Mario Kart World Drops Massive Patch Fans Begged for as Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Closes in — Why Was This Not at Launch?

If you were about to jump to Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds because Mario Kart World was getting on your nerves, Nintendo just tossed a banana peel in Sega's path. A new patch for Mario Kart World quietly landed right as people are flocking to Sonic's new racer, and it actually tackles a bunch of the stuff players have been yelling about since launch.

The setup: a good game dragged by bad vibes

Mario Kart World reviewed well out of the gate, but the discourse got dominated by three headaches: too many intermission tracks clogging online play, hidden stats you had to dig for, and character unlocks tied to Kamek's irritating lottery. Sega, smelling blood, leaned into the old Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry with a cheeky ad, and early chatter around Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has been friendlier than you might expect given the review scores. Timing-wise, Nintendo pushing this patch now is not an accident.

What Nintendo just fixed (and changed)

• Lap tracks are back in the rotation: Nintendo says it has further increased how often lap-type courses show up. This comes after a previous update weirdly did the opposite, so yeah, fewer intermission detours should hit online now.
• Fast travel got less annoying: From the map, you can now select a P Switch and warp near it. There are a ton of new fast travel points in general, so getting around the overworld should feel less like a road trip with bad snacks.
• The UFO finally matters: You can now transform into the character you beam up with the UFO in free roam. Translation: you can unlock every character by abducting NPCs instead of praying to RNGesus and the Kamek item. The UFO also spawns more often on the map after this update, so the system is actually usable.

Why that UFO change is a big deal

This is one of those inside-baseball tweaks that fixes a core frustration. Before, unlocking characters meant grinding Kamek's random pulls. Now, hop in the UFO when it appears, scoop up an NPC with the beam, and when the UFO session ends, you are racing as that character. It is simple, it is clear, and it should have been there day one.

"WHY WAS THIS NOT ON LAUNCH"

That was one of the nicer reactions on social after a clip of the change made the rounds today (Sept 24, 2025). Other takes ranged from the expected "THAT'S SO COOL HOLY SHIT" to the slightly petty "Oh boy the people who spent hours of their lives just to get all the npc characters from kamel are gonna be so pissed when they see this lol." Speaking as someone who looked at the Kamek grind and thought, 'man that ain't worth it,' I feel extremely vindicated.

Big picture

Between a smarter track mix, quicker map movement, and an actually sane character unlock path, this is the most player-friendly Mario Kart World has felt since launch. And yes, the timing is delicious given Sega's ad and the early enthusiasm around Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. The console war cosplay writes itself.

One last spicy take before I go: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds' portals are better than Mario Kart World's road trips, and some of y'all aren't ready to hear that.