Between its open world design as a first for the series, and an all-new range of unlockable character outfits and vehicle designs, Mario Kart World might finally have the opportunity to borrow one of Burnout Paradise‘s more iconic mechanics. After Mario Kart World‘s most recent trailers, gameplay livestreams, and Nintendo Direct showcases, it is clear that the upcoming Switch 2 launch title is arguably the series’ most ambitious game yet. However, with a significantly larger pool of characters, vehicles, and more that players will likely need to unlock, Mario Kart World could shift one of these features away from methods like winning races or collecting coins.
As another racing game that allows its players to freely roam an open world, Burnout Paradise could help inspire Mario Kart World to add an extra layer of gameplay when unlocking new vehicles. While previous Mario Kart games have relied on winning races or collecting coins to unlock vehicles, Mario Kart World‘s new open world could be ideal for adapting Burnout Paradise‘s “Shut Down” mechanic, where players can unlock new vehicles by crashing rival racers. Alongside unlocking outfits via Mario Kart World‘s new Dash Food, the game could push players to explore even more if they can take down racers across its open world and unlock unique vehicles.
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Mario Kart World: What a Single-Player Story Mode Could Look Like
Even though Mario Kart World has already shown lots of content in comparatively little modes, it still has room for a single-player campaign as well.
Burnout Paradise’s Shut Down Mechanic Is Perfect For Mario Kart World
Though unlocking new vehicles wasn’t a key feature in Mario Kart‘s initial games, between the likes of Mario Kart: Double Dash and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the series has since evolved to include a variety of unlockable vehicles and parts. Even the method behind unlocking new vehicles has varied between games, ranging from collecting coins in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to completing cups in certain game modes or at certain speeds, as seen in Mario Kart: Double Dash or Mario Kart Wii. With Mario Kart World already revamping its take on the Mario Kart formula, its method for unlocking vehicles could also be set to change.
While unlockable vehicles could be tied to Mario Kart World Free Roam’s Peach Medallions or P-Switches as rewards, Nintendo hasn’t yet confirmed whether specific characters or vehicles will be available upfront or need to be unlocked first. Instead of Free Roam’s known objectives or Mario Kart‘s more traditional unlock methods, Mario Kart World should capitalize on its open world and allow players to unlock vehicles by knocking out racers in Free Roam mode. Just as Burnout Paradise introduces roaming cars that players can crash or “Shut Down” to unlock them for themselves, Mario Kart World could similarly embrace unlocking vehicles as a part of its open world gameplay.
Mario Kart World’s Open World Offers An Alternative To Unlocking Vehicles
Rather than limiting new vehicles to a reward for collecting coins or completing races, Mario Kart World could use game modes like Free Roam to allow players to encounter vehicles and unlock them by taking them down in-game. As the recent Direct showcase revealed, CPU racers will appear throughout Mario Kart World and potentially even be tracked via its world map, suggesting that players can actively seek out and find certain characters. Akin to Burnout Paradise‘s Shut Down mechanic, players might use in-game items to knock out characters to unlock some of the signature vehicles confirmed to be in Mario Kart World:
- Dolphin’s Dolphin Dasher
- Stingby’s Bumble V
- Chargin’ Chuck’s Chargin’ Truck
- Para-Biddybud’s Biddybuggy
With Mario Kart World introducing various new character outfits while scrapping options for vehicle customization (as seen in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe), adding an unlock method inspired by Burnout Paradise could help balance things further between its new features and gameplay. While not every vehicle would need to be unlocked with Mario Kart World‘s adaptation of the Shut Down mechanic, it would incentivize players to explore Free Roam mode and challenge CPU racers to unlock signature vehicles. Mario Kart World could even push this potential mechanic further by hiding secret or unique vehicles for players to discover and take down, like the R.O.B.-themed bike.
Mario Kart World
- Released
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June 2, 2025
- ESRB
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Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer
- Number of Players
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1-24
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