Mario Kart World: new Nintendo racer is open-world for some reason

If Need 4 Speed can do it, I guess Nintendo can too. Mario Kart 9 was finally properly revealed as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, albeit rebranded to Mario Kart World. That change in name aligns with a change in design policy: Mario Kart World will be an open-world game, unleashing you and your chosen kart on a vast world of interconnected courses.

Does it make a lot of sense, considering the series' previous insistence on linearity? No. But Grand Theft Mario has a certain appeal all the same, and the series' most expansive roster yet makes me excited to traverse the world as a Goomba. This is somewhat tempered, however, by Mario Kart World's $80 price tag, marking yet another step up in triple-A game prices. Hopefully, this is just a one-off, but knowing Nintendo it's hard to say for sure.

Previously:
• A real-life Mario Kart course made with Lego cars
• Supersized Lego Mario Kart rolls into town
• Pedro Pascal stars in the grimdark Mario Kart reboot you've been waiting for
• Here's how you can build the next 'Mario Kart' and 'Fortnite'
• This video of Walter White in Mario Kart has no right to be this good