Nintendo has recently released Update 1.3.0 for Mario Kart World, which fixes over a dozen issues and introduces some helpful changes to the popular racing game. While Mario Kart World has not received any major content additions yet, these frequent updates help to keep the game balanced.
Released together with the Nintendo Switch 2 back in June, Mario Kart World was the biggest launch title of the new platform. Mario Kart World received positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and open-world ambitions, and it currently stands with an average critic score of 87 on OpenCritic.
Some important changes have been made with Mario Kart World’s Update 1.3.0, which became available on September 23. After the update, it’ll be easier to encounter UFOs in the Free Roam, as well as transform into the character pulled from them. One common complaint that some gamers had was addressed, too, as now the Free Roam map displays the locations of P Switches run over and Peach Medallions already obtained. Some balancing changes were also implemented, increasing the invincibility time after spinning or crashing during a race, reducing the force of jumps when landing on a rival, and more.
The patch also corrects over a dozen bugs, including some instances where online rankings were incorrect, Spiny Shells would pass the first-place player, and the second item slot would not disappear when hit by Lightning, for example. Ultimately, this latest patch is similar in size to the previous Mario Kart World update, which corrected dozens of issues and made some changes to the rules of VS Race modes. One of the most noteworthy changes implemented by the previous patch was a noticeable nerf to the Boomerang Flower item, making players need to aim it more carefully to hit others.
Mario Kart World was a huge hit, selling over a million units in Japan and five million worldwide in a short timeframe, with that number expected to continue to improve through eventual DLC support. Games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, have been supported for years, so it’s expected that the same will happen with the current iteration of the franchise, and more content may be added in the future.
While gamers wait for more content, they can participate in an upcoming online event recently confirmed for Mario Kart World, which will be held on September 27. While the event won’t give any rewards to players, it’ll still be an excellent opportunity to show off a player’s skills.
Mario Kart World Update Ver. 1.3.0 (Released September 23, 2025)
General
- You can now join friends playing “Knockout Tour” by selecting “Friends” from “Online Play” “1p.”
- Up to 2 players can now play “Free Roam” while waiting if the game was full when trying to join friends playing “Race,” “Knockout Tour” or “Battle” in “Online Play.”
- The “Free Roam” map now displays the locations of P Switches you’ve run over and Peach Medallions you’ve obtained.
- You can now select a P Switch from the map and move to a location near the P Switch.
- In “Free Roam”, you can now transform into the character pulled into the UFO.
- If “Dash Food” in “Settings/Controller” is set to “Doesn’t transform” then you will not transform.
- It is now easier to encounter UFOs in “Free Roam.”
- The conditions for the appearance of some Peach Medallions in “Free Roam” have been adjusted.
- When spectating in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”, you can now choose who to watch, even if you are holding the Joy-Con 2 or Joy-Con horizontally.
- Decreased the time between when an item box is taken by someone and the next time it is revived.
- Increased the invincible time after spinning or crashing during a race.
- Reduced the force of jumps when landing on a rival from above.
- Decreased the amount of time between when you finish and when spectating begins in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play.”
- Decreased the amount of time between passing through the checkpoint and when the ranking is displayed in “Knockout Tour” in “Wireless Play” and “LAN Play.”
- Further increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in “VS Race” and wireless races.
Fixed Issues
- Fixed an issue in “Online Play” and “Wireless Play” where the ranking would sometimes become incorrect if a player went off course at the same time as reaching the finish line.
- Fixed an issue in “Grand Prix”, “Knockout Tour”, and “VS Race”, where the CPU’s ranking would sometimes drop after reaching the finish line.
- Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play” where other players’ ratings would sometimes appear as “0” on the results screen.
- Fixed an issue where a Spiny Shell would sometimes pass the first place player in “Wireless Play” or “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be sent flying backwards a great distance when hit by a Spiny Shell.
- Fixed an issue where the second item in an item slot would sometimes not disappear when hit by Lightning.
- Fixed an issue where hitting the base of a pillar in mid-air would sometimes cause a large jump.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused movement to become unstable when doing a wall ride on water.
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be swept away strongly after landing when doing a mini jump while going up a river.
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes pass through the ground when hit by a car driving on the road.
- Fixed an issue in “Free Roam” where players would sometimes be unable to enter pipes correctly after exiting a trailer.
- Fixed an issue where the results screen would sometimes become distorted after spectating “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes not proceed to the course selection screen after exiting a pipe during “Free Roam” in “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where Bullet Bill would sometimes slip through walls when used in “Sky-High Sundae.”
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck on a wall at the start of the race heading from “Airship Fortress” to “Shy Guy Bazaar.”
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck in walls when using a Bullet Bill in “Bowser’s Castle.”
- Fixed an issue in “Cheep Cheep Falls” where item boxes were sometimes difficult to pick up when Smart Steering was turned on.
- Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” “Spiny Rally” where sometimes there was an item box buried in the ground.
- Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.