A new update forMario Kart Worldwas released yesterday, and it is sparking some intense debate about Nintendo’s decisions for the game, with most players feeling one of the biggest changes in the update was completely unnecessary.Mario Kart Worldhas an open-world design that, most of the time, requires players to drive across the game world to a new track when a previous race ended, but a lot of fans are not enjoying that and wish for more time doing just laps ongreat full tracks. Unfortunately, Nintendo has now doubled down on the intermission races for online play.
In a Reddit thread byActivehannes, fans are outraged that the game nowsometimes forces intermission races when the “random” track selection is picked during online play, with Activehannes even adding:“This might kill the game for me.“Previously, if “random” was chosen as the next track, the game would always pick a track not listed as a choice and players would play the full track with laps, and avoid the intermission drive to the next track. The option for full, lapped tracks when “random” is selected is reportedly still present, just much rarer.
The official patch notes fromNintendodo not specify what exactly was adjusted. The vague note reads:“Adjusted courses selected in “Random” when selecting next course in a wireless “VS Race.”
Why The Mario Kart World Patch Is Upsetting Players
Less Time On Great Tracks, More Time Driving In A Straight Line
Mario Kart World’s tracks are all on one game world map, segmenting them together. One of the biggest additions toMKWwas aFree Roam mode to exploreall the map and the tracks all without any loading screens. Outside of Free Roam, the tracks are still connected, and the game has players drive to the next track across a mostly straight path until they get to the next course, and laps are counted along the way. When they get to the next course,almost every track only lets players do one lap before the race is over, leading to a lot of fans wanting more play time on the game’s main tracks.
The forced intermission driving between trackswas eliminated during online play by choosing “random” as the next course. If one of the “random” slots was picked, the game would choose any track (besides the immediately connected ones in the game’s world), and players would get to race laps around one track with no intermission driving. Now, that option has been severely limited, and fans are pointing out how Nintendo isn’t listening to the previous criticism of this decision, withRryannwriting:“Has Nintendo ever listened to fan feedback?”
Nintendo Can Fix This In MK World
Give Fans The Option Of Classic Races
Plenty of fans do enjoy the new intermission races, and they do add something innovative to a series that has been relatively the same since its inception, butthe forced implementation of the feature is bothering a lot of fans. The solution a lot of fans are suggesting is to add a “classic mode” that allows players online to race only tracks, like all the previousMario Kartgames. Nintendo can appeal to players that enjoy both types of races, with1_n_only_jtm_saying:“They need to add a “classic” mode and everyone will be happy.”
Mario Kart World has proven to be a controversial title for the Switch 2. The game was well-received for its refinement of classicMario Kartgameplay and its stellar track designs and visuals, but its open world and lack of meaningful content in the Free Roam world has been mostly panned. The game also saw theremoval of a few fan-favorite modesand features. With a new update causing more discourse, it seems fans are practically begging Nintendo to just let players playMario Kart Worldwhen it’s at its best: on the full tracks and not in the open world.
