Mario Kart World 1.8.0 update adds Super Mario Kart courses

The Knockout Tour changes let players choose Propeller Rally and Turnip Rally if they have previously played one of those rallies in Knockout Tour. The update explicitly lists the SNES courses added to selectable pools: SNES Mario Circuit 1, 2, and 3 for Mario Circuit; SNES Ghost Valley 1, 2, and 3 for Ghost Valley; SNES Choco Island 1 and 2 for Choco Mountain; SNES Vanilla Lake 1 for Sky-High Sundae; and SNES Koopa Beach 1 for Koopa Beach. Item panels will appear on the SNES courses instead of item boxes, while the race that leads to Mario Circuit will retain item boxes.

Time Trials got two visible tweaks: each lap time is now shown during runs, and the color for the time difference versus ghost data was changed — faster player times appear in red while slower times are blue. Photo Mode on the pause menu now includes a filter for the frame. Spectator and observation controls were expanded: press Y to switch the camera to the player’s perspective while spectating or playing in races, Knockout Tour, or Battle mode, and press R to view participants’ real-time rankings when spectating. Players who join a room in Online Play or LAN Play can press Y from the pause menu to switch into Spectator Mode, which only allows watching without participating.

Room and matchmaking limits have been updated: up to 26 players can now join a room in Online Play or LAN Play, and up to 24 people may participate in the game itself; when there are 24 participants, no additional players can join the room until someone switches to Spectator Mode. Matchmaking math was adjusted too — the amount of rate fluctuation in races now varies according to course length, and the method for calculating rates when scores tie in Battle has changed. Several handling and item-system adjustments landed: slipperiness while covered in Blooper ink was tweaked, the number of wall bounces for Green Shells, Coin Shells, fireballs, ice balls and Boomerangs was decreased, the recovery time after being crushed by a Thwomp was shortened, and the invulnerability window after Boo steals an item was lengthened.

Item behavior and UI visibility were also altered. The probability of obtaining items from item boxes in races and Knockout Tour was adjusted, and Auto-Use Item can now be enabled while set to Custom Items. The game now reveals certain items rivals may be holding: Coin, ? Block, Kamek, Blooper, Feather, Fire Flower, Ice Flower, Boomerang, and Hammer. Track navigation was tightened in a few spots: wall riding around the edge of Ghost Valley is no longer possible, and buoys were added to the race routes that lead from Acorn Heights and Dry Bones Burnout to Boo Cinema. Finally, Nintendo fixed a long list of specific bugs, including issues with excessive rail-jump height when swinging the controller, respawn positions after going off-track on certain courses, a Spiny Shell traveling the wrong way along rails, and a series of location-specific problems in Bowser’s Castle, Dandelion Depths, Wario Stadium and Crown City.