You. Do you crave more Nintendo Directness than you’ve already had this month? Do you want to learn more about Mario Kart World? Well, big Ninty has confirmed hoe long the special MKW Direct it pencilled in during the Switch 2 Direct will run for. You can also watch it right here.

Hey, it’s not like you’ll have anything better to do on a Thursday than watch Mario and Luigi show off their latest attempt to run each other of the road, because only one brother can remain.

You’ll be able to tune into this Mario Kart World Direct via the video above on April 17, 2025. It’s set to kick off at 2PM BST, which is 6AM PT, 9AM ET, and 3PM CEST. Just press play at that time wherever you are and boom, racing action with Toad, Daisy, and all the other characters who’re riding their coat-tails if we’re being honest.

It’ll run for “roughly 15 minutes” – about the length of a Grand Prix – and tell you a bunch more stuff about the game on Switch 2. Will the entire chat be screaming ‘DROP THE PRICE’, like they were during the Treehouse livestreams the other week?

We’ll have to see, but Mario Kart World’s price tag has definitely been a part of all that controversy, though it certainly hasn’t been the lone source of ire. The console itself, the Switch 2 Welcome Tour, and most recently the Switch 2 edition of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have all caught flak from fans due to Nintendo’s pricing decisions.

In other recent Nintendo news, a leaker has claimed that Switch 2 pre-orders in the US and Canada could be back on soon, after Ninty delayed them so it could see how those pesky tariffs played out.

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Mario Kart World started development back in 2017 as a game for the original Switch, but ended up becoming a Switch 2 one because it devs felt the tech boost was necessary to deliver the world bit of it. Said devs have also offered us some more info about its most important character – Cow.

Yep, that’s right. Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, they can all go do one. Moo Moo Meadows cow is the king of these streets, with an aura so powerful she can momentarily stop even the most outraged of Ninty fans from being unhappy about prices or worrying that they might not be able to make the switch to Switch 2 right away.

These tidbits and more come from a new interview Nintendo’s put out with Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki, programming director Kenta Sato, art director Masaaki Ishikawa, planning team lead Shintaro Jikumaru, and music lead Atsuko Asahi that so long it’s been divided into four parts. So, make sure you go grab your beverage of choice first if you plan on reading it all in one go.

We were thinking about what to do for the next Mario Kart game even during the development of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and we began prototyping in March 2017,” Yabuki explained, “It was at the end of that year when we officially started work on it as a project. I felt that in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we were able to perfect the formula that we’d been following in the series up to that point, where players race on individual courses. That’s why, this time, we wanted the gameplay to involve players driving around a large world, and we began creating a world map like this.”

“When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system,” Sato explained further on in the chat, “it was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return. We discussed things like toning down the visuals, lowering the resolution, and we even considered dropping the frame rate to 30 fps in some cases. It was a tough situation.

“Yabuki-san first brought [the idea of switching to Switch 2] up around 2020. Back then, we already had an idea of the next system’s expected specs, but it wasn’t until a bit later that we actually received working development units. Until then, we just had to proceed with development based on provisional estimates.”

“Of course, the graphics needed to be more detailed [due to being on Switch 2],” Ishikawa added, “But like Sato-san, I also felt like it was outweighed by the sense of relief. From the beginning, the designers were saying they wanted to make the art richer, so I thought we could achieve that now.”

The devs also explained how the driving Cow came to be, and offered a glimpse into her…er…mindset.

“Each new Mario Kart game features new characters to race with, but since we added so many to the previous game, we wondered where we could go from there,” Ishikawa explained, “And then one of the designers came up with [a] silly sketch of Cow cruising along, and I thought to myself, “This is it!” (Laughs) So that’s when we realized the course surroundings actually contained a lot of untapped resources.”

MK World’s devs call these environmental decoration characters who’ve gotten behind the wheel “NPC drivers”, with Yabuki noting that “it’s pretty funny to see a four-legged Cow holding onto motorcycle handlebars with her front hooves.”

Though, you shouldn’t worry, as Ishikawa insisted that he’s pretty sure Cow is “still in touch with her animal nature” due to the pose she assumes when she jumps, and that she’s “actually a pivotal character in the Mario Kart series” as a legacy of giving the devs ideas for other characters.

Will Cow become a pivotal character in your life once you get your hands on Mario Kart World? Let us know below!

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Almost a decade later, Mario Kart has returned with an all-new instalment for the Switch 2, inviting keen racers to our first open-world entry in the series: Mario Kart World. As you’d expect, Nintendo’s top racing game brings back plenty of familiar faces, including the titular Mario, of course, but the roster of available characters is longer than ever this time around.

You can drift around tracks as Super Mario 64’s Penguins, Super Mario World’s Chargin’ Chucks, or even Moo Moo Meadows’ Cows. These three only scratch the surface of who you can choose to play as, so without further ado, here’s exactly how to unlock all Mario Kart World characters.

How to unlock all Mario Kart World characters

Mario Kart World boasts a range of human and anthropomorphic characters to race around a track as, but you’ll have your work cut out for you trying to unlock them all.

First things first, a new character is unlocked for each Grand Prix you play and finish; it doesn’t matter where you place during these races, either. Simply complete a Grand Prix, and provided it’s one you haven’t played before, you’ll unlock one of the following characters:

• Birdo
• Bowser Jr.
• Daisy
• Donkey Kong
• King Boo
• Lakitu
• Rosalina

After completing all seven Grand Prix at least once, you’ll unlock the eighth and final Grand Prix – the Special Cup – and will have unlocked all seven of the above characters. Now, what about the rest?

To unlock the rest of the characters available in Mario Kart World, you’ll need to become affected by a Kamek Transformation. Kamek is a brand-new, very rare item that you or other players have a chance of receiving from the rainbow-coloured item blocks around a track (or in free-roam).

Upon use by yourself or another player, Kamek will fly around the course – in front of the player who used the item – transforming players into a different character, just for fun. If you are lucky and happen to be transformed into a character you don’t yet have, such as Coin Coffer, Dolphin, or Cataquack, you’ll permanently unlock that character.

So simply put, unlocking the majority of Mario Kart World’s roster of characters is a matter of taking part in races and hoping yourself or a fellow racer receives Kamek.

On top of that, however, alternate costumes for the main roster of characters can be unlocked by eating Dash Foods – shiny, yellow lunchbags – found outside of various food stalls across the map.

All Mario Kart World characters

To help you keep a track of who you have left to unlock in Mario Kart World, here are all characters and how they’re unlocked:

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at our guide to how to unlock all vehicles in the game.

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What would Mario Kart World even be if it didn’t have a huge roster of karts, bikes, and buggies for you to race around its tracks in? There’s plenty of returning fan favourites to hop into, such as personal favourite Buggybud, as well as some new wheels to look forward to unlocking.

When first starting out in Mario Kart World, you’ll have approximately 10 different vehicles to choose from, with more unlocking as you play more of the game. In this guide, we’ve detailed all vehicles in Mario Kart World and how to unlock them.

How to unlock all Mario Kart World vehicles

Mario Kart World has approximately 10 different vehicles unlocked upon starting the game, but as you complete plenty of races or roam the open-world, you’ll find yourself unlocking a new vehicle for every 100 coins you collect.

There are 29 vehicles to be unlocked by collecting coins, which means gathering 3000 coins in total. This might seem like a lot, but if you’re doing plenty of racing – especially with friends in local co-op – you’ll wind up gathering these coins in no time.

As it stands, I found myself unlocking a new vehicle after every Grand Prix or Knockout Tour I did (and I was playing these solo), so it shouldn’t take you too long to get your hands on that cool-looking, speedy kart you want.

Here are all Mario Kart World vehicles and how they are unlocked:

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at our list of all characters and how to unlock them.

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If you’ve spent any time at all exploring Mario Kart World’s open world in free roam, you might have found that there are some missions and collectibles to complete while exploring. One of these is P Switch missions. These are big, blue switches that you can drive into to begin a brief challenge.

These challenges consist of super fast races, coin collecting, or even driving on walls, and vary in difficulty. They’re scattered across the whole map, too, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for them whenever you’re free roaming or racing, but to help you out, here’s where to find all P Switch missions in Mario Kart World.

All P Switch missions in Mario Kart World

The below interactive map for Mario Kart World shows the location of all P Switches (well, it soon will). This map is a work in progress right now while we work to track every single bright blue switch down.

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At the time of writing, there look to be hundreds of P Switches to discover, and while these missions themselves don’t have any rewards, you’ll want to complete them anyways if you’re hoping to unlock Mirror Mode.

Don’t fret too much though, you don’t need to complete every mission to play the hidden game mode; you simply need to complete approximately 30 – 40 P Switch missions, as well as go about collecting some Hidden Panels and Peach Medallions while you’re at it.

Some examples of what to expect from P Switch missions are as follows:

• Reach a goal within a certain time limit; there’s usually obstacles to avoid and rings to pass through that extend the timer.
• Collect 8 blue coins within a certain time limit.
• Complete a race within a certain time limit.

As you can see, the P Switch missions have a common theme, and that’s completing an objective – whether that’s to complete a race, reach a goal, or collect coins – while avoiding new obstacles and utilising new mechanics (such as driving on walls and jumping). Some of these missions are surprisingly tough, but don’t worry, as there’s plenty more to drive to and complete in the meantime if one is stumping you.

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at our list of all characters and how to unlock them, as well as all vehicles and how to unlock them.

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It wouldn’t be a new Mario Kart game – Mario Kart World – if there wasn’t an array of unlockables and collectables to go about finding while racing other players around the huge, open-world map. One such collectable that’s good fun to go hunting for are Peach Medallions: large, shiny coins adorned with Peach’s face that are hiding in hard-to-reach corners of the map.

While finding Peach Medallions is one challenge, being able to actually reach them is another (in most instances). Players will need to use a mixture of items and well-timed jumps, as well as plenty of off-roading, to collect all the Medallions. To help you with that, here’s where to find all Peach Medallions in Mario Kart World.

All Peach Medallions in Mario Kart World

Peach Medallions are large coins adorned with Princess Peach’s face in Mario Kart World, and they’re often found in some obscure areas around the map in free-roam. They can be hiding on off-road ledges, sitting atop tall leaves or buildings you can’t easily reach, or hiding in plain sight.

To help you with tracking them all down – and there’s a lot of them to find – here’s an interactive map detailing the locations of all Peach Medallions:

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The map is currently a work in progress and will be updated with even more Peach Medallion locations soon!

What do Peach Medallions give you in Mario Kart World?

It’s also worth noting that for every Peach Medallion you collect, a new Sticker is added to your Sticker Collection (accessible via the main menu) for you to decorate your kart with.

Tips for collecting Peach Medallions in Mario Kart World

Collecting Peach Medallions isn’t always a matter of spotting one and riding up to it in Mario Kart World. You’ll need to make use of all the tools available to you! Here are some tips for getting your hands on Peach Medallions:

• Learn to jump! Some Medallions are difficult to reach, and you’ll need some momentum and a jump to reach them. The Feather item can help with this if you drive through some nearby Item Boxes.
• Use items. As previously mentioned, the Feather item can help with jumping, and on that note, you should be making use of items while collectable-hunting in free-roam. They’re there for a reason and can speed up your exploration.
• Explore every nook and cranny. See an area in the distance that interests you, but you don’t quite recognise it from your time racing? Drive on over there and explore. More often than not, there’s some sort of collectable to find.
• Use the rewind function. Didn’t time your jump quite right, or fallen from a great height? You can use the rewind function to send yourself back in time and try again.

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at how to unlock all characters, and where to find all P Switch missions.

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There are a few collectibles to go about hunting for in Mario Kart World, especially now that the series has introduced an open-world to explore. One collectible to keep your eyes peeled for is Hidden ? Panels in the floor or in walls around the map.

Driving over a Hidden ? Panel will give you a new sticker. Not that exciting, really, but finding Hidden ? Panels reveal track shortcuts and helps you with getting to grips with some of Mario Kart World’s more difficult mechanics to master, such as driving on walls. To help you with tracking them all down, here’s where to find all Hidden ? Panels in Mario Kart World.

All Hidden ? Panels in Mario Kart World

The below interactive map shows all Hidden ? Panels in Mario Kart World.

Well, not quite all, as the map is still currently a work in progress, but keep checking back as more Hidden ? Panels are added to collect them all!

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Hidden ? Panels are not typically found on the track in Mario Kart World, but in the environment surrounding it, meaning they’re best being found in free roam. I’ve found them on the floor and on walls in the most random of places, hiding between buildings and obstacles or in random corners of the map.

What do Hidden ? Panels give you in Mario Kart World?

Your reward for collecting Hidden ? Panels in Mario Kart World is the same as what it is for collecting Peach Medallions: stickers, lots of them. You can then use these stickers to remember your achievements, show them off to friends, and most importantly, you can decorate your kart with them.

If you manage to collect every single Hidden ? Panel, YouTuber Austin John Plays has been able to confirm that you do not get any additional reward for finding all of them. So, I hope you’re a fan of stickers!

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at where to find all P Switches, and how to unlock all characters.

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While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had some customisation options, such as being able to choose which colour Yoshi or Shy Guy you are, Mario Kart World has done away with that in favour of costumes for its most famous characters. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and even Pauline from Super Mario Odyssey all have their own alternate costumes for you to unlock and kit them out in.

From Cowboy Mario and Explorer Toad to Biker Bowser and Wampire Waluigi (yes, Wampire), there’s dozens of different outfits to unlock and little time to waste! Here’s how to unlock all costumes in Mario Kart World, as well as a list of exactly which characters have costumes available.

How to unlock all Mario Kart World costumes

Costumes in Mario Kart World are unlocked by collecting and consuming Dash Foods, which are shiny yellow lunch bags found outside of food stalls run by Yoshis (shown below).

That said, costumes are only available for a select amount of characters in Mario Kart World, and are primarily limited to the series’ most famous faces such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad. Playable characters such as the Cow, Chargin’ Chuck, and so forth, do not have costumes to unlock.

The characters that have costumes available to unlock, and just how many they have (including their default costumes), are as follows (with thanks to our friends over at IGN):

• Mario – 10 costumes
• Luigi – 9 costumes
• Peach – 9 costumes
• Daisy – 7 costumes
• Yoshi – 9 costumes
• Bowser – 5 costumes
• Donkey Kong – 2 costumes
• King Boo – 4 costumes
• Wario – 8 costumes
• Waluigi – 6 costumes
• Toad – 5 costumes
• Toadette – 5 costumes
• Rosalina – 5 costumes
• Pauline – 1 costume
• Koopa Troopa – 6 costumes
• Baby Mario – 4 costumes
• Baby Luigi – 3 costumes
• Baby Peach – 5 costumes
• Baby Daisy – 5 costumes
• Baby Rosalina – 5 costumes
• Bowser Jr – 4 costumes
• Shy Guy – 3 costumes
• Lakitu – 3 costumes
• Birdo – 3 costumes

The most efficient way of unlocking costumes is done in free roam in Mario Kart World. This way, you can fast-travel to whichever track is home to the Dash Food you need for the costume you wish to unlock, while playing as the character you wish to unlock a costume for. You can then repeat this process – either by switching characters or fast-travelling between tracks and their Dash Food stalls – to quickly try and unlock all costumes.

To learn exactly which track (and stall) to get each Dash Food from, here’s our list of all Dash Food locations.

That said, while efficient, this isn’t the most fun way of doing things! If you’d rather unlock costumes while racing, then do that while keeping a careful eye on Dash Foods around the track. Make sure to switch courses so you can collect a range of different Dash Food, and therefore costumes!

Mario Kart World Mario costumes

Mario Kart World Luigi costumes

Mario Kart World Peach costumes

Mario Kart World Wario costumes

Mario Kart World Waluigi costumes

Mario Kart World Daisy costumes

Mario Kart World Rosalina costumes

Mario Kart World Toad costumes

Mario Kart World Toadette costumes

Mario Kart World Bowser costumes

Mario Kart World Koopa Troopa costumes

Mario Kart World Baby Mario costumes

Mario Kart World Baby Luigi costumes

Mario Kart World Baby Peach costumes

Mario Kart World Baby Daisy costumes

Mario Kart World Baby Rosalina costumes

Mario Kart World Bowser Jr costumes

Mario Kart World Donkey Kong costumes

Mario Kart World King Boo costumes

Mario Kart World Shy Guy costumes

Mario Kart World Lakitu costumes

Mario Kart World Birdo costumes

Mario Kart World Pauline costumes

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at all vehicles and how to unlock them, as well as where to find all Peach Medallions and where to find all P Switch missions.

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Mario Kart World has introduced one mechanic that I was personally surprised to see, and that’s Dash Food. These are snacks – lovingly crafted and handed out by Yoshis across the map – that you can consume while racing or free-roaming for a quick boost, and with some luck, a new costume for the character you’re playing.

I suppose our racers no doubt work up an appetite zooming around the likes of Airship Fortress and Rainbow Road, so it makes sense that there’d be a pitstop to grab some burgers or sushi as a little pick-me-up. I do wonder where Mario and co. are sourcing their ingredients though…

To help you with discovering all the different food items in the game and the costumes that they can unlock, here are all Dash Food locations in Mario Kart World.

All Mario Kart World Dash Food locations

The below table details all types of Dash Foods in Mario Kart World, and which tracks you will find each food type at (thanks to our friends at IGN).

If you’re hunting down Dash Foods in an attempt to unlock new costumes for the main roster of characters, be sure to take a look at our Mario Kart World costume list, which details exactly which Dash Foods unlock which costumes.

One more thing to note is that Yoshi’s Snacks come with a few different variants; some coloured sodas will unlock one outfit, while another colour of soda will unlock a different outfit. Be sure to sample all of Yoshi’s Snacks if you’re unlocking outfits via that stall.

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at how to unlock all vehicles, where to find all P Switch missions, and where to find all Hidden Question Panels.

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Mario Kart World has introduced a bunch of new mechanics to discover and practice, and one of these is charged jumps. If you’ve done any racing at all, you’ve no doubt seen other players grinding along rails or in some instances, driving along walls, and that’s often done with the help of a jump.

Charged jumps can, fortunately, be done without the help of an item and are great for accessing otherwise hard to reach areas. You can use jumps to hop on rails and gain speed on your opponents, or you can use them in free-roam to help with your pursuit of Peach Medallions or completion of P Switch missions.

To help you with that, here’s how to jump in Mario Kart World.

How to jump in Mario Kart World

First things first, there are two ways of jumping in Mario Kart World; there’s a standard jump and a charged jump. As you can probably guess, a charged jump has a little more ‘oomph’ behind it.

A standard jump is done by tapping ‘R’ on your controller, and will see your character do a little bunny hop in their kart. A charged jump, however, requires you to hold ‘R’ while driving in an almost-straight line. Make sure you do not stop accelerating during this process either.

Driving in a straight line while charging a jump in Mario Kart World is very important; veer to the left or right too much and you will begin to drift instead. On top of that and much like drifting, different coloured sparks will appear under your wheels as you charge a jump, giving you an idea of just how much power is behind your upcoming leap.

Once you’re ready to jump, all you need to do is let go of ‘R’ and then move in the direction you wish to jump. This can be used to access railings and walls, and makes retrieving the likes of Peach Medallions or Hidden Question Panels much easier!

For more on Mario Kart World, take a look at how to unlock all characters, how to unlock all vehicles, and how to unlock all costumes.

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