Nintendo has rolled out a major update to Mario Kart World, with a lot of welcome changes and some strange omissions.
Mario Kart World might be one of the best kart racers ever, but there are a handful of questionable design decisions holding it back, many of which could be easily fixed via patches.
Nintendo has rolled out several updates to Mario Kart World already, but none have addressed any of its shortcomings. In fact, the last update proved to be contentious, as it made traditional three lap races less frequent in random online matches.
Another update has now been released which offers some improvements, while making changes we’re not sure anyone was asking for.
In update 1.2.0, which was released on July 29, Nintendo has nerfed the enemy AI ‘in everything other than Battle’. While it’s unclear if this impacts opponents across all difficulty levels, it might prove another contentious addition for those looking for a challenge.
Mario Kart World 1.2.0 Update: everything that’s changed
- In the VS Race of Single Player, added No COM to the COM rules.
- In the VS Race of Single Player and Multiplayer, added ‘Mushrooms only’ to the item rules.
- You can now choose View Replay after downloading ghost data in Time Trials.
- You can now choose whom to watch when spectating in Knockout Tour and Balloon Battle in Online Play, Wireless Play, and LAN Play.
- You can now see the waiting time until the next race or battle starts in Online Play, Wireless Play, and LAN Play.
- When using CameraPlay in Multiplayer and Online Play, the game will now remember the camera cursor position and size until the player closes the game.
- If you change the number of people playing, the cursor position and size will return to their original settings.
- On the Free Roam map, when you gather all of the P Switches, ? Panels, and Peach Medallions, the colours of the various numbers will now change.
- Made COM weaker in everything other than Battle.
- Made homing of Boomerang weaker.
- Decreased the probability of getting a Triple Dash Mushroom in the low position, whenever the item rules in a race are anything other than Frantic.
- Changed it so order of getting ? Block is higher than in the past, whenever the item rules in a race are anything other than Frantic.
- Made it so there is a wheel spinning animation if the player presses the A button (acceleration) too early when starting a race while driving.
- Player will not lose speed even when spinning wheels.
- Increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in VS Race and wireless races.
There are some welcome quality-of-life improvements though. You can now choose who to watch when spectating in Knockout Tour and Balloon Battle, across online and wireless play, while a timer has been added so you can see how long you have to wait until the next race when playing online.
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In the Free Roam mode, Nintendo has made it slightly easier to tell when you’ve collected all the P Switches, Question Panels, or Peach Medallions, as the colour of the total number you have collected will change. However, this still doesn’t highlight where they are on the map.
Strangely, Nintendo has made an adjustment which initially appears to address the outcry from the last update. In the patch notes, it states the frequency of lap type courses has been increased, but this change is, frustratingly, only in local multiplayer races and not online.
In another weird addition, you can now play single-player VS Race without any CPU opponents – if you fancy going around tracks by yourself outside of Free Roam. A ‘Mushrooms only’ option has been added to the item rules across VS Race too.
A number of items have also been impacted by the update. The ‘homing of Boomerang’ is now weaker, while you’re now less likely to get the Triple Dash Mushroom in lower positions. However, you’re now more likely to get a ? Block.
It’s a peculiar update, which still doesn’t address the cluttered character select screen, but it might be teeing up a bigger announcement for Mario Kart World in the rumoured Nintendo Direct for this month.
All signs point to some Donkey Kong Bananza-themed additions at some point soon, with many players having noted the lack of costumes for both Donkey Kong and Pauline, when compared to the rest of the roster.
Some Mario Kart staples of previous games are also absent, namely Diddy Kong and Funky Kong, who was in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so they might be added as post-launch DLC. Some other racers are also rumoured, but beware as they are a spoiler for Donkey Kong Bananza.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe got paid-for DLC via the Booster Course Pass, but it’s unclear if Nintendo will follow the same strategy for its successor, or if it will wait a few years before adding new courses into the mix.
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