Shacknews Best Racing Game of 2025 - Mario Kart World

In a stacked category, it's Mario Kart World taking the checkered flag.

The Mario Kart series has helped define racing games for more than 30 years. After spending the past decade showing what was possible with the Mario Kart 8 generation, it was hard to imagine where else Nintendo could take the franchise. Of course, there are always new roads to drive and new horizons to explore. Mario Kart World is boldly exploring those new frontiers, taking the series to some exciting new places.

Mario Kart World feels bigger, full stop. Rather than use the traditional structure of dozens of standalone tracks, the game operates on a full open world. Tracks are located at various locations with the idea being to drive from one to the other, making the usual Grand Prix feel like something new and unique. They also allow for players to either learn to master the standard track layout or get clever and use the game's various new mechanics, like wall-riding, to get inventive and discover new shortcuts. The game feels more competitive than ever, especially with the Grand Prix's player count now increased to 24 players.

If that's not enough, there's a new way to enjoy the action. Knockout Tour tests players with a race across a series of connected tracks, but knocks out the players who are sputtering at the back of the pack across every checkpoint. The competition only intensifies, especially during the race's final legs, when the player count is reduced to just four. The feeling of victory has never been sweeter, but it makes those agonizing Mario Kart moments feel all the more painful. An ill-timed blue shell has never hurt more, a lightning strike has never been more disruptive, and sometimes you just get clobbered by a Bullet Bill or a Mega Mushroom. That's the Mario Kart experience and it's never been more Mario Kart.

Above all else, Nintendo has made Mario Kart feel like a world that's worth exploring. P Switches are all over the place, encouraging players to fill up their collection. Question Mark Panels are located throughout the land. They're hard to find, and many of them will help teach players about Mario Kart World's various mechanics. They help feed the new Free Roam mode, which briefly alleviates the pressures of racing and allows players (and maybe even some of their friends) to simply ride. Free Roam also makes the wait for online sessions a little more bearable.

The race to first place has never been more competitive than in Mario Kart World, whether it's home with three other players or online with lobbies of up to 24 racers. The Mario Kart experience is just as fun as it's ever been, but the scale is bigger than it's ever been. Whether this will have the decade-long appeal of Mario Kart 8 remains to be seen, but for 2025, there's no other racing experience like it.