Let’s just get this right out the way before I begin to blather on about features and all the other minutiae that make up Mario Kart 8. If you own a WiiU, this game should be in your collection. Hell stop wasting your time reading this, get your coat on run, cycle or kart to your nearest gaming emporium and slam your hands on the counter until the poor bastard working there furnishes you with a copy. Oh, and once you get home, make sure to register it with club Nintendo and download either a copy of The Wonderful 101, or WInd Waker HD. You can thank me later.
For the rest of you, the “oh I’m waiting for a decent game before I buy a WiiU” lot, your arguments are no longer valid. Fuck, they haven’t been for months, but this pretty much puts the final nail in the ‘There are no games on the WiiU’ coffin.
Ok, now that’s out the way on with the show.
Mario Kart 8 is for the best part, the best game in the series thus far. On the surface, it looks like a more advanced version of Mario Kart 7, but under the hood Nintendo have made so many tiny refinements to the formula that Nintendo have been tweaking and experimenting with for the past 22 years that the similarities it has to other entries in the series are mostly cosmetic.
The biggest change Nintendo has made in Mario Kart 8 is the introduction of a new anti-gravity mechanic, players now not only have the ability to drive underwater and glide like they could in Mario Kart 7, but they can now drive on walls and ceilings as well. This little twist makes for some rather spectacular set pieces as you’ll be driving upside down whilst others are charging along below, like in the wonderful Twisted Mansion. There are also some fantastic F –Zero-esque moments in which the track twists and turns like a rollercoaster, such as the revamped Rainbow Road which is now a colossal space station but no less of a test of your driving skills.
As in previous iterations, the game features a 50/50 split of old and new tracks, 16 old and 16 new. As you would expect the new tracks are the ones that really show off the antigravity mechanics proper. But there’s something about seeing old favourites in HD for the first time with modern twists that completely floored me. Personal favourites included Toads Turnpike from Mario 64 now complete with the ability avoid the traffic by driving along walls, DS favourite Cheep Cheep Beach, and most impressive of all, well for an old bugger like me at least, Doughnut Plains from the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES. Although it doesn’t feature any anti gravity at all, it is a spectacular showcase of how far the series, and gaming in general, has progressed graphically in the 22 years since the series debut.
Mario Kart 8 is absolutely beautiful; easily one of the best looking games out today on any system with a level of detail is impressive to say the least. From the bubbles that follow your kart when you’re driving underwater, to the sparks that dance and spatter from your tyres as you drift round a hair pin bend, to the intricate tread on each vehicles tyres.
The games colourful cast of characters also emote with a bizarre level of accuracy, at times in sync with your own feelings to an almost creepy degree. When you get hit with a blue shell and then two reds just before the finish line robbing you of victory, not only will you be pissed, but who ever you’re racing as will be as well.
You can also relive all the joy and anguish of your best races with the game’s surprisingly comprehensive replay system MKTV. This is, essentially, an in game app that allows you to cut
together your replays into 30, 45, or 60 second clips and post them to the Miiverse and, in a very welcome move especially considering how terrified Nintendo seem to be of the web, YouTube. The most impressive part of the whole affair though, is how expertly cut each replay is. By simply selecting a few options the game automatically creates exciting highlight reels, and more often than not, comedy gold, as well as in a slightly more sinister turn, revealing that Luigi may have finally snapped.
You’ll also be happy to hear that the days of the Blue Shell ruining your fun every damn time are at an end thanks to the new Super Horn. That’s right, there’s a weapon that can destroy that blue bastard, letting out a satisfying blast that destroys any incoming projectile within range. What’s more, you can pick it up when you’re in first.
Along with the Super Horn, other new weapons include the boomerang that lets you smack up to three opponents at once, the Super 8 which gives you 8 power ups at once and the Piranha plant that nips at other drivers whilst boosting your own speed.
Along with the new weapons, the game also boasts a whole litter of new characters, I say litter as the biggest addition to 30 strong roster is made up of Bowser’s offspring, the Koopalings. Although they do all look similar I’ve always had a soft spot for Bowser’s brats, so racing around as Lemmy, Ludwig and Roy is absolutely awesome, they’re also far more fun than the wealth of baby versions and other forms of Mario that make up a large portion of the roster. Baby Mario is one thing, but Baby Daisy? Why not Nabbit, Dry Bones or even Diddy Kong?
The amount of lighter drivers and palette swaps that clog up the roster makes it feel like a missed opportunity, especially when the rest of the game has been so finely tuned. At least the unlocks come thick and fast, simply getting gold in a cup will unlock a new character, this can theoretically be done in one run of the 150cc cups although be warned it’s quite a challenge.
Mario Kart 7’s coin collecting also returns. Once again, in each race you can gather up to ten coins that not only increase the speed of your Kart but also work towards unlocking new weird and wonderful parts to customise and improve your ride. My personal favourite at the moment is the Sports coupe with button wheels and a cloud hang glider.
Once you get on the track though the changes from Mario Kart Wii in particular are instantly noticeable, the power of weapons has been either nerfed or rebalanced, your actual driving skill is what’s most important in Mario Kart 8 and I have to say I like it that way. The rubber banding that plagued previous entries that made it possible for a clean run to still easily end in disaster with one Blue Shell are gone. If you can pull away from the pack, so long as you don’t make any mistakes, you’ll stay there. Some would say this creates a lonelier game, but what’s the point in trying to improve if it’s never rewarded?
Likewise Laikitu now hauls you back on track faster, power ups are easier to spot, although sadly you can no longer stack them, and drifting has been tweaked to store up more energy on corners than the straights, finally putting an end to the snaking tactic that made playing against those that used it all but pointless in previous entries.
Time trial mode makes a welcome return, enabling players to experiment with different set ups and practice for the game’s other more frantic modes by attempting to post their best times on any of the game’s 32 tracks with no other racers to worry about and three mushrooms to help boost your way around the track. You can also choose to compete against ghost data uploaded by other players (up to a maximum of four opponents). It’s incredibly addictive, as well as a great way to improve your own performance as the ghosts you’re often initially tailing may have found a better line or short cut you haven’t previously discovered.
Oddly though, despite being able to see your nearest rivals time and download the data of the top time for each track, there are no proper leaderboards, still it’s a minor quibble in an otherwise well implemented addition to the package..
Time Trial and Grand Prix help, to some extent, to prepare you for Mario Kart 8’s 12 player online races which can be entered in either single player or two player split screen. Both single races and tournament play is supported and you can also tweak the rules of the race to your heart’s content.
The online experience itself is pretty much flawless, races are quick to get into and I’ve had no connection issues or lag thus far, despite the servers being pretty busy over the opening weekend.
I
n my opinion, the best way to experience Mario Kart’s multiplayer will always be shoulder to shoulder against your friends after a few too many drinks. So, you’ll be happy to hear that the series classic four player split screen modes also makes a return. Although, Nintendo have halved the frame rate from 60- 30fps, it’s barely noticeable once you’re actually playing: just as pretty, chaotic and most importantly fun as the other modes running at the higher frame rate.
Though it seems that in the rush to get the game’s racing up to snuff, the developers have neglected Battle Mode to the point of irrelevance. Gone are the marvellous arenas built specifically for the mode, instead you can choose one of eight of the main game’s tracks to attempt to fight in, problem being that they were designed for racing not fighting. As such, you spend most of your time buggering about trying to find your opponent rather than actually battling each other, sucking all of the life and most of the fun out of it. Hopefully, this will be rectified with some free DLC later on down the road because as it stands, Nintendo may as well have not bothered.
Despite this, there’s still a hell of a lot to love about Mario Kart 8, It’s a beautiful, refined, deep and, above all else, fun racer with a bevy of modes and challenges that is bound to put a smile on your face and keep it there. Whilst many series are worn down by iteration, Nintendo once again find new and interesting ways to reinvent it’s premier racer into, not only the finest racer on the WiiU, but currently available on any system.
