Nintendo's Switch 2 preorder date is April 24 in the U.S., and Nintendo recently gave us a closer look at the game it hopes will propel people to buy the Switch 2 when it ships on June 5.
Mario Kart World, as it's aptly dubbed, will bring a few new tricks to the Mario Kart universe, including, as you might have guessed, an open world aspect that invites players to free roam.
Based on Nintendo's latest Direct, it should be a welcome evolution to the Mario Kart canon, but is moving Mario Kart forward enough to replicate Nintendo's explosive Switch success?
There's a lot riding on Mario Kart
Of all the 22 launch titles that Nintendo has announced for the Switch 2, Mario Kart World seems to be, by far, the focal point of Nintendo's strategy — and for good reason.
Outside of Mario Kart World, arguably the biggest Nintendo launch title is just a graphics glow-up of two old Zelda games — Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not above Link getting a remaster, especially since Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out all the way back in 2017. That being said, it might not be the level of new that people are hoping for in a Switch 2 title.
And outside of Zelda remasters, things get even less Nintendo. Ports abound this go-around with Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, Hogwarts Legacy, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade topping the list.
Again, those are welcome additions to the Switch catalog, especially if an Nvidia chip with DLSS makes them more playable than the last generation of ported games (please God), but they aren't new titles by any means, so the millions of people who have already played those games might not consider them must-haves.
So, that leaves Mario Kart World at the center, which is great if you love Mario Kart, but not that great if you consider what drove the last Switch launch.
A tough comparison
When the Switch was released back in 2017, The Legend of Zelda didn't exist in the way we know it today. Zelda was PBOW — pre-Breath of the Wild — and when the title came out on March 3, 2017, everything changed.
Breath of the Wild wasn't just another installment in the Zelda canon — it was open-world, free-roam, and expansive in a way that the Zelda franchise had never seen to that point.
And for that reason, Breath of the Wild was also an anchor for the success of the Switch.
Don't believe me? Just check this stat on the console a year after the game's release in 2017. From IGN:
"As part of its year-end earnings release, Nintendo revealed that 2.74 million Nintendo Switch units were sold worldwide in the console's first month on sale. 2.76 million copies of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were sold in that same timeframe for the Switch."
For every Switch sold in the first month (and more), Nintendo also sold a copy of Breath of the Wild, which is unusual, not just for a Zelda game, but for a game in general.
Whether Nintendo knew it or not, Breath of the Wild was the perfect game to launch with its new console — a revolutionary title for a revolutionary piece of hardware.
Whether Mario Kart World can replicate that level of success remains to be seen, but safe to say it has enormous shoes to fill.
I personally have my doubts that a Mario Kart title can rise to the challenge, but maybe it's not meant to. Console-selling titles have a habit of entering the equation unexpectedly, and there's a real chance that could happen again with the Switch 2.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
