For the first time since Super Mario Kart 33 years ago, Mario Kart World brings the feather back to actual races and it seems like it can even stop the dreaded blue shell

We got an extensive look at Mario Kart World gameplay on Switch 2 today during the Nintendo Treehouse stream, and aside from the new tracks and tricks that seem like they'd be at home in a Tony Hawk game, we also learned that the feather is returning for actual races for the first time in 33 years.

The feather first debuted as an item in the original Super Mario Kart on SNES in 1992, where it let you do a spin jump. The item wouldn't appear again until the Deluxe version of Mario Kart 8 on Switch, where it was exclusive to Battle Mode, letting you leap into the air to steal balloons from enemy racers. Besides that, the item functioned basically the same way as a trick jump, giving you a quick little boost of speed and some extra height.

In Mario Kart World, the feather seems to function basically the same way it did in 8 Deluxe, but this time you can once again use it in actual races. In the Treehouse footage, a player tries to use it to deflect an incoming blue shell – the mistimed attempt fails, but it does seem the feather can in fact deflect the dreaded item.

The super horn is still in the item rotation, too, so it looks like we'll actually have multiple ways to mitigate the blue shell threat this time around. Given that the inevitability of the blue shell has been the biggest complaint about Mario Kart throughout the history of the series, it's a wonderful thing to see.

We'll see a lot more with the Mario Kart World Direct later in April. The game is set to launch alongside Switch 2 on June 5.

Check out the full list of upcoming Switch 2 games.