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Being bigger and better than the installments before it,Mario Kart Worldoffers an extensive list of things to see and do in its beautiful world, ranging from experimenting with a slew of new systems and mechanics to trying to master the latest items, and diving into its new game modes.
While all the other things mentioned are crucial, the newly added, and returning, game modes are the star of the show, offering hours upon hours of content and heart-pounding action,as you attempt to earn three stars on every Grand Prix Cup and Knockout Tour Rally,or take your skills online for intense laps against similarly skilled players!
Free Roam
Free Roamis a brand-new, single-player only mode introduced in Mario Kart World that allows you todrive across the gigantic, interconnected tracks,finding neat collectibles and activities that ultimately unlock Stickers for you to equip to your profile and vehicles.
The activities found in Free Roam vary, but they’re worth seeking out, as you willneed to complete a handful of eachof them if you wish tounlock theMirror Modein Mario Kart World,which is a staple of the series, and typically the last mode you unlock in the game!
All Activities In Free Roam
Grand Prix
Grand Prixis the standard and expected mode of the Mario Kart series, so it’s no surprise to see it return in Mario Kart World. In this mode, you cancompete across eight Cups,all of which containfour tracks each,for a solid32 courses.
Each Cup can be competed in at50cc, 100cc, or 150cc,allowing you to gradually increase your engine class as you become more comfortable with the game. Grand Prix mode can be played inboth single-player and multiplayermodes!
Completing a Grand Prix Cup at 150cc also counts toward your progress in 50cc and 100cc, so you’re not forced to go back and grind out the slower speed enging classes if you’re skilled enough for 150cc. It’s a nice quality of life addition that wasn’t present in previous titles!
Knockout Tour
Knockout Touris another new mode added to the series with Mario Kart World, implementing aBattle Royale-esque spinon the series. Playersrace across six tracksin Rallies, witheach course knocking off four playersat a time until one skilled racer emerges victorious at the end.
There are alsoeight Rally Cupsavailable in Knockout Tour mode, and witheach of them havingsix courses,that leaves us with a massive48 tracksfor this mode in total.50cc, 100cc, and 150ccengine classes are available here as well, and you can play this mode insingle-player, multiplayer, and even onlinefor added tension!
Completing Rally Cups in Knockout Tour mode at 150cc will also complete your 50cc and 100cc splits, just like in Grand Prix mode. If you’re good enough to tackle 150cc, we strongly recommend just gunning for it, as you no longer have to manually complete every single Cup at each individual engine class for 100 percent completion!
Time Trials
Time Trialsis a fan favorite mode in the Mario Kart series, so we’re glad to see it back and better than ever. This mode allows you torace against your own Ghost,enabling you toset your initial benchmarkon every course in the game, thenset out to improve that overall timeas you get more and more familiar with its shortcuts and layout.
Furthermore, youcan also race against the Ghost of Nintendo employeesand the Ghosts of players on the Rankings Leaderboard,allowing you to see the routes they take, which could show you unique shortcuts, tricks, and much more.
If you’resomeone who loves to get down in the nitty grittyand wants to see yourself improve, thenTime Trials will be where you likely spend most of your time.There are already some nasty Time Trials PBs out there, and we strongly recommend seeking them out tolearn a thing or two about the new systems and mechanics!
In previous installments, beating every Nintendo employee’s Ghost would reward you with an in-game item. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Mario Kart World, as you don’t earn anything for doing so. This mode is now only used for training and honing your skills on each track!
VS Race
VS Raceis up next, and it’s achaotic party modethat’s only available insingle-player and multiplayer,meaning it’s not accessible online. Nonetheless, this mode will allow you totweak some variablesto your liking, enabling you to make things even more out of control or a bit more dialed back.
Here, you can adjust theEngine Class, enable Teams(two to four teams total),make Items more franticand devastating, as well asselect the difficulty of the CPUs.It’s primarily a mode for casual play or to enjoy with a friend on the couch. It can be very fun!
Battle
Lastly, we haveBattle mode,which allows you to choose fromtwo gametypes:Balloon Battle and Coin Runners.Balloon Battleis a mode where you canset up teams or a free-for-allstyle match, where your primary objective is todrive around, obtain Items, and pop the opposing player’s balloonsto win. The team, or player, with the most popped balloons wins.
Coin Runnerssimilarly allows you toset up a team or a free-for-allmatchup, having youdrive around the course collecting Coins.The team or player with the most Coins collected when the time runs out wins. The objective here is not only to collect Coins, but toattack the opposition and have them drop theirs.
Battle Mode is available insingle-player, multiplayer, and online modes,allowing you to play it in any format you wish. So, if you want to take your skills online and test your might, you can!
