The following contains spoilers forMario Kart World.
There aren’t too many racing games that are as well-known for frustrating chaos as theMario Kartseries is. It should come as no surprise thatMario Kart Worldbrings that unique element back to the Switch 2, but there are a few adjustments that help makeeven the most unexpected blue shellsand placement drops feel challenging rather than being an outright pain. Among everything the latestMario Kartentry brings to the table, it also makes the competition larger than ever. When players go through Grand Prix or Knockout Tour, they’ll have to compete with 23 other racers for the coveted 1st place prize.
When this feature was revealed, many fans went to social media to discuss that those who finish dead last inMario Kart Worldmight end up rather embarrassed about it. Now that the game is out, it seems that getting 24th place in a race does indeed seem like something to be ashamed of, especially in single-player mode. BetweenMario Kart World’s plethora of kart and character combinations, as well as its considerate gameplay balancing, ending any race in 24th place regularly might take some inentionally poor play to pull off, as there’s always a way to recover when falling behind.
Getting 24th Place in Mario Kart World Regularly is Actually Impressive in the Worst Way
Mario Kart World is All About Comebacks
ManyMario Kartfans know that the sting of defeat could be as simple as one item striking at the wrong time or as frustrating as getting hit with several in a row. While it might be easy to deflect blame on the players, NPCs, or the items, it mostly comes down to how the games handle their recovery times.Mario Kart 8, for example, leaves fans completely defenseless when struck with one item, allowing several to follow suit with ease. During the flip and their characters flailing, they come to a complete stop and have to earn their speed all over again no matter what.Mario Kart Worldchanged thisby cutting the time to a few seconds, flip included, while also designing many ways to regain speed easily through jumps, tricks, and careful strategies.
Falling Behind in Mario Kart World Reflects on Player Choice More Than Before
Now that being struck with an item demands more quick thinking inMario Kart World, but is also less punishing, falling into 24th place between multiple races can only really happen if the player isn’t weighing how they can turn their situation around. They might not be doing simple tricks, from taking note of nearby boost panels or even making collecting coins a high priority for a few seconds. Grand Prix andMario Kart World’s brand-new Knockout Tour modemight be difficult when aiming for 1st place, but the sheer size of the races makes it harder to truly stay at the end of the pack. Even if fans don’t try their hardest to stay in the lead, they’re likely to find themselves somewhere under 10th place instead of ending up at 24th. Remaining last until the race’s conclusion is something even players of below average skill might have to go out of their way to do.
Learning and Improving is Part of the Fun With Games Like Mario Kart World
Even if players somehow find themselves struggling to get higher than 24th place,Mario Kart Worldmakes learning its mechanics funin multiple different modes. Free Roam’s P-Switches help fans learn and understand mechanics in order to clear them, for example, while the wide open space allows players to memorize the courses while picking up strategies on how to gain speed fast. If fans are struggling, VS Races have an easy COM setting that can be used to understand races before turning up the difficulty. How well players perform inMario Kart Worldcomes down to how much they adapt to what the game asks of them, and just like every other video game, all it takes is trying, failing, and learning to get back into the running with confidence. Fortunately, with the game doing everything it can to keep players out of last place, few will feel true embarrassment when playingMK World.
