I can already tell Mario Kart World will be full of sweat

Mario Kart has always been a little toxic. It is not quite the same level of “Friendship ruins” as Mario Party, but if you yet a blue shell in my direction moment before a goal line and do not expect me to start, you have another thing to come, Buster.

There are few things that are more competitive in video games than sitting down with some friends, starting up a 150cc cup and running until Goombas comes home. I have dipped back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the ordinary now that the world is on the horizon, and it feels like cycling for the first time in year when you gradually get used to everything again. But when you do, it is as if you never left.

Mario Kart works because it has always been available

But what surprised and pleased me so much about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when I returned to it is how easy the game is to play. All you really need to do is speed up, drive and use items while navigating in many familiar tracks.

Obviously, in higher rank, you must use better to increase, drive and shortcuts to get out on top; But apart from that, I can give a controller to anyone, and they will get things in minutes.

Play online so you get people to use this little suite with mechanics to end up first, while you will notice increasingly sophisticated ways to combine them and leave opponents in the dust. But if you are not an online player, it doesn't matter.

Since its inception, Mario Kart has proud to be easy to pick up and play for all ages, and I bet it is a big reason why Deluxe is the best-selling Switch game so far and why its successor is launched with a direct sequel. But will it have the same impact?

Daisy rides a Jetski against Waluigi in Mario Kart World

After this week's Mario Kart World Direct, it is obvious that the Nintendo Switch 2 launch title will take the series formula to the next level. For starters, it is an open world, and instead of each Grand Prix taking place in isolated cases, you will instead compete over different biomas to reach each, interact with the environment and NPCs along the way.

It is a new way to play Mario Kart, one that puts experiments and discoverability over ease. As an avid player I am a big fan of this approach, but can I say the same as my mother or younger siblings and nephew? I'm not so sure right now.

It is worth noting that I would not be shocked if the finished game offers a way to enjoy a Grand Prix but the open world, as it would not take much to do this.

The same can be said for how it expands on the traditional game to run, run and increase with the implementation of grinding, wall and different types of terrain that will play during most races. You can even jump to avoid incoming obstacles and objects now, some hardcore player will use incredibly.

Have you ever invited some friends round for a house party and thrown on Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros, and you have a guy who is so good at the game that he makes it an absolute drill for everyone else? I don't want the audience playing Mario Kart World to lean too heavy in that direction. And if you are one of these people please look at yourself in the mirror.

A cow rides on a motorcycle in Mario Kart World.

But what worries me most is that all these different skills and how they stop being used together will raise the Mario Kart skill ceiling to such a degree that relaxed players are at risk of being frozen.

They deserve to play online and have fun in similar multiplayer settings as well, but what if they don't know all the best routes, moving combinations and characters? It risks destroying an experience that is intended to be enjoyed by all, or overcomplicate a series that previously can all master with enough time and patience.

The world will make it harder, and as someone who plays online regularly, I am sadly unprepared for the legions of sweaty buggers that will grind, drive and dive about the place with incredible amounts of skill, and I ask that it does not make the game a nightmare to play. We just want to have fun …