Mario Kart World has secret vehicles and a 'damn good' 120fps mode (2025)

Ahead of a dedicated Nintendo Direct, people have already uncovered some of Mario Kart World’s secrets at a recent Switch 2 event.

While there remains some understandable controversy regarding Mario Kart World’s price, it’s hard not to be excited for what is set up to be the largest entry in the series.

We were very impressed by it after our hands-on preview and you’re sure to find plenty of positive impressions on social media by those who got to experience at the London preview event over the weekend.

Some players even managed to stumble across some extra secrets not yet discussed by Nintendo, including larger vehicles you can pilot in the open world.

YouTuber GetMadz drew attention to this with a recording of their play session at the London event, where they drove out into the open sea and spotted some kind of hovercraft.

Upon driving into it, they were able to pilot it themselves before eventually disembarking back on dry land.

This certainly isn’t the only example. In the game’s announcement trailer, you can see Birdo drive into the back of a truck and take control of it. We experienced this exact example while at the London event and were able to knock past other vehicles while roaming the open world.

It’s not entirely clear if these hidden vehicles are exclusive to the free roam mode or can be used in regular races, but the example seen in the trailer suggests it could be the latter since other characters can be seen.

Elsewhere, Digital Foundry and Engadget have claimed that Mario Kart World will boast an option to run at 120 frames per second rather than the standard 60 after its own hands-on session.

Although neither have footage to demonstrate how 120fps looks in action, Engadget has nothing but praise for it, calling it ‘damn good’ and that ‘Racing has never looked this smooth on any Nintendo console.’

With any luck, all these features and more will be explained in greater detail at the upcoming Nintendo Direct.

When is the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct?

A Nintendo Direct dedicated entirely to Mario Kart World is scheduled to air this week on Thursday, April 17 at 2pm BST.

Nintendo hasn’t said how long it will run for, so there’s currently no telling how extensive it will be. There’s also no telling whether it’ll be enough to win over the people who are unhappy with the game’s £75 price tag.

Hopefully, Nintendo will use the Direct to promote the Nintendo Switch 2 bundle that includes a copy of Mario Kart World since it’s £429.99 and thus lets you get the game at a cheaper price.

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