The Switch 2’s big launch title, Mario Kart World, has sure shifted a lot of copies and consoles. In March 2026 Nintendo revealed the game had sold an extraordinary 14.7 million copies in its first nine months, so you’d imagine the Switch 2 company would be hearing the clamor and regularly updating the game with new tracks. Except, extraordinarily, despite some very welcome updates and patches, in its first year not a single new track has been added, and it’s only now in July 2026 that the game has added a couple more Knockout Tour rally routes. But an even more intriguing aspect of the newly released version 1.7.0 is that players are reporting getting far better power-ups when driving in first place. For the first 20 seconds of a race, anyway.
It’s long been the case that when you’re first in Mario Kart, you’re penalized with only the crappiest power-ups. Your pick-ups usually turn out to be either coins or bananas, and while the latter still offers some sabotaging fun, it’s a very limited toolset for maintaining your lead. That’s understandable, too—the series has always featured the most slanted item distribution imaginable, giving those at the rear of the pack incredible power-ups to ensure everyone playing has a chance of catching up to the lead, thus keeping races interesting and fun. But since last night’s update, people are taking to the internet in shock or delight as they find that for the opening 20 seconds of races, even folks in first place are picking up items like Triple Mushrooms and the invincibility-giving Boo.
Ok I was testing what changed in Mario kart world 1.7.0 update and did I just pull a boo and triple mushrooms in 1st place the hell ??? pic.twitter.com/ukrYMiUaqa
— ✨Hafiz ✨ (@HafizPikmin) July 1, 2026
This adds a whole new dynamic to the early stage of the race, allowing players who get a good start out the gates to take further advantage of an early lead, rather than being immediately bombarded by those playing catch-up. It’s not long-lasting, and pretty soon you’ll be back down to hoping for some Green Shells at best, while everyone behind you can begin bombarding you with Lightning, Bullet Bill, and Blooper’s infuriating inky splatters. Notably, this tweak is not mentioned in Nintendo’s patch notes.
The biggest change with the item system in Mario Kart World's 1.7.0 update is that for the first 20 seconds, everyone pulls mid pack items, minus most attack items. For example, 1st place pulls 5th/12 or 24 player items, allowing Triple Mushrooms & Boos! Running got a HUGE buff! pic.twitter.com/Gi2hqFINaU
— Mankalor (@Mankalor) July 1, 2026
Patch 1.7.0 also adds the very first new routes to Mario Kart World, a couple of new rallies running between race locations for the Knockout Tour. There’s Drill Rally, which runs between Wario Shipyard and Bowser’s Castle, and Boomerang Rally, which goes from Salty Salty Speedway to Whistlestop Summit. That’s very welcome, but it’s still extremely bizarre that we haven’t seen even one new quartet of tracks added in a whole year, given the franchise’s usual propensity for regularly dropping in new versions of classic tracks from the series’ history.
The patch also adds in a bunch of tweaks, boosting low-acceleration characters and vehicles and improving gliding speeds, and there’s a new ramp on the Airship Fortress to Bowser’s Castle race route. The other larger update is an option to add stickers in Photo Mode, if that’s your bag.
However, for those hoping for news on a more significant update, Nintendo is certainly keeping mum. The only future detail is a promise of “additional Knockout Tour routes” planned for future updates. Here’s the full details of what’s in version 1.7.0:
Latest update: Ver. 1.7.0 (Released June 30, 2026)
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.
