Where Is Our Mario Kart World Review?

Drivers, ready your A buttons, because Mario Kart World’s countdown clock is finally about to tick down! Unfortunately, Nintendo opted not to send out the Switch 2 for any early coverage, so my review is still in the garage getting tuned up. The good news, however, is that I’ve already gone hands-on with Mario Kart World twice, and when this article is published, I’ll probably already be standing in line to pick up my copy so I can jump right back in. (Sorry, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to get my 10 bucks.) You can read my most recent thoughts on World from a preview earlier this week, but I also wanted to take a moment to briefly share who I am and why I’m assigned to this review. (Those who have been watching our video reviews to the end may have seen us sharing some context about our reviewer’s tastes and history there as well.) Earlier this year I took over hosting duties for IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, and I’ve been excitedly reporting on Nintendo for roughly a decade. I’ve also been doing more and more Nintendo reviews for IGN, including both Super Mario Party Jamboree and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door last year. I’m also an enormous Mario Kart fan. I’m not sure there’s a video game franchise I’ve spent more total hours playing than this one. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my favorite entry – and in my top 10 favorite games of all time – and I’ve logged over 500 hours of track time there alone. That’s not even counting the base Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, which I proudly picked up at launch back in 2014 as one of the few Wii U owners out there at the time. (There were dozens of us!) With its gorgeous art direction, amazing track design, and impressive amount of content (including the return of F-Zero!), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe felt like the franchise reaching the finish line of the more-or-less linear Mario Kart formula that began on Super Nintendo, so I’m very excited that World is tackling something entirely new to this series rather than simply iterating on what came before. I’ve logged over 500 hours of track time in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe alone. Beyond that one, my favorites are Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 64, which are the two I spent the most time playing with friends and family growing up. Double Dash’s two-character mechanic is such a blast and 64 is an undeniable classic, but I’ll also shout out the 3DS’s Mario Kart 7, which I believe is the most underrated entry in the series. I’ve always loved just playing as Mario in Mario Kart – which leads some of my friends to call me crazy – but I am looking forward to racing as the new-look Donkey Kong in World.