Digital Foundry: Mario Kart World on Switch 2: Is This Really A Generational Leap?

Zuzu

Zuzu

Member


Summary
  • Mario Kart World unveiled as the premier launch title for Switch 2, introducing open-world gameplay and large-scale 24-player races.
  • Mario Kart 8 ran at 720p in handheld mode and 1080p in docked mode
  • Mario Kart 8, the prior entry, relied on baked lighting, static cube maps, and performance-saving techniques to achieve smooth gameplay at high frame rates.
  • Mario Kart World builds upon Mario Kart 8's rendering choices while adding features like a day/night cycle, dynamic weather, and expansive environmental exploration.
  • Despite technical advancements, Mario Kart World retains some pre-calculated lighting techniques to balance visual fidelity and performance.
  • Free Roam Gameplay: Players can explore the map freely when not racing, with events featuring extensive off-circuit sections.
  • Race Size Increase: Races now accommodate up to 24 players, doubling the previous limit of 12.
  • Rendering Choices: Trackside lighting relies heavily on baked lighting, while dynamic objects like flags and breakable light posts use real-time shadowing.
  • Day/Night Cycle and Weather: The game includes a real-time day/night cycle and weather changes, but the primary light source remains static, leading to fixed shadow angles.
  • Environmental Detail: High-speed gameplay showcases impressive environments, but slower-paced free roam reveals compromises like judicious polygon placement to minimize LOD pop-in.
  • Building Interiors: Interiors feature depth and parallax effects but are relatively simple and repetitive.
  • Water Rendering: Significant improvements include realistic water effects with foaming waves and geometric undulation.
  • Aquatic Transformation: Vehicles transform into aquatic machines when hitting water, driving on the surface rather than beneath it, as in Mario Kart 8.
  • Reflection Technology: Likely uses planar reflections for water surfaces, offering improved realism compared to pre-calculated cube maps.
  • Material Quality: Enhanced textures and normal maps create more natural surfaces, with environments featuring worn details like cracked pavement and faded paint.
  • Track Comparison: Returning track "Sky-High Sunday" showcases significantly improved artwork compared to its Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass version.
  • Character Design: Characters feature distinctive animations, edge-lit lighting, and cartoony sensibilities, with vehicles exhibiting dynamic suspension and dramatic hit animations.
  • Visual Inspiration: Nintendo appears to draw from offline CG for design choices, evident in the revised Donkey Kong model and other subtle character updates.
  • Visual Mode: Docked play suggests a 1440p resolution without TAA or temporal upsampling, relying on baked lighting to minimize aliasing.
  • Frame Rates: Maintains a flawless 60fps refresh rate during gameplay, with a 30fps update for photo mode and an unconfirmed 120fps mode.
  • Split Screen Play: Supports two-player split screen at 60fps; four-player split screen footage is unavailable but may experience a frame rate drop.
  • Game Chat: Includes Nintendo's Game Chat functionality with real-time background removal, though the 8fps camera feed update may feel distracting.
  • Iterative Upgrade: Builds on Mario Kart 8 with enhanced horsepower, enabling 24-player races, a vast open world, and improved resolution and frame rates.
  • Gameplay Evolution: Tracks are wider, handling is looser, and mini turbos charge more slowly. Items now automatically trail players and are less punishing.
  • New Mechanics: Introduces wings replacing gliders, watercraft, ground tricking, rail grinding, and wall riding mechanics.
  • Grand Prix and Knockout Tour Modes: Features long stretches of track between circuits, emphasizing the open-world fantasy. Highway segments may lack complexity but could remain engaging with boost pads, traffic, and 24-player races.
  • Singleplayer Opportunities: Open-world structure hints at challenges, races, and collectibles, potentially inspired by Forza Horizon.
  • Community Concerns: Balancing new mechanics like wall riding and ground tricking is crucial to avoid gameplay issues. 200cc racing speeds and mirror mode are unconfirmed.
  • Offline Appeal: Open-world elements could provide lasting enjoyment for single-player fans.


 
Last edited:
these guys have done more to lower the overall level of discourse in the gaming community than almost any other single channel or creator.

There is nothing more boring to me than the obsessive pixel-counting that these guys do. I played SoTC at like 15 FPS on PS2 and loved every second of it. When the game is good enough, the technical details hardly matter (outside of a game being like totally broken)
 
PurePlatinum said:
these guys have done more to lower the overall level of discourse in the gaming community than almost any other single channel or creator.

There is nothing more boring to me than the obsessive pixel-counting that these guys do. I played SoTC at like 15 FPS on PS2 and loved every second of it. When the game is good enough, the technical details hardly matter (outside of a game being like totally broken)
Click to expand...
I'm convinced none of them actually play any games. They just spend all day benchmarking and emptying boxes of tissues wanking over Alan Wake 2 and Hellblade.
 
Zuzu said:
Summary
  • Water Rendering: Significant improvements include realistic water effects with foaming waves and geometric undulation.
Click to expand...
water.large.jpg
 
PurePlatinum said:
these guys have done more to lower the overall level of discourse in the gaming community than almost any other single channel or creator.

There is nothing more boring to me than the obsessive pixel-counting that these guys do. I played SoTC at like 15 FPS on PS2 and loved every second of it. When the game is good enough, the technical details hardly matter (outside of a game being like totally broken)
Click to expand...

ValiantInstance said:
I'm convinced none of them actually play any games. They just spend all day benchmarking and emptying boxes of tissues wanking over Alan Wake 2 and Hellblade.
Click to expand...


Yet here you are in a DF focused thread to do nothing but whine about them.

They're doing exactly what they set the channel up to do, analyse games at a technical level.

If you don't find that interesting I suggest you just stay the fuck away from their channel and Gaf threads with DF content.
 
It's good enough for me, the graphics may not have been massively increased but the frame rate, being more stable, and able to process 24 players well is overall a better plus than just some extra graphics. So I'm looking forward to how they'll do the next AAA Zelda that'll eventually come out in the next few years with the increased processing power.
 
Mario Kart needing an open world was just as pointless as Burnout Paradise needing an open world

In Burnout Paradise's case it made the game less enjoyable, so it will probably be the case here as well
 
Last edited:
PurePlatinum said:
these guys have done more to lower the overall level of discourse in the gaming community than almost any other single channel or creator.

There is nothing more boring to me than the obsessive pixel-counting that these guys do. I played SoTC at like 15 FPS on PS2 and loved every second of it. When the game is good enough, the technical details hardly matter (outside of a game being like totally broken)
Click to expand...
I feel like DF have run their course as well, but these guys have bills to pay.

This game looks good, has 2x the number of karts on screen, will undoubtedly be locked 60fps - who cares if it is AKSHULLY a "generational leap", whatever that means?

Mephisto40 said:
Mario Kart needing an open world was just as pointless as Burnout paradise needing an open world
Click to expand...
Except Burnout Paradise was awesome.
 
Last edited:
Zuzu said:
Summary
  • Mario Kart World unveiled as the premier launch title for Switch 2, introducing open-world gameplay and large-scale 24-player races.
  • Mario Kart 8 ran at 720p in handheld mode and 1080p in docked mode
  • Mario Kart 8, the prior entry, relied on baked lighting, static cube maps, and performance-saving techniques to achieve smooth gameplay at high frame rates.
  • Mario Kart World builds upon Mario Kart 8's rendering choices while adding features like a day/night cycle, dynamic weather, and expansive environmental exploration.
  • Despite technical advancements, Mario Kart World retains some pre-calculated lighting techniques to balance visual fidelity and performance.
  • Free Roam Gameplay: Players can explore the map freely when not racing, with events featuring extensive off-circuit sections.
  • Race Size Increase: Races now accommodate up to 24 players, doubling the previous limit of 12.
  • Rendering Choices: Trackside lighting relies heavily on baked lighting, while dynamic objects like flags and breakable light posts use real-time shadowing.
  • Day/Night Cycle and Weather: The game includes a real-time day/night cycle and weather changes, but the primary light source remains static, leading to fixed shadow angles.
  • Environmental Detail: High-speed gameplay showcases impressive environments, but slower-paced free roam reveals compromises like judicious polygon placement to minimize LOD pop-in.
  • Building Interiors: Interiors feature depth and parallax effects but are relatively simple and repetitive.
  • Water Rendering: Significant improvements include realistic water effects with foaming waves and geometric undulation.
  • Aquatic Transformation: Vehicles transform into aquatic machines when hitting water, driving on the surface rather than beneath it, as in Mario Kart 8.
  • Reflection Technology: Likely uses planar reflections for water surfaces, offering improved realism compared to pre-calculated cube maps.
  • Material Quality: Enhanced textures and normal maps create more natural surfaces, with environments featuring worn details like cracked pavement and faded paint.
  • Track Comparison: Returning track "Sky-High Sunday" showcases significantly improved artwork compared to its Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass version.
  • Character Design: Characters feature distinctive animations, edge-lit lighting, and cartoony sensibilities, with vehicles exhibiting dynamic suspension and dramatic hit animations.
  • Visual Inspiration: Nintendo appears to draw from offline CG for design choices, evident in the revised Donkey Kong model and other subtle character updates.
  • Visual Mode: Docked play suggests a 1440p resolution without TAA or temporal upsampling, relying on baked lighting to minimize aliasing.
  • Frame Rates: Maintains a flawless 60fps refresh rate during gameplay, with a 30fps update for photo mode and an unconfirmed 120fps mode.
  • Split Screen Play: Supports two-player split screen at 60fps; four-player split screen footage is unavailable but may experience a frame rate drop.
  • Game Chat: Includes Nintendo's Game Chat functionality with real-time background removal, though the 8fps camera feed update may feel distracting.
  • Iterative Upgrade: Builds on Mario Kart 8 with enhanced horsepower, enabling 24-player races, a vast open world, and improved resolution and frame rates.
  • Gameplay Evolution: Tracks are wider, handling is looser, and mini turbos charge more slowly. Items now automatically trail players and are less punishing.
  • New Mechanics: Introduces wings replacing gliders, watercraft, ground tricking, rail grinding, and wall riding mechanics.
  • Grand Prix and Knockout Tour Modes: Features long stretches of track between circuits, emphasizing the open-world fantasy. Highway segments may lack complexity but could remain engaging with boost pads, traffic, and 24-player races.
  • Singleplayer Opportunities: Open-world structure hints at challenges, races, and collectibles, potentially inspired by Forza Horizon.
  • Community Concerns: Balancing new mechanics like wall riding and ground tricking is crucial to avoid gameplay issues. 200cc racing speeds and mirror mode are unconfirmed.
  • Offline Appeal: Open-world elements could provide lasting enjoyment for single-player fans.
Click to expand...
Damn that's NICE! I'm so hyped for this. I love the idea of it being open world. That reminds of me of Forza Horizon.

I'm worried about rubber banding AI with so many characters, hopefully they have tweaked that.
 
Last edited:
PurePlatinum said:
these guys have done more to lower the overall level of discourse in the gaming community than almost any other single channel or creator.

There is nothing more boring to me than the obsessive pixel-counting that these guys do. I played SoTC at like 15 FPS on PS2 and loved every second of it. When the game is good enough, the technical details hardly matter (outside of a game being like totally broken)
Click to expand...
Eh, they give raw data, people using them with bad faith are the issue, not them.

"Lol Cyberpunk runs at 540p on Switch, cannot even hold 30fps" isn't exactly what their analysis says, but that's the conclusion people want to draw
 
diffusionx said:
I feel like DF have run their course as well, but these guys have bills to pay.

This game looks good, has 2x the number of karts on screen, will undoubtedly be locked 60fps - who cares if it is AKSHULLY a "generational leap", whatever that means?


Except Burnout Paradise was awesome.
Click to expand...
Indeed, it was awesome, but was considerably less awesome than the previous entries, and that was down to it being open world imo
 
Last edited:
Mephisto40 said:
Indeed, it was awesome, but was considerably less awesome than the previous entries
Click to expand...
I don't agree with that.

The moaning over Paradise was always cringe. They already made Burnout 3 twice (Revenge) and didn't want to make it a third time. Who can blame them, and they made a great game with a ton going for it.

Similarly here, I don't see how they can make a traditional kart racer that tops MK8D. They had to try something different.
 
Last edited:
Nintendo devs being absolute chads for not bending the knee to the Screen Space Reflection virus that is plaguing the industry.

decent cubemaps on buildings and planar reflections on water are great to see.
 
Since Kirby Air Riders is another battle racer game like Mario Kart. And they might also do a new F-ZERO. So Switch 2 will also be the console for battle racing type games. Put in a new Chocobo Racing and Penny Racers and we'll get 5 racing games with abilities!
 
PurePlatinum said:
these guys have done more to lower the overall level of discourse in the gaming community than almost any other single channel or creator.

There is nothing more boring to me than the obsessive pixel-counting that these guys do. I played SoTC at like 15 FPS on PS2 and loved every second of it. When the game is good enough, the technical details hardly matter (outside of a game being like totally broken)
Click to expand...

it's the retarded dipshits that use their data in bad faith arguments to stir up shit that are the problem, not DF themselves.
 
Last edited:
kevboard said:
Nintendo devs being absolute chads for not bending the knee to the Screen Space Reflection virus that is plaguing the industry.

decent cubemaps on buildings and planar reflections on water are great to see.
Click to expand...
Agree with you, Nintendo uses the smartest solutions for their games and the end results looks really great.
 
Dr.D00p said:
Yet here you are in a DF focused thread to do nothing but whine about them.

They're doing exactly what they set the channel up to do, analyse games at a technical level.

If you don't find that interesting I suggest you just stay the fuck away from their channel and Gaf threads with DF content.
Click to expand...
6Bik1lp.png
 
Last edited:
It's impressive looking, but I don't think it's all because of the power of the switch 2,

i think we've been seeing a clear internal shift at nintendo towards, "over expressive". Mario Wonder, Donkey Kong Aheago face, Mario Kart world, seems like some creative lead at the top decided it was time for so many of the games/characters to stop feeling like plastic and unemotive, and then over corrected towards over the top expressiveness.
 
dext3rr said:
What's the GAF prediction to sales of NS2? Reverse as always?
Click to expand...
Lower ceiling than Switch 1, but still higher than 360/PS3. I could see the first year or two being slower than expected due to the price, but a possible price cut in the future or a giant title may propel it upwards.
 
Sounds good, can't really say it impressed me visually but I'd much rather take the 24 players, open-world, 4K60fps output etc. over improved textures and effects.

Can't wait to get my hands on this!
 
On a more serious note, it sounds like they are using the same engine, just increasing resolution with better texture work, which is fine by me. While I'd rather have more realistic shadow casting when driving under objects, I think I'd enjoy a 120hz mode even more.
 
At this point I'm just curious if 4-player split screen will run at 30 or 60.
 
its nintendo, im sure they are not going to put a souless open world in one of their most important IP. They are going to make it work.
 
tkscz said:
On a more serious note, it sounds like they are using the same engine, just increasing resolution with better texture work, which is fine by me. While I'd rather have more realistic shadow casting when driving under objects, I think I'd enjoy a 120hz mode even more.
Click to expand...
It's clear a lot of work went into upgrading the engine.
 
It's looks like a proper sequel and looks better. It's it a generation upgrade? Who the hell knows what that means anymore. The term generational upgrade/leap doesn't mean anything probably until we get to pathtraced games as pretty much everything looks "good" nowadays.
 
Bill Trinnen hinting at more to explore in the Direct makes me think maybe there's a big single player mode, maybe quests?

We'll find out in a week.
 
I love how they've become the mainstream arbiters of all things plebian for clicks since IGN bought them out. Their content output has quite noticeably increased since that business deal, but it rings very hollow. Their content prior to IGN seemed a bit more genuine despite the exhausting and unnecessary minutiae they can sometimes get into. "The interiors in Mario Kart World are bland and repetitive." Because when I'm dodging turtle shells coming through the last quarter of a track in 1st place, I am totally stopping to look at the interiors of a tunnel that I'm in and thinking to myself, "These interiors sure are bland and repetitive..."
 
DF and Ubisoft sitting bewildered at the fact that games with fancy puddles are selling as poorly as they are when a beefed up Xbox 360 is about to break all gaming hardware sales records.
 
I didn't play much Forza horizon, any of the later need for speed games, or any of "the crew" entries, are they also open world racers? Is that what MKW is going for as well.
(not a race fan so I have not looked into the game details at all, just trying to get educated without doing any actual research.)
 
Mephisto40 said:
Mario Kart needing an open world was just as pointless as Burnout Paradise needing an open world

In Burnout Paradise's case it made the game less enjoyable, so it will probably be the case here as well
Click to expand...
The main issue with paradise at launch anyway was you couldn't just restart a race.you had to drive back to the beginning to try again
 
Wasn't this advertised as 4k60? Nothing wrong with 1440p, but there's been some interesting arguments about Switch2 vs previous gen consoles comparisons based on resolution in announced games. If some of the games are indeed "4k" and not 4k we have some very interesting threads ahead of us.
 
Skifi28 said:
Wasn't this advertised as 4k60? Nothing wrong with 1440p, but there's been some interesting arguments about Switch2 vs previous gen consoles comparisons based on resolution in announced games. If some of the games are indeed "4k" and not 4k we have some very interesting threads ahead of us.
Click to expand...

no,nNintendo hasn't officially advertised any resolution other than Metroid Prime 4's
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mario Kart World Announced | Nintendo Switch 2 Direct
News  2 3
101
4K
Robb replied
Switch 2 cpu bottleneck issues: Digital foundry
2
88
4K
BlitzerRadic replied
Is Mario Kart World too casual?
2
97
3K
Thief1987 replied
Switch 2 Mario Kart World Bundle Will Apparently Be A "Limited Time" Offer
News  2
57
2K
cireza replied
  • Locked
Digital Foundry Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 Reaction - New Hardware, Mario Kart 9, Back Compat + More!
1
737
CyberCali replied
Top Bottom