Mario Kart World | Assists Video

Mario Kart World | Assists

Mario Kart World is a 2025 Kart racing game developed by Nintendo and available on the Nintendo Switch 2.  

As in previous Mario Kart games, players control Mario and other characters and race against opponents.  

In this video, we will look at the controls needed to play and the in-game settings that we find helpful at SpecialEffect, some of which can reduce the number of controls needed to play. 

Once you have chosen the race mode you want to play, you choose your character and which vehicle you want to race in.  You choose the speed of the Karts, with the 50cc option having the slowest top speed and so being the easiest to control. Your opponents in the race will also have the same engine size. Other options are 100cc and 150cc. 

Controls

The standard controls for the game are:

• Left Stick for Steering 
• The A button for Acceleration (which, as standard, needs to be held down) 
• The B button for Brake and Reverse.
• L or ZL to Use Item 
• R or ZR to Drift 
• Down on the D-pad for Rewind
• To Look Behind You, you use the X button

Assists

You are able to turn on some assist features, which might help to make the game easier to play. 

Smart Steering: Turning on ‘Smart Steering’ means that the game will automatically steer the Kart, which removes the need for the left joystick. This is a good option for players who are not able to use a joystick, or find steering difficult. This option is not available in free roam. 

Auto-Accelerate: Turning on ‘Auto-Accelerate’ means that the Kart will automatically accelerate at a constant speed and removes the need to hold down the A button.  

In races, this option starts automatically. In Free Roam you need to tap the A button to start auto-accelerating and press the B button to stop. 

Auto-Use item: Turning on ‘Auto-Use Item’ means that your character will automatically use any item collected during races. This removes the need to use the L or ZL button. This is not available in Free Roam. 

Turning on tilt controls allows you to turn with the controller themselves, rather than moving the joystick to steer. 

You can access this settings menu at any time during the game by pressing the + button and then pressing the Cross (X) button. Or, at the point you are choosing your vehicle, you can press the X button and enter the settings menu.  

These game options allow you to customize the controls to suit your needs. It also means that players who can only use 1 joystick, or 1 or 2 buttons, can play the game independently.  

In this example, I have Smart Steering and Auto-Accelerate turned on and now I am just using a button (ZL/L) for ‘use item’. 

In this example I have Auto-Accelerate turned on and I am using a joystick for steering and button (ZL/L) to ‘use item’.

In this example, I have smart steering turned on and Auto-Use Item turned on, So, all I need to do is hold down this button (A) to accelerate.  

Free Roam

Free Roam is a new mode for Mario Kart World. In this mode you can drive anywhere on the large map and find hidden collectibles. This mode is a great choice if you want to play the game without any competitive racing.

To access Free Roam, you press the + button just after you start the game.

Outro 

We hope that this video has been a useful introduction to Mario Kart World’s features.  

For more information on accessibility features in games or alternative game controllers, please visit gameaccess.info.   

For developers looking for more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, these can be found on the SpecialEffect DevKit.   

For instance, to see how other developers have enabled players to automate certain digital actions, like Mario Kart World’s ‘Auto-Accelerate’ and ‘Auto-Use Item’ options do, please see module 7.3 in the Simplification topic.  

And to see how other developers have allowed players to automate analog actions, like Mario Kart‘s ‘Smart Steering’ feature, please see module 7.4.