Summary
- Mario Kart World's Free Roam lacks objective markers, relying on visual cues for exploration.
- The game's dynamic music and emergent gameplay add depth to the world's experience.
- Mario Kart World captures the curiosity-driven exploration found in Zelda's open-world formula.
When it comes to open-world games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its successor, Tears of the Kingdom, have undoubtedly had a strong influence on the genre's direction. When the Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, Breath of the Wild quickly became the open-world standard, offering players a level of freedom that almost every other open-world game had failed to achieve. Since then, many other games — like FromSoftware's Elden Ring, for example — have used Zelda's open-world formula as a springboard, and that now includes the Nintendo Switch 2's own Mario Kart World.
Nintendo has refrained from calling Mario Kart World an "open-world game," and to some extent, it makes sense, as there are artificial boundaries put in place to ensure players can't just go anywhere they want in the game. That being said, Mario Kart World's Free Roam mode still offers players an expansive world to explore that is filled with a wide variety of activities to complete, collectibles to find, and many other secrets to uncover. Despite not being a true open-world game, Mario Kart World still takes some valuable cues from Zelda's revolutionary open-world formula, and it's much better for it.
How to Get & Use Stickers in Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World's Stickers are a way of customizing your kart and showcasing your progress in the game. Here's how to get and use them.
Mario Kart World's Free Roam Captures What Made Zelda's Open Worlds Work
Free Roam Guides Players by Visual Cues
One of the main things that made Zelda: Breath of the Wild such a standard when it comes to open worlds is how it handles exploration. Whereas most open-world games before it would litter their maps with objective markers and icons, Breath of the Wild largely foregoes that by putting that responsibility in the hands of the player through curiosity-driven exploration. Rather than telling players where to go, Breath of the Wild gives them an open invitation to explore if they wish, as map markers have a tendency to put too much pressure on players and therefore become more of a checklist than a world of opportunities.
Despite not being a true open-world game, Mario Kart World still takes some valuable cues from Zelda's revolutionary open-world formula, and it's much better for it.
In the same way, Mario Kart World's Free Roam mode neglects to give players objective markers of any kind. In fact, it's a bit more minimalistic than even Breath of the Wild, as it almost refuses to hold the player's hand at every turn. Mario Kart World's UI is essentially non-existent, with nothing but a small mini-map to help players orient themselves. This might sound a bit overwhelming for those who need more guidance, but since gameplay progression in Mario Kart World doesn't rely on its Free Roam mode, there's less pressure from the game to complete and collect everything.
In place of a compass or map markers, Mario Kart World, like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, lures players in through visual cues. Players may see something shining in the distance, like a medallion or a pile of coins, and then be drawn to it for the simple reason that it looks enticing. Giant blue P-Switches also litter Mario Kart World's Free Roam mode, offering challenging missions for players to tackle that can unlock special rewards upon their completion.
Dynamic Music and Emergent Gameplay Bring the World to Life
Mario Kart World doesn't shy away from copying Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom's approach to music and emergent gameplay, either, and one could argue it even does the music part better. Mario Kart World's adaptive music system means that the music will change depending on the context of the game's current scenario. For example, once night falls in Mario Kart World's Free Roam mode, the music might shift from an upbeat rock song to a slow, smooth jazz track to accompany the calmness of the night.
Breath of the Wild's iconic emergent gameplay can also be found in Mario Kart World, as players can encounter random events if they are keen on exploring every inch of the world. One of the most prominent examples of this is in how players can stumble upon other NPCs racing one another on the world's various interconnected tracks. Ultimately, this helps Mario Kart World's Free Roam to feel like a living world, just as Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom's Hyrule does.
Mario Kart World may not feature the sprawling, physics-driven freedom of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom's Hyrule, but its Free Roam mode taps into the same sense of curiosity and wonder that made those open worlds so memorable. By guiding players with visual cues instead of UI clutter and offering just enough unpredictability to reward exploration, it captures a spirit that goes beyond simple track racing. For longtime fans and newcomers alike, Mario Kart World's Free Roam proves that even a kart racer can offer something more than laps and leaderboards.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- June 5, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Racing, Open-World
