Mario Kart World Features Giant Trucks And Boats You Can Use To Dominate Races

Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World looks to be hiding plenty of new features and details in its huge open-world, and one of them, the ability to drive big-rig trucks or even boats, might just be a game-changer.

As highlighted by YouTuber GetMadz at a recent Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on event, Mario Kart World will let players take control of oversized vehicles found in the game's world or on the side of race tracks. Players can simply drive into the question-box portion of the special vehicle with their kart to temporarily pilot it.

In GetMadz's case, that saw them driving into a large boat while exploring an ocean during the game's free-roam mode, after which it was explained that there are similar large vehicles that can be used to take out the competition on the game's land-based courses. While GetMadz got to drive the boat in free roam, they said it was also accessible during an actual race.

There's actually a glimpse of this in-action in Mario Kart World's reveal trailer, when Birdo drives into a semi-truck in the middle of a race and then proceeds to plow over some fellow racers.

It's currently unclear how many of these special vehicles there might be or if there will be one for each type of terrain. Nintendo will likely share more details about the feature during an upcoming Mario Kart World Direct on April 17.

Mario Kart World will be $80 while other Switch 2 titles will be $70 or less. Nintendo has defended the price, saying it is based on how "robust" Mario Kart World is and calling it the "richest" game in the series, with many more secrets and details for players to discover.

Fans have already combed available Mario Kart World footage to get an idea of how many playable characters will be included at launch, with what appears to be 84 characters (including costume variants) in total. In GameSpot's hands-on Mario Kart World preview, we called the next installment in the franchise an "ambitious successor" to Mario Kart 8 centered by new ideas and fun surprises.

Mario Kart World will launch alongside the Switch 2 on June 5. Nintendo will offer a console bundle that includes Mario Kart World, but preorders, originally slated to go live on April 9, have been indefinitely delayed due to new US tariffs enacted by the Trump administration. Originally set to retail for $450, the Switch 2 could potentially see a price increase due to the tariffs, according to some analysts. Nintendo has not yet announced a new preorder date or price.