Mario Kart World Reveals 6 Exciting New Items

At the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct, the company aired a 16-minute-long presentation that gave fans a bit of insight into what to expect in the upcoming game. While we saw eight tracks, a return to battle mode, and a better look at what exactly the open world-inspired “free roam” means, one of the more competitive gameplay-altering news announcements was the six new items that will be coming to Mario Kart World.

The six items that will be added to the game are as follows: coin shell, ice flower, hammer, mega mushroom, feather, and Kamek. Each item provides its own unique power-up. The coin shell acts like a regular shell, but leaves a train of coins behind it that players can pick up. An ice flower can be thrown to freeze a player and wipe them out. Hammers can be thrown, banana style, into the course and block paths. If a player hits a hammer, they will wipe out. The Mega Mushroom essentially makes a player huge.

Kamek Item

Kamek is an intriguing new item because it is not entirely clear how it will work in Mario Kart World. The example in the presentation showed the item transforming opponent players into football players, and it is clear Kamek will use his magic to transform things. What is unclear is what other types of themes Kamek transforms players into. The presentation did not give any other indication, but implied there would be some surprising looks in store.

Finally, the new feather was an item that was spoken about a bit in the Nintendo Treehouse. This feather allows players to initiate big hops, instead of the normal small hops you can do already. The jump allows players to not just leap over objects, but also avoid items opponents throw at them, up to and including the dreaded blue shell. The ability to avoid a blue shell is a polarizing addition, but keep in mind, players have to know how to time it to get it right.

Final Thoughts

With a legacy as long as Mario Kart, the franchise has to keep the games fresh by introducing new elements to keep fans engaged. Some entries may have smaller changes, but it appears that Mario Kart World is working to shake things up, both in modes and in gameplay. Some of the new items do not appear that exciting, but others really bring the intrigue. When you add in that races will now consist of 24 competitors, fans can picture the chaos these new items can bring to the race. Hopefully, when the game launches, it lives up to the hype.