The Nintendo Switch 2 has been a hit since its June launch, thanks in large part to early flagship titles like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. This week, both games received exciting new updates, with Mario Kart World players set to experience the most significant improvements.
The latest Mario Kart World patch, Version 1.3.0, introduces a host of fantastic enhancements to the “Free Roam” mode. Now, you can even enjoy Free Roam with a second player while waiting for friends to join a race! Plus, finding UFOs and collecting items in Free Roam is much simpler, as the map will now clearly show you which collectibles you’ve already discovered.
This update also smooths out some frustrating glitches. Say goodbye to losing your ranking for going slightly off-course near the finish line or getting stuck in Bowser’s Castle walls when using a Bullet Bill. These are mostly quality-of-life adjustments, making the overall experience much more enjoyable.
Meanwhile, Donkey Kong Bananza’s Version 2.0.1 patch focuses on a few key fixes. Pauline’s energetic shout voices will now correctly match your chosen language – no more English shouts when you’ve selected another! The update also resolves a bug that prevented players from earning a disc reward after collecting all balloons in “Bananza Rehearsal.” If you encountered this issue previously, simply re-entering Bananza Rehearsal after the update will grant you your well-deserved disc.
In other news, players recently discovered a humorous quirk in Mario Kart World: NPCs stealing cars, Grand Theft Auto-style! While their former drivers seem unfazed, it adds a fun, unexpected layer to the game. For Donkey Kong Bananza fans, don’t forget the recently added roguelite DLC, “Emerald Rush,” which will let you keep smashing for as long as you desire!
Here are the complete patch notes for Mario Kart World Version 1.3.0:
General Improvements:
- You can now easily join friends in “Knockout Tour” via “Online Play” (1p) by selecting “Friends.”
- Up to two players can now enjoy “Free Roam” together if the game is full while attempting to join friends in “Race,” “Knockout Tour,” or “Battle” in “Online Play.”
- The “Free Roam” map now conveniently shows you the locations of P Switches you’ve activated and Peach Medallions you’ve already found.
- You can now select a P Switch directly from the map to quickly warp to a nearby location.
- In “Free Roam,” you can now transform into characters pulled into UFOs. (Note: This transformation won’t happen if “Dash Food” in “Settings/Controller” is set to “Doesn’t transform.”)
- UFOs are now encountered more frequently in “Free Roam.”
- Adjustments have been made to the appearance conditions for some Peach Medallions in “Free Roam.”
- While spectating in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” (Online Play or Wireless Play), you can now choose which player to watch, even when using a horizontal Joy-Con 2 or single Joy-Con.
- The respawn time for item boxes has been reduced.
- Invincibility time after spinning out or crashing during a race has been increased.
- The force of jumps when landing on a rival from above has been slightly decreased.
- The waiting time between finishing a race and beginning to spectate in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” (Online/Wireless Play) has been shortened.
- The delay before ranking is displayed after passing a checkpoint in “Knockout Tour” (Wireless/LAN Play) has been reduced.
- Lap-type courses will now appear more often when selecting the next course in “VS Race” and wireless races.
Bug Fixes:
- Resolved an issue in “Online Play” and “Wireless Play” where player rankings sometimes became incorrect if they went off-course while crossing the finish line.
- Fixed a bug in “Grand Prix,” “Knockout Tour,” and “VS Race” where CPU rankings would occasionally drop after finishing.
- Addressed an issue in “Knockout Tour” (Online Play) where other players’ ratings sometimes displayed as “0” on the results screen.
- Corrected a bug where a Spiny Shell would sometimes bypass the first-place player in “Wireless Play” or “Online Play.”
- Fixed an issue where players were sometimes launched a great distance backward after being hit by a Spiny Shell.
- Resolved a bug where the second item in an item slot might not disappear after being struck by Lightning.
- Fixed an issue where hitting the base of a pillar in mid-air could cause an unusually large jump.
- Addressed a bug that occasionally led to unstable movement during a wall ride on water.
- Fixed an issue where players were sometimes forcibly swept away after landing from a mini-jump while moving upstream in a river.
- Corrected a bug where players could sometimes clip through the ground after being hit by a car on the road.
- Resolved an issue in “Free Roam” where players sometimes couldn’t enter pipes correctly after exiting a trailer.
- Fixed a bug where the results screen sometimes appeared distorted after spectating “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play.”
- Addressed an issue where the game might not proceed to the course selection screen after exiting a pipe during “Free Roam” (Online Play).
- Fixed a bug where Bullet Bill could sometimes pass through walls when used in “Sky-High Sundae.”
- Resolved an issue where players might get stuck on a wall at the start of a race transitioning from “Airship Fortress” to “Shy Guy Bazaar.”
- Fixed a bug where players could get stuck in walls when using a Bullet Bill in “Bowser’s Castle.”
- Addressed an issue in “Cheep Cheep Falls” where item boxes were sometimes difficult to collect with Smart Steering enabled.
- Fixed a bug in “Knockout Tour” “Spiny Rally” where an item box was sometimes buried in the ground.
- Various other minor issues have been resolved to enhance the overall gameplay experience.
Here are the patch notes for Donkey Kong Bananza Version 2.0.1:
Key Bug Fixes:
- Rectified an issue preventing players from receiving a disc reward after successfully collecting all balloons in “Bananza Rehearsal.” If you’ve previously encountered this bug in Version 2.0.0 or earlier, simply entering “Bananza Rehearsal” after updating will now grant you the disc immediately.
- Addressed a problem where some of Pauline’s iconic shout voices failed to play when the Nintendo Switch 2 system language was set to “English (UK/Australia)” and the “travel buddy’s voice” option (Pauline’s voice) in “Options” was set to “Same as system.”
- Other minor adjustments and fixes have been implemented to refine the gameplay experience.