Review: Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart 8 hit stores at the end of May and, as expected, contributed to a notable increase in Nintendo Wii U hardware sales. The ever popular Mario Kart franchise has seen many new additions in features and it seems that Mario Kart 8 does its best to take a little bit from each as well as add a few new elements. For insight on all of those features, see the preview that was written for it.

Game Play

Not unlike other games in the series, MK8 is a fun racer that anyone can pick up that balances skill with luck. The 30 character roster is a good number of characters allowing for varying line-ups without feeling like the developers were scraping the bottom of the barrel. The game can be played with all available controllers and the Game Pad can support off TV play or act as a secondary map screen.

One thing I noticed while playing is that everything seems streamlined. While racing, the only thing stat on the screen is the racer’s position; things like lap times and course maps have either been removed or reside solely on the gamepad. Recovery from falling out of bounds take only a couple of seconds and puts you back into the action almost instantly.

There are 32 courses to choose from – 16 new and 16 remade from previous games. The game’s biggest new feature, “Zero Gravity Racing”, makes its was into many courses but without feeling forced. The new items: The Super Horn, Boomerang Flower, Piranha Flower and the Crazy 8, all fit in nicely and item distribution has been modified to take distance from the leader as well as position in determining what kind of items a racer will get.

Mario Kart 8 builds upon the great pillars of the franchise and with small tweaks here and there nicely brings together a refreshing experience.

Multiplayer

MK8 features both local and online multiplayer. Local multiplayer allows for 2 player Grand Prix racing and up to 4 players for VS and Battle modes. Battle mode has been changed from this game and has recieved a little bit of negativity. Rather than featuring battles on specially designed courses, balloon battles take place on one of 8 regular courses where score is kept based on the amount of ballons you have ramming and the amount of your opponents that you have popped. A novel thing about MK8 is the use of vertical split-screen as opposed to the outdated horizontal split. I find that I prefer this display on wide-screen TVs.

Up to 2 players from 1 system can go online together to race against other players from around the world. Custom rules and Tournament modes allow you to create rooms that other racers can join and race under very specific conditions (Karts only, Shells only, No items, etc…).

One bummer about multiplayer is that the Wii U Game Pad will mirror what is on the TV instead of acting as a separate screen. This means that the Game Pad will show the split screen as well unlike other multiplayer games such as Sonic and All-Star Racing Transformed where each player gets the luxury of their own full screen.

Graphics/Sound

Mario Kart 8 has some of the best graphics the Wii U has to offer so far. Gameplay runs at 60 fps for 1 and 2 player races and at 30 for 3 and 4 player matches. The colors are incredibly vibrant and the environments are very smooth.

The game has small details that really make things pop. Courses look more realistic instead of cartoony and are very detailed. Tires have visible treads and leave skidmarks that stay throughout the race. Each vehicle has headlights that turn on in cave and on night courses. Kart drivers are expressively animated – characters that find themselves neck in neck will look at each other. Most notably would be the newly popularized meme “ The Luigi Death Stare”. I’ll let the images speak for themselves.

The soundtrack of the game has been well acclaimed by players. Most songs feature real instruments that were recorded in real time. Songs from classic stages have found new life with expressive remixes and modernized renditions. Each track has its own theme and no two courses have the same tune. Character voicing is very clear and polished (although I could do without Mario screaming “Mario Kart 8!” every time the game starts).

Mario Kart TV

Mario Kart TV is a feature that allows you to upload highlights from a race directly to Miiverse and Youtube. Check out my video below as it outlines some of the features I’ve outlined. Also the ending is a super close photo-finish.

Verdict – 9.5

After playing for a few weeks now and really exploring Mario Kart 8, I’ve come to realize that this title will be in my Wii U for a long time. Overall, this game is just as enjoyable for veterans looking for something new as it is for newcomers unfamiliar with Mario Kart. While there are a few minor things that would have been desired, there were so many more things that I didn’t even know I wanted in a Mario Kart game. Well done!

Mario Kart retails for $59.99 in stores but can be found on Amazon for about $10 less.