8 Best Mario Kart World Combo Builds

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In contrast to almost every other Mario Kart game at this point, Mario Kart World has no definitive best kart combo you can use on the majority of the tracks, instead making you decide which combo to use depending on the situation.

This eliminates overly dominant kart combinations like the Funky Kong Flame Runners or Yoshi Teddy Buggies of the past, but there’s still a ton of combos you’ll see pop up often.

This is due to a select few characters and karts being unique in terms of hidden stats, and a few of which that even give them a boost on specific types of terrain.

Most of the characters fall into weight classes and are functionally the same as everyone else in that weight class, but I’ll denote the few outliers to this when they’re the best option for a combo.

8 Dirt Cheap

Cow + Dread Sled

This one is oddly specific, but if you’ve seen any Time Trial records for Moo Moo Meadows, you’ve almost definitely seen them use this exact kart and character combo to dominate the course.

This is because Cow has a hidden speed bonus on Dirt Roads, and that usually only matters on Moo Moo Meadows, and any intermissions that route through the middle of the map where that farm is.

The Dread Sled comes with another speed bonus on dirt, making this combo go way faster than it has any right to on this one track. It’s not a generally incredibly useful combo, but it’s quite nice for Free Roam.

A ton of open-world missions can have you driving straight through off-road and dirt paths, which this combo excels at, so if you’re struggling with one of those, you might want to give this a shot.

7 Roadbound

Wario/Wiggler + B Dasher/Hot Rod

For some reason, Mario Kart World says that Metal and Asphalt are the same material, so you’ll often see DK Spaceport and Crown City records done with either the B Dasher or Hot Rod, as they have identical stats.

These stats give them a particular bonus on «Asphalt», which just means any hard material that makes up a road, which is what the majority of Crown City and DK Spaceport are.

Wario and Wiggler, in particular, are heavyweight characters that also get a pretty good bonus on roads, and since these two tracks have a lot of driving straight with a few tight turns, they’re perfect candidates.

This combo also excels at a lot of single-intermission tracks, but is less potent in Knockout Tour and Grand Prix since it can easily be thrown off by other terrain types or courses a massive number of turns, making this a hellish scenario on Shy Guy Bazaar.

6 The Grindset

Ultra-Lightweight + Mach Rocket

As a fun fact, the way rails are coded in Mario Kart World completely ignores your speed stat. Another fun fact, being in the air is pretty bad for high-speed combos, but doesn’t matter much to lightweights.

This means going for an ultra-light character like Swoop or a Parabiddybud on the Great ? Block Ruins and Whistlestop Summit, tracks where you’re often rail grinding or in mid-air, make for a killer combo.

The downsides of these lightweight characters, and especially with the Mach Rocket, are often the speed stat that you give up for handling, but these tracks are all about rail grinding and taking incredibly sharp turns.

Whistlestop Summit, in particular, makes this combo shine, as most of the track has rails present, and the only way to gain a massive lead is by tricking and taking shortcuts, a lightweight specialty.

5 Soaring Skies

Swoop + R.O.B. H.O.G.

For some odd reason, both ends of the weight scale have a single character on them, and Swoop is the very lightest character in the game, with a massive acceleration stat to make up the difference.

This means they excel when combined with the R.O.B. H.O.G. and tracks like Mario Bros. Circuit or DK Pass, and any other tracks with lots of airtime, a couple of rails, and shortcuts that would be hard to hit without making massive turns.

When combined with the R.O.B. H.O.G.’s big speed and handling bonus on roads, this means you can use this to make light work of most tracks that don’t involve you driving in a straight line for a long time.

It’s pretty great in 3-lap tracks and a few time trials, but it’s a specialized beast, as going online with this combo will mean you fall behind a ton in intermissions and make Knockout Tour borderline unplayable.

4 Shortcut Supreme

Light or Midweight + Baby Blooper

If you watch a Time Trial for a track with a bunch of shortcuts, such as Shy Guy Bazaar or Mario Circuit, you’re more than likely to see someone driving the Baby Blooper, upping the weight class depending on how straight the track is.

There are a few tracks that use this kart with a heavyweight, but more often than not, it’s a combo with a lightweight or a midweight, and you’ll watch as they fly through the course and trick off every object on the track.

This is because the Baby Blooper is in a unique position in terms of stats. It has more handling than the karts that are heavier than it, but it has a usable speed stat and is excellent on roads.

It’s a pretty good all-rounder if you’re willing to put the time into learning shortcuts and skips, and especially if you love playing 3-Lap tracks, but it’s not terrible for intermissions either.

3 All Speed

Bowser + Reel Racer

While in most Mario Kart games, going for the combo with the highest possible speed stat is a genuinely awful idea due to that game’s gimmick, World’s gimmick is driving in a straight line, so it’s great here.

Technically, the Stellar Sled has a higher speed stat than the Reel Racer, but the Reel Racer has far less weight, a bit more handling, and slightly more acceleration, while only remaining a single point behind in speed, making it way better.

That said, when you pick Bowser with this kart, you’ll certainly have a wild top speed that doesn’t make you completely useless on tracks with tight turns, but you will still get far more messed up from a single item than most other combos.

You won’t be taking a ton of complex shortcuts, but you will excel in intermissions, Knockout Tour, and tracks like Starview Peak or Desert Hills. As long as you don’t get hit much, you can win on most tracks with this.

2 Road Rage

Heavyweight + Billdozer

While a previous combo excelled on road tracks with some decent-sized skips, if you want something that can excel on any road track without making you learn shortcuts, this is the combo for you.

You can use any heavyweight on it, but if you want to go all out on road speeds, then go for Wiggler or Wario again. On Rainbow Road or during a Grand Prix, you’ll exceed Bowser with Reel Racer at raw speed.

It has a similar downside to that combo, though, but is even worse at taking tight shortcuts and turning sharply. But that incredible road speed makes it ideal for long stretches of road, and nothing else.

This makes it more specialized and a bit less versatile than Bowser with Reel Racer, but given that a massive part of this game is straight stretches of road on a material the game considers asphalt, it more than makes up for it.

1 Opposing Force

Heavyweight + Baby Blooper, or Lightweight + Reel Racer

You’d think getting a heavyweight cart with a lightweight character or vice versa would be similar to playing a midweight kart and character, but for some reason, that’s rarely the case in Mario Kart World.

Going for a lightweight character in the heavyweight champion’s steed, the Reel Racer, will lead to excellent times on trick-heavy tracks like Toad’s Factory or Wario Stadium, while giving you some excellent speed.

With the same idea, putting a heavyweight in the reigning Lightweight GOAT, the Baby Blooper, makes it an excellent solution for tracks like Boo Cinema, and is pretty nice as an all-rounder, even if it isn’t the best combo for every situation.

The idea is simply having your kart and character at the opposite extreme ends of the weight spectrum, giving you incredible boosts to tricking while keeping your speed high enough to keep up no matter what.

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