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After a couple of hours, Mario Kart World's open world left me slightly underwhelmed - but is there more to it?


Mario Kart World is still Mario Kart, and so still brilliant fun - but so far the new features are a tad underwhelming.

Much has understandably been made of this camera and the mystical C-button's positioning as a kind of punt for the Gen Zs and Alphas of this world, but - not to get too deep - in practice it's more a reflection of how interaction has simply changed between humans overall, particularly after Covid-19 and the accompanying shifts in social media. I find it hard to think of a time I've laughed harder in video games recently than when pulling faces at colleagues while haring past them through absolutely no skill of my own, stewing at my place on the leaderboard, or simply zooming in obnoxiously close when setting up the camera itself. I never actually saw this connect with other racers in action but, theoretically, that seems to mean it could hit nearby players in second or third, as well as the current front-runner, potentially balancing out the perceived downside of moving into top spot.

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