended by the developers. That example was not a workaround but a glitch that could drastically affect gameplay, so there was more immediate justification for a fix.
No part of using the randomizer to have a chance at selecting general 3-lap tracks gives one player an advantage, nor does it keep the game from being played the way it’s intended to. Intermission tracks were still part of the possibility, so it wasn’t as if the random option did away with them; it just offered a larger mix that included some of the best Mario Kart World tracks so that players could enjoy the game without getting burned out on the less interesting and repetitive intermission tracks.
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Mario Kart World’s Free Roam fell a bit flat, but one of Nintendo’s greatest mini-games could make a huge comeback and make it incredible.
Patching this out, and to make it so intentionally obvious as the main part of the patch, just conveys the feeling that Mario Kart World should only be played if it’s played the way Nintendo wants it to be played. A better option would perhaps have been to look into why players are selecting Random in the first place and seek out a solution that solves the problem rather than punishing players for finding a way to enjoy the game more.
Players Are The Heart Of Gaming
Developers Should Take A Moment To Remember Who Games Are For
Ultimately, games should be created with one main goal in mind, and that’s to provide an experience for players to enjoy. Though it can be disappointing if a game doesn’t turn out exactly as hoped, that doesn’t have to be the end of it. Starfield is one of many examples that didn’t have the life or longevity that it was originally expected to, but since there’s a dedicated community of modders out there making things directly shared through Bethesda Creations, the game maintains some sort of player base.
That’s not to say that I expect Nintendo to start allowing mods, but it’s more so to say that developers should embrace the way players play their games, whether that be mods, workarounds, or otherwise. As long as it’s not breaking any rules or providing one player an otherwise fair advantage in a public online setting, players enjoying a game their way should be celebrated, especially if Nintendo hopes to see the Switch 2’s best-selling game have as long a lifespan as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
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Mario Kart World Doesn’t Use The Switch 2’s Best New Feature
Mario Kart World has many exciting new gameplay modes, but it unfortunately won’t be using one of the Nintendo Switch 2’s best new features.
At the moment, the Nintendo Switch 2 lacks a large selection of games, so players may be more willing to deal with the added annoyance for now, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still exists. As more games release, players likely aren’t going to be willing to stick with something that seemingly punishes them for simply wanting to have fun and enjoy the game.
Sources: Nintendo
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Original Release Date
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June 5, 2025
The Nintendo Switch 2 is the successor to Nintendo Switch, scheduled for release in 2025. Confirmed as backwards compatible, it will play both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. A full reveal is pencilled in for April 2, 2025.
