When Mario Kart World was first revealed in January along with the Nintendo Switch 2, gamers were understandably excited. After all, it had been more than a decade since a brand new game in the beloved series had hit consoles.And then in April, Nintendo revealed that Mario Kart World would retail for $80 if you didn’t get it as part of a bundle with the Switch 2 (in that case, it’s only $50 more than the console). That tempered the excitement quite a bit. As badly as Nintendo fans wanted a new Mario Kart, that $80 price point hasn’t been seen in regular edition console games since the Nintendo 64 era. And even then, not many games retailed for that price, or held it for long. cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});In 2025, most new triple-A games retail for $70. Quite a few still go for $60 at release. It’s asking quite a bit out of gamers during a time when the cost of everything just keeps going up.So let’s get this out of the way first: Mario Kart World is a fantastic game. If it’s not the best in the series, it’s definitely part of that conversation. But is it actually worth dropping $80 on along with a brand new Switch 2? After spending four days with the game, I’m really struggling to justify that price.A Whole New WorldIf you’re more of a casual fan, Mario Kart World actually looks a lot like Mario Kart 8 at first glance. It even handles a lot like that game. And that’s not entirely a bad thing. There’s a reason why Mario Kart 8 has sold more than 75 million copies to date and is widely considered one of the greatest games ever made.Thankfully, it quickly becomes apparent that this is more than a simple expansion pack. Along with the Grand Prix mode that the series is known for, Mario Kart World introduces Knockout Tour, a six-checkpoint race that strings together multiple tracks, with the bottom four racers being eliminated at every checkpoint. And with 50 playable characters, along with alternate outfits for 24 of them, there are a lot of racers to unlock.While the game adds quite a bit from its predecessor, a couple things have been lost with this sequel. You can still pick your vehicle for each race (and there’s a ton of options), but you can no longer customize your wheels and glider. And while anti-gravity sections have been removed, you can at least now race on water. Then there’s Free Roam. Instead of jumping into races, you can explore the space between these tracks, collecting hundreds of Peach medallions and completing P-switch challenges. Or you can just explore until your heart’s content.The world isn’t as detailed as something like Grand Theft Auto or even Nintendo’s own recent Zelda games, but there are some fun details to be found like a boat traveling down a stream with a Toad and Shy Guy on board, or being able to take control of an 18-wheeler for a short time.The Switch 2 DifferenceMario Kart World started development for the original Nintendo Switch but was moved to the new console due to the technical hurdles of developing the open world and 24-player races on the older hardware.While graphically similar to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch 2, there are clearly a lot of details here that the original Switch would have had trouble handling. Almost every track is full of on-course obstacles, and there can be quite a bit of traffic to dodge while exploring in Free Roam. The draw distance is fantastic, and I never encountered a hint of slowdown playing in either docked or handheld mode. And after booting up the game, there are virtually no load times. You can even instantly change characters in Free Roam just by going to the pause screen. I didn’t encounter any connection issues racing or playing Battle Mode online either, though actually getting into a match typically took a few minutes no matter what time of day I logged in. I’m not sure if that’s related to launch issues, or something else.A Big, Bloated WorldThere’s no doubt that Mario Kart World features more content than any other title in the series thanks to the Free Roam mode. But the thing is, Free Roam mode is kind of bloated and directionless. The map will keep count of completed P-Switch challenges and your Peach medallions, but there are no other indicators about where these things are. You’re completely on your own to explore the world and find them.The P-Switch challenges themselves also can get repetitive, largely focusing on going through checkpoints or collecting coins. They range in difficulty from mind numbingly easy to stupidly frustrating, and either way, the reward is… stickers for your Mario Kart World profile and vehicle. Oh, and you can only equip one sticker at a time, and you can’t choose where to put the sticker on your vehicle, so you might not even really see it during gameplay.I have no doubt there are gamers out there who will want to complete all of these challenges and collect the dozens of stickers, but personally, I don’t have much motivation to do it.Is Mario Kart World Actually Worth $80?And therein lies my issue with Mario Kart World’s $80 price point. The usual Mario Kart gameplay is as fantastic as ever, but after getting golds on all the Grand Prix and Knockout Tour races and putting quite a few hours into the online modes, the Free Roam mode doesn’t really do much to justify the higher price, especially when we’ve seen similar open world ideas in the Forza Horizon and Need for Speed games for years now.It’s also important to keep in mind what $80 can get you in the gaming space right now. For $80, you can get Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its Booster Courses (which contains 96 tracks), four months of Game Pass (which provides unlimited access to hundreds of games), or at least four top tier indie games. Find the right sale, and you could probably get a dozen great games offering hundreds of hours of gameplay for that price.I understand that development costs are rising, but if publishers are going to charge a new, higher price for games, those games need to provide new experiences that justify the additional cost. As good as Mario Kart World is, it simply doesn’t do that.The post Mario Kart World: Is It Worth That Price? appeared first on Den of Geek.