7th June 2025, 9:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 5 hours ago by A Black Falcon.)
Well, the Switch 2 is finally here! Here are my thoughts so far.
The Hardware
Design and Function
The Pro Controller 2
Storage and Game Key Cards
The Hardware - Final Thoughts
The Games
Mario Kart World - First Impressions
Introduction and Game Basics
On the Tracks and Modes
Multiplayer
Conclusion
Fast Fusion
F-Zero GX - Switch 2 Emulation vs. Real Hardware
Conclusion
Oh, as for physical things, I got the system, a case, and a Pro Controller 2, along with one physical game --I got Rune Factory Guardians of Azuma for some reason, even though I didn't particularly like the one previous game in the series I've played. Haven't tried it yet.
One thing to note here is that the large handheld screen is 1080p now instead of 720p, which is great for new games, but iffy for old ones as this means that Switch 1 games will be upscaled. How this looks will depend on the game but I'm sure some will look worse than on the Switch 1 in handheld mode due to the scaling -- think of how Nintendo DS games look a lot worse on a 3DS than a DS because of being scaled to its higher-resolution screen.
The Switch 2 is a pretty large thing. I think that the original Switch is too large to be a decent handheld; the New 3DS XL, Vita, maybe Game Gear and Atari Lynx 2, those are about the limit of size for handhelds, I think. The Switch goes a bit above that in size and is awkward to use, and the Switch 2 is even larger. Yeah, that means it has a huge screen which looks great -- though you get the not so good battery life that you'd expect from that and its significant power -- but it also means that it's big. I want real handhelds back! Who actually thinks that things this big are handhelds? They're not, they are semi-portable consoles basically.
Anyway, the system looks decent, though like a lot of modern electronics it has a very simple styling that doesn't exactly look good. It's sad how 'flat' design has destroyed anything with actual style, I hope design trends go away from excessive simplification soon. The Switch 2 has a little bit more to hold on to than the Switch 1, though, so it's got slightly better ergonomics than the Switch, but it's still far, far behind Nintendo's last actually ergonomic device with a screen, the Wii U Gamepad. Despite the little bit of added plastic, Joycon 2s are very close to as horrible to hold as Joycon 1s are. I hate having to use those things, they are so tiny, uncomfortable and badly laid out! I use my Switch docked with the Pro Controller like 99.99% of the time, and I think things will be similar here. Just adding a little bump at the bottom as they did isn't enough to fix the issue of everything being extremely cramped and horribly un-ergonomic. The analog sticks still aren't Hall Effect or similar, either, so they are sure to die on you eventually. Great.
The new magnets in them do attach them to the console very strongly, which is nice, though. Also the Joycon 2's come with these loop/strap attachments you can latch on to them if you want a more stable grip while using them separately. Removing the loop-strap is a little harder than it probably should be since you need to take them off before putting the Joycons back on the console, but oh well. They look nice at least. One is colored in blue and one in orange. Those colors match these little bits of background color in the analog stick wells.
As for the controller itself, the design is familiar but good. I'm not sure how good or bad the D-Pad is this time, I haven't used it much yet. I hope that it is better than the Switch 1 one, it better be. The 'it likes to randomly push a direction you didn't press because of poor d-pad design' issue of the Switch 1 Pro Controller was unacceptable. The controller is slightly smaller than the Switch 1 Pro Controller, which makes it pretty small by modern controller standards, but it is comfortable. It's got a more premium feel than the first Switch Pro Controller, which is nice. That controller didn't feel as nice as its price suggested it should have, but here the gap between Xbox Series controller feel and Nintendo has closed a lot. I'd still give the XSX controller the edge but by much less. The plastic feels less 'hard and stiff' and has a little more give to it. It has everything features-wise from the Switch 1 controller plus two more buttons on the grips called GL and GR. These buttons aren't on the Joycons, only the Pro Controller 2 or Charging Grip 2 (an accessory I don't have yet, not sure if I'll get one or not given how much I dislike joycons...), so games won't be requiring them very often I imagine, but the option is nice I guess. The new Pro Controller has a standard somewhat looseish analog stick with a circular gate, same as all other Wii and Switch controllers. Oh well, at least Gamecube controllers still work on this system for something with more precise sticks.
I'm not as angry about Game Key Cards as some -- at least it gives people a physical box to put on their shelf and that is nice -- but I do have something to say about all physical Switch 2 releases, Game Key Card or full game on card. I am obviously a fan of physical media -- note my large collection of physical games -- but Switch 2 games have an issue: like all modern "cartridges", including the Nintendo Switch, DS, and 3DS, PS Vita, and one older system, the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, Switch 2 carts are not masked roms with a centuries-long lifespan. Instead they are flashed chips with a lifespan of decades, not centuries. Disuse can cause them to lose data as well over years.
So, Switch 2 carts are not forever, not even close, unfortunately. The discs of a physical XSX or PS5 game are not forever either but they should last a lot longer than a flashed cart if stored properly. That physical Switch 2 cart may well fail before the Switch 2 servers get shut off and that Game Key Card becomes a little paperweight, who knows? The main downside to Key Cards is the amount of storage on SD EX cards that those Game Key Cards will require. The only real preservation here is piracy, but pirates aren't having an easy time cracking the Switch 2 so far. Maybe they will eventually, we'll see.
Anyway, the audiovisual presentation here is fantastic, MK World looks very nice and runs great. The music is great as well, with a large selection of remixes of lots of classic Mario game music here. Between the constant references and nostalgic scenery bits all over most of the tracks and the remix-heavy music, this game definitely wants you to think about past Mario games as you play it. Of course there are new things here as well, it's not all old. It's a mixture done just about right. I love when the Mario Land 2 or Wario Land 1 remixes play, for instance! It's awesome that Nintendo is referencing those games more than they ever have.
The controls are kind of floaty and meh, though, even at the highest current speed class of 150cc; it kind of feels like you're maneuvering around a boat, slowly, in this game. The contrast from this to the extremely intense precision of F-Zero GX's controls could not be any larger, it's pretty insane to go back and forth between them and try to adjust. You have the usual options, such as a little jump that skids you as you hold that button down and item weapons to collect. As in the Switch version of MK8 you can get one or two item item boxes, though you can't switch between them, just use each in order as in MK8. They are not bringing back MKDD's item switching, ah well.
Anyway, there are some new items and ideas here, but I'm not really sure which are new offhand, it's been years since I played a Mario Kart game. Here is the good news: whether a new player or old, MK World has a full and comprehensive in-game manual describing how to do all of the moves and everything in the game. It's fantastic that this exists in these days of paper manuals no longer existing; most games simply have dropped the manual entirely in favor of either nothing - 'go figure it out' - or mandatory tutorials that you better remember. This game instead has a very nicely done manual section with descriptions and pictures. Wonderful.
On the note of items, like all the Mario Kart games for a while now, coins return, unfortunately. This may be an unpopular opinion but I've never liked this system at all, and wish it was gone like it was in the best Mario Kart games. The max is 20 like usual, and the more you have the higher your top speed is... though what that speed IS is unknown, because there is no on-screen speedometer showing how fast you are going, as always in the series there is no speedometer. Coins were brought back in Mario Kart 7, the same time that the in-game timer was removed from all modes other than Time Trial, as I said earlier. Both of those decisions were mistakes. What positive do coins do, exactly? Punish the player without them because they got hit or missed the ranndom drops or whatever? How exactly is that fun? It isn't. So I get them not because I have any idea of waht they're doing, but because like, maybe I'll lose if I don't have enough, right? Or maybe I'd win anyway, if the speed difference is small? I'm sure analysis of how large the difference is exists out there but the game sure won't tell you. This contextless, 'punish the unlucky' system is not good. Coins are a bad mechanic the series shouldn't have brought back. Oh well.
Regardless, the core is very familiar: it's Mario Kart in its modern form of MK7 and beyond, with a few tweaks. I have always liked but not loved Mario Kart; it's a series that is too random for me to love. It's such a shame that this games' great graphics and engine are spent entirely on this slow-controlling, highly-random kart racer and not something more interesting like Wave Race, F-Zero, etc... ah well. Anyway, in MKW there are several modes, but it's all just variations on standard races. Don't expect any kind of story here, as always in the series there isn't one. You're just playing for cup medals like always. That's fine with me, but some of the details are odd.
For difficulties, this game launched with three speed/difficulty classes, 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. I haven't tried 50, but I found 100cc extremely easy; the first circuit on 100cc was pretty much impossible to lose. Some tracks can be a bit tricky on 150cc, but I think 'Very Easy', 'Easy', and 'Normal' would be good descriptions of the three difficulties as they are now. On 150cc is still not especially difficult but does present more of a challenge, I'm not winning every time. Some tracks can be a bit tricky on 150cc, though it isn't hard, more Normal. 200cc is likely to be added later in a patch or DLC addon, I imagine. I hope it is, it's something the game needs. The pace of 150cc is decent, but faster would be great.
MK World has a lot of characters. You start with 32, and lots more are unlockable. , seemingly 25 but perhaps there are more hidden ones. However, this number is deceptive because for whatever reason they decided to count each alternate costume a character has as a separate character. So, as you unlock costumes this adds to the character roster. So yeah, the 'there are like 57 or whatever characters!' number is inaccurate. All the characters you'd expect from the Mario series are here, though, plus more. Of course this means a bunch of white people and a bunch of creatures, with no non-white human representation, but oh well. At least there are more creatures to race as now, along with new human characters like Pauline. This is a Mario-only game right now, though -- no guest characters. It's sad that the Squid Kids from Splatoon are thus excluded, it was pretty cool that they were in MK8 Deluxe. However, I do love that Wario's default outfit here is his classic orange and purple costume from the first Wario Land, not any of his later looks. As a huge fan of Wario Land 1 who doesn't like some of the later games as much this was a fantastic choice. Many of his newer outfits are available to unlock later.
There are two ways to unlock characters. Some unlock as you beat cups in the two main modes. These unlock a specific character once you finish at least third in the required cup. Costumes, however, are unlocked by getting food items at these gas stations and food shops scattered around the tracks. Grab the food powerup there and you'll get a random draw of some new costume for a character, or a character, or something. Who knows? In the options menu you can choose whether you will transform into this new outfit for the rest of the race or not. This is an interesting feature, but that this is the ONLY way to get costumes isn't great as it makes it a complete game of chance as to whether you get them or not. Characters don't all have the same number of costumes, either. Some characters have more outfits than others, it's not balanced. I've got three outfits for Rosalina so far for instance but apparently the very popular online Cow character has only one. Due to how costumes each take up a full character slot, finding the character you want can be a pain on the long list. There is a sort option which puts a characters' other costumes together with the character but it's only somewhat helpful.
As for the vehicles, there are a good number of starting vehicles and you unlock lots more as you go. All vehicles will instantly transform into a boat or jetski form when you enter water, which is nice. The water physics and visuals here are fantastic and beg for a Wave Race game. If you go through certain giant star objects, you will also transform into an airplane form. The wings disappear when you touch ground again, but the flying is fun. However, one feature that doesn't return in MKW is the antigrav racing from Mario Kart 8. This game has ground, water, and air racing, but not antigrav or underwater, for whatever reason those are out. Maybe antigrav at least will be added again at some point with DLC. You can also add stickers to your vehicle if you want, and will unlock more stickers as you go. There are lots of different vehicles at the start and you unlock more as you go. Each has different stats, so there's reason to go keep playing and unlock more of them. Nice.
Regardless of where you go in the world, the tracks, and the roads that connect them, are very wide most of the time. This was surely done for the new 24 player maximum in races, but it does make the tracks feel almost overly spacious at times. You almost always have huge amounts of space to drive in, even though you are usually in races along a preset path and not just wandering around. The tracks have good variety and are a mixture of classic remakes and new courses. Looking it up, 14 of the 24 tracks are classic remakes and 10 are new, which is a lot fewer new tracks than I thought from having played the game as unlike some past titles this one does not tell you which tracks are remakes and which are new, but the remakes are so heavily visually redone that despite the rough layout similarities of many of them they don't feel like the same tracks. Track width, backgrounds, environments, track length, all of those things changed significantly. So yeah, some general layouts, themes, and elements return from old MK tracks, but the tracks here feel original even when they aren't due to how much they changed.
Design styles are very different between tracks and the world between them, as the latter is mostly made up of straighter roads. The main driving challenge of the game is concentrated in the tracks, while the in between parts have more straight line driving as you avoid enemy attacks and try to hit them back with your own weapons. But beyond that, in general in this game the largest change compared to past Mario Kart games is the increased track width. I'm not sure what I think of the new super-wide courses but it works with this player count. There are still some rare tight turns that can be hard to get around smoothly, so there is still challenge to be found in these track layouts. They are just wide. You will need to control your kart well, or as well as you can with the games' slow controls, to do well on all tracks. The world and the tracks are masterfully designed with a great balance of easy and hard, simple and complex, and all with beautiful visuals as well. It's great stuff and a visual showcase.
The two main modes are Grand Prix and Knockout. They have similarities and differences. Similar is that both have eight cups with the same names, the last being unlocked. First select a cup then a difficulty. The main cup selection menu in the GP or Knockout modes shows the best medal you have won on that course regardless of difficulty. Once you select the cup, however, it shows your best finish in each difficulty separately, which is great. In addition to the gold, silver, or bronze for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, you also get one to three stars for your performance, mobile game style. I'm not a fan of 3-star rating things in general but eh, it's something I guess. To get 3 stars you have to finish in first on all races, which is easy at 100cc but a definite a challenge at 150cc. Getting all of those would add to the playtime for sure. Even so, 200cc would be a welcome addition.
In the main GP or Knockout modes, the major new feature is point-to-point races. Instead of everything being a circuit, this time most races are point-to-point and very few actually involve multiple laps on a single circuit. In Grand Prix mode, the way this is done is kind of bizarre, though -- each cup is four tracks, as usual. However, it's not four similar races; the game mixes point-to-point and circuit races within each cup. Instead, for example, in the first circuit, on the first track of the cup, you do a regular full 3-lap race. After completing this, you drive to the second track, then do one lap around that track. Then you drive to the third track, then do one lap around that track. And then you drive to the last track, and finish with one lap around that track. The segments in between tracks are about two laps long each so the amount of time evens up, but it's just bizarre design! Which track of a cup is the lap-course track can vary from cup to cup, but the general design doesn't: this is mostly a point-to-point game even when you are racing on a circuit.
As a result, despite being a game with 24 circuit courses, in GP mode MKW feels like only about one race of each circuit is a regular race, while the rest is a series of long point-to-point races. Again generally the circuits are more difficult, with tighter turns than you usually see in the cross-country parts of tracks, so an option to spend more time on the tracks in the regular GP mode would be nice. This game would be better with an option -- and I mean option, this setup is fun too -- to do normal races on all four races of a circuit instead of always having to drive between tracks; as it is you really don't spend enough time on most courses to learn them or treat them like a regular track. I'm fine with point to point races as a concept, but at least the last track of each circuit should have also been a full race also!
The actual major new mode isn't the open world, it is Knockout mode. This is similar to GP mode, except it's all point-to-point, you don't even have that one starting 3-lap race. Each Knockout cup is a 6-segment point to point race. After each segment, people too far back in the race get eliminated. It's a classic idea but new to this series I believe. It's fun enough and provides some tension in multiplayer, and occasionally in 150cc as well. This is a good mode that so far seems to be the most popular with a lot of people. There are eight Knockout circuits to choose from, the same number as there are GP Cups, though each have different layouts. That the other main mode in this game is also point-to-point focused really emphasizes the focus MKW has on these races... despite, again, also having 24 circuit tracks. Why not also have Knockouts on circuits? The setup would work well! Just knock out players periodically. This should be an option. Both point to point and circuit have a place, as it is this game probably focuses a bit too much on the former over the latter.
As for the amount of content in the game, as I said GP and Knockout modes have eight championships each, with medals and stars to play for if you want to beat everything on all difficulties. After finishing the first seven circuits of a mode in at least third place, the eighth unlocks. Complete that circuit and the credits roll and you have kind of beaten the game, at least in that mode. This doesn't take long; I finished GP mode today. I guess I could call this a review now and not just first impressions? I'd need to spend more time with the other modes as well to really do that, though. Of course there is a lot of replay value, but don't expect more time to credits than past Mario Kart games have had, you won't find it here. And even on 150cc, while I found myself certainly challenged at times, I've finished every circuit in at least third place even when it felt like I did badly, and all you need to do to move on is finish in third, so the difficulty is questionable if you're not going online and playing against humans. If you don't want to do that, one other option is to play the other, smaller modes.
The first of those other modes is Time Trial, to practice on a track with no other players and actually have your time recorded since in this mode times do exist unlike the rest of the game. I've never found solo time trial to be all that interesting in racing games for whatever reason. It's good that it is here though. Staff ghosts return and you can challenge yourself by trying to beat their best times.
Battle mode returns, this time with eight battle arenas. For some reason, in single player you can't play a single battle; instead, you choose the length of the battle circuit but the minimum is 3, like VS Race mode. The winner is the person with the most points at the end of the predetermined number of battles. The arenas are all blocked-off chunks of the world map. They are all large, though the sizes vary from 'probably too big even for 24 players' to 'decent amounts of action here'. None are Block Fort N64. 0/100 points for that. There is a track with SNES Mario Kart visuals that would be perfect for Block Fort, so where is it? The closest to that design-wise is probably the water city map, which is my favorite battle map here for sure, but I want to see Block Fort. This game is dripping with nostalgia so it's a surprising exclusion.
In the primary mode, Balloon Battle, battles consist of a 3 minute timer and the winner is the person who popped the most balloons in those 3 minutes. You cannot change or disable this timer, unfortunately. There are options for other things, but not the time. Each driver starts with 5 balloons and loses one each time they get hit. You CAN hit yourself with your own weapons. If someone runs out of balloons in the 3 minute battle they are eliminated and get zero points towards the championship, no matter how many they had, so try to avoid this! It's basically the only way to lose to the AI. Most of the time though everyone survives and winning is based on hits. This is a fine mode but it's not as good as some battle modes of the past. I think that timed-only isn't the best, a 'eliminate' mode would be good to have. Arena size is an issue too, the meadow one for instance is so large that in 3 minutes you've probably spent most of the time not seeing anyone. It's alright and surely better in multiplayer -- the AI isn't much for competition, a human should win almost every time against them even on Hard unless you get knocked out multiple times.
Alternately, in Battle mode, instead of Balloon Battle mode, you can also play Coin mode. In this mode your goal is to have the most coins. Just like in the other mode, there is a mandatory 3 minute per map timer and you play 3-plus maps. Unlike the other mode you can't be eliminated in this mode, so it's for younger players I imagine; losing 5 balloons in 3 minutes isn't easy but is certainly possible, I've done it against the AI a few times. Instead, in this mode when you get hit you lose some coins. Coins spawn in specific spots on each track, and also are dropped when enemies get hit. The dropped coins disappear after a little while, though, so get them quickly. The regular coin spots stick around until collected, after which they eventually respawn like item boxes. This mode is alright fun but not as good as Balloon Battle mode, I'd say; winning here is more about camping the right spots for coins.
Lastly, the definitely misnamed VS Race mode is a pretty nice custom championship mode. Here you can choose the number of races to play, from 3 to 32, and then choose the tracks you will race on one at a time. Yeah, just like in Battle mode for some odd reason you can't do a single race. Why is that? For each race you can either select a track itself to just race that track for 3 laps, as you do on the first track of a GP, or connect that track to another to do a 'drive point to point starting from the exit of the first track you choose, then once you get to the second track race one lap on that track', much like how races 2 through 4 in a GP circuit go. So yeah, you can play a championship with only regular circuit races if you want, it just won't unlock anything other than costumes if you get those from the random drop powerups at those gas stations along the track. That's nice. VS Race mode is pretty good, great option. This is one of the most fun modes, I'd say.
However, you can't just do a full custom championship here using any track -- from each course you can only go next to a track near it. This limitation makes sense when doing point-to-point races, but given that you can also choose to do only circuit races and skip the drive in between, it would be much better if you could choose any track and not only the close ones. That would make this a real full custom circuit mode instead of a limited one.
For online, four modes are available: GP, Knockout, Battle, or unranked private game with people on your friends list. Each of the three main modes has a separate MMR rating, and you start with 3000 rating in each mode, gaining or losing points based on your finishes. Races have 24 players so it's somewhat chaotic but it can be a fun time.
In GP mode the game gives you three races to choose from, and you pick one. Once a lobby of 24 random players is assembled, the game randomly chooses one players' pick to be the next track you will drive to. So yeah, it isn't a popularity contest, it's a random draw. Interesting. Races are usually 'drive to the place then do one lap around it', as you'd expect in this game, but occasionally you will end up in a 3 lap race. While waiting for a lobby to fill up, or in between races during online play, you can drive around the world with the other players in the lobby. That's kind of neat. The multiplayer here is fun but all it keeps track of is your rating and nothing else. Still, there's enough here to keep you coming back for a while for sure.
In Knockout mode, the game instead chooses a random Knockout course, so the players get no choice. You just race on the 6 point-to-point segments or one-lap circuits that the game tells you to. You still can drive around waiting, but less than in GP mode since this time it only happens between full 6-race Knockout games and not after every race. After the game the lobby empties, as well, you don't seem to be able to continue with the same group indefinitely as you can with GP. Still, it's a fun and somewhat intense time. Online Knockouts are definitely competitive. Of course luck will play a large factor, tis is Mario kart and items will decide many races, but it is fun at least for a while.
Battle mode in multiplayer works the same as GP, each player chooses one of three tracks then you fight on that course. It's fun and much more challenging than fighting the computer.
However, the controls here are somewhat insanely impossible to handle. The GameCube controller is unique, unlike any major controller since, in two key ways: its high-resistance sticks that push back against you more strongly than other controllers, making precise stick motions easier to perform than they are on just about any other pad, and it has octagonal gates on those sticks instead of circular, also helping you precisely point the stick in the eight cardinal directions. It's a shame that features like those, along with the analog trigger buttons and their second-tier click, are unseen since the Gamecube. Of course, the Gamecube controller is missing a bunch of buttons -- not ZL, no GL or GR, no - button, no R3 or L3 analog clicks. I do not have the new Switch 2 Gamecube wireless controller, but it adds a tiny little ZL button and the system menu and C (camera) buttons, but not the other missing buttons. Ah well.
Anyway, it is perhaps because of the unique features of the GC controller that Nintendo has probably misguidedly abandoned that have caused Nintendo to keep the GC controller around. The GC controller now works with FIVE generations of Nintendo hardware, a pretty insane and special fact that surely has no equal across the industry. Yes, original GC controllers work on the Switch 2. You just need a Wii U / Switch GC adapter. I plugged my Wii U GC adapter in and it worked great, my GC controller works on Switch 2.
So anyway, with the Pro Controller 2, F-Zero FX is nearly uncontrollable. You careen across the track, barely able to fly in a straight line never mind towards, say, a boost, or away from a wall. I'm sure that people could eventually manage to improve enough to get good enough at moving this average-resistance stick the very tiny amounts necessary to control this game well without crashing into things, but that would be a challenging accomplishment indeed. Also the game is designed around holding one face button while having instant access to the other three, which of course is impossible on Switch 2. You can't just map one of the buttons easily to ZL; maybe there is a way of doing this but I didn't find it yet. So yeah, a GC controller of some kind is highly recommended...
But I thought that even that didn't entirely fix the problem. While the higher-resistance GC stick does reduce the extreme over-precision of this version of the game somewhat, it still feels almost uncontrollably over-precise. This isn't a calibration issue, I tried several stick calibrations. It's something else. To confirm that it was just the emulation, I got out my original F-Zero GX disc and played it on Gamecube, with the same controller (my orange one). I immediately noticed the difference -- on GC I was able to handle the game as expected. It's a very challenging game with extremely precise controls, but on GC it works as it should. On Switch 2... maybe I just don't have it configured correctly but so far it feels unacceptably off. It was surprising when I managed to actually hit boost pads on Switch 2, for instance... ah well. I will try it again and see if I can get better.
(Meanwhile, while watching this I've been watching a pro Starcraft Brood War match video. Yes I am still completely addicted to SC. Best game ever. I will definitely get to making more recordings of old replays of mine.)
Table of Contents
What I GotThe Hardware
Design and Function
The Pro Controller 2
Storage and Game Key Cards
The Hardware - Final Thoughts
The Games
Mario Kart World - First Impressions
Introduction and Game Basics
On the Tracks and Modes
Multiplayer
Conclusion
Fast Fusion
F-Zero GX - Switch 2 Emulation vs. Real Hardware
Conclusion
What I Got
So yeah, it's here! I thought about going to the midnight launch, but didn't; I picked my Switch 2 up later Thursday, I saw no reason to do extra driving for little return, it's not like I'd set it up at like 1am or something. I got the bundle with Mario Kart World. I did set it up Thursday night but didn't end up playing anything, only did the initial setup, system transfer, bought a couple of digital things (redeemed the MKW code, got Welcome Tour despite it obviously being something that should have been free, got Fast Fusion, and the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom upgrade pack; there's not all that much released for Switch 2 so far), and such. I also caved and finally subscribed to the higher tier of the subscription service; yeah, I have the original for Gamecube of course, but F-Zero GX with online play and stuff is something I want to try. More on that at the end of this article.Oh, as for physical things, I got the system, a case, and a Pro Controller 2, along with one physical game --I got Rune Factory Guardians of Azuma for some reason, even though I didn't particularly like the one previous game in the series I've played. Haven't tried it yet.
The Hardware
The Switch 2 is similar to the first system, but larger and more powerful. Its basics of design follow the first.
Design and Function
Graphically, the Switch 2 is impressive. The system supports 4k 60hz or 1440p or 1080p 120hz, but does not support 4k 120hz, unfortunately; it's not powerful enough to match things that the PS5 and XSX did years ago. Given that I got an XSX day one this isn't the best graphics I have seen, but it looks nice for sure. It does have HDR color. Visually, 'close to XSX but not equal to it' is probably a good description, which makes sense given the small size and portability of the device. It is still true that you lose a lot of hardware power to gain smaller size and portability. It has very nice graphics for sure but for the amount the thing costs it better.One thing to note here is that the large handheld screen is 1080p now instead of 720p, which is great for new games, but iffy for old ones as this means that Switch 1 games will be upscaled. How this looks will depend on the game but I'm sure some will look worse than on the Switch 1 in handheld mode due to the scaling -- think of how Nintendo DS games look a lot worse on a 3DS than a DS because of being scaled to its higher-resolution screen.
The Switch 2 is a pretty large thing. I think that the original Switch is too large to be a decent handheld; the New 3DS XL, Vita, maybe Game Gear and Atari Lynx 2, those are about the limit of size for handhelds, I think. The Switch goes a bit above that in size and is awkward to use, and the Switch 2 is even larger. Yeah, that means it has a huge screen which looks great -- though you get the not so good battery life that you'd expect from that and its significant power -- but it also means that it's big. I want real handhelds back! Who actually thinks that things this big are handhelds? They're not, they are semi-portable consoles basically.
Anyway, the system looks decent, though like a lot of modern electronics it has a very simple styling that doesn't exactly look good. It's sad how 'flat' design has destroyed anything with actual style, I hope design trends go away from excessive simplification soon. The Switch 2 has a little bit more to hold on to than the Switch 1, though, so it's got slightly better ergonomics than the Switch, but it's still far, far behind Nintendo's last actually ergonomic device with a screen, the Wii U Gamepad. Despite the little bit of added plastic, Joycon 2s are very close to as horrible to hold as Joycon 1s are. I hate having to use those things, they are so tiny, uncomfortable and badly laid out! I use my Switch docked with the Pro Controller like 99.99% of the time, and I think things will be similar here. Just adding a little bump at the bottom as they did isn't enough to fix the issue of everything being extremely cramped and horribly un-ergonomic. The analog sticks still aren't Hall Effect or similar, either, so they are sure to die on you eventually. Great.
The new magnets in them do attach them to the console very strongly, which is nice, though. Also the Joycon 2's come with these loop/strap attachments you can latch on to them if you want a more stable grip while using them separately. Removing the loop-strap is a little harder than it probably should be since you need to take them off before putting the Joycons back on the console, but oh well. They look nice at least. One is colored in blue and one in orange. Those colors match these little bits of background color in the analog stick wells.
The Pro Controller 2
As for the Pro Controller 2, it's pretty good. Of course, it's a shame you need to buy it separately, and at $85 it is quite expensive -- getting a full regular setup for the Switch 2 costs a lot, though part of that is paying for Trump tariffs -- but it is good. Getting the best news out of the way first, so far it's instantly woken my Switch 2 up from sleep every time! Given how almost every time I turned on the Switch 1 with its Pro Controller I'd need to hold the button down for like 10 seconds as it struggled to connect, then watch it fail and have to try another time or two before the stupid thing finally worked... well, this is a nice change to say the least. Also, the Pro Controller itself wakes up when you pick it up, using the tilt sensor. This is a very cool feature I've never seen before. I love that. Note, it won't wake the system up from sleep at a nudge, that requires pressing the Home button as it did on Switch 1. If the system is on though and you just put down the controller for a while, picking it up is all you need to do to turn it back on. Nice. One design change from the Switch 1 Pro Controller is that the the 'which controller is this' light is not on top of the controller instead of on the side facing you, so you can't see it unless you flip over your controller, but so long as pairing and wakeup works this well going forward that should be fine; on Switch 1 the light being where it was is pretty necessary given how bad it is at waking the system up, so you can see if it's worked or not.As for the controller itself, the design is familiar but good. I'm not sure how good or bad the D-Pad is this time, I haven't used it much yet. I hope that it is better than the Switch 1 one, it better be. The 'it likes to randomly push a direction you didn't press because of poor d-pad design' issue of the Switch 1 Pro Controller was unacceptable. The controller is slightly smaller than the Switch 1 Pro Controller, which makes it pretty small by modern controller standards, but it is comfortable. It's got a more premium feel than the first Switch Pro Controller, which is nice. That controller didn't feel as nice as its price suggested it should have, but here the gap between Xbox Series controller feel and Nintendo has closed a lot. I'd still give the XSX controller the edge but by much less. The plastic feels less 'hard and stiff' and has a little more give to it. It has everything features-wise from the Switch 1 controller plus two more buttons on the grips called GL and GR. These buttons aren't on the Joycons, only the Pro Controller 2 or Charging Grip 2 (an accessory I don't have yet, not sure if I'll get one or not given how much I dislike joycons...), so games won't be requiring them very often I imagine, but the option is nice I guess. The new Pro Controller has a standard somewhat looseish analog stick with a circular gate, same as all other Wii and Switch controllers. Oh well, at least Gamecube controllers still work on this system for something with more precise sticks.
Storage and Game Key Cards
The new system stand is a dramatic improvement over the old one. This U-shaped stand folds out easily and attaches to the system on both sides, so it's easy to use and works well. The Micro SD Express card port is behind the stand also, on the top, easy to access. That is good. Not at all good is that you can only use new, expensive Micro SD Express cards, and not regular ones, not even for unenhanced Switch 1 games. That's really obnoxious of Nintendo, this system needs more storage than you can get from just one card. Two SD ports would have been fantastic, maybe one for regular cards for games that aren't enhanced... for this price it should have had something like that. I haven't bought a card for the system yet but certainly will have to; the 256GB in the system aren't anywhere near enough, the new games are larger than old Switch games and this thing is fully backwards compatible and I have like nearly 500GB of Switch 1 downloadable games...
On that note, one large controversy on the Switch 2 is that many games are being sold in a box with only a Game Key Card inside. These are basically download keys. The game isn't on the card, you instead need to download the game, but in order to play it you have to put the key card in, which has a bit of data on it to verify the license. It's a weird hybrid of physical and digital. A LOT of third party Switch 2 releases are Game Key Cards, and this is marked on their boxes fortunately. So, having lots of space for game installs will be even more important on Switch 2 than Switch 1. With only the one SD Express port you will need to either switch cards or delete stuff a lot. Very annoying.I'm not as angry about Game Key Cards as some -- at least it gives people a physical box to put on their shelf and that is nice -- but I do have something to say about all physical Switch 2 releases, Game Key Card or full game on card. I am obviously a fan of physical media -- note my large collection of physical games -- but Switch 2 games have an issue: like all modern "cartridges", including the Nintendo Switch, DS, and 3DS, PS Vita, and one older system, the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, Switch 2 carts are not masked roms with a centuries-long lifespan. Instead they are flashed chips with a lifespan of decades, not centuries. Disuse can cause them to lose data as well over years.
So, Switch 2 carts are not forever, not even close, unfortunately. The discs of a physical XSX or PS5 game are not forever either but they should last a lot longer than a flashed cart if stored properly. That physical Switch 2 cart may well fail before the Switch 2 servers get shut off and that Game Key Card becomes a little paperweight, who knows? The main downside to Key Cards is the amount of storage on SD EX cards that those Game Key Cards will require. The only real preservation here is piracy, but pirates aren't having an easy time cracking the Switch 2 so far. Maybe they will eventually, we'll see.
The Hardware - Final Thoughts
So far, I would say that the Nintendo Switch 2 is a very good system. It certainly has drawbacks, with its high price and continuation of bad things about the Switch like the very similar Joycons and its bland modern hardware design, but for your money you get a 4k60-capable system with good graphics and some promising early games. The game library is limited so far, though free or paid updates to games like the Zelda games and others hugely improve those titles by giving them stable 60fps framerates and in some cases also graphics resolution upgrades. I can't say that the Switch 2 is a definite buy right now system, not at $500 for the MKW bundle version, but it's a good console and if you can afford it, why not go pick one up? There is definitely enough here to be glad you can play one now instead of waiting who knows how long for a price drop that may well never happen or more games. Is the Switch 2 the best console, no. But it's a good console I'm glad I got. Nintendo fans will like it and are unlikely to regret their purchase.The Games
Anyway, as for the games... starting Friday I did play some of Mario Kart World and Fast Fusion, though, along with F-Zero GX. Yeah it's an all racing games launch pretty much, which is interesting. I haven't tried the non-racing games I got yet. I will be focusing on Mario Kart World here, with some mention of those other two games after the MKW impressions section.Mario Kart World: First Impressions
Introduction and Game Basics
Mario Kart World... well, it's Mario Kart. I should say, I have played MK8 but not recently and not on Switch; I've only played the Wii U version. So, I'm going to miss some things I'm sure. For instance, until playing this I had completely forgotten that Mario Kart removed lap and race times from the series some years back. I had to go look this up and found that it's MK7 for the 3DS that removed all times from the game. Up until MKWii the games did keep track of times, but not after that. I think this was a bad decision; having a racing game where your time literally isn't even tracked in normal races, AT ALL, kind of removes one of the major elements of racing games that keeps you coming back. MKWii is probably the last MK game I really liked... oh well. My favorites are 64 and Wii. Looking back, the series hasn't really been the same since they dropped lap times, I guess. There is still a solo Time Trial mode with times but that's not entirely the same thing.Anyway, the audiovisual presentation here is fantastic, MK World looks very nice and runs great. The music is great as well, with a large selection of remixes of lots of classic Mario game music here. Between the constant references and nostalgic scenery bits all over most of the tracks and the remix-heavy music, this game definitely wants you to think about past Mario games as you play it. Of course there are new things here as well, it's not all old. It's a mixture done just about right. I love when the Mario Land 2 or Wario Land 1 remixes play, for instance! It's awesome that Nintendo is referencing those games more than they ever have.
The controls are kind of floaty and meh, though, even at the highest current speed class of 150cc; it kind of feels like you're maneuvering around a boat, slowly, in this game. The contrast from this to the extremely intense precision of F-Zero GX's controls could not be any larger, it's pretty insane to go back and forth between them and try to adjust. You have the usual options, such as a little jump that skids you as you hold that button down and item weapons to collect. As in the Switch version of MK8 you can get one or two item item boxes, though you can't switch between them, just use each in order as in MK8. They are not bringing back MKDD's item switching, ah well.
Anyway, there are some new items and ideas here, but I'm not really sure which are new offhand, it's been years since I played a Mario Kart game. Here is the good news: whether a new player or old, MK World has a full and comprehensive in-game manual describing how to do all of the moves and everything in the game. It's fantastic that this exists in these days of paper manuals no longer existing; most games simply have dropped the manual entirely in favor of either nothing - 'go figure it out' - or mandatory tutorials that you better remember. This game instead has a very nicely done manual section with descriptions and pictures. Wonderful.
On the note of items, like all the Mario Kart games for a while now, coins return, unfortunately. This may be an unpopular opinion but I've never liked this system at all, and wish it was gone like it was in the best Mario Kart games. The max is 20 like usual, and the more you have the higher your top speed is... though what that speed IS is unknown, because there is no on-screen speedometer showing how fast you are going, as always in the series there is no speedometer. Coins were brought back in Mario Kart 7, the same time that the in-game timer was removed from all modes other than Time Trial, as I said earlier. Both of those decisions were mistakes. What positive do coins do, exactly? Punish the player without them because they got hit or missed the ranndom drops or whatever? How exactly is that fun? It isn't. So I get them not because I have any idea of waht they're doing, but because like, maybe I'll lose if I don't have enough, right? Or maybe I'd win anyway, if the speed difference is small? I'm sure analysis of how large the difference is exists out there but the game sure won't tell you. This contextless, 'punish the unlucky' system is not good. Coins are a bad mechanic the series shouldn't have brought back. Oh well.
Regardless, the core is very familiar: it's Mario Kart in its modern form of MK7 and beyond, with a few tweaks. I have always liked but not loved Mario Kart; it's a series that is too random for me to love. It's such a shame that this games' great graphics and engine are spent entirely on this slow-controlling, highly-random kart racer and not something more interesting like Wave Race, F-Zero, etc... ah well. Anyway, in MKW there are several modes, but it's all just variations on standard races. Don't expect any kind of story here, as always in the series there isn't one. You're just playing for cup medals like always. That's fine with me, but some of the details are odd.
For difficulties, this game launched with three speed/difficulty classes, 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. I haven't tried 50, but I found 100cc extremely easy; the first circuit on 100cc was pretty much impossible to lose. Some tracks can be a bit tricky on 150cc, but I think 'Very Easy', 'Easy', and 'Normal' would be good descriptions of the three difficulties as they are now. On 150cc is still not especially difficult but does present more of a challenge, I'm not winning every time. Some tracks can be a bit tricky on 150cc, though it isn't hard, more Normal. 200cc is likely to be added later in a patch or DLC addon, I imagine. I hope it is, it's something the game needs. The pace of 150cc is decent, but faster would be great.
MK World has a lot of characters. You start with 32, and lots more are unlockable. , seemingly 25 but perhaps there are more hidden ones. However, this number is deceptive because for whatever reason they decided to count each alternate costume a character has as a separate character. So, as you unlock costumes this adds to the character roster. So yeah, the 'there are like 57 or whatever characters!' number is inaccurate. All the characters you'd expect from the Mario series are here, though, plus more. Of course this means a bunch of white people and a bunch of creatures, with no non-white human representation, but oh well. At least there are more creatures to race as now, along with new human characters like Pauline. This is a Mario-only game right now, though -- no guest characters. It's sad that the Squid Kids from Splatoon are thus excluded, it was pretty cool that they were in MK8 Deluxe. However, I do love that Wario's default outfit here is his classic orange and purple costume from the first Wario Land, not any of his later looks. As a huge fan of Wario Land 1 who doesn't like some of the later games as much this was a fantastic choice. Many of his newer outfits are available to unlock later.
There are two ways to unlock characters. Some unlock as you beat cups in the two main modes. These unlock a specific character once you finish at least third in the required cup. Costumes, however, are unlocked by getting food items at these gas stations and food shops scattered around the tracks. Grab the food powerup there and you'll get a random draw of some new costume for a character, or a character, or something. Who knows? In the options menu you can choose whether you will transform into this new outfit for the rest of the race or not. This is an interesting feature, but that this is the ONLY way to get costumes isn't great as it makes it a complete game of chance as to whether you get them or not. Characters don't all have the same number of costumes, either. Some characters have more outfits than others, it's not balanced. I've got three outfits for Rosalina so far for instance but apparently the very popular online Cow character has only one. Due to how costumes each take up a full character slot, finding the character you want can be a pain on the long list. There is a sort option which puts a characters' other costumes together with the character but it's only somewhat helpful.
As for the vehicles, there are a good number of starting vehicles and you unlock lots more as you go. All vehicles will instantly transform into a boat or jetski form when you enter water, which is nice. The water physics and visuals here are fantastic and beg for a Wave Race game. If you go through certain giant star objects, you will also transform into an airplane form. The wings disappear when you touch ground again, but the flying is fun. However, one feature that doesn't return in MKW is the antigrav racing from Mario Kart 8. This game has ground, water, and air racing, but not antigrav or underwater, for whatever reason those are out. Maybe antigrav at least will be added again at some point with DLC. You can also add stickers to your vehicle if you want, and will unlock more stickers as you go. There are lots of different vehicles at the start and you unlock more as you go. Each has different stats, so there's reason to go keep playing and unlock more of them. Nice.
On the Tracks and Modes
The major new feature in World is the Open World, but it's basically a side-note here, not a main feature. You can drive around but all there is to do in the open world is find little mini-missions, if you want. I haven't tried it so I don't know if the game keeps track at all of which ones you have tried or completed, but it might not. The real main reason for the open world's existence is to connect the tracks together with roads you will drive through in the structured main modes, not for free exploration. As someone who doesn't like open world games much I am fine with this, myself. Still, if you do want to drive around you can. There are five ? Mark block challenges to find and complete on each course and a bunch of P-Switch challenges scattered around the world. The game does keep track of how many P-Switch challenges you have cleared but maybe just as a total and not as a thing marking exactly which ones you have beaten, unfortunately. The ? Mark Block challenges you have cleared are marked on the Open World mode map, though, so that's good.Regardless of where you go in the world, the tracks, and the roads that connect them, are very wide most of the time. This was surely done for the new 24 player maximum in races, but it does make the tracks feel almost overly spacious at times. You almost always have huge amounts of space to drive in, even though you are usually in races along a preset path and not just wandering around. The tracks have good variety and are a mixture of classic remakes and new courses. Looking it up, 14 of the 24 tracks are classic remakes and 10 are new, which is a lot fewer new tracks than I thought from having played the game as unlike some past titles this one does not tell you which tracks are remakes and which are new, but the remakes are so heavily visually redone that despite the rough layout similarities of many of them they don't feel like the same tracks. Track width, backgrounds, environments, track length, all of those things changed significantly. So yeah, some general layouts, themes, and elements return from old MK tracks, but the tracks here feel original even when they aren't due to how much they changed.
Design styles are very different between tracks and the world between them, as the latter is mostly made up of straighter roads. The main driving challenge of the game is concentrated in the tracks, while the in between parts have more straight line driving as you avoid enemy attacks and try to hit them back with your own weapons. But beyond that, in general in this game the largest change compared to past Mario Kart games is the increased track width. I'm not sure what I think of the new super-wide courses but it works with this player count. There are still some rare tight turns that can be hard to get around smoothly, so there is still challenge to be found in these track layouts. They are just wide. You will need to control your kart well, or as well as you can with the games' slow controls, to do well on all tracks. The world and the tracks are masterfully designed with a great balance of easy and hard, simple and complex, and all with beautiful visuals as well. It's great stuff and a visual showcase.
The two main modes are Grand Prix and Knockout. They have similarities and differences. Similar is that both have eight cups with the same names, the last being unlocked. First select a cup then a difficulty. The main cup selection menu in the GP or Knockout modes shows the best medal you have won on that course regardless of difficulty. Once you select the cup, however, it shows your best finish in each difficulty separately, which is great. In addition to the gold, silver, or bronze for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, you also get one to three stars for your performance, mobile game style. I'm not a fan of 3-star rating things in general but eh, it's something I guess. To get 3 stars you have to finish in first on all races, which is easy at 100cc but a definite a challenge at 150cc. Getting all of those would add to the playtime for sure. Even so, 200cc would be a welcome addition.
In the main GP or Knockout modes, the major new feature is point-to-point races. Instead of everything being a circuit, this time most races are point-to-point and very few actually involve multiple laps on a single circuit. In Grand Prix mode, the way this is done is kind of bizarre, though -- each cup is four tracks, as usual. However, it's not four similar races; the game mixes point-to-point and circuit races within each cup. Instead, for example, in the first circuit, on the first track of the cup, you do a regular full 3-lap race. After completing this, you drive to the second track, then do one lap around that track. Then you drive to the third track, then do one lap around that track. And then you drive to the last track, and finish with one lap around that track. The segments in between tracks are about two laps long each so the amount of time evens up, but it's just bizarre design! Which track of a cup is the lap-course track can vary from cup to cup, but the general design doesn't: this is mostly a point-to-point game even when you are racing on a circuit.
As a result, despite being a game with 24 circuit courses, in GP mode MKW feels like only about one race of each circuit is a regular race, while the rest is a series of long point-to-point races. Again generally the circuits are more difficult, with tighter turns than you usually see in the cross-country parts of tracks, so an option to spend more time on the tracks in the regular GP mode would be nice. This game would be better with an option -- and I mean option, this setup is fun too -- to do normal races on all four races of a circuit instead of always having to drive between tracks; as it is you really don't spend enough time on most courses to learn them or treat them like a regular track. I'm fine with point to point races as a concept, but at least the last track of each circuit should have also been a full race also!
The actual major new mode isn't the open world, it is Knockout mode. This is similar to GP mode, except it's all point-to-point, you don't even have that one starting 3-lap race. Each Knockout cup is a 6-segment point to point race. After each segment, people too far back in the race get eliminated. It's a classic idea but new to this series I believe. It's fun enough and provides some tension in multiplayer, and occasionally in 150cc as well. This is a good mode that so far seems to be the most popular with a lot of people. There are eight Knockout circuits to choose from, the same number as there are GP Cups, though each have different layouts. That the other main mode in this game is also point-to-point focused really emphasizes the focus MKW has on these races... despite, again, also having 24 circuit tracks. Why not also have Knockouts on circuits? The setup would work well! Just knock out players periodically. This should be an option. Both point to point and circuit have a place, as it is this game probably focuses a bit too much on the former over the latter.
As for the amount of content in the game, as I said GP and Knockout modes have eight championships each, with medals and stars to play for if you want to beat everything on all difficulties. After finishing the first seven circuits of a mode in at least third place, the eighth unlocks. Complete that circuit and the credits roll and you have kind of beaten the game, at least in that mode. This doesn't take long; I finished GP mode today. I guess I could call this a review now and not just first impressions? I'd need to spend more time with the other modes as well to really do that, though. Of course there is a lot of replay value, but don't expect more time to credits than past Mario Kart games have had, you won't find it here. And even on 150cc, while I found myself certainly challenged at times, I've finished every circuit in at least third place even when it felt like I did badly, and all you need to do to move on is finish in third, so the difficulty is questionable if you're not going online and playing against humans. If you don't want to do that, one other option is to play the other, smaller modes.
The first of those other modes is Time Trial, to practice on a track with no other players and actually have your time recorded since in this mode times do exist unlike the rest of the game. I've never found solo time trial to be all that interesting in racing games for whatever reason. It's good that it is here though. Staff ghosts return and you can challenge yourself by trying to beat their best times.
Battle mode returns, this time with eight battle arenas. For some reason, in single player you can't play a single battle; instead, you choose the length of the battle circuit but the minimum is 3, like VS Race mode. The winner is the person with the most points at the end of the predetermined number of battles. The arenas are all blocked-off chunks of the world map. They are all large, though the sizes vary from 'probably too big even for 24 players' to 'decent amounts of action here'. None are Block Fort N64. 0/100 points for that. There is a track with SNES Mario Kart visuals that would be perfect for Block Fort, so where is it? The closest to that design-wise is probably the water city map, which is my favorite battle map here for sure, but I want to see Block Fort. This game is dripping with nostalgia so it's a surprising exclusion.
In the primary mode, Balloon Battle, battles consist of a 3 minute timer and the winner is the person who popped the most balloons in those 3 minutes. You cannot change or disable this timer, unfortunately. There are options for other things, but not the time. Each driver starts with 5 balloons and loses one each time they get hit. You CAN hit yourself with your own weapons. If someone runs out of balloons in the 3 minute battle they are eliminated and get zero points towards the championship, no matter how many they had, so try to avoid this! It's basically the only way to lose to the AI. Most of the time though everyone survives and winning is based on hits. This is a fine mode but it's not as good as some battle modes of the past. I think that timed-only isn't the best, a 'eliminate' mode would be good to have. Arena size is an issue too, the meadow one for instance is so large that in 3 minutes you've probably spent most of the time not seeing anyone. It's alright and surely better in multiplayer -- the AI isn't much for competition, a human should win almost every time against them even on Hard unless you get knocked out multiple times.
Alternately, in Battle mode, instead of Balloon Battle mode, you can also play Coin mode. In this mode your goal is to have the most coins. Just like in the other mode, there is a mandatory 3 minute per map timer and you play 3-plus maps. Unlike the other mode you can't be eliminated in this mode, so it's for younger players I imagine; losing 5 balloons in 3 minutes isn't easy but is certainly possible, I've done it against the AI a few times. Instead, in this mode when you get hit you lose some coins. Coins spawn in specific spots on each track, and also are dropped when enemies get hit. The dropped coins disappear after a little while, though, so get them quickly. The regular coin spots stick around until collected, after which they eventually respawn like item boxes. This mode is alright fun but not as good as Balloon Battle mode, I'd say; winning here is more about camping the right spots for coins.
Lastly, the definitely misnamed VS Race mode is a pretty nice custom championship mode. Here you can choose the number of races to play, from 3 to 32, and then choose the tracks you will race on one at a time. Yeah, just like in Battle mode for some odd reason you can't do a single race. Why is that? For each race you can either select a track itself to just race that track for 3 laps, as you do on the first track of a GP, or connect that track to another to do a 'drive point to point starting from the exit of the first track you choose, then once you get to the second track race one lap on that track', much like how races 2 through 4 in a GP circuit go. So yeah, you can play a championship with only regular circuit races if you want, it just won't unlock anything other than costumes if you get those from the random drop powerups at those gas stations along the track. That's nice. VS Race mode is pretty good, great option. This is one of the most fun modes, I'd say.
However, you can't just do a full custom championship here using any track -- from each course you can only go next to a track near it. This limitation makes sense when doing point-to-point races, but given that you can also choose to do only circuit races and skip the drive in between, it would be much better if you could choose any track and not only the close ones. That would make this a real full custom circuit mode instead of a limited one.
Multiplayer
Additionally, the game has two through four player local splitscreen multiplayer and online play for up to 24 racers. I think that all single player modes can be played in splitscreen, but haven't tried it yet.For online, four modes are available: GP, Knockout, Battle, or unranked private game with people on your friends list. Each of the three main modes has a separate MMR rating, and you start with 3000 rating in each mode, gaining or losing points based on your finishes. Races have 24 players so it's somewhat chaotic but it can be a fun time.
In GP mode the game gives you three races to choose from, and you pick one. Once a lobby of 24 random players is assembled, the game randomly chooses one players' pick to be the next track you will drive to. So yeah, it isn't a popularity contest, it's a random draw. Interesting. Races are usually 'drive to the place then do one lap around it', as you'd expect in this game, but occasionally you will end up in a 3 lap race. While waiting for a lobby to fill up, or in between races during online play, you can drive around the world with the other players in the lobby. That's kind of neat. The multiplayer here is fun but all it keeps track of is your rating and nothing else. Still, there's enough here to keep you coming back for a while for sure.
In Knockout mode, the game instead chooses a random Knockout course, so the players get no choice. You just race on the 6 point-to-point segments or one-lap circuits that the game tells you to. You still can drive around waiting, but less than in GP mode since this time it only happens between full 6-race Knockout games and not after every race. After the game the lobby empties, as well, you don't seem to be able to continue with the same group indefinitely as you can with GP. Still, it's a fun and somewhat intense time. Online Knockouts are definitely competitive. Of course luck will play a large factor, tis is Mario kart and items will decide many races, but it is fun at least for a while.
Battle mode in multiplayer works the same as GP, each player chooses one of three tracks then you fight on that course. It's fun and much more challenging than fighting the computer.
Conclusion
As for Mario Kart World, after playing a few hours I'd say that it's a good but not great game. The controls are sluggish, the AI a moderate challenge at best most of the time, the playtime to seeing the credits is quite short, and it has some odd feature omissions that really should have been there -- an option for classic four track, 3-laps-per-race GPs, was having the costume unlocks be random drops actually a good idea?, 200cc, harder AI, and such -- and for anyone buying it at retail $80 is a LOT for what you get, but the $50 bundled price is reasonable. You get dozens of tracks, a decent selection of modes, and enough to unlock to take a decent number of hours to get stuff. It's fun but I really wish that games like Wave Race existed too, this game teases you with great water but... just for Mario Kart. Bah. Still, MK World is a good time.
Fast Fusion - Impressions
Fast Fusion is a new game from Shin'en, and it's the long-awaited sequel to Fast RMX from the Wii U and Switch 1. It's a Wipeout-inspired futuristic racing game and is really nice looking and fun. The game has great visuals indeed and is very fast, so it's a fun time. The controls are good and feel fairly tight. It's nowhere near F-Zero GX levels of precision, not even close, but it controls fine, and certainly better than Mario Kart World. I've only played a handful of races but the game seems good. Tracks are narrow and have obstacles along the way that you will need to avoid. The key mechanic is that you can switch between two colors, blue and orange (as per the controllers...), and will need to be on the correct color when you go over a boost pad in order to get the boost. This seems like a pretty good, classic futuristic racing game and one of the better ones in the genre in a while. There have been many little indie futuristic racing games over the past decade but most aren't at this quality. While a bit loose the controls here are better than most, I'd put it over games like Redout for sure. This seems like at least a solid B game, fun stuff.F-Zero GX - Switch 2 GC Emulation vs. Real Hardware
And now the main event, right? How does this exceptional, but exceptionally difficult, classic play on the Switch? Well, visually it looks insanely good. F-Zero GX always looked exceptionally great and still holds up very very well (apart from the low-poly character models in the post-race screen...), and it looks even better here upscaled to high res.However, the controls here are somewhat insanely impossible to handle. The GameCube controller is unique, unlike any major controller since, in two key ways: its high-resistance sticks that push back against you more strongly than other controllers, making precise stick motions easier to perform than they are on just about any other pad, and it has octagonal gates on those sticks instead of circular, also helping you precisely point the stick in the eight cardinal directions. It's a shame that features like those, along with the analog trigger buttons and their second-tier click, are unseen since the Gamecube. Of course, the Gamecube controller is missing a bunch of buttons -- not ZL, no GL or GR, no - button, no R3 or L3 analog clicks. I do not have the new Switch 2 Gamecube wireless controller, but it adds a tiny little ZL button and the system menu and C (camera) buttons, but not the other missing buttons. Ah well.
Anyway, it is perhaps because of the unique features of the GC controller that Nintendo has probably misguidedly abandoned that have caused Nintendo to keep the GC controller around. The GC controller now works with FIVE generations of Nintendo hardware, a pretty insane and special fact that surely has no equal across the industry. Yes, original GC controllers work on the Switch 2. You just need a Wii U / Switch GC adapter. I plugged my Wii U GC adapter in and it worked great, my GC controller works on Switch 2.
So anyway, with the Pro Controller 2, F-Zero FX is nearly uncontrollable. You careen across the track, barely able to fly in a straight line never mind towards, say, a boost, or away from a wall. I'm sure that people could eventually manage to improve enough to get good enough at moving this average-resistance stick the very tiny amounts necessary to control this game well without crashing into things, but that would be a challenging accomplishment indeed. Also the game is designed around holding one face button while having instant access to the other three, which of course is impossible on Switch 2. You can't just map one of the buttons easily to ZL; maybe there is a way of doing this but I didn't find it yet. So yeah, a GC controller of some kind is highly recommended...
But I thought that even that didn't entirely fix the problem. While the higher-resistance GC stick does reduce the extreme over-precision of this version of the game somewhat, it still feels almost uncontrollably over-precise. This isn't a calibration issue, I tried several stick calibrations. It's something else. To confirm that it was just the emulation, I got out my original F-Zero GX disc and played it on Gamecube, with the same controller (my orange one). I immediately noticed the difference -- on GC I was able to handle the game as expected. It's a very challenging game with extremely precise controls, but on GC it works as it should. On Switch 2... maybe I just don't have it configured correctly but so far it feels unacceptably off. It was surprising when I managed to actually hit boost pads on Switch 2, for instance... ah well. I will try it again and see if I can get better.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Switch 2 is great! It is expensive, but any Nintendo fan definitely should get one once they can afford it. You won't regret it. Mario Kart World is a good classic Mario Kart game and the hardware's powerful and promising. It's good to great despite various flaws -- price, ergonomics, and such.(Meanwhile, while watching this I've been watching a pro Starcraft Brood War match video. Yes I am still completely addicted to SC. Best game ever. I will definitely get to making more recordings of old replays of mine.)
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