Mario Kart World Direct 4.17.2025
Free Roam is my fave Mario Kart idea in a while
Okay, this probably won’t be too long. The new direct was simple and to the point. So I’ll do that too. I touched on this before, but the new free roaming feature in MK World is something I always wanted to see since the N64 days. For years, I wished the world’s around the tracks were in fact world’s to explore. I can’t believe they’re finally doing that!
The new costumes are incorporated into free roam too. You literally go through a fast food joint’s drive through and pick up a meal. Once you “eat” it, you get a new costume. I’m hoping they bring back the zombie costume from Mario Odyssey. That was my favorite one.
Now your karts can transform depending on the terrain. It can be a plane or a boat etc. It reminds me of Diddy Kong Racing, except this seems more convenient.
I like all the nods to Super Mario Kart. Like the hidden panels on the ground in free roam. And the billboard that recreates the character select screen from that game. Most nostalgic things bother me, but I like these little touches in small doses.
The new rewind feature lets you rewind your kart if you miss a landing etc. in single player races. If you do that at the wrong time, I can definitely see that screwing you over instead of helping you. It opens the possibilities for new strategies which could be very fun.
As a horror fan, the new spooky racetrack where you go inside a movie screen sounds amazing. Older levels in previous games are getting redesigns too. It could be interesting to compare the older versions with their new counterparts.
I love that they added a goomba and the dolphin from Super Mario World as new playable characters. I always loved those designs. I love how expressive the characters are overall now.
I had more to say about this direct than I thought haha
