[Digital Foundry] Mario Kart World - Nintendo Switch 2 - Digital Foundry Tech Review

Wow amazing for a slim handheld device !

If you adjust for size and wattage the switch is highest performing gaming device for its size! Incredible!!
 
That is how every thread should be treated.

At least I hope that is what you were getting at.

Definitely. If we are going to post articles or DF analysis then in the vast majority of cases it should be presented as is rather than pulling out some favorable blurb and inserting it into the title like one of the those "reviews trailers" publishers put out. That shit is cringe.
 
I think the artstyle is great personally and it makes the game look stunning. Nintendo have always been elite at artstyles and this is no exception.
 
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So it's the same shit as the previous one + open world but somehow it's a revolution?
Sad Eric Cartman GIF by South Park
 
Played the new mode today with my partner, not knowing what it was until we lost and realized the elimination feature.

Pretty cool, but after the RNG/catch-up features reared their head the game stopped being fun and felt stale pretty quickly.
 
Wow amazing for a slim handheld device !

If you adjust for size and wattage the switch is highest performing gaming device for its size! Incredible!!
Yeah, it's amazing really. Can't imagine what Nintendo will squeeze out from the Switch 2 in the future. Nintendo games always look the best on their own plattforms.
 
Man there's some real mouth breathing morons here lol.

Haven't watched the video yet. Game looks and plays great though. Nintendo's art team puts in so much work in general but it especially shines through on this.

Can't wait to see what they have in store for Mario, DK, Zelda etc.
 
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i just cant understand why this isnt on OG Switch, i know that they need a "killer app" to sell more SW2 but this is pretty much doable on the OG system if Nintendo lowered some settings and textures.
Well, I wondered the same thing and wasn't convinced that this would be a proper Switch 2 title until I played it. Believe me, they would have had to make several cuts, the open world section shows a lot at the distance, Xenoblade games had to run at 720p or 540p in docked mode to have this at 30 fps, not to mention the amazing lighting and materials, I want a fan of the art direction but this is a game you have to look at yourself and even more in HDR because SDR lighting and colors looks bland af imo and textures lose details.

The game is an amazing graphical showcase, even if imo it doesn't push the Switch 2 hardware too much.

Didn't DF day they were not using any kind of AA not even DLSS in the game BTW? They speak too low and their videos have boosted bass so I don't understand what they say sometimes.
 
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Well, I wondered the same thing and wasn't convinced that this would be a proper Switch 2 title until I played it. Believe me, they would have had to make several cuts, the open world section shows a lot at the distance, Xenoblade games had to run at 720p or 540p in docked mode to have this at 30 fps, not to mention the amazing lighting and materials, I want a fan of the art direction but this is a game you have to look at yourself and even more in HDR because SDR lighting and colors looks bland af imo and textures lose details.

The game is an amazing graphical showcase, even if imo it doesn't push the Switch 2 hardware too much.

Didn't DF day they were not using any kind of AA not even DLSS in the game BTW? They speak too low and their videos have boosted bass so I don't understand what they say sometimes.
Yeah i played too and imo its pretty doable on Switch, but hey, Nintendo does what Nintendo needs.
 
These MK are the best looking ones:




I remember when people thought these would be very good example of how Wii U Mario Kart would look like, then Nintendo dropped the first MK8 trailer and everyone was calling it bullshots and people here were like "it's impossible that this is running on a Wii U at 60 fps lmao Nintendo shills are gonna have a hard reality check when this comes out"
 
Nintendo gets the pass the last Forza never got
They literally said in the video to not expect to get a Forza-like quality of experience in the open world or something among those lines, they're literally saying it's inferior in the regards lol WTF are you talking about.

Yeah i played too and imo its pretty doable on Switch, but hey, Nintendo does what Nintendo needs.
Yeah, diminishing return and all, just like this game would be possible on PS4 at 1080p, but then on Switch 1 they'd have compromise way more, in fact, they stated that themselves, they even said it would be possible but three amount of sacrifices you have made it not worth it, specially since they would cut the frame rate in half.
 
They literally said in the video to not expect to get a Forza-like quality of experience in the open world or something among those lines, they're literally saying it's inferior in the regards lol WTF are you talking about.

For $80 I would expect a Forza like quality of experience
 
For $80 I would expect a Forza like quality of experience
They were just referring to the free roaming mode, don't act like everything else is just sub par, it's the best Mario Kart game they've done by far and you can see how different it plays and how many more options are for everything, how can you make your way to the goal using different paths in different ways, etc. It's plainly the best kart racing game so far and I can't see it being topped unless others get inspired by it in some way.
 
As much as I like the game, I don't think Oliver is good at presenting it. Poor choice of review person if you ask me, most of his videos are ok at best.

Oliver doesn't have much of a personality, the videos are too long and he's presenting them in an almost monotonous voice as if he was doing a book report for school. If he hadn't been a DF reviewer, he'd have difficulties making it on his own as a video game Youtuber.
 
Oliver doesn't have much of a personality, the videos are too long and he's presenting them in an almost monotonous voice as if he was doing a book report for school. If he hadn't been a DF reviewer, he'd have difficulties making it on his own as a video game Youtuber.

It doesn't even feels like he is presenting a video, more like he is talking to himself. He really needs to work that part out, because his videos end up terrible of how much low sound and unpresentable it looks.
 
BTW I don't remember him mentioning something about the global illumination did he? That's what I've enjoyed the most visually in this game, definitely a "game changer", I also don't remember him talking about how different whether conditions or time of day affect the lighting, etc.
 
Expected way better visuals. You look at Kena, another game with Nintendo'ish art direction, and that game is so far ahead in visuals, it's not even close. If Nintendo didn't focus on being a bus/train mobile gaming system, you would've gotten this pretty easily.
kena-bridge-of-spirits-image.jpg
 
I respect what they've done with MK World, and I appreciate it for what it is, but on a purely visual level, I'll take Moo Moo Meadows in MK8 over the Mario Kart World version. That track looked way better two generations ago.
 
another Nintendo shill that forgot that MK8 is a fucking WiiU port and that Mario Kart World was planned to SW1 but canned when MK8 didnt stop selling, but you are right, it would need some tweaks here and there, but it would run just fine.

Also it seens that SW1 is not good enough anymore :(
MK8 ran at 1080p60, while MKW runs at 1440p60. Dropping down to 1080p would get you 50% more performance, so if the Switch 2 is 5X faster, you have a 3.3X performance deficit remaining. Another way to think about that is it is like getting an Xbox One/PS4 game to run on the Switch 1.
 
MK8 ran at 1080p60, while MKW runs at 1440p60. Dropping down to 1080p would get you 50% more performance, so if the Switch 2 is 5X faster, you have a 3.3X performance deficit remaining. Another way to think about that is it is like getting an Xbox One/PS4 game to run on the Switch 1.
Like the Witcher 3 or Diying Light ? I mean, all kind of assets in those games are focusing on realism and MKW assets are far from It, but hey, If Switch cant handle this MKW beast of high assets and high texture game its fine and i ll say more, i m sure that most Nintendo Switch 1 user woudnt mind lower res , fps and assets if that mean playing MKW on Switch one, we just played compromise games for full 8 years and now 2 days after SW2 release its no good anymore, framerates, res and assets won over fun.
 
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Expected way better visuals. You look at Kena, another game with Nintendo'ish art direction, and that game is so far ahead in visuals, it's not even close. If Nintendo didn't focus on being a bus/train mobile gaming system, you would've gotten this pretty easily.
kena-bridge-of-spirits-image.jpg
Kena - 810p/30 fps on PS4/Segmented areas
MKW - 1440p(Native)/60fps/Open-World

Nintendo prioritize smooth gameplay over graphics for Mario Kart World.
 
Expected way better visuals. You look at Kena, another game with Nintendo'ish art direction, and that game is so far ahead in visuals, it's not even close. If Nintendo didn't focus on being a bus/train mobile gaming system, you would've gotten this pretty easily.
kena-bridge-of-spirits-image.jpg

To be fair, this is mostly an art direction choice. Kena's look has more in common with Fortnite than Nintendo, and I should imagine that a version of Kena could be handily ported to the new handheld if only its publisher had a mind to do it.
 
Expected way better visuals. You look at Kena, another game with Nintendo'ish art direction, and that game is so far ahead in visuals, it's not even close. If Nintendo didn't focus on being a bus/train mobile gaming system, you would've gotten this pretty easily.
kena-bridge-of-spirits-image.jpg
yeah, honestly pretty pathetic seeing some old farts trying their absolute hardest to convince themselves that this game looks current gen. lol
 
Like the Witcher 3 or Diying Light ? I mean, all kind of assets in those games are focusing on realism and MKW assets are far from It, but hey, If Switch cant handle this MKW beast of high assets and high texture game its fine.
Yes, I never said it was impossible. Nor did Nintendo as far as I can see. They just didn't think the compromise was worth it.

"When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system, 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."
 
Yes, I never said it was impossible. Nor did Nintendo as far as I can see. They just didn't think the compromise was worth it.

"When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system, 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."
yeah yeah, lets believe the multi billion dollar company that for the last two decades just made weak ass hardware and all of sudden is worry about compromising games perfomances while releasing games like Pokemon Scarlet.
 
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yeah yeah, lets believe the multi billion dollar company that for the last two decades just made weak ass hardware and all of sudden is worry about compromising games perfomances while releasing games like Pokemon Scarlet.
There's no need to "just believe" them. We know that to get 3X performance back you're talking about dropping down to at least 720p in docked mode and 480p in portable mode + substantial settings reductions. And on the CPU side, you could be talking about a reduction in cars as well.

At that point you're releasing a sequel that has theoretically better graphics at the cost of substantially worse image quality, as well as possible compromises to the game's vision.
 
I couldn't tell the difference between the two at times
The colours on Mario, they look umm... Muted? Less red in World. Not sure what it is, it could be the lighting? :pie_thinking: The kart is the correct red but clothing isn't. And the higher res.
 
There's no need to "just believe" them. We know that to get 3X performance back you're talking about dropping down to at least 720p in docked mode and 480p in portable mode + substantial settings reductions. And on the CPU side, you could be talking about a reduction in cars as well.

At that point you're releasing a sequel that has theoretically better graphics at the cost of substantially worse image quality, as well as possible compromises to the game's vision.
Nintendo fans before Sw2:
"Who cares about high assets or resolution, Nintendo is about fun"

Nintendo fans about cyberpunk:
"Its substantially worse game with worse image quality than the other console, the internal render resolution can dip lower, potentially as low as 540p docked and 360p handhelds, BUT, who care if its a compromised version, its running better than PS6, haters hate tnhks gooord four DLSS"

Nintendo fans about MKW possibility of running on SW1:
"you're talking about dropping down to at least 720p in docked mode and 480p in portable mode + substantial settings reductions. And on the CPU side, you could be talking about a reduction in cars as well" "substantially worse image quality, as well as possible compromises to the game's vision."

jim halpert GIF


i ll drop the subject here atm, there is no need to stay arguing over things that ll never change.
 
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Expected way better visuals. You look at Kena, another game with Nintendo'ish art direction, and that game is so far ahead in visuals, it's not even close. If Nintendo didn't focus on being a bus/train mobile gaming system, you would've gotten this pretty easily.
kena-bridge-of-spirits-image.jpg

Nintendo isn't even trying with these Mario Kart games. It's charmless, unappealing, cheaply made slop from a company creatively running on fumes yet making gazillions of yens in the process.
 
Nintendo isn't even trying with these Mario Kart games. It's charmless, unappealing, cheaply made slop from a company creatively running on fumes yet making gazillions of yens in the process.
i dont think the game is "charmless", but its clearly a game that was already half backed for SW1 and than was made into a SW2 otherwise SW2 would release without a "killer app", if was a planned MK for Switch2 since the beginning the game would look better imo. but Nintendo doesnt even need to try since fans ll eat anything and defend the company against all kinds of criticism.
 
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Nintendo fans 2 days ago:
"Who cares about high assets or resolution, Nintendo is about fun"

Nintendo fans about cyberpunk:
"Its substantially worse game with worse image quality than the other consoles, BUT, who care if its a compromised version, its running better than PS6, haters hate tnhks gooord"

Nintendo fans about MKW possibility of running on SW1:
"you're talking about dropping down to at least 720p in docked mode and 480p in portable mode + substantial settings reductions. And on the CPU side, you could be talking about a reduction in cars as well" "substantially worse image quality, as well as possible compromises to the game's vision."

jim halpert GIF
Every platform has a "sweet spot" where the resolution and settings work together to deliver the best visual quality at an acceptable performance level. On the Switch 1 version of MK8 Nintendo decided that this sweet spot was 1080p/720p at 60 FPS. They could have lowered the resolution and upgraded the graphics further, but they chose not to, likely at least in part because with the technology they had, they felt any extra perceived detail would be offset by the reduction in image quality.

Now we're talking about moving far away from that sweet spot to the point where image quality is degraded to the point that it likely impairs playability. And the question is, if you are right, and what matters ultimately is not fancy graphics but fun, why would Nintendo do this?

Following this reasoning, if there was a SW1 version of MKW, I would expect it to have close to MK8 class graphics in an open world setting, assuming that is feasible with the Switch 1 CPU.
 
The colours on Mario, they look umm... Muted? Less red in World. Not sure what it is, it could be the lighting? :pie_thinking: The kart is the correct red but clothing isn't. And the higher res.
Almost everything looks "washed out". Colors? Who need them? Needs some clarity mod + remove that crap fog + improve draw distance on emulator ASAP.
 
Kena - 810p/30 fps on PS4/Segmented areas
MKW - 1440p(Native)/60fps/Open-World

Nintendo prioritize smooth gameplay over graphics for Mario Kart World.
Did we forget when the PS4 came out? It's a 2013 console, why would it run well? I am only talking about visuals, not performance. Or if you want to include performance, at least play the game on the current playstation/xbox, assuming the game got a patch for current gen.
 
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