The best racing games remember that all tracks you burn rubber on exist within context. It's what's made for some of the series' best courses, which is why I love that Mario Kart World is going all in with the approach. Whether it's the way a straightaway is designed on a racing circuit, or the angle of a corner in an urban track – there should always be the sense of intention that the decisions for a track's creation makes sense. It takes a lot for purely virtual tracks to convince, and that goes doubly-so when you're hurling shells with reckless abandon.
Which isn't to say Mario Kart World shouldn't feel fantastical. Just that, again, fantasy works best when it makes a bit of sense – that way, once you're immersed in a world the way it works can still feel intuitive rather than random. Mario Kart World's race courses are still quirky, strange, and over-the-top, but by placing them all within a shared larger space, the personality of each lap becomes clearer, and more self-evident in both how they're placed and how they relate to other courses.
