I am a huge fan of Mario Kart, so you can imagine my delight when I saw Mario Kart World pop up during the Switch 2 Direct. While my feelings about the Direct are no secret - I was not a fan, for those unaware - I did genuinely love seeing Mario Kart, and it is an easy purchase to make, despite the ludicrous $80 price tag. However, as much as I did enjoy the MK World reveal, there was something about it that didn't sit quite right with me and has since squashed much of my hype for it.

It does look like Mario Kart World has a lot of great qualities, from its impressive roster to its new and familiar tracks, all of which are gorgeously detailed. Yet, while they all shined bright in the trailer, the game's central gimmick, its open-world, proved to be a sticking point for me. This is largely because, thanks to the many hours I've sunk into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I've grown accustomed to what the series should be. While I'm very open to innovation, an open world, in my opinion, is not the direction the series should be taking.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Is The Perfect Mario Kart Game

It Has The Perfect Balance Of New And Old Tracks

There's a good reason that I've put well over 500 hours into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It is easily the best Mario Kart game of all time, and that was the case long before it got its much-anticipated transformative DLC. It perfectly balances its central gimmick with a series of well-designed courses that never get old. This is propped up by an extensive roster of racers - which was further fleshed out through the aforementioned DLC - and an impressive level of car customization that makes a noticeable difference to how you play.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is so good that even best-selling Switch game of all time.

Mario Kart World's Open World Is Redundant

It Adds Nothing To The Experience

Of course, Nintendo's answer to the impossible question was to slap an open world into Mario Kart. It's something that fans have theorized could have come eventually, especially as Nintendo's other major franchises - namely The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon - have both gone in this direction. However, while it worked for both Zelda and Pokémon, two series devoted to their sense of adventure and discovery, it absolutely does not work for Mario Kart. That's because, as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe proves, this is a series designed to be played in a linear fashion.

The joy of Mario Kart comes from its sense of linear progression. It does this in a literal sense, with players clearing each race and cup in sequential order, followed by increasingly challenging CCs, as well as in a more abstract way by having players slowly rise through the ranks as they compete with family, friends, or even the AI. These two means coalesce through the Grand Prix mode, which gives players a limited number of races to compete in interspersed with very brief breaks through which to recompose oneself.

Introducing an open world is entirely antithetical to that entire formula, as it elongates the time between races, something that both detracts from that sense of linear progression and kills any sense of competition. Of course, the original method of playing Mario Kart is still available, but the inclusion of an open world - one that Nintendo has yet to fully explain the point of beyond merely being home to coins and the occasional collectible - nevertheless took away resources from the creation of a more content-rich Mario Kart experience.

Mario Kart World Should Have Copied Super Smash Ultimate

It Could Have Been The Ultimate Experience

Rather than an open-world Mario Kart game, Nintendo should have aimed for an experience akin to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It very much felt like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's DLC was pushing for that type of experience, as it doubled the game's number of tracks and added even more characters. However, with a new entry, Nintendo could have improved the visuals, added additional characters, maps, and enhanced the overall experience, much like it did with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It certainly would have helped justify MK World's ridiculous $80 cost.

With over 100 tracks - the 96 from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in addition to any new ones - dozens of unique characters, and potentially even a new mechanic, such as the rail grinding seen in MK World, it could have been the perfect Mario Kart game.

Mario Kart Ultimate, as it surely would have been called, could have brought in more racers from across Nintendo's vast library of games, as well as third-party characters. We could have gotten tracks from Fire Emblem, Xenoblade Chronicles, Kirby, and many more, in addition to new Switch 2 exclusives we're yet to hear about. With over 100 tracks - the 96 from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in addition to any new ones - dozens of unique characters, and potentially even a new mechanic, such as the rail grinding seen in MK World, it could have been the perfect Mario Kart game.

Mario Kart World Will Still Appeal To Lots Of People

Racing Around An Open World With Friends Is Still Fun

However, as much as I do believe that Mario Kart World goes against the very tenants established by the very first Mario Kart game and perfected by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it still looks like a very fun experience. Once the Nintendo Direct finished, I found myself getting angry, something I rarely do. This anger came from a place of frustration, one brought about by a recent spate of feeling like I have to be negative about everything. So, I reevaluated what I was angry about and concluded that this open-world gimmick would have been perfect over a decade ago.

I can very easily imagine driving around Mario Kart World's huge open world as a child with my siblings, trying to uncover secrets or finding cool locations and roleplaying there. It's basically all we did as kids in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. I can't do that now, as I don't see them often, and I don't have kids of my own to share that experience with. Driving around alone, or even with friends at my age, in Mario Kart World won't elicit that same level of childlike wonder and joy, but would, I suspect, feel somewhat silly and aimless.

When I realized that, I began to appreciate the many small improvements MK World makes and how much joy that experience will bring to others. Sure, I'd have preferred a content-rich ultimate Mario Kart experience, but that's because there's little I can get from World's open world. However, for kids, those with kids, or those who can still roleplay with their friends, it could be a lot of fun. I'm glad Mario Kart World is open world for those who want it, even if, after playing 500 hours of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I personally feel it is unnecessary.