Mario Kart World added an unexpected, interconnected open world where every track exists simultaneously. Both the Grand Prix and the new Knockout Tour mode take advantage of this by including the connecting roads as part of the races. While it’s a lot of fun, this can make the tracks themselves feel less special if you’re only on them for the last lap.
Read More: Mario Kart World: Six Awesome Things To Do In Free Roam
The good news is that the traditional lap courses exist! To race on them consistently, you’ll need to play specific modes and sometimes choose vaguely-named settings. Yes, Nintendo did put out a poorly-received update that made this a lot harder, but they didn’t make it impossible. Let’s go over how to set up some good old-fashioned circuit races.
How to play lap-based tracks offline
If you’re playing offline and are trying to race on closed-circuit tracks, you can do so in the Time Trial or VS modes. Time Trial mode exclusively features courses in this format. I assume the longer and random nature of the connecting paths is too heavy a contrast when trying to get the best time.
Read More: Your Kart’s Stats Are As Important As Ever In Mario Kart World
Doing some laps in VS mode is more complicated. After choosing your character and kart, you’ll be taken to the VS race settings screen. Go down to Course Selection and make sure it’s set to “Open.” This will let you choose every track and whether it connects to another one. Select a track and then select it again on the preceding list to make it a closed circuit race.
Read More: Here’s Every Mario Hero Outfit You Can Collect In Mario Kart World
You can play these with less consistency using the other Course Selection settings. Going with “Random” is true to the name. Sometimes this put me into a connecting race and sometimes it put me in the old-school type. “Connected” will give you free rein for the first track, but will limit the ensuing choices to three typically connecting races or a random button. Pressing the random button usually resulted in a separate closed-circuit race, although it would occasionally pick something that connected two tracks.
How to play lap-based tracks online
Racing some closed laps against online opponents is also possible. The bad news is that doing so is more or less left to luck. After finishing a race, all the players will get to vote on what the next track will be. Everyone’s choices will be displayed on the screen’s perimeter as the game cycles through before picking one.
Read More: Mario Kart World Has A Whole Bunch Of Extra Characters For You To Unlock
Just like VS mode and the “Connected” setting, the options are three tracks and the random button. I’ve only seen it offer one unconnected track at most among the listed choices. Picking Random in an online lobby before the recent update always resulted in a three-lap experience. After the update went live, picking Random now incorporates the chances of getting a connecting track from your current location. We don’t know what the odds are for anything, but most people are seeing the intermission tracks a lot more often.
I’m of the mindset that the function was likely bugged before. Choosing “Random” to limit the choices down to specifically closed-lap races doesn’t sound right when you think about it. This might be a case of something being fixed at the expense of being less fun. Then again, this game gives you vague settings labeled “Connected” and “Open” so who can say how the hell any of this is meant to work. For now, your safest bet for racing some simple laps online is to select an unconnected track whenever it’s a choice. If you don’t like the track or maybe don’t even get an unconnected option, go with random and pray for the best.
Read More: Here’s Every Mario Villain Outfit You Can Collect In Mario Kart World
Here’s hoping that Mario Kart World is updated in the future to make this easier and not more difficult…again. For those of you who have only started putting the pedal to the metal, remember not to underestimate how helpful collecting coins is.
.