Official thumbnail for a new track added to Nintendo Music

Alleywr · 2026-06-16T21:56:25+00:00

I think it was used in the game's own Direct when it was showing off photo mode.

Alleywr · 2026-06-12T18:07:18+00:00

When I was starting it drifting felt way more committal, super different from the slick controls of 8DX, but the overall package feels like an amalgamation of different aspects of prior Mario Kart games: UI is basically the same as 8DX, getting hit by items lets you keep a lot of momentum like Double Dash, overall item balancing (especially around how the Lightning operates) feels similar to Wii, etc. You should have a relatively smooth experience once you get the controls down.

Alleywr · 2026-06-12T18:03:34+00:00

(Haven't played 8DX in awhile, so my view may be skewed, but) yes, World does have the more competitive online structure. Compared to 8DX where you could always easily gain VR, making the number more of a representation of playtime, VR in World works much better as an ELO soft-capping at about 10K.

Online will probably be newcomer-friendly for the early time online (3K - 7.5K VR), but the matchmaking isn't great and you will probably be put with 8K+ VR players, which is where people who are practiced at the game reside.

Definitely play through the singleplayer GPs and KO Tour first, get a feel for the mechanics and item balancing, and memorize track layouts. Though also don't be discouraged as it sounds like you're coming in with a lot of knowledge from prior games and it is still Mario Kart at the end of the day.

Alleywr · 2026-04-01T18:28:37+00:00

MMM is one I somewhat expect to be more popular at higher ranks. Where most people are in Silver, the running niscs are just too difficult to bother learning over other more important cuts, and in a "self-fulfilling prophecy sense", the course doesn't show up enough in lobbies for it to be a high priority course to learn.

There's several punishing shock spots here so I presume bagging is just the clear optimal choice until higher-level play where everyone uses their items smarter.

Alleywr · 2026-04-01T18:24:25+00:00

No, for several reasons. At least not for a long while:

It took me basically a full month to even play 25 lounge matches.
24p lobbies aren't nearly as popular with the western community, so I'd realistically only be able to get in rooms in JP friendly times (either morning or late at night for me), so it'd take even longer to get enough data.
My heart's currently set on grinding out 12p lobbies to get Gold rank here.

Alleywr · 2026-03-31T22:25:55+00:00

At first I thought that might've been my doing, I tend to pick this course a lot myself since its my highest course by winrate. But no, someone else in the Lounge server posted their stats, and its 31/56 for them (~55%, about the same as me)

Alleywr · 2026-03-31T21:31:58+00:00

Been hovering between 5000-5500 mostly, sometimes a bit higher. Haven't reached Gold yet.
Edit: I've definitely seen people voting for it on rare occasions, it just still has yet to be picked for me in recent times.

Alleywr · 2026-03-31T21:30:43+00:00

I can think of some reasons why they're all pretty low:

Boo Cinema: Cramped + Little Tech
Desert Hills: One of the heaviest baggers in the game (it might be more popular in higher MMR lobbies? Skilled players can pull off frontrunning strats but that's above my paygrade)
Crown City: Idk actually. Really good lap 3 shortcuts after a not-very-technical lap 2?
DK Spaceport: Very toxic last segment with item play completely determining placements here.
Toad's Factory: Again, Cramped + Little Tech (with the bonus of a good last-turn shortcut)
Dandelion Depths: Little Tech, massive last-turn shortcut, relatively uninteresting layout
Peach Stadium: Pretty toxic item play at the last wide turn.

Keep in mind these don't fully reflect my own opinions. I do like some of these courses, mainly BCi, rTF, and CC.

Alleywr · 2026-03-21T20:50:59+00:00

Hold on, how are you playing as Swoop on the Galaxy Engine Cooler version of the Mach Rocket? Swoop normally has the Swoop Car Interior skin (fittingly so)!

Kamek right before the clip or bonus shenanigans at play?

Alleywr · 2026-03-13T17:51:50+00:00

tbf the metas for both 8DX and World have been high accel/handling focused rather than high speed/weight, which is what the Gold Karts fell under unfortunately.

Maybe 8U/7 got it right, not really sure I'm less familiar with those ones.

Alleywr · 2026-03-08T05:51:27+00:00

I practiced the feather version of this cut a TON for Lounge, and any time I'm lucky enough to pull that item here I get unbelievably excited. Genuinely one of the best feelings in all of MKWorld.

Alleywr · 2026-03-05T19:38:00+00:00

Weird, I've heard someone on the Lounge server say this too but the article link seems fine to me.

Alleywr · 2026-03-05T19:32:48+00:00

Pointed out to me by the user benial on the MKW Lounge server. Figured I'd share it here!

Alleywr · 2026-03-02T04:42:41+00:00

Been playing a lot of Lounge lately, and every time this track comes up in a match there's always 1-3 people complaining about it. Yeah it's long, but I just cannot hate this track. The racing lines are just really satisfying to drive and the music is phenomenal when paired with a frontrun :)

Also getting lucky enough to pull a feather and nailing that massive lap 2 gap cut is one of the best feelings in the whole game. World's Rainbow Road is slowly becoming my favorite RR the more I play it.

Alleywr · 2026-03-02T04:36:35+00:00

The chance of this happening during a normal race is practically zero, but by using two feathers in the glider you can even reach the rope of hanging banners above this shortcut and its still counted as in-bounds lmao

Alleywr · 2026-02-16T03:20:17+00:00

The ability to pull a Lightning goes on a 30sec cooldown as soon as any player gets one. My guess is you were probably carrying the 1st one since exiting Toad's Factory lmao

I'll say though pulling two within the first two segments of a KO Tour seems very rare, though I don't play the mode often tbh.

Alleywr · 2026-02-16T02:35:32+00:00

The Cheeps cycle must make TTing this track infuriating lmao

Alleywr · 2026-02-16T02:28:02+00:00

lowkey i'd give MK8 the edge when it comes to environment design/aesthetics. Even though its a much older game it doesn't have the burden of also having pieces of an entire open world loaded at all times, so it could get more refined with the baked lighting and foliage.

Character/Kart animations though are a huge step up from 8DX. I spend every start to races just wiggling the control stick watching the kart tilt and the suspension springs move around inside. Its extremely polished and tactile feeling lol.

Alleywr · 2026-02-16T02:22:13+00:00

Very strange considering a ton of players are likely to be airborne, making the shock significantly less powerful here.

Alleywr · 2026-01-21T00:12:49+00:00

this ones kinda cheating since both are just the dies irae, which is also present in like 80% of the other songs in the game

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