Switch 2 owners can finally enjoy all of Mario Kart World’s fantastic music via official means, although proper DLC for the game remains elusive.
Say what you will about Mario Kart World, but there’s no denying it has a phenomenal soundtrack, that will forever stand as one of the best in Nintendo’s history.
It probably should have won Best Score And Music at The Game Awards 2025, but it wasn’t even nominated – presumably because it’s primarily remixes of existing tunes. In the end, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is very good, won but that makes Mario Kart World’s soundtrack criminally underrated.
That’s why we’re pleased to see that the full Mario Kart World soundtrack is now available via the Nintendo Music app, making it the easiest way to listen to the full song list.
Nintendo has been steadily adding Mario Kart World’s soundtrack in batches and the final lot, which contains remixes of songs from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, dropped this morning.
To commemorate the occasion, Nintendo has even included a bonus song: a live recording of Mario Kart World’s title theme, which has also been uploaded to YouTube alongside a live rendition of the Crown City music.
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As a reminder, Nintendo Music is a free mobile app and, just a couple of months ago, it received a dedicated web player you can access through your web browser… so long as you have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
It offers access to plenty of official Nintendo soundtracks, which is welcome since the company has rarely made its music publicly available in the past and likes to shut down fan-made YouTube channels that try to share it.
The best Mario Kart World songs
We already wrote about some of Mario Kart World’s best songs but now that we have an official and complete setlist, we want to highlight other stand out examples we missed the first time… not that there are any wrong answers here.
Title Theme (Big Band) (Super Mario 64) – We’re huge fans of the 8-Bit Big Band’s remixes of video game music but you can tell they were influenced by Nintendo’s own love of jazz fusion, as evidenced by this remix of Super Mario 64’s main theme.
Dolphin Shoals (Electro) (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) – Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s music is no slouch either, but Mario Kart World takes some of it in newly unique ways, such as this chill remix of the Dolphin Shoals track.
Riverside Park (Mario Kart: Super Circuit) – Music from Mario Kart’s Game Boy Advance entry has taken on new life now that it’s been redone with proper instruments, with the Riverside Park theme suitably energetic for summertime races.
Castle BGM (New Super Mario Bros. Wii) – Even the more forgettable Mario soundtracks have received a substantial glow-up in Mario Kart World, such as this electric sounding redo of the Castle music from New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Whistletop Summit – Admittedly, the remixes of past Mario music get a lot more love due to nostalgia, but the original pieces are just as good, such as Whistletop Summit’s excellent desert cowboy themed music.
Rainbow Road – As the best racetrack in the game, it’s fitting that Rainbow Road got a lot of love in the music department too as it changes throughout, becoming soft and relaxing during the water section, then chiptune-esque at the retro inspired satellite, and culminating in a bombastic finish for the final lap.
While it is pleasing to see the full Mario Kart World soundtrack available, we can’t help but ask why this happened before any substantial DLC has been added to the game.
Not to beat a dead horse, but it’s baffling that Nintendo hasn’t announced an expansion pack with new characters or racetracks since Mario Kart World’s launch last year, instead opting for minor quality of life patches.
Nintendo has begun adding new Knockout Rally races, but these make use of already existing tracks and we’re still holding out hope Nintendo will let you customise your own Knockout Rally routes across the open world – but at the moment you can’t.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has described Mario Kart World as an ‘evergreen title’ that the company wants to keep selling throughout the Switch 2’s whole lifecycle.
That can only mean long term support and the best way to push new sales is the promise of even more content, such as new characters and tracks, but so far there’s been nothing.
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