6 Things Mario Kart World Is Still Missing

Mario Kart World helped transform Nintendo’s Switch 2 into an overnight success. And for good reason: this latest iteration is the best in the franchise and the perfect game to bust out when you want to have fun with friends, either in your home or online.

With that being said, there are certain things that this iconic game is still missing. Maybe they’ll come via future DLC, but right now, the game lacks several features that made Mario Kart 8 Deluxe such a killer title.

What is Mario Kart World still missing? Keep reading, and the truth will hit you harder than a blue shell!

1) Major Characters

Part of what makes the Mario Kart franchise so fun is its vast array of characters. Sure, you’ve got icons like Mario and Luigi, but you’ve also got more obscure characters. And in many ways, Mario Kart World delivers on obscure characters. Who doesn’t love driving around as Super Mario World baddies like Chargin’ Chuck and Monty Mole, or maybe just reliving Super Mario 64 by playing as the Penguin?

With that being said, there are some major Nintendo names that are conspicuously absent from this list. For example, Diddy Kong is the star of his own previous racing game, but he’s nowhere to be found. Link is also a beloved Nintendo icon, but he’s apparently too busy saving Hyrule to get behind the wheel again.

Will these characters show up in later DLC? Maybe. Right now, though, losing some of the biggest names from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe feels like a major downgrade.

2) Kart Customization

This next point is bound to be divisive, so buckle up: the lack of kart customization in Mario Kart World seems downright crazy. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, you could select your car, your wheels, and your glider, and customizing the perfect ride was a big part of the fun. The different tires could dramatically affect gameplay, and it was always hilarious to put characters like Peach onto something you made look like a monster truck.

In Mario Kart World, you just select your kart and get ready to race. Defenders of this change have pointed out that customizability options can be very confusing for newcomers and that Nintendo probably just wanted to streamline options for the Switch 2’s flagship title. Maybe that’s true, but newcomers always adjust to other confusing things, including the game’s weirder items and topsy-turvy courses like Rainbow Road. 

Nintendo should have simply left the customization options in and counted on their players to adapt! It’s better than yoinking away options from veteran players in the name of winning over newer players.

3) Specialty Modes

There’s more to Mario Kart World than just the Grand Prix. Things like Vs. and especially Free Roam help to give the game extra replay value, especially if you are a competitive gamer or just want to track down more adorable outfits. But if you take a closer look at some of the modes, you’ll notice that we got another downgrade compared to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

In Vs. mode, for example, you can no longer select options such as “no items mode” or options to limit players to only karts or only bikes. And you can no longer select fun gimmick modes like “bombs only” item boxes (although the recent return of mushrooms-only is quite welcome). Again, there’s an argument to be made here that Nintendo wanted to streamline options ahead of releasing the Switch 2’s flagship title. But for those of us who spent our formative years exploring every dumb option in GoldenEye 007’s multiplayer, the lack of specialty modes makes the game infinitely less fun.

4) A Better Battle Mode

Here’s a weird confession: I really loved the Battle Mode introduced in Mario Kart 64. It was fun to take a break from racing and concentrate on taking out my buddies on specially-designed courses. Mario Kart World has kept the Battle Mode tradition alive. Unfortunately, this mode is severely lacking, even compared to the N64 version!

Where do I even start? The maps are mostly boring and uninspired, and matches are bizarrely limited to three minutes. That change alone ensures that you can’t actually eliminate many players, which is a big part of the fun. And we no longer have some of the special play modes, including Bob-Omb Blast and Shine Thief.

With a Luigi hat in hand, I have to ask the obvious question: why bother with including this fan-favorite mode when you’re going to make it so glaringly awful? 

5) Sound Customization

Sometimes, what seem to be little mistakes can ruin something that would have been great. No, I’m not talking about how you fumbled your last girlfriend. I’m talking about Nintendo’s baffling decision to include so few sound customization options in Mario Kart World.

In the year of our lord 2025, Nintendo released a game that doesn’t have proper sound sliders. That means that you can’t tweak the gameplay noise volume down when you want to enjoy the killer soundtrack. You also can’t easily lower the overall volume, which is a crucial option for those of us who like to listen to Spotify or watch YouTube on our phones when driving. The omission of the sliders is hardly the end of the world, but it’s downright strange to see a major game company leave out such an important option.

6) Select Online Features

The Mario Kart franchise began with players huddled around the TV for multiplayer, and that practice is still alive and well. However, the majority of players now get their multiplayer jollies by playing online. To Nintendo’s credit, they’ve gotten better over the years at facilitating online play. Unfortunately, online multiplayer in Mario Kart World is still missing some key features that keep it from achieving true greatness.

Some of these are minor things, like the fact that you can no longer look at a little flag and see which country rival players are from. Some of them are more aggravating, including the recent patch that changed the “Random” course selection, making it possible to land on an annoying intermission course rather than a three-lap course. And some are just weird, like making it impossible to join online friends in Knockout mode.

Sadly, this seems to be Nintendo’s blueprint for online development over the years: two tracks forward, one track backward!