Nintendo has announced another free update for Mario Kart World, adding more retro course options and expanding Knockout Tour with two additional rallies. The update was revealed during the September 9 Nintendo Direct focused on Switch 2 and is scheduled to become available the same day. Its biggest change is the ability to use existing SNES-inspired courses in VS Race, alongside two new routes for the game’s elimination-style Knockout Tour mode.
The SNES additions do not appear to be completely new courses built specifically for the update. Instead, Nintendo is making more of the Super Mario Kart-inspired roads already present in Mario Kart World available as selectable courses in VS Race. Those retro-styled sections have previously existed as parts of the game’s interconnected world, but the update gives players another way to race on them directly without relying on Free Roam or routes that happen to pass through those areas.
That distinction means the update is smaller than a traditional Mario Kart DLC pack filled with entirely new tracks. Mario Kart World was designed around an interconnected map where roads, classic locations and purpose-built circuits feed into one another, so some sections of the world have not always been available as conventional standalone races. Expanding the VS selection therefore makes better use of content already built into the map rather than dramatically increasing the size of the game itself.
Knockout Tour is receiving fresh content at the same time. Nintendo confirmed two additional rallies for the mode, continuing a rollout that has steadily expanded the available routes since launch. Knockout Tour starts with 24 drivers racing continuously across the world, eliminating lower-placed competitors at checkpoints until only the final group remains.
Nintendo has already expanded that mode several times through free updates. Version 1.7.0 in June added Drill Rally and Boomerang Rally, following earlier improvements that introduced team-based Knockout Tour races. At the time, Nintendo explicitly said more rallies would be added in future updates, and the newly announced pair continues that promise.
Mario Kart World launched alongside Nintendo Switch 2 in June 2025 and replaced the more traditional sequence of isolated circuits with a large connected driving environment. Grand Prix races can include the roads between courses, while Free Roam lets players leave the normal race structure entirely and explore the world. Knockout Tour takes that connected design further by stringing multiple locations together into long elimination races without standard breaks between circuits.
Nintendo has continued adjusting both Mario Kart World and the wider series since the Switch 2 arrived. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also received a substantial Switch 2-focused update earlier this year, including eight-player split-screen and several Switch 2 enhancements, even though Mario Kart World remains the system’s current flagship entry. The two games now offer noticeably different interpretations of the series, with World emphasizing its connected environment and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe retaining the more traditional course-selection structure.
The new update also comes after several previous Mario Kart World patches focused on quality-of-life improvements, balance adjustments and new functionality. Nintendo has added features such as team Knockout Tour races, additional rallies and sticker placement in Photo Mode while continuing to tweak vehicle behavior and online play. The latest release follows the same approach, expanding existing modes rather than introducing a large paid expansion.
Nintendo has not positioned the September update as the beginning of a broader DLC program, and no paid Mario Kart World expansion was announced during the presentation. For now, the focus remains on free additions that make greater use of the game’s existing world and gradually add more variety to Knockout Tour.
The latest Mario Kart World update is available for Nintendo Switch 2 beginning September 9, 2026. Players will gain access to the expanded SNES course selection in VS Race and two additional Knockout Tour rallies once the update is installed.
