Reviewing Mario Kart World because it’s fucking expensive and I want to claim it on tax

Earlier this month, the Nintendo Switch 2 launched alongside the new game Mario Kart World. The release was controversial due to the price of both the console and the game. As a journalist I felt it was my duty to review both as this means the purchase is a work expense that I can claim on my taxes (oh and the new Pro Controller too).

If I had to describe the Nintendo Switch 2 in one sentence it would be that it’s like a Nintendo Switch but better and newer.

The old games run better, the new game runs great, and the click of the controllers when you attach them to the console feels good to my dumb brain.

It’s good that the console feels nice to use since it is $700, which (although comparable to other modern gaming consoles) is a fuck tonne of money. These days that’s like 2 weeks of rent for a closet in Sydney, or half the ingredients for a salad at the major supermarkets.

Now that I have gotten that part out of the way in case the ATO checks this article, it’s time to talk about one of the most expensive games in history: Mario Kart World.

For background information, I am writing this review after sinking over 35 hours into the game. Which may sound like a lot but as a journalist I didn’t want to rush with some half thought out clickbait, I wanted to get real knowledge of the game and also since this is research for work, those hours are billable.

Mario Kart World is a Mario Kart game. Chances are if you are reading this you already know what that means. You play as silly characters in different silly vehicles driving around race tracks, except this time the tracks are mainly replaced with the excitement of driving down a straight highway.

Starting off with the characters, as you would expect from a game that costs more than the other games, this Mario Kart has way more characters than the previous ones including notable ones like Mario, Donkey Kong, Cow and Penguin.

For the most part if you’ve seen someone in a Mario or Mario Kart game previously, they are in this game. Well except for Diddy Kong, who is absent from the game presumably due to the allegations surrounding Diddy’s parties.

Most characters have an array of outfits to choose from. Notable outfits include most of the princesses having casual clothes and the baby versions of Mario and Luigi having mining outfits, as even they know they shouldn’t be wasting time playing go-karts and need to get working in the coal mines where all children belong.

Unlike the previous iteration of the Mario Kart series, you don’t pick the outfits by just clicking on a character then a pop up comes so you can click on the outfit, no instead this more expensive game has it that every outfit is its own character on the character select screen and only a handful are shown at a time so you have to scroll for ages to pick the one you want. 

The vehicles in this game have gone back to the method of just picking between prebuilt options instead of choosing all the parts like the previous Mario Kart game, which is much better, however this does mean that there is no Mercedes-Benz product placement forced awkwardly into the game this time.

The racing is fast paced and exciting, with more racers and more ways to get trick boosts than previous interactions. It is more exhilarating to push through the pack and more frustratingly bullshit when you get hit by a blue shell then some other shit and fall 20 places.

The soundtrack is great and the new race tracks are beautiful, sadly you will barely see them as you spend most of the time driving down mostly straight roads in between the tracks in a gimmick that wears off around the 2nd time you do it.

Speaking of gimmicks that wear off quickly, the open world mode exists. It works well in short bursts while waiting in between races as the wait-room, but it becomes very noticeable how empty it is if you play it in the open world mode it was designed for.

The new knockout mode is very fun. The driving between tracks feels a lot better in knockout mode where it feels like one very long race that keeps pushing you to stay near the front in a suspenseful way, unlike the main race mode where you tell the game you want to do a race on a track and the game decides instead that you only want that for one lap after 5 minutes of driving on a highway.

A lot of this stuff really makes you question the price point of this game. Mario Kart gets away with this new price as it is one of the most replayable series in gaming, with it being fun for everyone in your family. Meaning for the next decade you can pull this bad boy out instead of talking to your family at holiday times.

However when you look at the wider context of gaming this price point is rightfully concerning. Many gaming companies are looking at Mario Kart World with the hope that it lays the groundwork to increase the price of games overall, until Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out next year and will likely cost more than the cars you steal in the game.

Most games are not Mario Kart World or GTA 6, so them costing as much feels wrong, but it is hard to explain why more than just a vibe really. Although many games that are ‘cheaper’ these days already cost way more when you consider that they basically require multiple in-game purchases using real money while also not being actually finished when the game comes out.

‘Free games’ these days are built on systems designed on slot machines to trick people, including gambling addicts and children, into funnelling endless money into them but instead of potentially winning money, they win some dumb bullshit in the game.

Many ‘full price’ games these days also have those too, because they are allowed to and the execs want to be able to play bumper cars with super yachts.

Which takes us to the point that as gaming becomes more and more expensive, it’s important to note that of course that money isn’t going to the workers. Not talking about Nintendo specifically here but the wider industry as a whole. Game development is notoriously bad for having illegal work practices. Many major companies demand ‘crunch’ that results in sometimes 40+ hours a week of unpaid overtime just to get a game out, and then when the game does come out the crunch is rewarded with massive bonuses for the fuckwit millionaire execs who decided the workers aren’t allowed to see their kids this month.

Not only are these workers overworked and underpaid, the industry is notorious for unsafe working conditions, especially for women. With more unchecked sexual harassment than a parliamentary prayer room.

So as Mario Kart opens the door for other companies to drift their way into upping the prices of their games, there needs to be more thought about how cartoonishly evil many of these companies are. As you’re tapping away at a controller, you can sit there knowing that blood sweat and tears very literally go into the production of the games you are paying more for, just that none of the people who contribute get to see the bonus of the increased price.

Speaking of controllers, I also purchased a Pro Controller for this review which I mainly used instead of the Joy Cons. 

And my review of it is that it is pretty good. It sits in your hands well, has a great battery life and has buttons that are nice to press I guess. Worth the money if you like the feeling of traditional controllers, especially if you just rush out one paragraph in an article reviewing it so you can get some money for it from the tax office.

So do I think compared to other games Mario Kart is worth the $80 since it is fun, isn’t trying to scam you and is actually a finished game which has gone from ‘the bare fucking minimum’ to ‘a massive bonus’? 

Well yeah, but mainly because other games don’t have Yoshi in a bow tie and a “Lil’ Dumpy”.

Which makes it basically a perfect game, 4.5 stars.