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Racing Games
Mario Kart World appears to have at least 50 playable characters, and it has a baffling list of newcomers including the Moo Moo Meadows cow, a crab, and a dead fish: “TRULY PEAK CHARACTER VARIETY”
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Platforming Games
Super Mario
Mario Kart World
Step aside, Cow: Mario Kart World’s new fan-favorite racer is Spike, a goofy guy with a haunting stare and some fantastic speedy stats
Catherine Lewis
25 June 2025
This is Spike’s world, we’re all just living in it
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(Image credit: Nintendo)
Mario Kart World’s roster of racers is massive, and although the beloved Moo Moo Meadows Cow was easily the most popular character in the Switch 2 racing game at launch, the bovine icon has now been overthrown by Spike, who’s dominating high-level races online.
As spotted by Automaton, Spike is apparently everywhere once you’ve racked up a high enough online rating in Mario Kart World. Highlighted in a viral post from one fan, who shows an entire lobby of Spike players with ratings ranging from the 8,600s all the way to the 9,200s, they proclaim (translated by Automaton) “Mario Kart World has become an environment where Spike dominates the high-rating tiers.”
【速報】マリオカートワールド、高レート帯ではガボンしか居ない環境になってしまう pic.twitter.com/yFsWDg3gHnJune 23, 2025
But what does Spike have that the other racers don’t? Obviously, we can’t overlook the vibe he brings to the function – no matter what he’s doing in Mario Kart World, he appears to be deeply concerned, with a wide-eyed stare that makes him look like he’s in a constant state of fear. Honestly, with the amount of items getting thrown around, I don’t blame him.
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Mario Kart World appears to have at least 50 playable characters, and it has a baffling list of newcomers including the Moo Moo Meadows cow, a crab, and a dead fish: “TRULY PEAK CHARACTER VARIETY”
Nintendo, what have you done: Moo Moo Cow has completely overtaken Mario Kart World lobbies as Switch 2 players embrace the best new character
Mario Kart World roster: The complete Mario Kart World character list
Other than that, though, he’s actually a fantastic racer when it comes to his stats. Thanks to being a very lightweight character, he has excellent acceleration, as well as handling to help you make tighter turns. In addition, he also appears to benefit from one of Mario Kart World’s secret stats. Players have discovered that certain characters appear to be faster on specific types of terrain, and Spike reportedly gets a boost on regular, smooth roads.
Those sorts of roads are very common, so the little green guy can get a huge advantage a lot of the time. In a machine-translated tweet, the fan behind the previous viral Spike post speculates that this is “the secret to his popularity.”
I’d already been using Spike a fair bit in Mario Kart World just because his facial expressions amuse me, but there you have it – he’s also a great shout for anyone aiming to be the very best online. We can get used to seeing him over the likes of Link and Isabelle from Zelda and Animal Crossing, anyway, as Nintendo thought that “it didn’t seem necessary to us” to add any crossover characters this time.
Mario Kart World player discovers you can defy the laws of gravity in Free Roam with a bug that allows you to float across the map: “I think I broke the game.”
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Deputy News Editor
I’m GamesRadar+’s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.
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Mario Kart World appears to have at least 50 playable characters, and it has a baffling list of newcomers including the Moo Moo Meadows cow, a crab, and a dead fish: “TRULY PEAK CHARACTER VARIETY”
Nintendo, what have you done: Moo Moo Cow has completely overtaken Mario Kart World lobbies as Switch 2 players embrace the best new character
Mario Kart World roster: The complete Mario Kart World character list
How to unlock characters in Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World repeats Mario Kart 8’s most annoying problem as Nintendo’s seemingly hiding all-important stats for characters and vehicles
Mario Kart World is “completely broken,” speedrun legend declares as players demolish the racing game’s time trials with its wild new movement mechanics
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