‘Mario Kart World’ just made some major changes

The latest Mario Kart World update just made some major changes to the hit game, and fans are delighted. 

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Mario Kart World has been out for six months now but that hasn’t stopped developers from constantly updating the popular Nintendo Switch 2 title. Shortly after launch, they tweaked the track combinations that could be chosen in multiplayer and more recently, they adjusted the skill level of NPC racers. 

The latest update went live earlier this week, bringing several big changes to Mario Kart World. When exploring the massive open-world map, you can now find out exactly which of the game’s incredible tracks is playing via the pause menu and adjust the in-game volume so the soundtrack isn’t drowned out by engine noise. Players have also reported several tweaks to the ‘Intermission’ laps that appear throughout the game’s ‘Vs.’ mode, following backlash that a majority were simply a straight bit of road.

“It’s funny how just adding more turns makes it so much more fun,” wrote one fan on Reddit. “This is amazing. They’re finally listening and making the world more interesting and engaging to drive around,” added another. 

Tried the new Mario Kart World update, did a race with just the Kamek orb, and it’s just as chaotic as I was hoping for featuring many crashes into the cheep cheeps and Chargin’ Chucks pic.twitter.com/OWOHiwL255

— Danny (@EscDannyJ) December 3, 2025

The biggest change comes with the introduction of custom items in multiplayer, meaning you can pick and choose exactly which power-ups appear during the course of a tournament. Some fans are leaning into the chaos of the update with Blue Shell-only races while others are using it to help unlock the mysterious NPC racers such as Peepa, Dry Bones and Chargin’ Chuck.

In total there are 11 NPC racers to unlock and that can only be done via the rare Kamek item which will briefly transform you mid-race. The new option of Kamek-only races is making it a lot easier to unlock new characters. 

This new update makes the Kamek Orb single handily the funniest item in all of Mario Kart pic.twitter.com/Q8GXS1O729

— Luigi’s Sidekick (@LuigiSidekick) December 4, 2025

“Kamek-only races is probably the best thing that will ever happen to this game, even if we do eventually get new characters and tracks,” wrote one fan. “At this point, it’d be easier to ask who hates this new update,” said another.

Nintendo still hasn’t put the soundtrack to Mario Kart World on streaming despite many requests from fans. Bill Trinen, vice president of player and product experience at Nintendo America, addressed those demands earlier this year. “I can’t go into too much detail, but I can say that it does actually take time and work to prepare soundtracks for Nintendo Music,” he explained. “And that soundtrack is particularly robust. It’s a matter of looking at the calendar and saying whether something might fit in or not. We’ve certainly heard that people are eager to see that on Nintendo Music.”

In other news, the disappointing release of Black Ops 7 has rounded out a “tough” year for Call Of Duty, say industry experts.

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