A fresh update for Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World has once again improved the frequency of lap-based courses, meaning fewer tracks that require you to drive for miles through the game’s open world in order to get started.
There are some welcome adjustments to racing generally, too, with slightly more time spent invincible after spinning or crashing out during a race — so you have a fairer chance at getting back on track. Item boxes will now take slightly less time to refresh, also.
For those who do enjoy the game’s open world, improvements have been made there, too. Nintendo has added the locations of previously-found P Switches and Peach Medallions to the map for easier tracking, and you can now warp to P Switches if you want to go replay them.
These latest changes to the frequency of lap-based courses follow an earlier U-turn by Nintendo after it initially made it harder to encounter traditional three-lap Mario Kart tracks. The move was criticised by fans, and later reversed in July’s patch.
Last week, Sega began promoting its rival kart racer Sonic Racing: Crossworlds with a cheeky trailer that poked fun at Mario Kart World’s dull open world. Maybe Nintendo noticed?
Other tweaks include the ability to join friends in Knockout Tour, and encounter UFOs more easily in Free Roam. Nintendo’s full patch notes for the update, which brings the game to version 1.3.0, lie below:
Mario Kart World Ver. 1.3.0 patch notes:
General
- You can now join friends playing “Knockout Tour” by selecting “Friends” from “Online Play” “1p.”
- Up to 2 players can now play “Free Roam” while waiting if the game was full when trying to join friends playing “Race,” “Knockout Tour” or “Battle” in “Online Play.”
- The “Free Roam” map now displays the locations of P Switches you’ve run over and Peach Medallions you’ve obtained.
- You can now select a P Switch from the map and move to a location near the P Switch.
- In “Free Roam”, you can now transform into the character pulled into the UFO.
- If “Dash Food” in “Settings/Controller” is set to “Doesn’t transform” then you will not transform.
- It is now easier to encounter UFOs in “Free Roam.”
- The conditions for the appearance of some Peach Medallions in “Free Roam” have been adjusted.
- When spectating in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”, you can now choose who to watch, even if you are holding the Joy-Con 2 or Joy-Con horizontally.
- Decreased the time between when an item box is taken by someone and the next time it is revived.
- Increased the invincible time after spinning or crashing during a race.
- Reduced the force of jumps when landing on a rival from above.
- Decreased the amount of time between when you finish and when spectating begins in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play.”
- Decreased the amount of time between passing through the checkpoint and when the ranking is displayed in “Knockout Tour” in “Wireless Play” and “LAN Play.”
- Further increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in “VS Race” and wireless races.
Fixed Issues
- Fixed an issue in “Online Play” and “Wireless Play” where the ranking would sometimes become incorrect if a player went off course at the same time as reaching the finish line.
- Fixed an issue in “Grand Prix”, “Knockout Tour”, and “VS Race”, where the CPU’s ranking would sometimes drop after reaching the finish line.
- Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play” where other players’ ratings would sometimes appear as “0” on the results screen.
- Fixed an issue where a Spiny Shell would sometimes pass the first place player in “Wireless Play” or “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be sent flying backwards a great distance when hit by a Spiny Shell.
- Fixed an issue where the second item in an item slot would sometimes not disappear when hit by Lightning.
- Fixed an issue where hitting the base of a pillar in mid-air would sometimes cause a large jump.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused movement to become unstable when doing a wall ride on water.
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be swept away strongly after landing when doing a mini jump while going up a river.
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes pass through the ground when hit by a car driving on the road.
- Fixed an issue in “Free Roam” where players would sometimes be unable to enter pipes correctly after exiting a trailer.
- Fixed an issue where the results screen would sometimes become distorted after spectating “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes not proceed to the course selection screen after exiting a pipe during “Free Roam” in “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where Bullet Bill would sometimes slip through walls when used in “Sky-High Sundae.”
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck on a wall at the start of the race heading from “Airship Fortress” to “Shy Guy Bazaar.”
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck in walls when using a Bullet Bill in “Bowser’s Castle.”
- Fixed an issue in “Cheep Cheep Falls” where item boxes were sometimes difficult to pick up when Smart Steering was turned on.
- Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” “Spiny Rally” where sometimes there was an item box buried in the ground.
- Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
