Mario Kart World's Coolest New Features Explained: Items, Tricks, Food, Modes, and More

Nintendo conscionable wrapped up its April 2025 Mario Kart World Direct, revealing details astir caller items, modes, and much astir those unusual snacks players tin chomp into erstwhile the Nintendo Switch 2 launches this June.

Nintendo’s latest introduction into its long-running kart racing spinoff bid looks similar the adjacent large measurement for Mario and co. That’s acknowledgment successful portion to a smorgasbord of some caller and returning items, portion different acquainted features person either been fixed tiny tweaks oregon full facelifts. Mario Kart World dived into a coagulated portion of everything players tin expect successful its 15-minute presentation, truthful we made definite to stitchery the highlights.

Items

The biggest question artifact hanging implicit everyone’s heads has had players questioning which wacky items they’ll beryllium capable to flip astatine their friends travel June. Nintendo’s got a fittingly wacky reply that includes spins connected items and abilities that whitethorn beryllium capable to beryllium paired with immoderate of Mario Kart World’s caller features.

Items similar the Bullet Bill and Lightning look to relation conscionable arsenic you remember. The erstwhile sends players flying guardant astatine breakneck speeds, portion the second stops and shrinks opponents, though present it besides causes it to commencement raining successful the crippled present that Mario Kart has introduced upwind effects. Meanwhile, classical items similar the Feather besides stay mostly unchanged, but now, players tin usage them to not lone hop implicit immoderate of the galore caller way hazards but besides scope caller areas, high-up rails, and adjacent shortcuts.

New items person plentifulness to bring to the table, too. The Coin Shell is simply a aureate ammunition variant that leaves a way of coins for you – and your enemies – arsenic it moves guardant done the way up of its thrower. Kamek is an particularly chaotic addition, arsenic the Koopa wizard tin beryllium spawned to alteration each of your opponents into thing wholly new. Other highlights see Hammers that present instrumentality successful the crushed for a abbreviated clip and a somewhat tweaked Ice Flower that tin seen aggregate opponents spinning astatine a time.

One of Mario Kart World’s much mysterious items are those caller food-related abilities. These are called Dash Foods and travel successful the signifier of tasty burgers, plates of sushi, kebabs, and more. These are collectibles that tin beryllium acquired astir Mario Kart World’s elephantine representation and, erstwhile gobbled up, unlock caller outfits to usage elsewhere. In lawsuit you were wondering, yes, the Moo Moo Meadows Cow can, successful fact, devour burgers.

New Tricks

Tricks person been an important portion of Mario Kart since 2008’s Mario Kart Wii, and successful Mario Kart World, they’ve been fixed added importance. You tin complaint leap consecutive from the way this clip around, allowing you to not lone abbreviated hop implicit items but afloat wide hazards similar different vehicles, too. It should assistance scope those out-of-reach rails to grind connected arsenic well, with further tricks successful the aerial giving players the quality to summation a spot of other air.

Tricks volition besides assistance players leap toward and latch onto walls, which tin beryllium hopped betwixt to find caller portions of a way and adjacent immoderate hidden point blocks. Chaining tricks unneurotic tin beryllium tricky, truthful if you find yourself missing a peculiar leap to a high-up ledge, a caller Rewind diagnostic volition assistance you crook backmost the timepiece for a fewer moments to hone your skills.

Modes

While modes similar Grand Prix and Time Trials are back, Mario Kart World comes with loads of caller modes, too. Knockout Tour is 1 of the much important additions, arsenic it allows players to vie to enactment up of the battalion crossed extended races. Those who autumn down are successful information of being, well, knocked out.

Time Trials are 1 returning mode that person been beefed up to accommodate Mario Kart World’s improved multiplayer functionality. When hopping online, players volition person the enactment to download information from different racers from astir the world. Longtime Mario Kart fans volition besides beryllium blessed to cognize that fan-favorite modes similar VS Race, Balloon Battle, and Coin Runners are backmost and diagnostic immoderate of those caller tracks to combat disconnected friends with. There’s besides a full-on photograph mode, which tin beryllium utilized to seizure iconic moments erstwhile cruising astir the world.

Of course, Mario Kart World’s biggest caller mode is its open-world-inspired escaped roam feature, which allows players to research its immense representation and each of the tracks it houses. We explained everything you request to cognize astir this large summation to the Mario Kart beingness and however you tin play it with your friends here.

Mario Kart World launches alongside the Switch 2 June 5. We’re inactive waiting for Nintendo to acceptable a caller day for pre-order options successful the US and Canada pursuing their hold earlier this month. Meanwhile, the taxable of the console’s terms remains 1 item that continues to instrumentality implicit Nintendo remark sections. Today’s Mario Kart World Direct was nary exception, arsenic players made definite its chat sections were filled with comments similar “drop the price.”

For much connected Mario Kart World, you tin work up connected each of the caller characters and tracks arriving this June. You tin besides spot however players person been reacting to the title’s arguable $80 terms tag and however Nintendo attempted to code it. Finally, for everything other announced during today’s Direct, you tin click here.

Michael Cripe is simply a freelance contributor with IGN. He's champion known for his enactment astatine sites similar The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be definite to springiness him a travel connected Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).