Today’s Mario Kart World Direct used its short duration to detail a couple of interesting tidbits about the game. While the jury is still out on whether or not the game justifies its $80 price tag, at least when it comes to free roaming in its large open world, you’ll find a ton of stuff to do. Some of the activities available will be Mission Mode (which, reportedly, has hundreds of missions), the ability to compete in impromptu battles, new karts for selecting before races, and hidden panels that weren’t fully detailed yet.

As was probably evident from the information we learned at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, Mario Kart World features a fully interconnected open world that players can roam around. You’ll be able to take friends along for the journey, discovering hidden items and unlocking things together as you explore this vast new landscape. This open design lends itself to the new race type, Knockout Tour, which acts as a point-to-point race where the last few racers will be knocked out after each lap. It certainly is something the series has never even attempted to do before.

The main reason to engage with Free Roam is to unlock new vehicles and costumes. At various points in the world, you’ll find Drive-Thrus and Roll-Outs that you can quickly drive through to swap into costumes that will then be added to the character select screen. At other points, you’ll find vehicles, such as a ROB the Robot-themed motorcycle, that can then be taken into races to change up how you race. This complements the new trick system, which features a rewind ability to let you retry any jumps you may have missed (though other racers won’t rewind with you).

The most interesting returning feature is Mission Mode, which has been absent from the series since Mario Kart DS. The official Nintendo website mentions “hundreds” of missions, and while it’s not exactly clear what they unlock, they’ll give you something more to do beyond simply racing different tracks. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can also engage in Photo Mode out in the open world, letting you line up the perfect shot to share with friends.

All in all, Mario Kart World certainly feels like a brand-new installment in the series rather than an incremental update to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It should make for a solid launch title for people who are able to stomach its steep MSRP.