The short version
mkw-recomp is a fan project that rebuilds Mario Kart World as a regular PC program. It runs on Windows and Linux, and on Linux on ARM too.
It isn't an emulator. The game's code is translated ahead of time into code your PC runs directly, and the Switch 2's graphics calls are rebuilt on top of Vulkan.
It doesn't come with the game. You need your own copy from your own Switch 2. The start screen builds the PC version from it, on your machine.
It's early. Races, menus and the intro movies work, and a few menus still need work. There's no online play.
- Nothing of the game is in the download, and this guide doesn't cover how to get your copy onto a PC. The project won't help with that either.
- Only download it from the project's own GitHub page. A site offering the game already built is pirated or malware.
- It isn't made or endorsed by Nintendo.
What it adds over the Switch 2
All optional. Each one starts off, or at the console's value.
Sharper picture
Up to 2160p. Internal resolution goes above or below the console's, from 540 lines up to 2160. The console's own is the default.
Ultrawide
21:9, 32:9, 48:9. Races show more of the track at the sides. Menus and the HUD keep 16:9. A wider picture draws more pixels, so lower the resolution if it slows down.
Frame generation
30 shown at 60. It makes frames between the game's own, so a race at 30 can show at 60, or at 240 on a 240 Hz screen. It's smoother, not faster. The picture can be up to one frame later, and fast motion and the minimap can smear.
Graphics
Above the console. Texture filtering and quality, detail distance and shadow quality, each above or below the console's. HDR works on HDR screens, and AMD FSR 1 handles scaling.
Controls
Every button. Every key and button can be remapped. You get a mouse camera, Nintendo, Xbox or PlayStation button icons, motion steering and vibration strength. Switch 2 controllers work over Bluetooth.
Local multiplayer
2 to 4 players. Split screen with one controller per player. The keyboard only counts as player 1. Two players run at 60, three and four at 30, like the console.
Sound
Surround. 5.1 surround when your speakers or headset have six channels or more.
Hacks
Off by default. Turbo on F2, skip movies, unlock everything, the same randomness every time, and straight to time trial or free roam.
Languages
20 languages. The menus come in 20 languages. The game itself also gets Catalan, Galician and Basque.
The Mods page
Skins, courses and 200cc, from the start screen.
The start screen has a Mods page with two tabs. Find on GameBanana lists the game's mods from GameBanana, with each mod's author, license, screenshots and description. Press Install and it downloads that one file, only when you ask.
Installed shows your mods with an on and off switch each. Import zip or Import folder takes a mod you already have.
Mods that swap game files, like driver skins, textures, texts and courses, work at the next start. Mods that change the game's code, like 200cc or 30 FPS, are built into the game, so switching one on or off rebuilds it first. That takes a few minutes.
When two mods change the same file, the page asks which one wins.
- The project doesn't test them. One can crash the game or damage your save.
- Read a mod's page before you install it, and keep a copy of your save.
- If something breaks only with a mod on, tell the mod's author, or try again with mods off.
How well it runs
The project's own table of race frame rates, dated by the players who sent them.
RX 7900 XTX, Windows
60 FPS at 2160p. 16.7 ms a frame. Reported November 11.
RX 9070 XT, Linux
60 FPS, 720p to 2160p. 16.7 ms a frame. Reported November 11.
RTX 3060, Windows
About 48 FPS at 1080p. About 21 ms a frame. Reported November 10.
RTX 3050 Laptop, Windows
About 37 FPS at 720p. 26.7 ms a frame. Reported November 11.
Radeon 660M, Linux
30 to 32 FPS at 720p. 31 to 33 ms a frame. Built into a Ryzen laptop processor. Reported November 9.
GTX 1650 SUPER, Windows
About 24 FPS at 1080p. About 41 ms a frame. Reported November 11.
GTX 1050 Ti, Windows
22 to 24 FPS at 1080p. 42 to 45 ms a frame. Reported November 9.
What the numbers mean
The game's logic is tied to its frames, like on the console. When your card can't hold 60, it drops to 30. A frame slower than 33.3 ms makes the race itself run slower than real time.
Frame generation shows more frames, but it doesn't make the game's own frames any shorter.
Speeding up races is the first thing on the project's list. You can add your own machine to the performance table with a report on GitHub.
What you need
If one of these is a no, it won't set up or won't run.
Mario Kart World 1.0.0 or 1.8.0
Your own copy from your own Switch 2. Versions in between aren't supported, because each one is a different program. Nothing of the game comes with the project.
Windows 10 or 11, or Linux
64-bit Windows, or Linux with glibc 2.31 or newer, which covers Debian 11, Ubuntu 20.04 and SteamOS. There's no Mac version.
x86-64 with AVX2
Most PC processors from the last decade have it. A build without AVX2 is planned, with no date. On Linux, ARM processors with ARMv8.2 work too.
Vulkan 1.3
Mesh shader support is recommended. Without it, those shaders run a slower way. Update your graphics driver first.
16 GB of RAM, about 30 GB free
The copy of the game's files alone is about 23 GB. An option called Use it where it is skips that copy. An internal SSD is much faster than a USB or network drive.
Download and set up
From the release page to Play, with what you'll see at each step.
- 1
Know where you're going
mkw-recomp lives on GitHub, a site where people share code. Every download there is free, and you don't need an account or to sign in. Only download it from the project's own page.
- 2
Open the newest release
Go to the latest release. A release is a finished version people can download. Scroll to Assets at the bottom of it.
- 3
Pick your file
On Windows, click the file that ends in windows-x64.zip. It's about 175 MB. On a Linux PC or a Steam Deck, click the one ending in x86_64.AppImage. The aarch64 one is for Linux on ARM. Ignore the Source code links, those are for developers.
- 4
Unpack it into its own folder
On Windows, right-click the zip in your Downloads folder, choose Extract All, and pick a new, empty folder. That folder is where the game gets built, with its settings and saves. On Linux, right-click the AppImage, open Properties and allow it to run as a program.
- 5
Open mkw.exe
Double-click mkw.exe in that folder, or the AppImage on Linux. The start screen opens. If Windows shows a blue Windows protected your PC box, it means Windows doesn't know the program yet. Click More info, then Run anyway, only for the file you got from the project's own page.
- 6
Open Game files
Under Your copy, press Choose folder or Choose .nup or .nx file and pick your own copy. Choose game folder moves where the game is built, if you want it somewhere else. For RomFS, Copy into the game folder is the default, and Use it where it is saves about 23 GB if you keep your copy where it is.
- 7
Press Set up
It checks your copy, builds the game's code, compiles it, translates the shaders and warms up the graphics. It also downloads NVIDIA's shader tools once, 126 MB on Windows and 84 MB on Linux. The first time takes a while. If it's interrupted, pressing Set up again carries on from the last finished step.
- 8
Press Play
When it's done, press Play. Desktop shortcut on the start screen makes a shortcut. When a new version is out, the start screen offers Update, which downloads it, checks it and sets up only what changed.
Switch 2 controllers
Pro Controller, Joy-Con and GameCube controllers work over Bluetooth, and over USB on Linux. Over USB on Windows, the project documents a one-time driver step for each controller, in its own section of the README.
Settings to change
All of these are in the F1 menu in the game and in Settings on the start screen. Some need a restart. Each one also has a line in mkw.ini, and the project's wiki lists the names.
Picture
Internal resolution
Original, then 1440. The lines the game draws at, from 540 to 2160. Original is the console's. 720 suits built-in graphics. It needs a restart.
Aspect ratio
Your screen's shape. 16:9, Window, 21:9, 32:9 or 48:9. Window takes your monitor's shape. Wider shows more of the course at the sides, and menus stay 16:9. It needs a restart.
FPS
Auto. Auto aims for 60 like the console, and drops to 30 when your PC can't keep up. If your card can't hold 60, set it to 30 and turn on Frame generation.
Frame generation
Off, or 2 at 30 FPS. Off, Auto, 2, 3 or 4. It adds frames for a smoother picture with up to one frame of extra delay.
Quality
Console. Low, Medium, Console, High, Ultra or Custom. It sets texture filtering, texture quality, detail distance and shadow size together.
Texture quality
Full. Full, Half or Quarter. Use Half on cards with 4 GB of video memory or less. It needs a restart.
Sharpness
80. FSR's sharpening, from 0 to 100. If 4K looks oversharpened, set it to 0.
Present mode
Mailbox. Mailbox, fifo for classic VSync, or immediate.
Controls
Button icons
Auto. Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation or keyboard. Auto follows the last device you used.
Button layout
Auto. Which face button is A, Nintendo style or Xbox style.
Motion steering
On. Tilt steering with a controller's gyro.
Stick dead zone
8. In percent, from 0 to 40. Raise it for a worn stick.
Sound
Speakers
Auto. Auto gives 5.1 when your playback device has six channels or more. It needs a restart.
Keyboard and mouse
The defaults. Every key can be changed. The keyboard is always player 1.
Steer
WASD. The left stick on a Switch.
Accelerate
Space, Enter or E. A on a Switch. It also confirms in menus.
Brake and reverse
Left Shift or Backspace. B on a Switch. It goes back in menus.
Hop, drift and tricks
F, X or R. ZR and R on a Switch.
Use an item
Q, Z or right click. L and ZL on a Switch.
Rear view
V. X on a Switch.
Pause and photo mode
Tab and M. Plus and Minus on a Switch.
Settings menu
F1. Or Minus and Plus together on a controller. Esc frees the mouse.
Frame counter and fullscreen
F10 and F11. F10 cycles the performance overlay. F11 switches fullscreen.
If it breaks
Update first. Then find the last lines of the log on the project's troubleshooting page.
- 1
Update to the newest release
Many errors are already fixed, and the project asks you to try the newest version before reporting one.
- 2
Black screen or very slow after updating
If you updated by hand, open the start screen and press Set up again. Since version 0.1.9 it does this by itself.
- 3
The race itself runs slow
If your card can't hold 60, the race slows down. Lower Internal resolution, or set FPS to 30 with Frame generation on 2.
- 4
Out of video memory
On built-in graphics or cards with 2 to 4 GB, set Texture quality to Half or Quarter and lower Internal resolution.
- 5
A short hitch the first time
The first time a course or effect is drawn, it gets compiled. It's saved and built in the background at the next start, so it should happen once.
- 6
Multiplayer goes back to the title
Each player needs their own controller, connected before you pick the number of players. One controller plus the keyboard is one player.
- 7
Send a useful report
Settings, Advanced, Copy system info copies what a bug report needs, and Open log folder shows logs\mkw.log. Search the troubleshooting page for the last lines of the log first, and add your log to the issue that's already there.
Known problems
From the project's own status and troubleshooting page.
Some menus
Being worked on. Mode, character and vehicle select still need work.
Kart shadow
Open. The kart's shadow misses a frame now and then.
Audio in movies
Open. Some audio cuts out during movies.
Some AMD cards
Can freeze. On some AMD drivers the GPU can hang. One case on Windows, at the title or in the warm-up, has no workaround yet.
Online play
Not planned yet. The project's priority is a complete, stable game on every graphics card. Play on the same local network works through a setting called LAN play.
Ask an AI
It's newer than ChatGPT and Claude, so give them this page first.
Copy page brings the whole page with it. Or view it as Markdown.
mkw-recomp came out on November 9, 2026, after ChatGPT and Claude were trained. Ask about it cold and they'll guess, or answer with emulator settings. Copy page hands over this whole guide, so paste that first and ask it to stick to it.
Give it your exact PC up front. Settings, Advanced, Copy system info copies your card, driver, processor and memory in one go. Then say which game version you have.
Ask it to change one setting at a time and wait for your result.
- It will stop or refuse if you ask how to get the game onto a PC. This guide doesn't cover that, and neither does the project.
- Never paste game files or a save into a chat. The log is fine.
- If it names a setting that isn't in this guide or the project's settings page, it made it up. Ask where it came from.
- If it tells you to download a ready-made build from some other site, don't. The real release ships none of the game, so a ready-made one is pirated or malware.
Walk me through the install
Pairs this guide with the project's own install page, one step at a time.
Copy the prompt below, which brings this whole guide with it, and paste it into ChatGPT or Claude. Then paste the project's Installation page after it.
I own Mario Kart World and want to run mkw-recomp on my PC. Below is a guide to it, and after that I'll paste the Installation page from the project's wiki at github.com/adriadam10/mkw-recomp. Walk me through it one step at a time, wait for me to finish each step, and use only what the guide and that page say. Skip anything about getting the game onto my PC.
Questions
Is it an emulator?
No. The game's code is translated into native PC code once, during setup, and its graphics are translated to Vulkan. The project calls it a recompilation, not an emulator.
Does it cost anything?
Free. The project's own code is free and open source under the MIT license. That covers nothing of Nintendo's game, so you still need your own copy.
Online play?
No. Not planned for now. Play on the same local network works with LAN play turned on in the F1 menu.
Steam Deck?
Yes, Linux build. The Deck is detected and gets its own defaults, fullscreen at 1280x800 with VSync and 720 lines. Add the AppImage as a non-Steam game.
Mac?
No. There's no Mac build. Linux on ARM has its own AppImage.
DLSS or FSR 3?
Not yet. They need motion vectors the game doesn't produce. FSR 1 and frame generation are built in.
Can I use my emulator save?
Maybe. Copy it into the profile folder in the game folder, after backing up what's there, from the same game version. The project says it doesn't test this.
Is there a Discord?
No. Questions go to the project's Discussions on GitHub, which it says are answered daily.
How it was made
In the developer's own words, from the README.
The developer, Adrià on GitHub as adriadam10, writes that the port was made with Claude doing most of the typing, under his direction, in about ten days of full-time work. That's 489 commits since October 30, and he says every one was reviewed, measured or tested before it went in.
In his words, it was not one prompt and done. He measured every speed change inside the same run, checked every rendering fix against the console's own picture, and tested shader changes on all 11,561 of the game's shader programs before a game run.
The recompiler and the runtime grew out of TotK Recomp, the Tears of the Kingdom port I covered on October 30, and out of his earlier work on other recomps. He also maintains AnyPS5.
The project is under the MIT license, and code taken from other projects keeps its own license. Mario Kart World belongs to Nintendo, and the project isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo. Here's the project on GitHub.