Mario Kart has long been one of Nintendo’s most consistent and important franchises but the reign of Mario Kart 8 - spanning two console generations and more than a decade - truly solidified how their 30+-year-old kart-racing series is on the short list of games that appeal to virtually anyone. After running continuous victory laps for Mario Kart 8 throughout the Switch’s life span, Nintendo’s Switch 2 answer to that game is to kick off the console with Mario Kart World, a game that is seemingly all vibes. This is a video game that is meant for every player that might pick up a Switch 2, whether you’re a hardcore snaking mini-turbo drifter aiming for 200cc online dominance or a lackadaisical player who just wants to fire off some green shells and enjoy the rhythm of races with friends. Mario Kart World ends sometimes being a jack of all trades/master of none situation, but as the full saying goes, being a jack of all trades is oftentimes better than being a master of one.

The new movement options during races are a key example of this, as the toolset for what you can do to boost and get ahead has multiplied. You can grind on rails for a boost and even do a boost jump when you’re on straightaways. Wall-riding can even be done in tandem with some of these to add even more shortcut potential and boosting options. The possible pathways through courses can almost be dizzying. It sometimes makes it a mild shame that a lot of the courses don’t follow the classic linear 3-lap structure because the ever-changing way forward is sometimes hard to plan out your movements when it’s constantly changing.

However, that shift in how courses are laid out is part of one of the coolest parts of the entire game that truly leans into the World subtitle. Every single course is functionally a part of an overworld map that you can roam around outside of the context of a race. It’s a clever hook that also ties into my sincere belief that Mario Kart World is all vibes, because going from race to race and noticing the clever and ingenious interconnectivity of the track is extremely neat. The excellent vibes are elevated even higher with the bonkers-amazing soundtrack filled with hundreds of renditions of classic Mario songs in a variety of music styles (yes there is ska!). Sometimes it’s just fun to drive around and listen to the tunes.

The open world part flows into the single-player missions, which were my great hope for Mario Kart World. Sadly, my longtime dreams of an in-depth and novel solo component in a Mario Kart game are not realized here, but after spending a lot of time in World’s Free Roam mode, I’ve rethought what I’m even looking for. I’m looking for vibes and as I’ve said multiple times already, this game is all vibes. The Free Roam mode just throws you into the world and gives you little to no guidance. It’s frustrating at first. I didn’t really know what to make of it as I dug into it. The courses are generally where the action is, filled with hidden question-mark block tiles that, when collected, just add stickers that you can put on your kart. All over the world are P-Switches, which lead to one-off missions, and Peach Medallions, which are usually in a hard-to-reach spot and the challenge is to figure out how to get there. Both of those, when collected, just add stickers that you can put on your kart. When it all set in that that was kind of all you got, I was disappointed. Then I played more of it and it all clicked into place. Mario Kart World is for everyone. It’s not meant to be Diddy Kong Racing with boss battles and a story. It’s not meant to be dripping with percentages and level ups. It’s just meant to be a racing game that you mess around with in the way that you enjoy the most. I’ve seen my young kids love this game. I’ve seen my adult friends enjoy this game. I’ve seen grandparents enjoy this game.

Do I wish all these overworld elements had clearer objective tracking and more tangible rewards? Sure, but I’ve settled on not thinking that’s really a bad thing. The act of playing is the fun here and that’s been enough for me across many hours. If there’s one part where the Free Roam loses the plot, it’s by not offering any kind of split-screen option aside from a low-key hack in the Local Wireless lobby. The fact that players can’t explore the world together with multiple kart racers tooling around at once is a huge miss. It takes what could be a premier GameChat hang-out session and turns it into solitaire. There’s also the mini-map for the Free Roam that is okay but not great, and also somehow doesn’t turn off when you turn it off in the options. But even with these issues, it’s still fun to roam around the world and see the sights, occasionally collecting a sticker along the way.

Aside from Free Roam, the modes you expect to find in a Mario Kart game are all there: Grand Prix, Versus, Online, and Battle. They all do what you want them to do. Online runs well and is easy to get into. Battle is good enough. The new mode added to the assortment is Knockout Tour, which features different course orders than Grand Prix and tweaks the rules by having the race start with the game’s normal assortment of 24 racers before requiring you to be a certain place at different intervals to stay in the race until the very end when the final four have to compete for the top spot. It can be electric in a different manner than normal Mario Kart races are. I haven’t had the experience of doing this with a full assortment of 23 other people I know, but I can only imagine the friendships ruined over the fraught competition.

The other collectibles besides the stickers are karts, characters, and costumes. Kart pieces are a thing of the past, taking another step forward into simplifying the game for the massive audience. Instead, you just unlock karts by collecting coins. Characters are unlocked by completing Grand Prix cups. Costumes are found by eating takeout while driving. Various diners and food trucks are nestled throughout the world and the courses, each with a different type of dish. Those dishes all unlock different costumes for characters, but not all characters have robust costume options. It’s wild to me that Donkey Kong only has two costumes. Shy Guy has three and Koopa Troopa has six, but somehow the dude with a brand new game next month only has two out of the gate. That being said, the “Wampire” Waluigi costume and Aristocrat King Boo are maybe two of the funniest things I’ve seen in a video game in a while. They’re only outdone by the Mad Max gear Wario and Waluigi put on. In addition to the 24 main characters, you can also race as an array of random enemies and NPCs, such as a goomba, a cow, or a Chargin’ Chuck. These are very goofy, especially when you see a dolphin driving a kart, but the way they unlock is wildly random, dependent on an item pick-up to be used by someone else to briefly turn you into one of the characters, thus unlocking them for use.

Aspects of Mario Kart World might still feel rough around the edges, but the vibes are immaculate. This isn’t the single-player aspect I’ve been wanting for all these years but it’s a wonderfully chill option I didn’t expect. I don’t believe Mario Kart World needs a rigid structure tracking every P-Switch or Peach Medallion. This game is best experienced as a playground, not an obstacle course, even if the mayhem that unfurls on the racetrack is rife with obstacles. I’m looking forward to regularly playing Mario Kart World as a staple of the Switch 2 library. It’s playful and fun in all the best ways.