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I had one standout moment while previewingMarioKart Worldas part of mySwitch 2 hands-onat an exclusive Nintendo event recently.
Well, thats a lie; I had many standout moments.
But what stuck with me the most was the following moment.
I was exploring a course reminiscent ofMario Kart 8sDragon Driftway, up high in the sky.
I ended up falling off the course at a particularly sharp corner.
And so I fell.
I fell for what felt like 10-15 seconds, eventually landing in a swamp-like region below.
But the point is that I was genuinely quite stunned by how openMario Kart Worldtruly feels.
Both in and out of Grand Prix events, I didnt see a single loading screen.
Those games are fantastic, but free roaming and events are all segmented by rather lengthy loading screens.
This doesnt appear to be the case inMario Kart World.
Now going back to my above example of falling without respawning.
Should I really have been that surprised?
Nintendo has confirmed that this is an open-worldMario Kartgame after all.
I can imagine the developers hiding these in every nook and cranny of the world, likeForza Horizonsspeed boards.
Instead, theyre treated as their own character in the selection menu.
But Ill have to get back to you on that.
The big difference here, as mentioned, is that each race seamlessly transitions into the next.
Races here also begin with a rolling start, lending this feeling that youre always moving.
While racing, no section of track stuck out to me as particularly memorable.
It could be that I just need more time with the game, especially beyond a busy hands-on session.
The concept of Knockout Mode is simple.
The final four then race for the win across a number of laps.
But thatsMario Kart -thats exactly what youre signing up for.
I cant wait to jump into Knockout Tour online in the full game with 23 other players.
Its bound to be absolute carnage.
It truly feels like theres a real grab bag here.
One of my favorites is the Gold Shell, which drops coins as it travels along the course.
It could just be for fun, which I can obviously get behind.
Finally, its naturally worth noting thatMario Kart Worldis visually stunning.
I love the more expressive character models, and the draw distance of the world is truly impressive.
Its quite hard to believe thatMario Kart Worldis only a couple of months away, but its true.
