Mario Kart World Surprise Update Adds New Knockout Tour Routes

Nintendo has updated Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World with new routes for its Knockout Tour mode, as part of a surprise update.

Drill Rally (that connects Wario Shipyard to Bowser’s Castle) and Boomerang Rally (Salty Salty Speedway to Whistlestop Summit) are now available to play, as part of the game's 1.7.0 update that you can download right now.

To be clear, as these are routes for the game's compulsive Knockout Tour mode, these are not new tracks per se. Instead, these are two new groupings of six existing course that you race towards and around in the hopes of not being eliminated.

One year on from launch, the wait for all-new tracks in Mario Kart World continues. But, if you've got all the gold trophies for Knockout Tour already, you now have two more to aim for. And more routes will be added in future, too, Nintendo has also said.

"These new routes become selectable once you clear at least one Knockout Tour rally," Nintendo stated as part of a blog post announcing the update. "Additional Knockout Tour routes are also planned for future updates."

As of yet, there appears to be no major tweaks to Mario Kart World's actual world — as fans spotted had happened in an earlier patch designed to quietly spruce up one of its duller corners. Meanwhile, One other notable addition in today's update is the ability to add stickers you've collected to your pictures taken in Photo Mode. So, yes, feel free to spam that cow everywhere.

While it's not the all-singing, all-dancing addition of new characters, karts and courses that many fans have now grown impatient for, it is at least something to show that Nintendo has not forgotten about the game. Here's hoping the future brings much more for Mario Kart World, even if we are waiting a while longer.

Today's full patch notes lie below:

General

• Drill Rally and Boomerang Rally have been added to Knockout Tour.
  • You can select these if you have played one of the rallies in Knockout Tour.
• When you are using Photo Mode on the pause menu, you can now add stickers.
  • You can add stickers using touch controls or mouse controls as well.
• Raised the acceleration performance of characters and vehicles that had low acceleration.
• Raised the gliding speed of characters that had high speed and that of some other characters and vehicles.
• Made it so the player can hop right away after being hit by Kamek’s magic or Bullet Bill.
• Adjusted conditions where the player can do a Jump Boost by shaking the controller when racing on top of the water.
• Adjusted behavior after landing on rivals and made it so the dash time after landing is longer.
• Made it so that the player can stop a slipstream when braking before the slipstream starts.
• Adjusted rate at which players can acquire items from item boxes in races and in Knockout Tour.
• Made it so that players can see the Super Horn a rival is holding.
• Added a ramp to the race that heads from Airship Fortress to Bowser's Castle.
• Added support for Thai.
  • You can change the language in System Settings > System > Language.

Fixed Issues

• Fixed an issue where the time after crossing the finish line in Time Trials would be incorrect.
  • Time Trials ghosts that have encountered this issue may be removed from View Rankings without notice.
• Fixed an issue where, when a player started gliding right after crashing, their speed while gliding would slow down.
• Fixed an issue where, when a player hit a Goomba or Para-Biddybud that they sent flying, the player would crash.
• Fixed an issue where the player would not be able to get on a helicopter in Online Play and Wireless Play.
• Fixed an issue where, when the player threw a Bob-omb behind them while riding a Standard Bike or W-Twin Chopper, they would not be able to throw it farther than when riding other vehicles.
• Fixed a number of issues regarding Bullet Bill.
• Fixed an issue where if a Spiny Shell hit a gold block or a broadcast van, it would break.
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through walls in Bowser’s Castle.
• Fixed an issue where the player would stay caught on an electronic sign in Dandelion Depths.
• Fixed an issue where if the player used a Feather after doing a Jump Boost in Dandelion Depths, they would fall off the course.
• Fixed an issue where the player would fall off the course after jumping on a parasol in the race heading to Salty Salty Speedway.
• Fixed an issue where the player would fall off the course when driving through the shortcut route in the race heading from Koopa Troopa Beach to Dino Dino Jungle.
• Fixed an issue where a player would have two coins taken from them at once in the race that heads east from Peach Stadium.
• Fixed an issue where if a player does a Jump Boost while rail riding in the race that heads from Cheep Cheep Falls to Dandelion Depths, they would fall from the rail.
• Fixed an issue where the player would hit the pole at a shop and not be able to move at Shy Guy Bazaar.
• Fixed an issue where Dry Bones falls through the ground around Dry Bones Burnout.
• Fixed an issue where if the player was driving along the edge of the course, they would fall off the course in the race that heads from Wario Shipyard to DK Pass or Cheep Cheep Falls.
• Fixed an issue where the player would be returned very far in front at various times when they fell off the course on various courses.
• Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social