Twenty-four players racing at once is exactly as chaotic as it sounds. The new Knockout Tour mode makes it even better. Racers get eliminated across connected tracks until only the winners remain. The tension builds perfectly as the field shrinks.
The handling feels great. It’s somewhere between the drift physics I loved in 8 Deluxe but with more weight to it. The new mechanics like rail grinding and wall jumping add layers without overcomplicating things. Finding shortcuts using these feels rewarding.
The track variety is solid. The city courses have personality and I keep coming back to Whistlestop Summit with its elevation changes and dynamic weather. Free Roam mode lets you explore these locations without racing pressure which is a nice addition for just messing around.
The item balance is better than 8 Deluxe. Kamek turns you into a Goomba or Koopa which creates hilarious mid-pack scrambles. The Feather is back and opens up high jump shortcuts. There are still plenty of shells and bananas but the new stuff shakes up the meta.
Performance note though. Solo and two player split screen hits 60fps smooth. Four player local drops to 30fps which is noticeable but playable. This was disappointing for me since I really expected the power of the Switch 2 to be able to have 4-player splitscreen be running at 60 fps, but I guess we’ll have to wait for the next console for that. Online runs great with minimal perceived lag, but I do notice some weird powerup attack and defense misses here and there. Fifty characters to choose from, solid mechanics, and Nintendo polish everywhere.
This is the Mario Kart I wanted on Switch 2. A great launch title!