How Mario Kart World’s Knockout Tour Strikes Gold With Its…

The next Mario Kart game is on its way alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, finally ending Mario Kart 8’s decade-long reign in favor of Mario Kart World. It looks like the right game for the new console to lead with, as it could be the biggest Mario Kart title ever in every sense of the word. Forming the rare merger of an open world and a kart racing game, Mario Kart World will allow players to freely explore its game world in addition to the usual races. That alone makes for a dramatically different Mario Kart experience, and it doesn't end there.

In addition to a Free Roam mode that can be played alone or with friends, Mario Kart World uses its open format to take races beyond their standard courses. Now, Grand Prix, Knockout Tour, and, if players allow them, VS races, will all feature interstitial roads between larger racetracks, keeping players in the action for longer. Taken together, Mario Kart World players should gradually get a feel for the in-game map’s layout thanks to longer exposure and the need to consider optimal routes. Regular races will benefit from this, but the new Knockout Tour has the most to gain from Mario Kart World’s fresh format.

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By Matt Anderson

Knockout Tour Isn't Like Mario Kart World’s Other Modes

Grand Prix and Free Roam Help Knockout Tour Stand Out

Unlike Grand Prix, which currently consists of six four-race cups with an unlockable challenge after they're done, Knockout Tour features eight rallies with six courses each. Although the final number of racetracks in Mario Kart World has not been confirmed yet, previews of its world map suggest that there will not be forty-eight distinct courses in the game at launch. Instead, Knockout Tour is more defined by the routes of its rallies through the Mushroom Kingdom than their component courses, featuring regular overlaps with different entrances, exits, and placements for its player-eliminating checkpoints.

Grand Prix, Knockout Tour, and Free Roam may all use the same courses and roads, but Knockout Tour does the most to make racing through them feel like a distinct experience. By weaving different routes through single-lap courses across the map, Knockout Tour essentially remixes each track's appearance in every rally, and also distinguishes it from its appearance in any of Mario Kart World’s other modes. Nothing else in the Mario Kart series has tried this approach, and although World’s own Grand Prix does feature Crown City in two different cups, Knockout Tour could end up standing out in the long run.

Mario Kart World’s Offering Is Better With Knockout Tour

Out of all of Mario Kart World’s modes, Knockout Tour seems to best capitalize on the game’s strengths and differences from other Mario Kart titles. The use of twenty-four racers, the highest in the series, is applied to a pseudo-battle royale format. An interconnected world of larger, more multifaceted race courses is covered in larger chunks. Finally, the space in between each course essentially becomes elevated to an equally important part of the overall rally, ensuring even the most well-trodden areas of Mario Kart World’s map will feel unique thanks to their assigned context.

Knockout Tour Could Represent Mario Kart’s Future

It’s too early to say if Knockout Tour will become a fan-favorite mode, but it's done everything it can to position itself as one. Nintendo could even give it a shot in the arm down the line, as while Mario Kart World gains hypothetical DLC racers and courses, Knockout Tour can simply have more rally routes patched in. The mode offers a compelling way to recycle content designed for other modes without changing much, and that needs to be milked for all it’s worth. If Knockout Tour proves to be a hit, then Mario Kart World will have the perfect avenue for making old racetracks feel new again.

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