Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - We Played Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2!

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

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What's up and welcome back to another Tim Getty's and blessing at ayoje Jr. Nintendo Switch 2. Hands-on impression. We spent the entire day playing Nintendo Switch 2 for the very first time. We played a whole bunch of different games. We're going to be doing a bunch of mini-gamescast. It's talking about our experience with the hardware, a ton of the software, a bunch of things in between, all of that stuff. So stay tuned to YouTube.com slash kind of funny games for all of it.

But bless, what are we talking about now? We're talking about that Mario Kart World. Mario Kart World. You know, for many years, many years, many, many years, we've been playing Mario Kart 8 in different forms. Whether it was me on the Wii U, not many other people did, but I did, you know, then I played it again on the Switch, then I played to the booster packs, all of that stuff, right? We've been playing it, it's great.

We've questioned, what could a Mario Kart do? Where do we go from here? Where do we go from here? Did they go somewhere that you think was worth it? Oh, they went somewhere. They went like the place. They went essentially open, right, with, Of course, you guys see the direct so you all know, right?

This is a more open Mario Kart. You have more players, and we got to play quite a few different modes. Explain what we did. So we, I guess we did this in different phases, right? Because we get to the event that we're in. We watch the direct at the same time that you guys watch the direct. And then we go into this preview event. And the way they did it was pretty smart.

They started us all off just playing like a regular race of Mario Kart World, right? We do a Grand Prix situation. We then, after that, all goes. go into a bigger room, and we each go to a station and we play, what is it, knockout mode? We play the knockout mode, which is essentially, if you're a nerd and you play burnout, think like the Eliminator mode, if not, think almost like a battle reailles essentially, right? Where everybody's going and at certain intervals, people under a certain place get knocked out of the race.

And then the last stretch of the race ends up being like a few people that are racing for supremacy, right, racing for first place. And let me tell you, I got to start off just talk about the knockout mode. Because for me, that was the highlight. That was the thing where I was like, this is some of the most fun I've had playing Mario Kart. And I'm sad that I've only gotten to play one race of that because you went back and played even more.

I went back. I got second place the first round, 24 racers. I got second place to the first one. I was like, that ain't good enough for me. Logan Plant from IG got first. And I was like, I need my revenge. So I went back, and I got first, baby. Which is exactly what you need to do.

So, like, I think the thing for me that really brings it all together, aside from like, I think the polish and the prettiness of Mario Kart world because I think the presentation this time around, they found a way to step up somehow. You know, it's so interesting. It's funny because I agree to an extent. Mario Kart 8, I think, is kind of a perfect-looking game. That, to me, is an example of where software meets hardware,

where it needs to be. Like, I love the look of that game. I love the look of this, too. I don't think it's like a substantial improvement, but I think it's all the little differences. And it's the amount of stuff. The amount of costumes. It's the rolling start at the beginning.

Exactly. All the 24 racers are rolling in. It's the amount. ounce of new items, and it's the little details, because you played a couple matches like here, there. I kept going back. Like, this was the game that I played the most in different modes handheld and on TV and all of it. And I was shocked at how many little details there were in terms of different animations

that the characters would do for tricks and stuff, way more than last time. And every cart seemed to have, like, unique features to it. Like, I was on a motorcycle and I had this, like, and, henna on the top of it, and the way that it would interact and light up at certain points, it was just like, what's going on? But just was like, it felt unique to that. I was in a weird rocket ship card at one point, and

anytime I'd get a mushroom or, like, I was sneaking behind somebody and I would get a boost, the rocket engines would literally have fire pop out of them. And I was like, oh, wow. That's really cool. It was those little flourishes that I think make this stand out visually from Mario Cart, besides, of course,

it being 4K. Yeah, it being 4K. And looking damn good. God, really driving at home, pun intended. So knock on mode for me was such a highlight, was such a special thing because it was, they essentially put together a full Grand Prix into one track. Is that what they're doing? Yeah. So, okay, this is where this game gets so interesting. The whole world's map, right, is made up of different areas that are vaguely themed. Within those vague themed areas, there are the Grand Prix courses, and those courses are made up of a lot of just new ideas, but also, kind of. of returning elements of all the classic Mario Kart courses over time,

where it's not just like, oh, Moom Meadows is here exactly as it was, but it's like a new version of Moom Meadows. Like elements of it that the things we all know and love about it are here, and it kind of seamlessly lead into other parts in that part of the world. But in knockout mode, it kind of takes them and seemingly almost like... Connects them. Secret Wars, Dr. Doom battle world style kind of connects them and it is amazing.

When you start off the knockout mode, you see it randomly like generates a bunch of the levels you're going to go on. You're like, okay, it's one's from this area, one's from this area, one's from this area. And then when you play through it, they just connect and it's like magic. Yeah, it's so incredible. And it leads to such like an intense race

because I underestimated how much fun an extended Mario Kart race would be. But there's something about going from, oh we're all going at the same time all right oh man it's a battle between me and tim for first place oh man okay I'm getting left behind all right I'm in it boom all right we're on to another track oh snap all right here we go and like it's funny when um I see it was Lacketoo right when Lackettu comes up with the sign

that was like one out of six or whatever you did your first lap out of six I was like wait we're only a sixth of the way through this and it keeps going and going and like it honestly felt like I was building a story as this race was going and and to that man something that I'm so impressed with this game in both modes

that I played. I guess there's even more modes because there's the free row mode that played before as you're kind of just waiting for this knockout mode that happened that I think, I imagine, will be kind of the single player mode that we play later. But I was so impressed with the fact that every single, and maybe this will change

and maybe there will be things later, but I don't think so. Every level you play is in the style of the Snow Mountain Wario level from Mario Kart 8. That's what it felt like, yeah. It's not laps. Yeah. It's you You're not going over the same thing multiple times. It's always something different.

Like an A to B situation. So it's checkpoints instead of laps, right? And that works so well for the knockout mode, but you add on that tension like you're talking about it. You know, normal Mario Kart is the bounce, but it's essentially number one and two are fighting, and then there's everyone in the back, maybe they get lucky and win.

In this one, because every time you get to a checkpoint, a certain number of characters are straight up knocked out, there's a level of tension of like, when there's 24 people, it's utter chaos. It's chaos. There's items everywhere. Everything's getting hit and you're just like, oh, man, man. And then it's like, oh, wait, by the time we get through the first checkpoint,

four people are getting eliminated. I've got to be in top 20. And then it's top 16. And it just keeps going up. And that race for first, that final lap stress is with you the entire time. Yeah. Legitimately, I couldn't be more excited for Mario Kart World, right? And it's funny because we would have conversations before about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

and what you do with a new Mario Kart. And I was like, it's going to be more Mario Kart. They found a way to make it feel special. They found a way to make it feel very excited. And so I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. I mean, I want to keep talking about my car because there is a lot more to talk about. But we're going to do that right after a word from our sponsors.

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So knockout mode, definitely, I think, a highlight. Yes. Right? But just one of many. There's so much to talk about with this thing. I want to dig into a lot of your stuff because you played way more than me. But one of the first initial things that I was like, oh, snap, seeing was the character select screen.

There are so many dang characters in this game. Characters that have no business being behind the wheel. They got those cow from Mumu Meadows up in this thing. Oh, yeah. They're like, all right. The Pianzas from Mario Sunshine. They got a Gumba up in here. Yeah.

Just behind the wheel. And I think it's important to note all Mario characters. Yeah. You know, I think we've talked about what is Mario going to be or Mario Kart going to be. It's going to be more smash pros and way more crossover. And who knows, DLC could come. Sure. It probably will.

You know, but I actually really love the Mario love that they have going on here. And that goes through, it permeates through every bit of this video game in ways that I can't wait to dive into. Because the character selection. screen, how deep it is, you go through the different costumes they have, all the references to past Mario titles across all of the sub-franchises of Mario, not just the platformers or whatever, but like Mario Party references and things like that. But the courses, when we first saw the initial Switch 2 reveal and like the little pit stop-looking thing and like a Western area, and then when they announced it today when we saw the

directing, it was like, Mario Kart World, I was like immediately a little letdown just because I'm like the idea of just Mario Kart, but like in real world locations, kind of fine, I guess. But, oh my God, I'm so wrong. That immediately transitions into the most Mario in a Mario Kart of all time. Yes. The amount back in the day, Mario Kart, maybe there's a Mario Penguin walking back and forth on the level getting in your way.

The amount of enemies from every Mario game I've ever played, functioning the way they do in those games. Yeah. Hammer Brothers. Hammer Brothers throwing hammers at you. The circular black things with the like green feet and the yellow spike, it was in Mario 64, so you can't really tell what it is. Yeah.

In the lava level, that kind of bump into you. The bullies? Yes, that's what it is. Like, there's bullies walking around, and they function that way. They hit you, and it bounces you back in that way. That was really fun. It goes on and on and on, and the references and directs, like, this is from this thing, littered across this whole thing.

It's funny. I brought up the battle world earlier. It really feels like Mario Battleworld, and it's, very cool. Yeah. Another thing I want to shout out, they're doing cart selection different this time. So once you do the character select screen,

you're not picking the parts. That's interesting. You're just picking a straight up cart. Yeah. Which, yeah, immediately stood out to me. I was like, oh, snap, okay, well. And I'm not, here's the thing. I don't know how you ever felt about the Mario Cardi Deluxe,

like mixing and matching your car. I'm fine to do away with it. Me too. Yeah. I mean, more so, like, I'm a standard cart, baby. Yeah. I just go, hey, straight in. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And for this, I was like, I'm going to play around with a bunch of them. just to kind of see what's going on. But yeah, let's try to talk about a little bit of the differences that we've noticed between Worldiness. Like, that is one of them. That's one of them. Did you ever pick up the, it's like a, it looks like an item block,

but it's a different thing. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about. It's like, I might have to find the trailer and see if I can show it to you. It almost looks like it could have been like a wonder kind of thing. So that's what's really interesting. Yeah. There's a lot of many new items. There is, and many returning items.

The feather from the Super Nintendo game, it allows you to bounce. jump. It's going to be great for shortcuts. That's back. And a whole bunch of new ones. There's Kamik, the little, the wizard, you know, from Mario World, but like Yoshi's Island. Did you get a feel for what exactly Kamik does?

Yes. So it casts a spell and it turns other people into random Mario enemies. So it turns them into the like the bones fish. Yeah. Or it turns them into the dolphin from Mario World. Gameplay wise, I don't know what it does. Yeah. You know, that's what it did though.

and when I got turned into a dolphin I thought I had to like jump to get it off or something I didn't so it was a little unclear what's going on but a couple other new items there was the there's a coin block you can get 20 coins now instead of 10 there are way more coins

so many coins I think this game is and fingers crossed I actually hope this because I feel like coins have been a feature of the previous Mario card games I hope that I'm right about this it seems like they're going to matter a lot more in this one because there's 24 racers,

there's chaos at all times. Whenever people get and hit, coins are flying everywhere. So there's coins all over the map. Dude, there's even a new item that's a golden shell that if you throw it, it leaves behind a trail of coins that you can follow. Yep, so you can do that.

And then there's also a coin block that you get and it goes over and you can jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, and jump, jump, jump, and get coin, coin, going, coin. So I think that with that amount of coin-focused items and how many coins are literally popping out of people, I think it's going to matter a lot more,

which is interesting. and the wonderflowery thing. It's not a wonderflower, but like... It looks adjacent to it. It kind of does. I noticed it most in the free roam mode, which is the kind of like lobby waiting room before you get into the knockout mode,

like when you're waiting for a match. And again, I was just in the open area. I could go all over the world, like seamlessly while doing this. And the world was like surprising. Like there's like the clear kind of courses you got and get into. But then otherwise, you're just in this open area. There's just traffic everywhere. There's like,

Rams and cars, hella Mario enemies, just like walking around. Yoshi, like a herd of Yoshi's just walking by. It feels like they created a living world. It almost feels, this is, I don't mean it, this dramatic. But it feels like, oh, wow, they Breath of the Wild did Mario. Yeah. Like, it's just, it's every, you turn a corner and there's just, you're seeing something, you're like, oh, wow, there's a little town of shy guys.

Yeah, it's fully realized. Yeah. It's like, oh, y'all put a lot of effort into like making this like Mario World. Yeah. And MarloniCard World, yeah. And so that item is everywhere in the free room. Oh, okay, really? Everywhere.

And when you get it, at least in the free room mode, it gives you a speed boost right then, but then it also gives you a randomized costume. So it will then just change whatever character you're wearing's costume. Okay. My theory is that in the single player mode, those might be collectibles. You're going around collecting. That's how you unlock new carts or new costumes or whatever it is, which I am so into. Yeah, that's cool.

I like that idea. Like, I think I only was able to be. able to get one once during the race. And I couldn't tell exactly what it was doing, right? I was like, I think it had the function of an item block in the race. Yeah, it just gave me a... No, it gives you food. So it gives you, like, randomized food.

Like, there's vending machines in the world. There's a lot about this that we don't know. Yeah. There is a direct coming out, the Mario Kart directs. Which I can't wait for it because, again, I did one Grand Prix race, and then I did the knockout mode, right? And that was one long race as well. And when I tell you, the same is so jam-packed that, like, I feel like in any

other Mario Kart. Give me one race and I know what that game is. This one I'm like, I don't know if I got all the items. Dude, oh man, there's so much to bring down here because I felt that way after our first round. We just did the Grand Prix. It's like, okay, it's Mario Kart. The tracks are way wider because there's way more characters,

which dramatically shifts the gameplay. Yeah. Oh, it changes it substantially. Yeah. But the drift feels exactly the same in all the right way. It's like this feels as good as Mario Card 8, which like, thank God. Um, but I was so surprised when I went back and picked the controller up, or the actual tape or handheld mode switch to, uh, to play the Grand Prix a couple more times.

Every single time that I did it, it was a different map. It was like, randomized for this demo. And I was like, whoa. Interesting. Whoa. And they all felt so different. And even when it loaded up the second, um, match I, a map I played. And it was like, oh, cool.

It's like a ghost house. I get what we're doing. And I started going to my, oh, they're direct. directly referencing the style of the S&ES ghost house maps. Yeah. That's pretty cool. And then you kind of get through a part of it. And then all of a sudden I'm in a forest, like a dark ghosty forest.

Then you get out of that and you're like in a cemetery area. And it's like, oh my God, this theme just is going and going and going. And then next match I get, it's like Moomoo Meadows inspired, but it's not just Moom Meadows. It continues to just change. And it honestly feels like procedurally generated Mario Kart, but then you're like, no, it's so artistically designed, but it feels like it's endless.

It feels like the ideas just keep coming and coming and coming. To the point that I'm like, maybe it's just because these are new maps that we haven't ever played and like whatever. But then when you see the world map and how big it is, I really question like, are we ever going to be that familiar with these?

Or is it always going to feel like we're playing these maps for the first time, which is pretty cool. Yeah, I mean, even from the debut, the Switch to Reveal, when you look at like what the footage that we saw from that, there seem to be parts where it's like, oh, you could fit another track.

Or, like, that is another direction that, like, if you take away this barrier, you can make this into a track as well, right? Like, it seems like they're playing a lot with the idea of, hey, you pick a track, and it's more so of a theme, right? But, like, every lap is going to be different for what you're doing.

And I love that idea. I love them switching things up like that. A couple changes that I notice. The D-pad no longer works as cart controls, which bums me out, because with racing games, all of them, I am a D-pad boy. So I'm pretty sad about that.

But maybe I'm alone. You're nuts. I don't know. You've got to be alone. I don't know, man. I've never heard of that before. I'm out here when in first place. I'm getting first and second. You know what I mean? Like, things are working for me. Yeah. But so taking that away from me now. Speaking of the D-pad, like, when we're out in that open lobby area, you press down

on the D-pad and it does a fortsor rewind. Yeah. This is Forza Horizon Mario Kart. Yeah. Like, it's forts of Horizon, but like with Nintendo Charm. Yeah. It's like, it's freaking awesome. So, yeah, that's another big change. specifically the Forza stuff

Like the rewind I don't know if many people are affected but me But like it kind of bummed me out that couldn't change Maybe the options of the final game will let me But I don't know But a big change that took me a couple rounds to realize You no longer need to hold

The trigger button to have the green shell Hold behind you Yes I did I noticed that too The same with the banana Like I was I because I messed that up a few times You just accidentally throwing the green shell And I'm like what is going on So yeah, it automatically just sits there as soon as you get in the item box.

Yeah. It's nice. I like that. It's pretty cool. It's a difference that I think it's going to take some getting used to, but I think it's a great call. Besides that, like I didn't notice too much, but like this just feels right and it feels refined. It doesn't just feel like, oh, man, we got to make another Mario card. It really feels like they're like, hey, we got to make another Mario card.

How do we top what we did before? Yeah. It's a Mario card with a lot to chew on, which is very exciting, right? And like, obviously Mario Car has been filled with content for, you know, iterations and iterations. But this one is truly filled with content in a way where I'm like, oh, yeah, no, this can carry the launch. Like, this is going to be a thing that is going to be, oh, like, how much of you completed Mario Car? Because I got to go over here and collect this thing and, like, oh, man, I still haven't seen all the different iterations of, like, what this Grand Prix can be or what this could be like. I think there's going to be a water cooler conversation about this Mario Car.

Yes. And that again, that's the breath of the wild side of it. I'm just like, the weird thing of just, like, turning a corner and being like, like, Oh, wow, there's things here I just didn't expect to see. And that's very, very cool. Another new item is the Giant Mushroom from Mario, new Super Mario Bros. DS. Has that not been in Mario Car before?

I don't know. I don't remember it. It wasn't innate. Roger, look into that. It wasn't innate, so I don't know. It just seems like something I would have already been there. Or it's back. And then H.G.R. look killer on this game in handy.

Yes. I was so impressed. The game ran beautifully. It looks great. Having a Mario Kart and 4K on the TV is awesome. It's been there. before? It's been in Mario Kart Arcade, GP,

Mario Kart Wii, Wii, yeah. Tour. Okay. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Yeah. It's back, everybody. And then what else did I have? Oh, man, it's so, like the music style, it feels very inspired by the jazz rock of Mario Kart 8, which I think is

so damn good. We got new music, though, obviously, but a whole bunch of Odyssey remixes I'm hearing popping off, and I'm like, that's exactly what your boy wants. and the one other thing I'll say is that it felt very slow. I was just like, is this 50 C.C. And I think it's the combination of a couple factors. One, the wider maps, I think just make everything feel like you're moving a lot slower through them

because I feel like the linear ones, it feels like you're getting further distance just visually. But in addition to that, I did confirm we were playing in 100cc mode. So while it wasn't as slow as I might have. a thought, we're so used to 150. We are. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, has anyone ever played Mario Kart that's played a Mario Kart before and anything less than 150?

Yeah, who's actually choosing 100 Cs? Like, get out of here. Yeah, so I'm very happy for that to feel it snappier, and I'm sure that'll immediately acquit any of my fears about it. But that was something that was like, oh, come on, guys. Yeah, I noticed the same thing. But, yeah, I figured it was going to be 50 CC or 100. So, yeah, can't wait.

Hopefully, I mean, I imagine they're going to give that choice for knockout mode of, hey, I want to play in 150 CCC. Oh, no, no, it was that. When I started my second knockout round Match, I saw it and then you pop up. Perfect. And it was like, choose and 100 CC was one of the options. So that was like the default that it was on. But yeah, I mean, closing remarks on this, I think that this is obviously a killer launch title.

Like I think sales-wise, I think critically, I think all of that, like this makes sense. I understand the potential. I don't know that this is the case. We've been playing games all day. So I don't know exactly what the Internet's take is on everything. I can imagine that some people are like, really, just a Mario Kart? Wait to play it, y'all. Like, I do think that this has that like, oh, shit, vibe to it,

where if they pull this off, I think that this can be one of those, like, generational Nintendo games. Yeah, I'm 100% agree with you, right? I'm right there with you. And, yeah, like, they turn me from a, okay, cool, another Mario Kart into, oh, I got to play this goddamn Mario Car. This looks like it's going to be different. This looks really good. So, yeah, very excited for this.

exciting stuff. Everybody, let us know in the comments below. If you get more hyped based on us talking about this, we have way more at Gamescasts coming. We're going to talk Metroid Prime for Beyond. We're going to talk Donkey Kong. Banana ramma. I'm never going to remember.

The name is. Bonanza. With no, oh. Banana versus. Just bananas. Every video is going to end with me doing this, like, just because I'm an asshole. Not on purpose, though.

It's just how my dumb brain works. Anyways, I love you all. Goodbye.