In under two months, the world will be graced with a brand new Mario Kart game on a new Nintendo console. Mario Kart World launches alongside the Switch 2 on 5th June 2025, but many have questioned whether this new title, which comes 11 years after the last brand new console Mario Kart, is actually a stop up.
Thankfully, the folks over at Digital Foundry (via Eurogamer) have taken a look at all of the official footage we have, and some some crucial comparisons to the previous Mario Kart game on both Wii U and switch.
Comparing it to Mario Kart 8, DF’s Oliver McKenzie says that the key innovation with World is the new, open-world structure, which we’ve only seen and experienced glimpses of up until now. On top of that, there can now be up to 24 racers on the track at any given time. But many similar tech choices have been made in the new game, even if it looks a step up.
For example, McKenzie points out that World still uses a lot of baked lighting, with some environmental lighting “heavily pre-calculated” implanted for certain objects. Breakable items and flags do use real-time shadowing, but the rendering is a little simple elsewhere. The light source, essentially, stays in the same spot regardless of what time of day it is on the course.
Also similar to Mario Kart 8, World’s polygonal placement is a little loose, which McKenzie thinks is to “keep level of detail pop-in to a minimum”. There are some big rendering improvements across the board, though, particularly in the water, which looks absolutely beautiful. Cube mapping isn’t used on water for reflections either, but it is used on other surfaces like glass.
Details in the tracks and roads are much more prominent in World, which you can see on the icy courses and in the tarmac itself. There are actually cracks in the road, for instance, and you can see where the paint has faded from too many cars driving across it.
One course McKenzie looks at in particular is Sky-High Sundae, a Booster Course Pass track in 8 Deluxe that is returning in Mario Kart World. It’s immediately apparent that the artwork and presentation is much better and more detailed — but many Booster Course tracks did seem to be a visual downgrade from the base game anyway.
Other aspects with big, if subtle, improvements include character animations, designs, and even court animations. Everything is a lot more expressive across the board, with lots more detail and lighting to help make World look even better than 8 Deluxe.
There’s a lot to dive into, so make sure you watch the full video from Digital Foundry. Plus, when the game launches, we’re sure the team will be testing everything on the race track. You can also have a look at our own comparison with Mario Kart 8 to see just how different they are.
Are you excited for Mario Kart World? Do you think it’s a step up from 8 Deluxe? Let us know down below.
In under two months, the world will be graced with a brand new Mario Kart game on a new Nintendo console. Mario Kart World launches alongside the Switch 2 on 5th June 2025, but many have questioned whether this new title, which comes 11 years after the last brand new console Mario Kart, is actually a stop up.
Thankfully, the folks over at Digital Foundry (via Eurogamer) have taken a look at all of the official footage we have, and some some crucial comparisons to the previous Mario Kart game on both Wii U and switch.
Comparing it to Mario Kart 8, DF's Oliver McKenzie says that the key innovation with World is the new, open-world structure, which we've only seen and experienced glimpses of up until now. On top of that, there can now be up to 24 racers on the track at any given time. But many similar tech choices have been made in the new game, even if it looks a step up.
For example, McKenzie points out that World still uses a lot of baked lighting, with some environmental lighting "heavily pre-calculated" implanted for certain objects. Breakable items and flags do use real-time shadowing, but the rendering is a little simple elsewhere. The light source, essentially, stays in the same spot regardless of what time of day it is on the course.
Also similar to Mario Kart 8, World's polygonal placement is a little loose, which McKenzie thinks is to "keep level of detail pop-in to a minimum". There are some big rendering improvements across the board, though, particularly in the water, which looks absolutely beautiful. Cube mapping isn't used on water for reflections either, but it is used on other surfaces like glass.
Details in the tracks and roads are much more prominent in World, which you can see on the icy courses and in the tarmac itself. There are actually cracks in the road, for instance, and you can see where the paint has faded from too many cars driving across it.
One course McKenzie looks at in particular is Sky-High Sundae, a Booster Course Pass track in 8 Deluxe that is returning in Mario Kart World. It's immediately apparent that the artwork and presentation is much better and more detailed — but many Booster Course tracks did seem to be a visual downgrade from the base game anyway.
Other aspects with big, if subtle, improvements include character animations, designs, and even court animations. Everything is a lot more expressive across the board, with lots more detail and lighting to help make World look even better than 8 Deluxe.
There's a lot to dive into, so make sure you watch the full video from Digital Foundry. Plus, when the game launches, we're sure the team will be testing everything on the race track. You can also have a look at our own comparison with Mario Kart 8 to see just how different they are.
Are you excited for Mario Kart World? Do you think it's a step up from 8 Deluxe? Let us know down below.
