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Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Best Characters For Every Track In Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World ended the legendary 11 year run Mario Kart 8 held as the 'current' Mario Kart. While Mario Kart World isn't coming out the gate with the 96 courses its predecessor received over the course of the decade, it still features a standard roster of 30 courses. This is almost on par with most Mario Kart games, though Mario Kart World will repeat two courses throughout the Gran Prix mode to make up the difference. Of course, that doesn't quite tell the whole story. Mario Kart World also features an interconnected world, featuring over 100 'intermission tracks' that you'll drive on between tracks. There are also collectibles and optional challenges to complete in each stage if you explore them in the Free Roam mode, so it's not exactly like the Mario Kart games that came before. Read More: Every Mario Kart World Track Has A Closed-Circuit Version, But It's Not Easy To Play Them One thing we can compare, though, is that Mario Kart World doesn't differentiate between new and returning courses the way past Mario Kart games did. New and retro courses are instead interspersed between all eight cups, and the returning locales often have new elements that differentiate them from their original counterparts. If you'd like to take a gander at the full course list yourself, as well as which racer's stats are most conducive to winning each track, here's every standard cup in Mario Kart World. Note that all commentary here is largely based on the fastest times in Time Trial mode, which does not include Intermission tracks. That said, the last lap is always the most important in Mario Kart due to how items can disrupt the race. These characters should let you finish each race strong, regardless of the intermission track you take to get there. Read More: Your Kart's Stats Are As Important As Ever In Mario Kart World Do keep in mind that, since these times are based on the time trial environment, these racers may not necessarily be the 'best' when contending with fierce racers online. You may need to play racers with higher acceleration to contend with the barrage of items you'll have to endure, but these are solid choices to start. Mario Bros. Circuit: Ultra-lightweight characters like Baby Daisy fare well here, particularly on lightweight bikes. Crown City: Wario's heavy stats kill it here; the top runners for this track favor the Hot Rod kart. Whistlestop Summit: Super lightweights like Baby Daisy perform well here, once again with a preference towards bikes. DK Spaceport: Wario once again dominates, especially paired with balanced karts like the B Dasher. That said, shoutout to the current 5th place record holder for using Hills: Bowser's super heavy stats dominate here. The Reel Racer will help you contend with the sandy terrain. Shy Guy Bazaar: Lightweights reign supreme through these winding tight corridors, with most record holders opting for Baby Mario. The Baby Blooper kart is popular here. Wario Stadium: Another showcase for lightweight characters, with Baby Daisy being the popular pick here. That said, the Reel Racer is currently a popular pick here too. Airship Fortress: Not to sound like a broken record, but lightweight characters once again win out here. Baby Mario dominates on bikes like the Mach Rocket, though Goomba is a surprisingly competitive pick here Pass: Super lightweights once again reign supreme here, but interesting enough, the dominant character here is Para-Biddybud. Baby Daisy also works here, and bikes like the R.O.B H.O.G fare well on these snowy peaks. Starview Pea: It's another peak, but a different optimal character. Bowser on the Reel Racer occupies nearly every fastest time recorded here. Sky-High Sundae: Wario is your go-to if you're doing laps around these treats. The Baby Blooper vehicle is most popular here. Wario Shipyard: Despite the aquatic terrain, Bowser on the Reel Racer is the popular choice here once again. Koopa Troopa Beach: Koopa Troopa Beach? More like King Koopa Troopa Beach, because Bowser holds all the fastest times here. Interestingly enough, trucks like the Chargin' Truck perform well. Faraway Oasis: Funny enough, this course doesn't have a clear 'best' combo. The current record holder uses Penguin atop the W-Twin Chopper bike, but Bowser, Mario, and even Birdo are all used in close runner-up rankings. Crown City: Yes, this is the second time Crown City has appeared in a cup. To refresh your memory, Wario in the Hot Rod is the top pick. Peach Stadium: Current record holders predominately use Wiggler, typically paired with the Big Horn Beach: Peach Beach, similar to the Koopa Troopa Beach, favors Bowser. However, the popular vehicle of choice is the Reel Racer. Salty Salty Speedway: There's no clear dominant character, as Wiggler, Wario, and even Pianta have achieved top times here. However, all of them have used the Reel Racer to get there. Dino Dino Jungle: Now please hold your excitement, because I know how widely beloved this racer is, but Cow is the top pick for this course. What's more, the best racers use the Li'l Dumpy truck here too. There couldn't be a more deserving combo to succeed. Great ? Block Ruins: As you might expect from a track with so many tight corners, the super lightweights reign supreme. The likes of Para-Biddybud and Baby Daisy have achieved the fastest times, all while using relatively balanced bikes like the R.O.B Cheep Falls; It's lightweight time again, except we're not going for the lightest of the light characters this time around. Nabbit currently rules the falls while using the Reel Racer. Dandelion Depths: The heavyweights will plunge you furthest into the depths, as Wario using the Reel Racer is the dominant pick. Boo Cinema: In a huge change of pace, the best racer on Boo Cinema is none other than King-... nah I'm just playing, Wario using the Baby Blooper has all the top times here. Dry Bones Burnout: Wario and the Baby Blooper. Everywhere I go I see his Moo Meadows: No fakeouts this time: Cow very appropriately is the top pick for Moo Moo Meadows. Surprisingly, the top vehicle choice here is the Dread Sled. I couldn't think of a less appropriate kart to drive around a farm, let alone at top speed, but let's not apply logic to the Nintendo universe. Choco Mountain: Bowser with the Reel Racer chews through this mountain the fastest. Toad's Factory: Interestingly, the top times for this track are a tossup between our usual heavyweight champions: Wario and Bowser. That said, both of them use the Baby Blooper kart. Bowser's Castle: This fearsome fiery world is a rare track where characters of all weight classes are in close contention. Wiggler does have the top spot, though. The B Dasher vehicle is a popular choice default, you'll only have access to the courses listed above. To unlock the final Special Cup, you must first best the other seven cups in Grand Prix mode. This will trigger a special cutscene that will play upon earning your last trophy, and Special Cup will appear in the Grand Prix menu. If you've completed every race in Grand Prix mode and didn't unlock Special Cup, make sure you've earned a gold trophy in each cup. Getting first place in every race or playing on 150cc isn't Heights: It's another ultra lightweight extravaganza here! Swoop is interestingly the record holder, though Baby Daisy isn't far behind. Both use the W-Twin Chopper. Mario Circuit: It's another fan favorite's time to shine, because Toadette holds the majority of record times for the standard Mario Circuit. The Baby Blooper appears once more as the ride of choice. Peach Stadium: Yes, Peach Stadium does indeed appear in two separate cups as well. As you'd expect, Wiggler with the Big Horn still succeeds. Rainbow Road: Last but certainly not least, we have the majestic rainbow road. Wiggler is the king here, either using the Billdozer or the ever reliable Reel are all the tracks in Mario Kart World! An elaborate credits sequence will play once you beat the Special Cup, so sit back and enjoy the show before you dive back into exploring the world or racing online. Make sure to check out our tips for improving your racing skills if you're planning on conquering greater challenges, and don't take out your frustration on your brand new system if you face some losses along the way. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New York Times
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Mario Kart World's Journeys Are Smooth and Unremarkable
Mario Kart World is an incredibly clean game. As the latest iteration of a decades-spanning franchise, it has been winnowed into something smoothly efficient and entirely absent of blemishes. The series' hypercolored, candy-coated art style is rendered with impressive clarity on the Nintendo Switch 2's brand-new hardware. You can launch into a race in moments, whether playing on your own, sharing a split screen or playing online. In this well-crafted experience, there is very little standing in the way of the fun. Yet once I eventually put down the racing controller, I can only assume this iteration will be as thoroughly erased from my memory as Mario Kart 8 was after its release 11 years ago. It comes down to the nature of playing these games. They aren't linear narrative experiences. They aren't designed to provoke specific emotions at specific times, nor to generate thought or reflections on a theme. The Mario Kart games are toys, things to pick up and play, to boop and to beep, before putting them back down again. The karts and drivers you can select are collectibles to rotate around and admire, not embody. They're like video game versions of Parcheesi. They don't come bearing rich characters, plots or motivations, all useful tools when it comes to creating something that can memorably exist on its own as a piece of art. When Mario Kart 8 came out for the Wii U in 2014, the most active discourse about it online focused on Luigi. More specifically, the evil way he seems to smirk at other racers while caught on the replay camera that rolls after a race. We couldn't get enough of the anodyne plumber shooting murderous looks at his competitors. But Luigi wasn't designed to be a giant jerk. His demeanor was an accident of his default facial expression paired with players' desire for meaning and humor in a game without much consideration for either. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Top Gear
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Top Gear
Summer Games Fest 2025: not enough racing games, but some reveals turned our heads
When you post something on social media, you don't tell everyone about all the holidays, nice dinners and weddings you'll be attending for the next two years. The trailers you see in the cinema are generally for a handful of upcoming movies you might want to watch in the next month. Meanwhile, over in the games industry, in the last three days we've been shown every game in existence from now until the heat death of the universe. But aside from that opening salvo, we're not here to question the wisdom of an annual event which blurts out more titles than anyone could possibly pay attention to or remember. No, instead we're going to sift out the good stuff. If you missed our roundup of PlayStation's State of Play showcase, you can find that here. Sadly it wasn't a big one for racing games. In fact we counted a grand total of one to add to our radar, but the other genres fared better, so these are the titles that caught our eye during Summer Games Fest 2025. That means there are approximately 3,000 games that won't be mentioned here, but it doesn't mean that they won't be good games or that we think you're wrong if you liked them. It's just that this is the year 2025, and ruthless economy of attention is required in order to survive and go about our lives.
Top Gear
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Indy 500: nine of the best ways to play the famous US race in videogames
Advertisement There aren't many races where you'll see an average lap speed of 230mph, or cars separated by a till receipt taking 12-degree bank angles like they're not there. The Indy 500 is special, and in its 109 editions it's seen some incredible automotive innovation. And oddly enough, the history of Indy 500 games goes back nearly as far as the event itself, provided you're not that great at maths. If you've got a hankering to load up an interactive version of the 2025 race this weekend and painstakingly slipstream your way to victory, you're absolutely spoiled for options. Going back as far as 1977 and including some of the best contemporary racing sims of today, Indy's always had a place in racing games. Advertisement - Page continues below Indy 500 - Atari 2600, 1977 Not only was this the first videogame to depict the famous brickyard race, it was basically one of the first games, full stop. As such, it's er… fair to say it lacks a bit of the nuance some later titles manage to include. Nuances like having more than two cars, or colours other than brown, purple and green. Still, it did feature three different game modes: the scintillatingly titled 'standard racing', 'crash and score', and 'tag'. There was a special controller, too! It was a big circular dial. You might like Indianapolis 500: The Simulation - PC, 1989 The beginning of a trilogy of brilliant Papyrus IndyCar games that dragged the whole racing genre up to a higher standard of simulation, just as the name suggests. The visuals were breakthrough quality for the time, as was the design approach to reflect the structure of a race weekend and tinker with setup options. It's fair to say that three decades later this is no longer the most accessible or realistic way to experience IndyCar racing, but what a foundation it laid. Advertisement - Page continues below Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat - NES, 1992 Making its debut in the arcades a year before it hit the newfangled Nintendo Entertainment System, this Leland/Rare effort went for a more accessible take on oval racing, with a top-down viewpoint reminiscent of the 1977 Atari game. While the arcade version featured real circuit names, the home console edition didn't, so your Indianapolis experience was actually taking place at the considerably less evocative 'Trade West'. IndyCar Racing - PC, 1993 Four years later the Papyrus Indy series came back with even better visuals (remember, this was when Nirvana was still making music) and greater authenticity. This time the developer managed to secure official licenses to nearly all cars and drivers from the 1993 IndyCar season, the only exceptions being Mario Andretti, Danny Sullivan, and the famously easygoing Nigel Mansell. Eight circuits could be raced, either as a single event or as part of a championship season, with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway added after release in an expansion pack. A third game followed in 1995, but sadly that would be all she wrote for the series as Papyrus shifted its attention primarily to NASCAR thereafter. Indy Racing 2000 - Nintendo 64, 2000 Some fallow years followed in the late Nineties, which saw a half-decent PC release called ABC Sports Indy Racing in 1996, before this marginally better N64 racer turned up with the 1999 Indy Racing League license and 20-car grids. As per the protocol regarding everything made in or close to the turn of the millennium, the game was given a '2000' suffix. Managed a pretty decent sense of speed from the N64's limited polygons, too. IndyCar Series - Xbox/PS2/PC, 2003 2003 marked the moment that old masters Codemasters would get involved in the open-wheeler oval racing action, starting with a well-regarded simcade take on the 2002 Indy Racing League season and then following it up with a 2005 sequel. The visuals made a big step forwards compared to previous games, thanks to the advent of the Xbox and PlayStation 2, but reviewers at the time weren't completed sold on the action. Advertisement - Page continues below Indianapolis 500 Evolution - Xbox 360, 2009 Now we're talking. Developer Brain in a Jar's take on the event was a career mode spanning a decade of innovations and drama, from 1961 to 1971. The cars' appearance and characteristics changed according to the era, letting you live out a convincing career during the 'rear engine revolution' era, and the final roadster race at the brickyard in 1968. A Wii racer called Indianapolis 500 Legends also released two years previously, to very little fanfare. Project CARS 2 - PC, PS4, Xbox One, 2017 Let's skip to the good stuff now. The games that still hold up today and which are realistic options for recreating the race in convincing fashion. Project CARS 2 doesn't just do IndyCar, but it does it particularly well, with licensed 2017 vehicle liveries and a strong recreation of the brickyard. Time of day and weather settings are all customisable and you can, in fact, race all 500 laps of it in either solo or multiplayer if your wrists can take the punishment. Handling an IndyCar in this sim-focused racer takes a very particular touch and the gentlest of throttle application, but the rewards are some epic races in changeable conditions, where pit strategy really becomes key. See also: Automobilista 2 's US DLC packs. The game itself shares a lot of DNA with Project CARS 2 , and the add-on content includes some nice throwback 90s vehicles and liveries, too. Advertisement - Page continues below Yes, technically this is a game from 2008. Yes, it's PC only, requires a wheel, and you can only access it through a subscription-based membership. Yes, it's basically held together with rubber bands and lolly sticks at this point. Nonetheless, iRacing is the best way to race the Indy 500 in all of gaming. Part of that's down to the community, who are incredibly fast, generally race very cleanly, and take events seriously. That lends a lot of immersion to the experience, as does the rigorous simulation feel of the handling model, although that does mean many hours at the brickyard are required to become truly competitive. iRacing 's subscription model and DLC-based content means it's quite an expensive way to race, mind you. rFactor 2 offers a cheaper way to experience it - the game costs £20 and the 2020 Indianapolis layout's available for free. See more on Gaming
Auto Car
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Super Mario Kart is the finest racing game ever, not Gran Turismo
As computers and games consoles rapidly evolved in the 1990s from literally BASIC (as in the BBC Micro's programming language) to the ultra-cool Sony PlayStation, so developers created some amazing racing games. In 1991, Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix set new standards for an accurate Formula 1 simulator, then in 1997 Gran Turismo's staggering realism and unprecedented scale changed the genre forever. TOCA Touring Car Championship and Colin McRae Rally melded simulation with accessible dynamics and there were pure arcade classics such as Sega Rally Challenge, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer and Need for Speed. But the greatest racing game of the decade – no, actually, the greatest racing game of all time – arrived on the Super Nintendo in 1992, featuring a cartoon plumber racing karts against rivals including a gorilla, a princess and a mushroom. But underneath that cutesy cartoon froth, Super Mario Kart was a supreme racing title. Clearly, Super Mario Kart isn't realistic in the style of Gran Turismo, but its faux-3D backdrops (enabled by the Super Nintendo's parallax scrolling and Mode 7 graphics wizardry) were groundbreaking. Even the technical limitations, such as the inability of the system to render 3D elevation, meant the track design had a simple purity that fancier, more capable games have since lost. But it was in gameplay where Mario Kart excelled. The cartoon karts actually handled like karts. You had to hustle them, and unlocking true speed meant mastering the 'jump drift' technique to powerslide round corners. As a result, even Time Trial mode became a huge challenge. I maintain that my still-standing Attwood family lap record on Ghost Valley 1 is the nearest I'll ever come to Ayrton Senna's 1988 Monaco pole lap for in-the-zone driving transcendence. And the racing modes were another area where Super Mario Kart absolutely shone. For starters, the various characters had different characteristics (Bowser had a high top speed but handled badly and was slow to accelerate; Koopa Troopa would zip off the line and round corners but lagged on long straights) that created a real balance.
