I'm here to tell you that Mario Kart World's free-roam mode is great when there isn't someone yapping in your ear about how "bad" and "empty" it is.
Since its release a few weeks ago alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, the latest installment in the vaunted kart-racing series has had a few more ups and downs than expected. For all the praise the game has accrued--it received a 9 from GameSpot's Steve Watts--Mario Kart World has also gotten its fair share of knocks and detractors, and a great deal of the criticism that's been aimed at it recently has centered on its free-roam mode. Those criticisms claim that the mode (and the world it makes available to players) is largely barren and what activities do fill it are lackluster.
For the uninitiated, Mario Kart World's free-roam mode drops players onto the large interconnected roadways of the newest game. If a player wanted to, they could drive from Acorn Heights, the northernmost track in the game, all the way down to Dino Dino Jungle at the southern tip of the continent. All the while, they can zoom past Toads in cars, buses, and trucks on the highways that connect these courses to one another. Along the way, there are even P-Switches that toggle challenges and races, warp pipes that transport players to hidden rooms, collectable Peach medallions in out-of-the-way spots, and stickers to collect to garnish your player profile. It's simple, uncomplicated, and nice. The mode is exactly what it's been billed as, and I cannot really understand the heat it's getting.
While I've been basking in all free-roam has to offer, I'll be the first to admit that there isn't much else going on here. Challenges can often be pretty mindless, and while some can exasperate, most are over in a flash. The rewards for finding Peach medallions and question block panels are trivial and insignificant in the grand scheme of the game. Roaming around freely can feel like the gaming equivalent of consuming empty calories, and I recognize how this chafes against the expectations of players being dropped into a huge in-game world in 2025. But I think the fact that Mario Kart World's free-roam does away with the excess and frills is precisely the point of the mode, and it does my head in that there is an audience out there that isn't connecting with it because they want something else. This isn't the next Forza Horizon game, whose map will be dotted with countless side activities and missions for the player to do. It's Mario Kart World, and it's doing things its own way.
Mario Kart World's free-roam mode features Rosalina's tour bus company and more.
I think there's a clear distinction between the notion of a video game with a "free-roam" mode, which is what's on offer in Mario Kart World, and an "open-world" game, a phrase that Nintendo has explicitly stated it avoided invoking throughout the game's development. The latter is a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Cyberpunk 2077, which are entirely different experiences you can also get on the Switch 2. Hell, if we want to pit Mario Kart World against a proper open-world racing game, look no further than Forza Horizon 5. There are hundreds of other examples that you could find to fit that mold across gaming's history, but that won't change the core argument here: Mario Kart World is not an open-world game, and we're better off leaving it that way than arguing for it to become something it was never meant to be.
I say this because I've relished the quiet nights that I've squeezed out of Mario Kart World's free-roam mode. I've never taken a proper road trip, but I imagine the ability to make that space for peace and quiet is what it's all about. I've been conjuring those very vibes on the regular by aimlessly hitting the open road in World, going wherever it may take me, and taking pictures of the charming little world Nintendo has spun from this historic franchise. This is a place where I can play as a cow, pick up a burger from a fast-food restaurant operated by Yoshi, and park next to a Shy Guy seated on a bench. It's a world with hitchhiking Toads, random campsites, and a tour bus company apparently run by Rosalina. Some guy on the internet claims there are UFOs to be found in free-roam, and others are taking over semi-trucks and storming the gates of an in-game Area 51. Sometimes, enjoying games means taking it on its own terms and appreciating the tiniest of moments and details, or just making your own fun, rather than expecting it to deliver some huge creative swings.
To that end, free-roam also allows me to sidestep the frankly ridiculously competitive nature of Mario Kart World--which is more intense than it has ever been, thanks to a slew of new advanced maneuvers--and explore the sights of magnificent locales like I've never been able to before. Go to the Great ? Block Ruins in free-roam and really take in the view of the dilapidated skyscraper-sized block. Try to make sense of it, and if you can't, just bask in it. I know I sure did.
Sometimes, free-roam mode is perfect for a chill, late night drive.
I'm sure I'll be called a mark or some kind of Nintendo apologist, but the simple truth is this: Mario Kart World fully delivers on a vibes-based free-roam mode, and I prefer that to any of the half-dozen overstuffed open-world titles available at any given moment. And hey, I love some of those games quite a lot, but a break from them is just as welcome as having more of them to play. Games that big can feel grand and adventurous to start before devolving into laborious trudges and when everything is an open-world RPG, it begins to feel like nothing is special. It's rare then to get a marquee title from a major developer and publisher like Nintendo that does away with the excess and cuts right to the chase, making Mario Kart World a breath of fresh air. Y'know, through the scent of exhaust fumes and Yoshi burgers.
Moreover, what else might you possibly want or need from an open-world Mario Kart game that you can't already get in the larger package of World? If you want to race, hit a grand prix or Knockout match. Want some challenges? Well, free-roam's already got those in spades, but there's an additional set of Time Trials that have long been a staple in the series. Want some competition? Go online and do some good ol' fashioned versus battles. If you want collectibles, the game's already got 'em!
When you really think about it, what's an actionable feature that could tangibly make Mario Kart's free-roam a richer experience? Side quests? Possible interactions with roaming NPCs? One-on-one races with rivals? I can see some of that working in this game, but by and large, I don't think any of it is the silver-bullet fix that'll enrich Mario Kart World for the players disgruntled by its implementation of free-roam. I think what they might be looking for is simply a different kind of game.
So yes, Mario Kart World's free-roam mode is not the most robust offering. If you come to it expecting the next great open-world title, you're likely to be sorely disappointed. What you get instead is so much better though, so much more freeing, and in a field awash with overstuffed and overstimulating titles around every corner, I'm grateful that Mario Kart World eschews those trends and stays in its own lane where it (and I) remain unbothered.
Source
Since its release a few weeks ago alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, the latest installment in the vaunted kart-racing series has had a few more ups and downs than expected. For all the praise the game has accrued--it received a 9 from GameSpot's Steve Watts--Mario Kart World has also gotten its fair share of knocks and detractors, and a great deal of the criticism that's been aimed at it recently has centered on its free-roam mode. Those criticisms claim that the mode (and the world it makes available to players) is largely barren and what activities do fill it are lackluster.
For the uninitiated, Mario Kart World's free-roam mode drops players onto the large interconnected roadways of the newest game. If a player wanted to, they could drive from Acorn Heights, the northernmost track in the game, all the way down to Dino Dino Jungle at the southern tip of the continent. All the while, they can zoom past Toads in cars, buses, and trucks on the highways that connect these courses to one another. Along the way, there are even P-Switches that toggle challenges and races, warp pipes that transport players to hidden rooms, collectable Peach medallions in out-of-the-way spots, and stickers to collect to garnish your player profile. It's simple, uncomplicated, and nice. The mode is exactly what it's been billed as, and I cannot really understand the heat it's getting.
While I've been basking in all free-roam has to offer, I'll be the first to admit that there isn't much else going on here. Challenges can often be pretty mindless, and while some can exasperate, most are over in a flash. The rewards for finding Peach medallions and question block panels are trivial and insignificant in the grand scheme of the game. Roaming around freely can feel like the gaming equivalent of consuming empty calories, and I recognize how this chafes against the expectations of players being dropped into a huge in-game world in 2025. But I think the fact that Mario Kart World's free-roam does away with the excess and frills is precisely the point of the mode, and it does my head in that there is an audience out there that isn't connecting with it because they want something else. This isn't the next Forza Horizon game, whose map will be dotted with countless side activities and missions for the player to do. It's Mario Kart World, and it's doing things its own way.
Mario Kart World's free-roam mode features Rosalina's tour bus company and more.
I think there's a clear distinction between the notion of a video game with a "free-roam" mode, which is what's on offer in Mario Kart World, and an "open-world" game, a phrase that Nintendo has explicitly stated it avoided invoking throughout the game's development. The latter is a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Cyberpunk 2077, which are entirely different experiences you can also get on the Switch 2. Hell, if we want to pit Mario Kart World against a proper open-world racing game, look no further than Forza Horizon 5. There are hundreds of other examples that you could find to fit that mold across gaming's history, but that won't change the core argument here: Mario Kart World is not an open-world game, and we're better off leaving it that way than arguing for it to become something it was never meant to be.
I say this because I've relished the quiet nights that I've squeezed out of Mario Kart World's free-roam mode. I've never taken a proper road trip, but I imagine the ability to make that space for peace and quiet is what it's all about. I've been conjuring those very vibes on the regular by aimlessly hitting the open road in World, going wherever it may take me, and taking pictures of the charming little world Nintendo has spun from this historic franchise. This is a place where I can play as a cow, pick up a burger from a fast-food restaurant operated by Yoshi, and park next to a Shy Guy seated on a bench. It's a world with hitchhiking Toads, random campsites, and a tour bus company apparently run by Rosalina. Some guy on the internet claims there are UFOs to be found in free-roam, and others are taking over semi-trucks and storming the gates of an in-game Area 51. Sometimes, enjoying games means taking it on its own terms and appreciating the tiniest of moments and details, or just making your own fun, rather than expecting it to deliver some huge creative swings.
To that end, free-roam also allows me to sidestep the frankly ridiculously competitive nature of Mario Kart World--which is more intense than it has ever been, thanks to a slew of new advanced maneuvers--and explore the sights of magnificent locales like I've never been able to before. Go to the Great ? Block Ruins in free-roam and really take in the view of the dilapidated skyscraper-sized block. Try to make sense of it, and if you can't, just bask in it. I know I sure did.
Sometimes, free-roam mode is perfect for a chill, late night drive.
I'm sure I'll be called a mark or some kind of Nintendo apologist, but the simple truth is this: Mario Kart World fully delivers on a vibes-based free-roam mode, and I prefer that to any of the half-dozen overstuffed open-world titles available at any given moment. And hey, I love some of those games quite a lot, but a break from them is just as welcome as having more of them to play. Games that big can feel grand and adventurous to start before devolving into laborious trudges and when everything is an open-world RPG, it begins to feel like nothing is special. It's rare then to get a marquee title from a major developer and publisher like Nintendo that does away with the excess and cuts right to the chase, making Mario Kart World a breath of fresh air. Y'know, through the scent of exhaust fumes and Yoshi burgers.
Moreover, what else might you possibly want or need from an open-world Mario Kart game that you can't already get in the larger package of World? If you want to race, hit a grand prix or Knockout match. Want some challenges? Well, free-roam's already got those in spades, but there's an additional set of Time Trials that have long been a staple in the series. Want some competition? Go online and do some good ol' fashioned versus battles. If you want collectibles, the game's already got 'em!
When you really think about it, what's an actionable feature that could tangibly make Mario Kart's free-roam a richer experience? Side quests? Possible interactions with roaming NPCs? One-on-one races with rivals? I can see some of that working in this game, but by and large, I don't think any of it is the silver-bullet fix that'll enrich Mario Kart World for the players disgruntled by its implementation of free-roam. I think what they might be looking for is simply a different kind of game.
So yes, Mario Kart World's free-roam mode is not the most robust offering. If you come to it expecting the next great open-world title, you're likely to be sorely disappointed. What you get instead is so much better though, so much more freeing, and in a field awash with overstuffed and overstimulating titles around every corner, I'm grateful that Mario Kart World eschews those trends and stays in its own lane where it (and I) remain unbothered.
Source