Knockout Tour is the most fun I’ve had playing Mario Kart in years

Mario Kart is a staple of any couch multiplayer session. It’s easy to pick up, and it gets the competitive juices flowing like few other games. Let me tell you, Mario Kart World‘s Knockout Tour is an incredible evolution of what makes Nintendo’s iconic racing series so great.

As part of the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience in Melbourne, where I also checked out the impressive new mouse controls, I spent a decent chunk of time burning rubber in Mario Kart World. As someone who’s played Mario Kart 8 since the Wii U days, it’s refreshing to experience something brand-new.

At first, I toyed around with World‘s Grand Prix mode, racing Donkey Kong through some gorgeous new tracks. It’s the game mode we all know and love, with the added wrinkle of racing between courses. Zooming from one track to another helps imbue a sense of scale and that Mushroom Kingdom is a living and breathing place, not just a series of unrelated landmarks.

Image: Chris Button.

Other than an explorable world, Mario Kart World also introduces a new mode called Knockout Tour. Following in the footsteps of battle royales like Fortnite, or Tetris 99 for original Switch players, Knockout Tour takes full advantage of the expanded 24-racer support by turning the pressure up to 11.

Taking place as a mini endurance race across multiple tracks, the new mode gradually eliminates players at each major checkpoint until a winner is crowned. To start with, you need to finish the first section in the top 20 to continue racing. The four slowest racers get knocked out and left to watch from the sidelines. I can think of no worse punishment.

Then the race whittles down to 16, followed by 12, and the cycle continues until only four racers remain. Knockout Tour concludes with a frantic race to the finish, crowning a victor gloriously.

Already a chaotic-sounding concept in theory, Knockout Tour backs it up with what I anticipate will be Mario Kart World‘s best mode.

Winning a Mario Kart World Knockout Tour feels electric

Nintendo brought out all the big guns for its preview event: a full suite of consoles, a big screen showing the action to spectators, and an MC commentating on the action. No pressure.

With a couple of Grand Prix races under my belt, I felt comfortable with how Mario Kart World handled. Drifts again form a major part of racing, joined by the new additions of rail grinding and jumping on the spot to gain speed.

But it’s one thing to know the theory, it’s another to execute under pressure.

Mario Kart World looks as fantastic as it plays. Image: Chris Button.

While a Knockout Tour lobby populates, you can leisurely explore the open world. It lets you mess around and have a bit of fun before things get serious. Or in my case, prowl around, getting in the zone before a heavyweight bout.

The particular Knockout Tour we raced gave us a rolling start, or rather a flying start, launched into the air to slowly descend on the track. A reasonable start saw me stick to the middle of the pack, comfortably away from the elimination zone.

Even with that knowledge in the back of my mind, stress gripped me as the first checkpoint neared. As you close in, the placings icon disappears from view, creating an uneasy moment of tension. It’s not until you pass the line that you know whether you survived or not.

This thrilling dynamic continued throughout the race as more players dropped off. Some nice drifts and mushroom boosts through corners netted me a mid-race lead as my beloved Donkey Kong.

Sitting in first place is great, except that it introduces a new level of stress. No longer the hunter, you become the prey. A blue shell dropped me back to the pack, and the race was on for young and old.

Image: Chris Button.

By the time the cutoff for the final four racers approached, I was languishing in sixth. Surely not, I thought, would I get eliminated after leading for a decent stretch of the race?

The Nintendo gods smiled upon me at that moment, granting me the mushrooms I needed to sneak into third place. Thank you, Miyamoto-san.

I quickly powered ahead into first, I position I wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the race, despite some nervous moments.

Just one taste of Knockout Tour was all I needed to know that I’ll be playing many hours of Mario Kart World when it launches alongside the Switch 2 next month.

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