Back in 1985, when my family acquired Nintendo’s original NES gaming system, my life changed for the better – but when the Japanese tech brand released the hand-held Gameboy in 1989 and the Super Nintendo console in 1991, my parents put their feet down and refused to keep upgrading our video game systems every time a new one hit shelves. But my love and devotion to Mario, Link and Nintendo’s other licensed characters did not die that day. In fact, it’s been the complete opposite. I can’t even begin to fathom the hours I’ve spent button-mashing my way through every console Nintendo has blessed us with including the original Gameboy, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U and original Switch. I will admit that when the brand revealed that the follow-up to the Switch would simply be the Switch 2 and it turned out to look quite similar, I had some doubts. Those doubts were quickly laid to rest the first time I picked up the newly magnetic joy-con.
“Mario Kart” has always been a favorite, taking me back to playing “Double Dash” on Gamecube in college and, more recently, playing “Mario Kart 8” with my niece and nephew. My first experience with the Switch 2 was trying out “Mario Kart World,” which gave me the familiar euphoric feeling I’ve experienced so many times throughout my life. It’s the game so many of us grew up playing with added features like an open world mode and knockout rounds. It took a lot of self-discipline not to stay up all night trying to unlock all of the characters and vehicles.
