With the brand new anti-gravity feature, Mario Kart 8 refines the classic racing franchise to dizzying heights with super slick graphics. But occasional blind spots deter the game from reaching its true potential, leaving fans a little adrift.
With its visually stunning graphics and thrill-a-minute gameplay, there’s no denying that Mario Kart 8 is the best entry to the racing series since 2003’s Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the Nintendo GameCube. But it’s not just the pull of the anti-gravity feature that leaves us wanting more, there are also the wonderfully designed new and retro tracks – each with luminous boost pads, secrets and catchy musical beats – along with a heavenly drift mode that captures both the look and feel of alpine skiing while at the helm of a steering wheel on Mount Wario. Yet through its crisp character features and robust vehicle customisation, the exclusion of an on-screen map is just as confusing as obtaining a Golden Mushroom on Rainbow Road; completely wasteful.
While the Wii U GamePad’s motion controls are utilised exquisitely in Mario Kart 8, its secondary use as a map screen is entirely redundant. Serving as a distraction rather than part of strategic play, looking down at the GamePad’s map will likely cause a substantial collision – and not the spin-boost kind. Knowing where your rivals are, who’s got the dreaded Spiny Shell, or even just using the on-screen map as reassurance of your lead is often crucial to cinching your victory.
Though it’s merely an inconvenience in normal play, there’s an air of underlying and unnecessary discomfort when playing in off-TV mode with the GamePad, where the map can only be accessed via touch screen mode, relegating your race to a small section in the top corner. It’s a small but unfortunate misstep from Nintendo.
An excellent curveball thrown into the racing game, which may unnerve veteran Kart players somewhat, is the ability to hold only one item at a time. It’s a cruel albeit amusing lesson for those banana stackers out there, many who love to protect their victory from all angles by keeping an extra handy for the “just in case” moments. Though Donkey Kong might have had an extra say in the matter, it nevertheless creates an interesting shake-up within the game’s format.
On a similar path, Mario Kart 8’s four new items boost fun and invigorate competitive play with the Piranha Plant, Super Horn, Boomerang Flower and Crazy Eight. Instantly ravenous, the Piranha Plant can knock over rivals, as well as gobble up banana peels and coins – it’s a real hit on the track when in use, giving boosts occasionally and offered favourably to players in middle positions.
Given the notoriety of the Spiny Shell, the Super Horn is, on paper at the very least, the best item in the game. Whether it’s a coincidence or just sheer CPU hatred, the Super Horn mocks players by turning up when least needed, instead item boxes feed players with an excess of coins when in first position. But when the opportunity comes knocking, its desired effect is fantastic, leaving players with an urge to recreate a maniacal, villainous laugh, or just a smug look (for the modest) as their rival is bested.
Mario Kart’s multiplayer action is usually only served in versus mode, but in the eighth instalment players can race against friends and family in Grand Prix mode. Although the graphics become diluted in split-screen, it’s an instant time-saver making victory that much sweeter.
However, battle mode poses a problem, limiting players’ choice down to eight race tracks seen in the main game. Since there are no unique battle stages, balloon pop mode feels lost in the title’s loop de loops, where players can simply hide on larger tracks such as Toad’s Harbour and Yoshi Valley rather than rage in a heated frenzy over red and green shells. But Nintendo has integrated online play seamlessly with custom rules for tournaments and an in-game chat feature for friends in the lobby area, keeping players glued to the track even after the main game is complete.
Though Mario Kart 8 encounters the odd kink or two, it’s still as fun, fast and furiously addictive as its predecessors, particularly with anti-gravity features thrown into the mix. Rev up your Wii U engines as this is a staple game no Nintendo fan will want to miss.
8.5/10
Bad review
i keep getting suprised that nintendo is ignoring online…even when the game is said to have online, it is missing a feature or two, also give me my battle mode like it was, stupid pieces of shite
What are you talking about? Battle mode isn’t even that great. I skip straight over it in Mario Kart 7. And what online features are you talking about? All I care about is racing other people. I don’t know exactly what else is missing.
good thing the game is made for you and you alone, right?
not really, many of those that consider “online lacking”, it’s because many of the features are not the ones YOU wanted
Online on MK is cool as it has been since the DS one, something that in fact I believe it’s gonna retain. The only thing different is the “voice and stuff” thingy many are ranting. God, like I want to hear the others talk
when i play online and someone starts talking is enough for me to think that guy just want attention.
Anyway. my point was made
I see muting players is a foreign concept to you
I was talking about inviting friends, i was talking about battle mode as well, do those thing hurt the game that much????????????that is why i hate this site, it’s full of stupid morons
Coming from the guy that tends to do nothing but whine & complain about everything Nintendo does that doesn’t suit HIS preferences. I can’t really think of any positive things YOU’VE ever said. Like Nostalgia_w, you come off as just another troll to me.
You say this site is full of morons and you hate it because of that, yet you still have the questionable brain capacity of a dumbass to continue coming only to get butthurt and complain about the smallest things that are nothing less but the tiniest setback and you try to over-exaggerate it into something like it’s somehow the end of the world, and when someone figures out that it’s not that bad, you go ahead and cuss them out because they don’t agree with your insignificant complaint. Again you call us morons yet you still come here knowing that, which makes you as big as a moron as everyone else here. Now get your brokeback gorrilla ass out of here sasori, using an alt account won’t hide your bullshit disguise.
^ depressive troll hahahaha
If you hate this site then why do you continue to post here? You have made 14 or 15 comments on this topic alone.
Awesome that Nintendo fans on this site seem to know everything and Mario kart is so perfect that Nintendo shouldnt even consider improving stuff.. pathetic fanboys start thinking on your own! And btw it’s a free country so stop insulting everyone for having an opinion and ideas to improve a game… Morons
You stupid piece of shit !!! It’s not missing anything asshole!!! Mk8 is perfect !! But this review sucks! I’ll give it a 10/10 !!!
Yeah!! let’s listen to this idiot who clearly hasn’t played the full game.
How do you know? Maybe he is one of the lucky ones to buy the game early. Change your name, dude, because you are NOT all knowing.
Agreed
Wow what an intelligent person! You shouldn’t be allowed to live go kill yourself Faggot
Uhh hello! U BEE NISE!!! I LOVE MY NINTENDO NEWS AND I LOVE MARIO KART AND I LOVE THIS REVEW BECAUSE I LOVE IT!!!! back off or u wil have two answer two mii big guy!!
Bad as in badly written.
With such a horrible roster, that’s still a good score.
How so? This game certainly has a far better roster than Mario Kart 7. (Went through pain and suffering just to unlock a character I don’t even want like Wiggler) We got Baby Rosalina now, man. That’s good enough for me.
Are you serious? Baby rosalina? The whole roster is full of copy and paste. 5 baby characters, 2 peaches, 2 marios, 7 koopalings that have basically the same body type. At least wiggler had a whole different body type that they had to make from scratch.
I don’t see anything wrong with the baby characters. You have the option to pick whoever is your favorite character just in a baby form. Same with Metal Mario and Gold Peach. As for the Koopalings, this is their first time, so they kind of deserve to be in it. As for everything else, this game basically has every Mario Kart 7 character and more. You can just pick your favorite characters and leave the others alone if that’s your kind of thing.
Actually they took out my character who was Dry Bones. They took out Bowser Jr. Who been in all the home console versions since double dash. Same with Diddy Kong. They took out many great characters for just copy and paste characters.
those and dry bowser. but dry bones and dry bowers is copy and paste of koopa troopa and bowers and bower jr is other name for “baby bower”.
its just 4 characters the rest that aren’t in Mario kart 8 are unnecessary – This Is Gamer, Peace Out
Koopalings are better than bowser jr and far more deserving. They are classics. But sorry for your loss that’s just my opinion :p
No offense, but I have to side with Jester on the topic of characters.
Just thinking about the removal of my favorites for what I will now call, “Copy and Paste Babies” pisses me off to no end. D:<
arent you just mad because dry bones isnt in it? and btw dry bones is koopa troopa but dead sound Copy and paste to me – This Is Gamer, Peace Out
now that i’m thinkin’ about it, they did that on purpose, because those greedy motherfuckers will probably sell good characters in packs, like 5 of them for 10 bucks, which is retarded, but fanboys will buy that
If they included maps to the packs, I’d buy it. Maybe 10 characters and 10 maps. Good thinking, I sense you love Nintendo with a passion.
i loved it once, now i feel they are losing it
While I agree with most of your complaints, some things you do complain about are rather odd.
well, it’s your opinion
And I would buy them because I want my last console MK drivers back. X.x
I bet you anything that’s exactly what they did. Not many people would buy DLC for a “Baby Pack” but they would buy a pack to get back the drivers they had LAST CONSOLE. :(
Since you’ll be buying it, they’ll do it again, and again, until they become E fucking A
Dry Bones, Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, Birdo, King Boo, Petey Piranha, Paratroopa, R.O.B., Dry Bowser, Funky Kong, Honey Queen, Wiggler.
There were also SO MANY other characters they could have selected/included. Cranky Kong, E. Gadd, Kamek, Nabbit, and more.
Exactly. Double Dash had one of the most great rosters. It was right to the point. And they introduced petey and king boo which were made right from scratch not “hey let’s put metal mario because we have nothing else to do or another baby character.”
>Cranky Kong
nah
>E. Gadd
god no
>Kamek
cool indeed
>Nabbit
seems like a filler character like Shy guy
damage control much?stupid motherfucker, you’d be happy if they put green mario, red mario, gold mario, fire mario, tanooki mario, cape mario, turtle mario, baby mario, paper mario, just mario….you’d say “oh well, that’s a great roster” stupid retard happy with everything
Hey, no need to vent your frustrastion out on me. -_- I can understand why some of you may be mad about certain characters, but that doesn’t mean you can hate on the other characters that got in. I don’t care about Waluigi, but you don’t see me whining about it. I respect other people’s choice of character unlike certain people. And as for the guy who called me 8 for liking Baby Rosalina, I could say the same thing about your character. Just letting you know that. :P
“Im right and you are a bunch of motherfuckers”
Internet logic since ever
xD Sounds about right.
I am always right exept when someone else is right, then it’s a draw.
I never cared much for the baby characters because they never made a lick of sense. How can Mario etc. race against his own baby self?
Whoa.. That’s deep
Mario Katt Double Dash had 4 babies which are two Marios, 2 Luigis, 2 Peaches and 2 Daisies so what’s your point?
And as for the Koopalings, WTF hates those guys? Thank god they all replaced that jackass little cunt Bowser Jr. The original 7 kids were loved by most Mario fans so again, invalid ranting is invalid.
Actually they only had baby mario and luigi
Baby Rosalina? What are you an 8 year old girl?
LMAO, agreed.
So cause he likes a female character he’s a little girl? -_- sound logic.
Because he likes female baby characters yes. Either he’s a prepubescent girl or there’s something seriously wrong with him.
Well, you’re right. I guess that makes sense. Oh wait, no it doesn’t. So by your logic, there’s something wrong with Nintendo for even creating the female baby characters. It’s a video game for gods sake. It’s not like I’m some kind of pedophile or anything just because I like a character you don’t. And I said “baby ROSALINA is good enough for me”. Tell me what is wrong with that sentence.
There is nothing wrong with that sentence other than sounding like a pedo innuendo.
Agreed.
Also, The things she found annoying I KNOW will bug me…I’m really, really glad I know about them now rather than find them out on my own.
So you re reviewed it Miss Ambassador?…
I remember you gave it a 8 before…
The other one was Alba’s review for the US. :)
Ah right…
Anyway, I just get irritated that the biggest flaw in this game is the use of the gamepad just as many other games out there…
Gamepad showing the same thing as the TV screen even in 4 player is just stupid…
A-Fucking-men.
Why Nintendo chose not to add a fifth player on the GamePad is confusing, but the screen does offer different view points between map, off-TV play and horn mode. I agree though as it feels like they could have pushed the game much more.
I think you Nintendo responded to this question, but you’re not listening :)
You’ve opted not to include second-screen local multiplayer in the final game (one player on the TV, one solely on the GamePad) – can you tell us why that is the case?
I thought that for Mario Kart, playing with someone else on the same big TV screen gives the game a more competitive feel. Because of this we decided to limit the local multiplayer to TV split screen, and had the development team focus their efforts on the graphics and 60fps frame rate. OK? XD
I’m not bothered that much by that but still irritating but 4 player splitscreen on the Gamepad is just the most stupid thing yet…
gamepad is just stupid, if it was sold seperatly, i’d be fine with it, and would probably buy it, it should’ve just been used for off-tv play
here you go
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wii-U-White-8GB-Basic-Console-HDMI-AC-Adapter-Sensor-bar-OEM-No-Gamepad-NEW-/291156555180?pt=Video_Games&hash=item43ca4875ac
And if you bid good youll get it cheap :) – This Is Gamer, Peace Out
tried to make yourself seem smart and you made yourself look like a handicapped monkey, because i already have a wii u gabagabagabagabagabagabagabagabagabagaba
not really i just read what you wrote “if it was sold separately, I’d be fine with it, and would probably buy it” maybe i understand you better than yourself :) so i presumed that you didn’t own one in other words
nut then again seems like I’m wrong cheers! – This Is Gamer, Peace Out
ok, i’ll admit that my original comment sounded like i didn’t have the wii u, so i’ll give you that, anyway, i do
You asked for a gamepad sold separately and he gave you one. The only person who made a monkey out of you was him, but he can’t take all the credit, you deserve some of it too. ;)
Your parents must be so proud.
well, since you can’t argue me in anything because you’re too stupid and wrong, you try to insult me…oh well, a retard does what a retard does
That’s all you can ever reply with, insults. You just love to expose yourself because you are as well stupid and wrong. Then you immediately go and try to put words in my mouth I never said, again insulting me won’t help your argument. Nice try dipshit.
go on, you amuse me…you still have no point
Lol, now he’s resorting to ignorance.
Oh wait a second? I amuse you? That’s a great Idea! What am I doing here, I’ll go entertain the masses. Then I’ll come back when I’m more successful and famous than you. Thanks for the tip buddy!
At least you admit that you aren’t more famous and successful, but you are still arguing about nothing, go play some gta, or battlefield on your wii u…..oh wait OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dance more. It pleases the masses, and maybe you might be just as good as Sasori. Oh wait, you are him, but using a different account. Now dance.
Oh look it’s Sasori’s right testicle Donko. Give up faggot, even Bitch Admiral destroyed your ass and is making you a laughing stock ape. Now go back to the crotch of a gorilla of which you came.
Can’t wait to play this game! I don’t have my Wii U back yet, but this’ll be the first thing I play for sure! Wii U all the way!
My gripes are hearing there are no arenas for battle mode at all and being able to hold just one item. I think they did that so pro players wouldn’t go so hard on newcomers. And really the pirahna plant seems “overpowered” to me. But other then that the game looks incredible! And does anyone think Rainbow Road looks too easy? Hugs!
I don’t know, but I sure love the make-over RR got! ;D
Sorry I wasn’t clear. I meant the new one. The N64 RR looks magnificent!
about the piranha plant it isn’t very overpowered it can be handy when you have all player on line with a low speed, though i would say bullet bill is still better.
Rainbow wasn’t very challenging but i haven’t really tried it on 150cc it might be harder… though on par with rainbow on ds and wii its nothing but that stage look Gorgeous… i would say try it and see for yourself :)
– This Is Gamer, Peace Out
Peace out bro.
meh am skipping this game completely
1) what a terrible character rosters( even a downgrade of mario kart wii and double dash)
2) barley tooo bare bone too no voice chat.
3) the gravity gimmick doesn’t interest me neither does it end anything new to the racing.
4)stages are even more ilnner with barley any short cuts.
5) barley none of my friends even have a wii u neither care for mario kart for the 8th time.
6) i was perma banned from mii verse, soo the online is even more gimped
7) very expensive and the deals are terrible because i dont care for pikmin 3, wind waker( i have that on pc with better resolution), nsmbu( i already have that game and i wish i didn’t waste my on that trash).
8) 720p 59fps
9) the graphics are not impressive in my opinion and i notice a ton of last gen textures.
10) over priced rehash
11) am trying get used xbox 360 with 15 super cheap games.
and is still better than most of your beloved xbone games…of course you don’t own any xbox console lol
a used xbox 360? man you really need money!!!
he needs a brain and a bag to hide his ugly and pathetic face
Brokeback needs a CAT scan..and a fake vagina to fuck at his spare time besides bitching over a game he vlaims to hate but still wants to buy just like hating a system he’s currently owning and playing.
Fucking retard of a hypocrite.
8 out of 10 of stupid reasons with no more than hatred for the sake of hate. Go away, nobody is gonna miss you.
n’ah tell no lies. you are skipping it because your parents don’t want to give you money for games
hahahaha…ouch sasori ouch!!!
i have money. not going to spend it on a overpriced rehash.
no you don’t…because you don’t have your fucking xbox 360 yet ;P
K.O!!!
LMFAO!!!
don’t be so afraid to admit it. if you want i can lend you money
you’re going to waste your money ; )
don’t lie. the ones with the money are your parents
nope its my money.
your PARENTS money
why do care where i even got my money. its not like you wellfare nintendrones can even afford to buy third party games on wii u even when their super cheap… oh wait you make pathetic excusses as usual.
nope, you make pathetic excuses only to hide the fact that you have been burned, lol. I will buy MK 8. Want to stop Me?, come on, i would want to see you trying
to stop me
I thought you WERE one such welfare gamer. You’re just flip flopping again, as usual, to best suit your hatred for Nintendo & it’s fans. Grow up, you little shit. You make it harder & harder for me to be nice to you. And I’ve only been nice so far since you’re just a ignorant little kid. But now, I just can’t do it anymore. You’re not deserving of getting treated nicely. Now go sell your Wii U to Gamestop for credit, so you can buy the XB360 for $99 from them on May 30th-June 1st.
Yes of course it’s “your (parents) money”
sniff… sniff… eww what’s that horrible smell?. oh, it’s sassori ass being BURNED!!!
Then go buy yourself a dildo to go fuck yourself virgin.
Mario Kart 8 “rehash” yet buy COD which is the king of rehash.
Your hypocrisy shows no bounds dipshit.
No you don’t you couldn’t even afford a brain, and those are free at birth.
xbos 360? are you serious? you spend all your fucking time trying to tell people that the Wii U is not a powerful console and you want a fucking xbos 360?. Dream big fag, you could get a betabox one. All your funking hate and you want a xbox 360?.
i do not know if i must laugh or feel sorry for you…
what the hell!, YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE!!
i wanted a 360 the minute i discovered and realized wii u is the biggest piece of shit console ive ever owned. too bad i stopped buying nintendo games for it and i will continue to not buy any nintendo games for the system. i will buy their piece of shit rehashed lazy half assed games at 23-35$ at best. no need for get hype for nintendo games at my age. the only people i see mostly that play 3ds, ds, wii or wii u’s are kids or causals. does nintendo even try to innovate at all? nope just put mario on the cover and add gimmicks and useless features to bare bones character roster and everyone of you pathetic drones will claim nintendo is innovative. lol at this even kids are even smart enough not to buy a wii u and most causals dont even want to pay $300 to play mario and zelda games.
again: you said that you are waiting your naruto -eew- game and MK 8 price drop. Sell your Wii U and leave Nntendo fans in peace. Do not need to be an asshole. You get a lot of shit due to your hate. Can you live with that?. sell your Wii U or destroy it, if you hate Nintendo, leave them go. Do not feed your hate visiting sites related to Nintendo!
The idiot is hiding his envy for Nintendo by pretending to hate it. It like one of those twisted ass girls claiming to hate a guy fot no reason but secretly crushes him. Hey Arnold! rings any bells?
lol Ooh, burn!
im curious, what console did you own last gen?
He owned a WiNi.
1) the character roster isnt that bad its not like anyone will play with every character
2) the voice chat only works with friends though probably not how you wish it to be
3) it ads a ton to the racing since you get a speed boost every time you bump into other player and planed correctly it would be to your benefit.. but then again it doesn’t interest you
4)lots of short cuts
5)not sure where this is coming from
6)just make a new nintendo id worked for me when i was banned though not sure it has anything to do with mario kart online
7) its probably cheapest of this gen games and not sure if its even possible for the wind waker part if you didnt port the game yourself to your pc but i see that only as waste of time.
9) i thought the same until i got glasses.. just kidding (though i see much better with glasses on (o.o those details i missed all these times)… your opinion i have to respect that
11) i would buy new xbox 360 since they are already cheap and THEN buy used ultra cheap games :)
This Is Gamer, Peace Out
You got permanently banned from miiverse? You must be awesome….59fps? That really matters? 8 games….in 22 years! I only just now got a 3DS my first handheld so I have only played four Mario karts, unless you always owned a console and a handheld that does not count…I’ve only played two nsmb, but the 3ds one is on the way…awesome spelling too, maybe I’m do old to be flaming you, I apologize, but this latest gaming generation is not my gaming generation, upsets me. I play all these games, love Nintendo’s stuff, I’d still whip the floor with you in all these shooters….why? Cause I played quake! Faster and deadlier than any shooter you have prob ever played! Dang it I’m mad for no reason!
ive played mario kart gba
mario kart duble dash
mario kart ( with pacman)
mario kart wii
mario kart ds
mario kart 7.
its a generic rehash.
question: if MK it’s a generic rehash, why the heck you said you will wait until MK8 gets a price drop?.
cus he got exposed that he enjoy mariokart, he’ll continue to get exposed again and again…
8 is one of the better ones in terms of racing, battle mode is let down but I almost never play it anyway. Playing all the mk games they all play differently, and have different since of control and feel. Rehash means they do nothing new for the game witch isn’t true. Every Mario kart tries something new. This one adds several features, such mktv, better online, a more balanced game, item custom, the Zero g ( its gimmick yes but the term isn’t good or bad and it is a new feature that does add more. U don’t have to get he game, but in many of your post it sounds like ur insecure about yourself. let people like what they want don’t be ass and start things all the time
Forza
Forza 2
Forza 3
Forza 4
Forza 5
It’s a generic rehash*
I’m too old to flame the little bastard myself, but screw it. His parents obviously don’t give his big ass enough spankings, so I’ll just have to be the adult that does it.
Wow you contradicted yourself in your own statement. So I’m going to lay it down for you in places where I can correct you in places of your statement that makes sense.
You say gravity is boring, and racing was not innovate, yet your willing to play a racing game that matches the description of of your butthurt hypocrisy.
You complain about last gen textures and yet you are settling for a LAST GEN system with LAST GEN games.
The online is gimped because you got banned? Correction, your own logic is gimped.
You say the stages are linear and have no shortcuts, yet you never played it, or your too stupid to think for yourself.
720p 59Fps you say? So is every other game that you want to play.
And you complain about expensive deals yet you say you be glad to buy an Xbone at launch for $500 bucks, which is $200 more.
You have been exposed, proven invalid, and destoryed once again. This time, you did all the work for me, and its sad that you helped me destroy you.
Now can someone que me the K.O.?
I’ll never get tired of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVPJuGIuUMU
Good job guys knocking out sASSori
wow just wow, you crushed him with all your might!!!
LMAO. epic buuuuuurrrrrnnnn!
you comment didn’t even make sense you dipshit.
you are pissed, accept it
nope, not realy pissed over manchilds on the internet who play nintendo games.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
it´s pissed!!!
Yet you called someone a dipshit when they made hilarious memes of your hypocrisy, heck you even went out of your way to create an account just for that site to call him a dipshit.
I’m exposing you a lot today, are you making a special effort today? Aww, that’s cute.
Hmmm..I sense “somebody” hasn’t viewed the mirror this morning.
You are a real credit to your race, sasori. *sarcasm* I’m not racist but you make it hard for me to not just let out the N word every time I see you post.
Yet you confessed to playing on your 3DS and Wii U and wanted a kiddifed version of Naruto…. exposed
Because that is because the hamster that runs on the wheel in your head is dead, yet somehow it still seems to be rolling.
Or
You fail at life and I absolutely destroyed you and all you can reply with are insults.
Exposed!
Que second K.O.
You’re mad, you’re jealous, you’re exposed, you’re burned, you’ve lost and you’ve been burned again.
Now you’re playing the ignorance card to ignore the fact she just annihilated. Pathetic.
that’s what we think about your comments
CO CO CO COMBO BREAKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will the music of Frieza annihilating enemies far weaker than him do?
Sure, why not?
Do what you think is best man. You should really try pikmin 3 though.
>meh am skipping this game completely
who cares?
gr8 b8 m8 r8 8/8
720p 59fps? I get REALLY pissed off when “gamers” like you get worked up over graphics. 1 less fps and 720p instead of 1080p will not “kill” the experience of the game. My fondest gaming memories come from GAMEPLAY rather than “Oh wow! I sure love these graphics!”. For me, graphics don’t, and never will, drastically improve a game.
Just to clarify, I appreciate the aspect of good graphics, but it does not influence my decision to get a game.
http://s3.freefoto.com/images/07/44/07_44_32_web.jpg
Barley
If they had a better roster and didn’t mess up the Battle Mode, this game would be scoring more 9’s and 10’s. Instead the game has been getting more 8’s and 8.5’s. :/
The game is still fantastic, though.
Yep.
If this game had Bowser’s skeleton clone, you’d be singing a different tune, wouldn’t you?
They should have added tons more characters if they included the Koopa kids. It deserves an 8.5 for sure., but I’m still playing the hell out of it. I don’t see any point in bitching about it being a “rehash” when most racing games are boring as fuck. Any game is a rehash of the other, so get over yourselves.
And that right there is a testament of the game, they fucked up the Battle Mode, lackluster chat, and a very bad roster and the game is still scoring 8’s.
To me that means the game is still pretty much a great game and if Ninty hadn’t messed it up, this would be scoring 10’s.
I see the Koopalings as far better characters than anything Mario Kart 7 had.
Does anyone know if you can join the room that your friends are racing in via the Wii U Friend List page or in-game?
Also, does anyone living in the UK happen to have gotten a copy of the game early?
Another idiot who places too much emphasis on battle mode. So, one guy says it, and now everyone repeats it. Nobody gives a F about that weak ass mode. It has pretty much always been an afterthought so basing negatives on it screams lazy regurgitation hack review. So dumb
Interview: Mario Kart 8 Director, Kosuke Yabuki, On Key Features of the Wii U’s Blockbuster Release
When development on Mario Kart 8 started, was it largely the same core team that produced Mario Kart 7 for 3DS?
Yes, it was the same core team that produced the previous game. Of course the team was a little larger this time due to work on the HD element.
Being able to drive upside down is one of Mario Kart 8’s most unique new features. How did the idea for anti-gravity racing come about, and why did you decide to add the “Spin Turbo”?
In Mario Kart 7 we introduced dynamic gravity to handle sequences underwater or on the moon for example. As the idea developed, it led us on to rethink how we handle gravity in the first place and we eventually came up with the anti-gravity feature of Mario Kart 8.
The Spin Turbo idea comes from Japanese spinning tops. We thought that the sight of spinning tops bumping into each other as they whirl around was perfect for the behaviour of karts in the anti-gravity areas. Players will need to come up with different strategies than those used for racing over normal track sections, so I’m sure that this will create situations never seen before.
Keeping a 60fps frame rate in two player mode while having the best graphics possible was our aim from the start.
Mario Kart 8 runs at 60fps in single and two-player mode. Was it a challenge maintaining this silky-smooth frame rate, given the amount of graphical detail present in the game?
Keeping a 60fps frame rate in two player mode while having the best graphics possible was our aim from the start. This was a huge challenge, but we were able to pull it off thanks to all the team members sharing a common goal and working together with the utmost care. Thanks to this smooth frame rate, I feel we’ve been able to create a race experience that feels better the faster you go.
Once you reach the goal, please do make sure to check out the race highlights that will automatically feature the greatest moments of the race. Seeing the race again from a different angle than usual will really let you enjoy the beautiful graphics of this title.
You’ve opted not to include second-screen local multiplayer in the final game (one player on the TV, one solely on the GamePad) – can you tell us why that is the case?
I thought that for Mario Kart, playing with someone else on the same big TV screen gives the game a more competitive feel. Because of this we decided to limit the local multiplayer to TV split screen, and had the development team focus their efforts on the graphics and 60fps frame rate.
The online modes, including Tournaments, were recently revealed. What prompted this approach as opposed to the Communities from Mario Kart 7?
As you will see when playing the game, the Tournaments in Mario Kart 8 are a further development of the Communities in Mario Kart 7. We decided to change the name to ‘Tournaments’ because now it’s possible to specify the dates on which players meet periodically to play, and each session has its own ranking.
Mario Kart 8 – Bowser
Mario Kart TV ties in very neatly with the current gaming craze of sharing your performances with other players. Do you think this feature will become an important part of the game’s core appeal?
Yes. Mario Kart TV is one of the important features of this game. It works together with Tournaments as well, so we really hope that many players make use of it.
However, we’re not just thinking about the core appeal. I think that deep down everyone wants to keep a record of the times they spent having fun with family or friends. I also think that being able to watch these videos on a PC or smartphone will help make for some great memories of these moments.
In developing Mario Kart 8, we have re-created and re-combined all game elements and adjusted everything over the course of thousands of tests to aim for the perfect balance.
When picking the roster for the game, what new characters were you especially keen to include, and which ones were left out?
The Koopalings in particular are some of the new characters that I recommend. For this game I wanted to have them all appear together. They all have superb individuality and their expressions are very unique. I think they are great characters that will definitely give players a laugh or two.
On the other hand, there are some characters that appeared in previous Mario Kart titles, but unfortunately didn’t make it into this game, such as Bowser Jr., Dry Bones, King Boo, and Diddy Kong. I really apologise to players who liked these characters in particular, but the new characters are a lot of fun as well, so I hope you all try them out.
Have you ever been tempted to take the Super Smash Bros. approach and include characters from outside of the Super Mario universe?
We’re always considering ways to make the Mario Kart games more appealing, but I don’t think that just increasing the number of characters would make the game better. Of course, I’m not ruling out the possibility of such an approach in the future though.
With the classic tracks, was it difficult to include these circuits given the game’s focus on anti-gravity racing? How did you select which tracks to update?
When talking about classic tracks, it’s tempting to think of them as just straight-up remakes. However, as the karts’ behaviour, the camera and the number of players now are different than when these tracks first came out, we had to re-design everything, including the track’s width and spatial layout. It’s after doing this that we add the anti-gravity areas to the tracks, but only where they would be effective. I think that the section where you race along the wall in N64 Toad’s Turnpike is a good example of that.
Mario Kart 8 – Peach
Balancing is clearly vital in a Mario Kart title, so are there any particular adjustments you’ve made in that area in comparison to Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7?
Adjusting only a specific part of the game would break the overall balance. In developing Mario Kart 8, we have re-created and re-combined all game elements and adjusted everything over the course of thousands of tests to aim for the perfect balance.
Were there any features that you wanted to include but had to leave out of the final game?
No, there are no features that were left out from the final version. In fact, we kept tuning the game until the very end and in some cases we even added some things right in the final stages of development.
I hope you will all enjoy Mario Kart 8, the latest and greatest addition to the Mario Kart series.
;-)
M.K.8 9.6/10 ;-)
I checked out after I read this sentence:
—————–
With its visually stunning graphics and thrill-a-minute gameplay, there’s no denying that Mario Kart 8 is the best entry to the racing series since 2003’s Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the Nintendo GameCube.
————–
Double Dash stunk.
Jesus christ does it has unlockable ones?Btw all of you suck this is got to be the worst community ever from admins to the garbage tgat sasori is
Owned
Dd was great but mk ds wii and 7 are all fantastic ill never understand the hatred for them
“…there’s no denying that Mario Kart 8 is the best entry to the racing series since 2003’s Mario Kart: Double Dash!!…”
As much as I respect your opinion, SilverShadowFly, you should seriously get your head examined. Double Dash was fucking atrocious.
But thank you for your review anyway. I’m jealous you already have the game.
No Mario Kart game was ever “atrocious” (aside from maybe the Game Boy Advance version). Every Mario Kart game was super fun. None has ever sucked.
Actually, fans did love Double Dash even I do. Although it did threw the balance off a bit, the game was ultimately fun in the end.
No Mario Kart game sucked.
I don’t know why Nintendo ever has to take past characters out of a game? Why can’t every past character return, PLUS have new ones? Oh well, whatever……
I would’ve loved for Metal Mario/Peach to not be included since they’re clones opposed to the babies. Diddy and maybe Boo would’ve made the roster a bit better in its place.
The character roster is a minor hiccup compare to the lackluster Gamepad usage besides using it as a steering wheel. But then again, I also hear people rather prefer other controllers than Gamepad anyway. But yeah, this was a missed opportunity to show off what the Gamepad can do in an anticipated game like this.
For online features, I haven’t checked them out yet so I can’t say anything until then.
The only thing I hate about Mario Kart 8 is this baby shit. I want variety! This pisses me off! Other than that this is a good game.
Yeah, thats the only problem i have with it. I’m pissed that King Boo isn’t on the roster.
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too bad people are buying this game. i would rather get watch dogs over mario kart any day.
Yeah. Too bad Mario Kart 8 is going to curbstomp Watch_Dogs for Wii U, if it even releases. Oh wait! That’s not too bad! That’s great news!
battlefield 3 is free on origin for pc. lol such a great deal. origin is way better than eshop.
Now you are sucking the dick of THE worst 3rd party video game company in the history of video games? You truly are a little worthless shit, aren’t you? Wait. Are you secretly an EA employee & have just been bashing Nintendo all this time because you’re pissed off they told EA “No!” to their precious fucking Origin bullshit being built into the Wii U’s online infrastructure!? This would explain EVERYTHING!!
who knows, may be the origin idea would have been an actual better online network than the current crap bare bone nintendo network. ea actually knows how to create a decent online than nintendo.
No thank you. I don’t want the greedy EA to have their claws in my Nintendo console. Fuck EA & their Origin. But you’re within your right to suck EA off as much as you want like the little bitch you tend to be on here.
Origin is crap dude, many gamers hate it. Steam has way better deals then that shit, left 4 dead 2 nearly crashed the server with its downloads. Comparing it to the eshop is comparing a orange to a apple, they have different things going. I play the xboxone version of titanfall because origin’s servers are crap
Then you go onto another subject because you can’t debate against something that proved you wrong.
http://www.generadormemes.com/meme/e3lp9y
and what if I am buying the game?, come on, try to stop me!!
your comment confirms your butthurt.
Well this review was far more negative than the one from alba. But that’s okay. It’s just her opinion on the game.
As for the people complaining about the roster, it only sucks because some of you just aren’t getting the characters YOU wanted. I’ve seen a few people calling the roster for SSB 4 Wii U/3DS bad on Miiverse because they aren’t getting say Daisy as her own character, which she’d just be a bloody moveset clone of Peach, anyway, Waluigi as a playable character, or Ashley as a playable character. If the game doesn’t get Ridley as playable, I’m not going to be a whiny little brat & call the game’s roster shit because of it. But I digress since this is a debate for another topic. But don’t worry. With any luck, characters like Dry Bowser or Dry Bones might actually come as free DLC later down the road. Anyways, I’m gonna head off from here for a little while since sasori’s brokeback ass has me on the defensive. As much as I like seeing Stranga bash people that rightfully deserve it, I don’t want to accidentally bash the wrong people for calmly, with no malice, expressing their own opinion. This is Tallon Ridley Clone XIII, aka Kalas, signing off. Nintendo Commander Quadraxis, Valve Admiral GLaDOS, & Stranga, I leave the rest of dealing with the trolls to you guys.
Exactly. I get fucking flamed to hell just because I said I’m ok with the roster. I can’t even freely voice my opinion without somebody bashing me. Makes me not even want to say anything at all. -_-
Don’t let any of these fucking idiots make you feel like you can’t say anything on here, as long as you aren’t coming off as a dick you can voice your opinion on whatever the hell you want . Do you really think that idiot sasori gives a hell what anybody says regardless of how big of an idiot he actually is?
i listen to people moron.
That’s a laugh. Go back to the zoo gorilla boy and take your testicles Joe P and Donko back with you to your love bush will Bill Gates.
Yea… if they share your same delusions & opinions.
What Phazoonn said.
Even though the roster has it’s clear problems and isn’t diverse in the slightest, the koopalings alone took up almost a third of the roster and another large chunk was taken up by babies and metal clones. We’re stuck with these as opposed to more important characters like bowser jr, diddy kong and birdo. Fair enough if you’re fine with the roster but don’t act like we don’t have a reason to complain
Diddy Kong has never really been important to Mario’s history as opposed to Donkey Kong, so he’s not a more important character compared to the Koopalings. Birdo hasn’t really been important to Mario in a long time, unlike the Koopalings who are still being used in Mario to this day. Bowser Jr is the only one that is actually important to the more recent Mario games.
Sasori, keep up the good work. I appreciate your energy, insight and dedication in helping these helpless Nintendo fans see the errors and faults of the company they love so dearly. Please continue to show them the light and guide them to hopefully repent of their gaming sins and be reborn to what you and me have come to know as “True Next Gen”… But be patient with them, for they do no know what they are doing and have been blinded and mentally poisoned by Iwata-San and that notorious child molester that goes by the name of Reggie Fils-Aimes. Please do not stop your efforts and actually increase them if you will and you shall be victorious.
Holy shit. Sasori has fanboys! Lmao!
I’m not really surprised. Even that psycho Charles Manson has fans. There’s a lot of sick & stupid people out there.
Thanks for proving to those us, though we already knew, that you’re just an idiot with blind hate for Nintendo. Enjoy following sasori, sheep.
Oh look now Sasori is trying to start an army of monkeys, better call animal control for these escaped gorilla faggots. Lol
Sasori does has some valid points which should be considered. Nintendrones need to open their mind
Open our minds to sasori? Hahahahaha… Hahahahahaahahahaha!! *dies laughing*
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