Mario Kart World has the most graphical horsepower we've ever seen in the history of the Mario Kart series, and if you're eager to know the exact details about how this game is performing on the Switch 2, Digital Foundry has now delivered its tech review.
In the Switch 2's portable and tabletop mode, racers can expect a resolution of 1080p in handheld and 1440p in docked play:
"TV image quality is generally fine...holding up well on a 4K television set from a typical viewing distance. Docked mode also gets a touch of post-process image treatment to adjust the 1440p resolution...handheld mode fairs a bit better though, despite its lower pixel count. There's no anti-aliasing of any kind here, so the 1080p pixel count maps perfectly onto the 1080p Switch 2 display."
In contrast. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was 1080p docked and 720p in portable mode. This results in World looking a "lot cleaner" even if it is still imperfect.
As for the game's performance, Digital Foundry found its experience to be "faultless" - with the frame rate locked at 60fps in the content tested, although photo mode drops the experience to 30fps. On the portable front, it's believed to run at the same frame rate as its docked counterpart.
The team also tested out the split screen as well as the GameChat functionality and found there weren't any performance concerns to the player experience. Regarding load times, these were also "fairly speedy" on the system's internal storage and comparable to a lot of current-generation titles.
HDR is also a nice addition and while it looks decent on TVs, don't expect much from the LCD in portable mode. All up, though, Digital Foundry sums up this next-generation entry as a "tremendous accomplishment" and is seriously impressed by the scope of what's been achieved here in of the massive open-world scale with very few compromises.
"Visually speaking, World offers some beautiful sights with key rendering advances over prior Mario Kart games, though a lot of rendering power has gone into making the open world work. It's really the incredible quality of Nintendo's artistry that stands out the most here...plus it packs good resolution and frame rate metrics in portable and docked play without the low internal resolutions that typify a lot of early Switch 2 software."
You can find out what else Digital Foundry had to say about Mario Kart World in the video above. We've also got our own "review in-progress" here on Nintendo Life:
How are you finding Mario Kart World from a technical standpoint so far? Let us know in the comments.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 59
The game is quite fun, but honestly absolutely not worth $80. In handheld a drain system under two hours in my personal experience, which is just tremendous…
OH YEAH! this game is beautiful, i love the art style and animations everythings just so charming!!! glad switch 2 is off to a powerful start!
@mr12calvin its a system seller. People are buying Switch 2 to make Mario Kart parties with their friends. Mario Kart 8 sold like 80 million units. It's safe bet that it will be the best selling system in Switch 2 as well. it will be played over 10 years, an investment most people consider worthwhile.
Just spent the last 4 hours playing this game in 4 player split screen with a bunch of friends. Absolutely worth every cent, also 2 friends were on the fence about getting a switch 2, tonight Mario kart world sold 2 more systems.
I'm sure "free" DLC and expansions will accompany this game for the Switch 2's lifespan. It really is the perfect game to launch with.
Powerful system runs game better news at 11.
Mario Kart World is absolutely gorgeous, and it's a joy to play. So glad I bought the digital bundle so that it's installed on the internal memory with 50% faster load times!
@mr12calvin then don't buy it separately
@dimi had one last night. Knockout mode was intense, everyone was screaming. Gotta try online now.
@mr12calvin if you played 8dx and booster , you spent 85, yet nobody complains about that? If I had to buy an 80$ game (which sucks but mine was only 50$ with the bundle lol) this would be the one, I’ll likely be consistently playing it until switch 3 and so far I am absolutely loving everything about it, it feels so smooth to play and the visuals and soundtrack are fantastic
@mr12calvin To each their own. Mine was in the bundle so I definitely didn't spend $80.
And MKW was definitely a system seller for me, been wanting something different from MK8 for two console generations now.
@mr12calvin “ honestly absolutely not worth $80.”
TBH… no game is ever worth the price. But the value proposition of this game can’t be underestimated. Like many has said, people will be playing this game for years, maybe even generations to come. It better than the $60 I spent on plenty of game, and only gotten maybe a Friday evening of play out of it.
Got it through the bundle and worth it hands down, I won't play it much solo but this is a game that my wife can play really well and it is fun. Also with a large install base online has been consistently a blast.
Also I stayed in this weekend instead of going out and spending money. Guess what? This is 50 bucks for something that will last 8 years or I could have gone out for an ok meal.
Value is in the eye of the beholder, I've spent 50 bucks in much worse ways.
@Automated_Unit_4937
It’s chaotic and addictive in the best ways. Highest I’ve gotten so far is 4th on a few races. On Knockout online I’ve survived one total race to the end in 3rd out of a few dozen races.
Like all Mario Karts you tend to get screwed right before the end of a race by something dumb. But it’s so fun you don’t feel bad about it. It’s just hella chaotic with 24 people though.
Im quite curious how many people are actually feeling that $80 value. Cause yeah it's gonna be a beloved game played for years, but so was MK8D at $60
Besides tiptoeing around the fact we'll play it for a long time, or bought cheaper with a bundle, are fans feeling that $20 content increase compared to what came before?
I don't mean this as a jab, I know I'll eventually bite the bullet and get a switch 2. So I'm curious what the consensus with our first $80 game is. It won't be the last, and we won't have the excuse of buying it cheaper with a bundle anymore
The cost of Mario Kart World bundled will probably be the last game for SW2 that you can get for less than $70. Every game from now until end of time will cost more.
Nintendo is going to market their evergreen and bundle titles for $80, including Mario Kart, the next 3D Mario platformer, Smash Bros, Zelda, etc because they know you're gonna buy those games regardless. Those are the games that sell systems, which is how Nintendo is really going to move Switch 2 units. These titles will be cheaper as packaged bundles but will also go on sale often, so don't worry about the higher price tag.
I love it. Glad I got it as a bundle tho ($50 digital vs $80). Also glad I got a camera as that helps makes the game feel different than mk8 and easier to find friends and family.
Main critiques:
@mr12calvin “In handheld a drain system under two hours in my personal experience, which is just tremendous…”
That doesn’t sound particularly tremendous!
Only played Mario Kart World but I find the HDR graphics weirdly inconsistent on my LG Oled TV. Some bits look really sharp and colourful but other parts are foggy and dull/washed out looking. Also am seeing the colours flash and change before me in places, especially at night. And in day sometimes clouds turn to a white too bright mush with no detail that looks strange.
I have HGiG turned on/TV mode and weirdly found it looks best with RGB Range set to Limited on TV and Auto on Switch 2... Limited on Both or Full Colour on both looks really bad.
Also have on Switch 2 settings ALLM on and 120hz on.
Does anyone have any other tips? Also how literally should I be taking the sun thing on the HDR Setup when it says the right one shouldn't be visible at all? Should I be going up close to the TV until it's 100% gone? Most of the time when I do these setups it says Barely Visible rather than Invisible
"The low internal resolutions that typify a lot of early Switch 2 software."
Ouch. Faint praise indeed.
I'm going to try to articulate what I love about the game. Mario games (the main platforming ones) have always had an unobtrusive skill curve. You can either collect a star / get to the end of a level one way or you can triple jump onto an enemy and back flip into it. It kinda allowed showboating if you will. And ever since the SNES Super Mario Kart and the feather allowing short cuts, I have wanted them to expand that idea for yeeears! So yeah, I am super happy with the game.
I see some people complain about the open world, but if they put their hand on their heart, if it wasn't, they would be wishing they could go off road and leave the circuits lol. I mean, I used to land my gyrocopter in Pilotwings 64 and just go driving around lol.
Game looks lovely to my eyes. I don't need to sit 5 inches from a monitor ruining my eyesight till I need glasses to appreciate that lol.
@GrailUK There's a P mission in Peach's Castle that feels so Pilotwings like! I really hope they make a new one, it's been too long.
@Suketoudara
The thing with TVs they are all slightly different
As for the colours and hdr points, maybe adjust some tv settings.
I have the switch set to 120hz ALLM on and HDR on.
One question your TV definitely can do 120hz and also in the TV port you are using and the HDMI lead?
I only have two 2:1 ports as I have a Sony A95L 65” QD-OLED so have to pick the right port.
@suketoudara After you set up the two suns on hdr setup the next screen actually lets you set brightness. use the Zelda pic and move up or down ,you will see a point where clouds distort.sounds like yours is too bright
@Suketoudara
I don’t go close to the tv when doing any settings. I always do at my normal viewing distance.
Also I’m not given Nintendo a on this, as they get enough sometimes.
But this is there first ever console with ALLM, 120Hz and HDR so they may have more learning to do.
Unlike the Sony and Xbox who’s consoles have it for a few generations.
It's been an absolute blast. Value will always be subjective, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. While I'd never spend $80 at once on a video game, this was worth more than the $50 I paid. For me, that was an absolute steal for how much enjoyment I will derive overall from it.
I haven’t watched the vid yet. Why shouldn’t we expect much from the console’s LCD with regards to HDR? Is the HDR not very good on it (so will affect all games), or is it just this game?
Seems quite the bombshell to drop without further explanation!
@Suketoudara I have an LG OLED (C2) and it looks great to me. However, oddly, it seems to be better with HGiG turned off. Try that and see what you think.
I have the hardware bundle with MKW, it’s for my son, for Christmas. I cannot imagine I would fork out the £74.99 retailers are currently asking for MKW. I don’t think I will EVER spend that, at once, on one single game, no matter what it is or who it’s from. I bought MK8 at launch for Wii U, and I got Pikmin 3 free at the same time. I bought the DLC too, on Wii U. I have since bought MK8D digitally, on sale, for my Switch, and bought another copy for my daughter when she wanted her own Switch a few Christmas’ ago. When I (hopefully) get my own Switch 2 at some point in 2026, I’ll be extremely picky about what games I get, because of cost. That’s just the way it is gonna have to be for me.
As usual people shouldn't jump the gun, in this case when it comes to performance concerns related to GameChat (and since the price came up again despite not being related to this article at all again, just get the bundle like others have already mentioned and when it comes to most other games look/wait for a discount) - anyway, love to have further confirmation that World is so good also technically!
@boxyguy When you take inflation into , $60 in 2017 has the value of $78.28 today. When you think about it from that perspective, Mario Kart World really isn’t overpriced at all. And if we take into that Mario Kart 8 is still $60 now, we could say that the game has depreciated in value due to its age while taking into for inflation.
The problem with inflation is that we all see rising costs as an issue with it because it’s the thing we can most easily see, but the true issue for many is that rising wages have not been keeping up with the rising costs for most people for the last couple years, so there’s a crunch factor now for a lot of people. We all know several people that haven’t had a raise in a year or longer and more affordable times are still in fresh memory for many of us, but it’s not unusual for prices to rise to for inflation.
I don’t feel MKW’s price is strange, especially when it’s being bundled with the console at a $30 discount where you can find it (imputing a lower value on the game than MK8). Yeah, it sucks, but that’s the economic system that sucks for us folks that have to consider and budget our income in relation to the costs we face more than Nintendo’s vision on pricing.
Yeah, I think it’s a valid first $80 game, and I think Nintendo thought about how to improve its value by making a considerably cheaper priced version with a bundle.
I absolutely think it’s worth $80, tho I question whether the PR hit for this price point and charging $10 for the demo were worth it for Nintendo. I saw someone on YouTube mention that instead of talking about how great the game is, people are instead talking about how it’s $80.
This Rainbow Road is easily the best of the bunch. The sound track is amazing and details in the game are so cool.
I was glad I was able to scrap together some coupons so I could get it for around $20 less than the initial price. I wanted a physical copy.
Hopefully we don't start moving even higher in of price.
No mention of local 4 player framerate?
I’m basically just cruising on the waves and pretending this is WaveRace: Mario Kart edition. Good times.
@rockodoodle I couldn't agree more. Finally got to play the new Rainbow Road this morning. It is SO MUCH FUN!! Looks amazingly cool too. Have fun!
Not worth £75 will pick up at a point when it’s priced more reasonably
@Koda1000 donkey Kong bonanza is £65
@Lord it is actually. I've put about 8 hours into it already and I've completed all the 50cc cups in grand Prix and now onto the 100cc. It's a beautiful game, in 4K on a TV it makes MK8 look extremely basic if you go back to it. Had a quick go at knockout and won the first one. Haven't delved into online and had a brief go at free roam which seemed cool, I think that would be better with friends tho. Plenty of characters and costumes to unlock and also stickers to customise the karts. Id say there is ALOT of content here and it's definitely worth the money. Cheaper if you get the bundle like I did. It worked out at £35 in the UK
It’s certainly a good looking game. It’s surprisingly great. Especially the dust and particle effects.
I'm getting mario kart world at the of the month. I've invited my mates over (all 2 of them), my brothers and there kids for a good old fashioned mario kart competition. Smash Bros ultimate is also on the list and for the grown ups in the evening, Perfect dark, golden eye, Soul Calibur 2 and MK64. I'm so looking forward to it!! I haven't had a game blow out in years (being a single Dad means I don't get much time to be social personally, not that I'm complaining and being a girl dad I've got do my best to be both here).
@boxyguy
To answer your question at $80 is this game a revolutionary jump or is it just a prettier Mario Kart with newer content? It’s a bit of both. Let’s be frank, this is Mario Kart…it’s the same gameplay DNA and concepts the series is famous for. However it has evolved with the expanded 24 racers, new gameplay mechanics like rail and wall grinding, and the new modes….specifically Knockout add enough new depth to the Mario Kart formula. What’s old is new again here but it’s the best looking and smoothest iteration of Mario Kart.
Ppl will pour hundreds if not thousands of hours into this game for years to come. It’s easy to forget the joy ppl experience when playing games. Seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of my kids, the fact it’s a blast to play as a family makes the $80 much easier to stomach. Not defending the price hike but the quality, value and replay ability are still top tier with Mario Kart World.
@AmplifyMJ
That is amazing! To have the Switch 2 in your house right now and have the will power to not play if for another 6 months is impressive! I would have cracked by now 😆…”Here son this WAS supposed to be your Xmas present but you can pick a game for Xmas instead”. All the credit to you if you can hold out for half a year…that Switch 2 is going to start whispering to you!
@Rainz ah, I did the same with Switch 1 so I know I can do it lol. He got his for Christmas because I really liked the thought of the first Switch in our house being his alone, instead of a family console like the Wii U, which got him in to Nintendo in the first place. I thought it would be really cool for him, and I got my own the following May!
@mr12calvin it's worth at least $100. It's one of the best Nintendo games ever made, and it's 2025. Anyone that's played it shouldn't be complaining about the cost,again, it's 2025 what do you expect?
@AverageGamer "no game is ever worth the price" I don't understand what this means. Like, I understand the words but I don't know what you're trying to get at. Could you elaborate?
@shruggingman Everything is subjective. You may think the game is not worth the price. Someone else may think it worth the price. I don’t think any game is worth the price cause that money could go to something better like paying bills, buying food, or a completely different hobby.
I'm not the biggest Mario Kart buff around (nothing against it, it's just something I purely play occasionally with my partner or friend and that's it) but even I was very impressed. It looks and plays beautifully.
Having this at launch guarantees a long life span with a lot of additional FREE content.
..hopefully.
People keep whining about the $80 dollar price tag when we all paid $50 dollars for it by getting the bundle, and that was a freaking steal.
yes,the understand yourselft of course,it's very cool?
Even if I didn't get the bundle, this is a game I actually would pay $80 for. Nintendo games have infinite replay value.
I mean I still replay my NES games today.
Compare that to other AAA games, like Assassins Creed, which you play once, and never touch again.
Yes, I would rather it was $60-$70.
But, this is a game, that I will play for at least a decade
Great video and whilst world's graphics are way better than 8, I prefer the overall colour of 8
I am holding off on getting a Switch 2.
I am really hoping that there will be a Metroid Prime 4 Special Edition console.
It’s a really good game and impressive visually, especially for a launch game. It’s easy to see how with the increases in fidelity, detail and physics calculations this couldn’t be done on Switch 1. Hopefully there’s better to come but it’s a very nice looking game.
Totally worth the $80 for me, though I paid less because of the Switch 2 bundle. Mario Kart is a huge system seller for me, so if Nintendo said I had to remove a kidney for it, I'd probably say yes.
GameChat is the biggest surprise for me. I didn't expect to love it, but I've been on chat with some of my friends using webcams we already had, and it's been a absolute blast. It's a lot of fun seeing your friend's face in an online match. The integration is so good. Also, screen sharing helps you explain better where someone should go should they have issues figuring a menu out or something. Top-tier Nintendo system. I'm incredibly pleased.
If adjusting for inflation, this game is cheaper than Super Mario Kart was. Don't buy into everything the Internet propaganda hate engine tells you to be angry about. Think some sentient, self-determined thoughts every once in a while.
Wait, DF is still around.....after all their missteps and not correcting their own PS rants view?
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to to post a comment...