The new Mario Kart suggests the Switch 2 might finally solve Nintendo’s greatest weakness

Despite having arguably best multiplayer games on the market, it lags behind everyone else with online play.

24 starting blocks must mean 24 players, right? Source: Nintendo.

To this day, my friends and I still aren’t sure what killed our online Smash Night. We usually play in person, but for one reason or another, we decided to play online. It had worked before, why wouldn’t it work again?

We started a lobby, shared the code, and then… it froze on the loading screen and came up with an error message. We tried sharing around who hosted the game. Fiddling with internet settings. At one point, I hotspotted my Switch to my phone to check if my internet provider was the problem. I later learned this would just make things worse.After a frustrating hour or error messages, we gave up. Online play had defeated out Smash Bros Night.

It’s just one example, but of all the console makers, Nintendo perhaps lags the furthest behind when it comes to online gameplay capabilities.

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Others, such as Sony and Microsoft, have made strides to catch up to PC gaming in this department. Both have integrated with Discord, a social platform typically used by gaming communities. Several games on their platforms also allow you to share the game with someone who doesn’t own it too, allowing you both to play it without owning two copies.

Despite having some of arguably the best multiplayer games on the planet, it seemingly hasn’t been a priority for Nintendo. For the record, the latest Mario Kart — Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — online multiplayer systems are serviceable, and are significantly better than Smash Bros. While Nintendo’s party shooter Splatoon hasn’t hit the heights of other titles like Fortnite or Valorant, it’s still considered a fantastic online game too.

Aside from being an oversight, online play may conflict with the philosophy behind a lot of its games in bringing people together — as exhibited by just about every Nintendo advertisement out there.

But that may be about to change.

Earlier this month, as part of its Switch 2 reveal, Nintendo a new 24-player Mario Kart game.

This idea of adding more players to the chaos that is Mario Kart isn’t new, and has been gaining momentum on Reddit threads for years. However, while racing against 24 other computer players is fascinating, it kicks up a notch when you consider the game could host 23 other human players online. It’s 8 more connections than what the game currently hosts.

It’s easy to get stuck in the weeds with online gameplay, as it branches into another topic: Networking. But, I’ll briefly — and at a rudimentary level — explain. One key difference between Nintendo games other counterparts is that its games run on a player to player (P2P) connection rather than via a server.

This means when you boot up a new round of Smash Bros or Mario Kart online, one player is hosting the game and the rest of the players are connecting to that one console.

That cuts the need for servers saves on cost — perhaps why Nintendo Online is the cheapest gaming subscription on the market. And if everyone has good internet — especially the player hosting — it can actually create a more stable experience than going in via a server.

While they are the norm for most online games, anyone who plays massively multiplayer online (MMO) games knows, servers come with their own set of complications. Your experience with the game can depend on your connection to them. They also require frequent servicing and maintenance and can crash without notice.

The key benefit of a server is that they can provide a base level of gameplay, regardless of anyone’s internet. So if one player has poor internet, it doesn’t ruin the whole experience. Some games genres — typically those that run a online world rather than one-off matches — have to run on a server.

There’s pros and cons to both approaches. What makes a 24-player Mario Kart fascinating to consider is that P2P hosting can get harder when you add in more connections. It’s just more margin for error.

There are other points that hint at a more online-savvy console buried in the video too: The hint that the joy-cons can operate like a mouse and the mysterious “C” button that could be tied to online capabilities.

We’ll obviously learn more as we get closer to launch of the new Switch. But as more of my friends march into early parenthood, well, online Smash Nights may become the norm. I only hope Nintendo can keep up.

What do you think about Nintendo’s online capabilities? Have they let you down in the past too? Do you think the Switch 2 will address them? Or is this just not a priority for Nintendo? Let me know in the comments.

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What I’m playing: The Plucky Squire

I can’t think of any other game that has you boxing a honey badger in its opening 10 minutes.

Playing The Plucky Squire feels like watching a Pixar movie. On the surface, this game looks and plays as if it was designed for kids. Then, out of nowhere, mature references and jokes crop up that will likely go over any child's head. It's this ebb and flow that makes The Plucky Squire well-placed to be a unique pass-the-controller game that parents can safely play alongside their kids while still finding their own enjoyment in it.

That doesn't make it a pushover as a standalone adventure for solo mature players. It's perhaps just a little short compared to other games of a similar genre—giving full grace that this is an indie title and not a AAA adventure game—it just left me wanting more. The Plucky Squire is the debut title of Australian studio All Possible Futures, which turned heads by being one of the few Australian developers to earn a nomination for Best Indie Game at The Game Awards late last year.

The game is largely based inside a children's storybook, aptly named The Plucky Squire. The main villain, Humgrump, somehow learns that he's trapped in a book and is destined to be eternally defeated by Jot the Squire. He discovers magic that can interact with the world outside of the story and uses it to thrust the Squire out of his own book. Suddenly, the cute 2D adventure, which plays out beautifully contained on the pages of the book, morphs into a stylistic 3D platformer. This is the main thrust of the game: 2D, top-down platforming similar to a retro Zelda game, mixed with more open-area 3D segments. The Squire gains similar abilities to manipulate the book as you progress on your quest to defeat Humgrump.

The world design deserves special mention. The Plucky Squire is a beautiful game, with plenty of love poured into making its world both unique and memorable. Action adventure games aren't generally known for humour, character development, or world building, but these elements are here in spades—at a level usually expected from a much denser role-playing game.

There's somehow space in the story for Jot's companions—Violet the witch-in-training and Thrash the Mountain Troll—to have their own smaller stories contained within the short game. The same goes for DJ-aspiring wizard Moonbeard, Jot's neighbour and mentor, who largely drives the plot. It's enough that I wish they were playable, or at least interacted more meaningfully with the bulk of the game. They're key to the story but largely passengers when it comes to gameplay.

The majority of The Plucky Squire plays out inside the book. You progress from page to page, solving puzzles and defeating enemies with Jot's somewhat limited-but-effective array of sword abilities. Puzzles usually require you to rewrite the reality of the book by shifting words contained within its pages. Later on, they require you to manipulate the book entirely, literally tilting it on an angle or stealing words from earlier pages to progress.

This is punctuated by minigames that essentially replace boss battles. The Plucky Squire borrows elements from shooters, rhythm, and puzzle games to create memorable encounters. These are also the only points at which you can play as Jot's other team members. These games aren't pushovers either—there's an option to skip them, and after failing several times, it's tempting even for seasoned players. It's yet another hint that this title is kid-friendly, designed to minimise player frustration.

The 3D areas of the game are more generous and expansive. Given the difficulty of some puzzles, they can also be some of the most child-oriented areas of the game. Some employ stealth mechanics, but the vast majority focus on exploration.

Coming in at around the 10-hour mark, just as the game starts to hit its stride, it sunsets towards its final chapter. The ending feels abrupt and—like a children's storybook—somewhat predictable. There is a twist before this, which leads to a rather funny—albeit grim—final segment that I won't spoil. It's also a shame that some of those memorable minigames featuring your allies are repeated—albeit on a harder difficulty—for the final boss, rather than shaking things up with newer content.

The quick conclusion, contrasted against the impressive world-building, oddly had me questioning the genre choice after my playthrough. I could see a world where The Plucky Squire plays similarly to Paper Mario—which supports a similar ensemble cast and direction for world-building. That would also mean deeper game systems that work your brain a bit more.

But then, this would abolish its charm as a game that both adults and kids can enjoy, and as a title you can pick up and play with very little friction. It's evident that despite setting out to make an accessible adventure game, All Possible Futures has a knack for world-building. In this instance, accessibility won out. But with more budget and runway, I'm keen to see what the studio comes up with next.

Reviewed on: Steam Deck

Worth playing if you like: Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Death’s Door, Yooka-Laylee

Available on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, GeForce Now, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

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