Nintendo announced a free update for Mario Kart World at Nintendo Direct September 2026. Version 1.8.0 adds 10 courses from Super Mario Kart to VS Race and launches later today on Nintendo Switch 2.
The segment opened by asking whether players driving through Mario Kart World had ever spotted “some peculiar looking terrain”. Those patches of the map are the classic courses, and the update makes them playable in VS Race. The trailer names Choco Island, Vanilla Lake and Ghost Valley, and an on-screen course label reads “Choco Island 1”.
The trailer shows each new course side by side with its Super Mario Kart original in a picture-in-picture window, along with question-mark panels laid across the road. As in the original game, driving over a panel hands out an item, and a caption on screen calls them “? Panels”.
Knockout Tour also gets two new routes, Propeller Rally and Turnip Rally, described on stage as non-stop races for first place. The trailer shows a route map for one of them and a mode select screen listing Grand Prix, Knockout Tour, Time Trials, VS Race and Battle.
The end card lists the update as Ver. 1.8.0 and says it is available today. The presentation did not say whether the Super Mario Kart courses reach Grand Prix or online play, and no other changes in the patch were mentioned on stage.