Mario Kart World is the biggest Mario Kart to date. The map is huge, with Easter Eggs and little secrets hiding under bridges, atop towering buildings, and in the middle of sprawling oceans. Knockout Tour is the most chaotic concoction of multiplayer I've ever seen. And I'm still knee-deep in unlocking characters (darn, Kamek...).
And yet, here I am to talk about photo mode. Bloody photo mode, you're probably thinking. A modern-day video game checkbox. Probably 60% of games have a photo mode nowadays, either at launch or patched in at a later date. Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are just a few Nintendo first-party games that have some way of taking expressive pics of your characters.
But, news flash, I love it in Mario Kart World more than any of those other games.
Having spent a lot of time with Mario Kart World over the past couple weeks, and absolutely loving it, it's not the deeper mechanics, the chaotic racing, or the chillness of exploring the open world that have really stuck with me. It's how loud and expressive it lets you be, both in and out of the game. I touched on it in my review in terms of the animations and visuals, but I think this applies across everything, particularly photo mode.
Since Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Nintendo seems to have given Mario a new lease of life. Remakes of Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and a new Mario & Luigi entry are indicative of that (Odyssey also just about fits the bill). These games represent Mario, Luigi, and a whole host of other characters, old and new, at their most colourful, their most jovial, and their most stupid in the best way possible.
Mario Kart World carries that torch but in an entirely new setting — not a 2D platformer or turn-based RPG, not even with any dialogue. This is a kart racer with over 100 costumes, multiple biomes, and 50 different characters ranging from classics like Peach and Wario to the stupidest of choices, like the Cow, Cataquack, and Peepa. I can drive around as Peepa from Super Mario 3D Land.
Photo mode, to me, is an extension of the daft playfulness that's alive and well in the Mushroom Kingdom right now. It goes beyond just being an easy, fun way of sharing screenshots online or with friends. As with the best photo modes, it's about expressing yourself and the moment.
Maybe I'm way too deep into this, but a lot goes into a Mario Kart World photo. Which character would suit which location? What about the kart? Or a bike? Which costume? Do I want other racers in the shot? Enemies? Which pose looks best? What mood do I want to convey? Do I use a frame?
I'm not a professional photographer — please don't ask me to take good photos of any animal that isn't my cat — but when it comes to these kinds of shots, with this variety of characters? I'm all in.
Let's take Yoshi in his Biker outfit, for example. He has to be in the W-Twin Chopper (nothing else goes with those shades), and we need somewhere either suitably muddy or very cool to look effortless. So, off to Choco Mountain I went, driving around, looking for the best spots to frame my photo.
The muddy chocolate makes things a little tougher around here; you'll drown if you stay in it too long, and item boxes weren't giving me Mushrooms so I could zip over the little pools. But then a Feather and a curved wall gave me the chance to do something that looks easy as hell, but really isn't. Wall riding...
Et voilà! Something that conveys a very cute character, looking very cool in the moment, with shades, a leather jacket, and a very suitable vehicle.
Or, you know, sometimes I just get really stupid ideas and decide to put Bowser, in a similar biker outfit, in Lil' Dumpy. As soon as I unlocked the costume for the king of Koopas, I knew immediately I was going to do something ridiculous with it. And, there you have it:
In a franchise with over 40 years of history behind it, Mario has done a lot of things, and that also gives me a chance to relive, and re-experiment, with those moments. One of my favourite shots was a complete coincidence as I was driving around collecting P Switches in the snowy regions of Free Roam.
I went off-road after driving down from Starview Peak, hoping to find a big, blue button to bash my head against multiple times. But what I got instead was a goldmine: A group of penguins gathered around an oil drum.
Nintendo references Mario's hatred of penguins in the Mario Kart World Direct (we've all thrown the penguin off of Cool, Cool Mountain in Super Mario 64, right?), but what if the penguin wanted to take revenge? Luckily, penguin just happens to be a character in Mario Kart World, and in my eyes, he craves violence.
Beyond the sheer expressiveness of the game and the vastness of the world, the moment-to-moment action is just so easy to snapshot, and because every single moment can cause complete chaos, there are so many chances to put characters in danger for the sheer sake of art.
This makes me sound bad, doesn't it? I'm sure if Mario and friends were real, they'd hate me for putting them in perilous situations. But they're not all life-threatening; firing Daisy out of barrel cannons on the bridge between Faraway Oasis and Crown City is just kind of delightful, and getting into a heated contest with your brother brings out the drama.
The possibilities are endless, and all of that hooting and hollering while you're racing — groaning from being hit by a Blue Shell or cheering as you knock your best friend off the course and push them down 10 places in an instant — can be captured in an instant.
Plus, we can finally find out what happens when a Cataquack encounters another Cataquack:
Of course, Knockout Tour is still my favourite thing about this game, and in those moments where I'm scrambling to make it into the top 16, or top 8, or simply just aim to win, I forget all about taking snapshots because I'm on the edge of my seat.
But when I do want to channel my Iain Macmillan or Kym Illman, Mario Kart World lets me capture the action, the calm, the fun, and the drama, with aplomb. May Mario and friends always feel this alive and expressive. I can't wait to mess around with it in Donkey Kong Bananza, too.
Or, you know, I could just admire the food. I need those Boo Buns in my life.
The Nintendo Life Mario Kart World Photo Gallery
As a little bonus, I thought it would be fun to round up a few shots from the NL Crew of their Mario Kart World escapades.
First up is reviewer extraordinaire PJ, who's making sure Mario gets some exercise in while riding along the high roads. Good for him! Love the little Baby Blooper, too — one of my favourite four-wheel vehicles in the game
Okay, next is a DK pic from our esteemed editor Gavin. Oh, uh, erm...no! Stop. Oh god... it's a photo of the popular Nintendo character Donkey Kong, as supplied by Gavin, you dirty people. There's some Waluigi here too, so you can keep your minds out of the gutter.
Anyway, buns. We like buns, right?
Following on from that fiasco, we have my trusty P Switch comrade Jim; he's taken a shine to the lovely little Monty Mole. Simple, effective, adorable — and look, there's even another Monty! Thanks, Moo Moo Meadows!
Last, but absolutely not least, Ollie has caught Baby Mario in the act — how on earth did he manage to get the biggest ice cream?? Also, thanks Ollie for reminding me that bees can be dangerous. Good for nature, not good for... crabs?
Are you a photo mode fan? Have you been taking tons of shots in Mario Kart World? Let us know in the comments.