Mario Kart 8 review

by Piyoz on Jun 5th, 2014

Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U is the latest installment in the most bizarre racing series ever to grace game consoles. Plumbers, members of various monarchies, reptiles, and infants racing in karts over volcanoes, underwater, and through outer space. You’d never expect that this would all be accompanied by the supremely well-crafted game play and sense of style. But it’s Nintendo. That’s what we’ve come to expect.

So we’ve had 3d environments. We’ve had two racers on a kart. We’ve had motion controls and online and stereoscopic 3D before. This eighth title in the ongoing Mario Kart franchise brings something new to the table as well: anti-gravity. Among the sixteen new tracks and sixteen revamped tracks from previous games, Nintendo presents us with roads that twist and turn and contort in ways very reminiscent of F-Zero. You can definitely think of this as F-Zero GX meets Mario Kart. And the way it’s done is pretty fantastic.

Sixteen original courses divided into the Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups are as varied as they are crisp and colorful. The ones that really dazzle are Cloudtop Cruise (in all its Super Mario Galaxy-infused glory), the Electrodome, and the new Rainbow Road. The Bone Dry Ruins gives me that old Paper Mario vibe.

Nintendo also provides us with sixteen older courses revitalized for the Wii U. It feels great to speed through N64 classics like Toad’s Turnpike and Yoshi’s Valley again. And they managed to keep Dry Dry Desert from the GCN Double Dash. That was probably the only track that I liked from that game. Some of these older courses were streamlined and given anti-gravity segments, too. The choices for all of these retro tracks is decent, but it’s the new guys that really stunned me. They all look damn gorgeous and vibrant. It’s jumping into a vehicle and hitting some item boxes that completes the package.

This time around, we get some fun, new items. There’s a Boomerang Flower that lets you throw a projectile three times. There’s a Piranha Plant that eats items and enemies and gives you small speed boosts. There’s also the Super Horn, a musical instrument so powerful that it can clear racers, all colors of shells, and even environmental hazards from your path. There are even coins to collect that gradually increase your speed à la Diddy Kong Racing.

The anti-gravity karts, bikes, and ATV’s control just like they do on normal ground. But up on the zero G routes, bumping into pillars and other racers actually gives you a speed boost. It changes up your racing instinct a little bit, meaning you’ll have to pay attention to what track you’re on to get ahead of your competitors.

Speaking of your competitors, Mario Kart 8 throws some interesting characters into the roster. Besides the regular crew, we can now unlock the Koopa Kids (whose names I never bothered to learn) as well a Lakitu and Rosalina. Boy, Nintendo really likes Rosalina, huh?

The roster also lets us race as a Mii, Baby Rosalina, and Pink Metal Peach. Is it just me, or do those last two seem a little arbitrary? What about King Boo? And Dry Bones? Maybe a Nabbit? Supposedly Diddy Kong will be revealed later. For right now, all I want to do is race around as a Pianta. Instead we get five babies.

I don’t really consider a limited roster a serious issue. A complaint that I and most everyone on the internet do have with Mario Kart 8 concerns the Battle Mode. Or rather, the lack of a real Battle Mode. Remember those hours spent on that fiery doughnut stage or atop a giant GameCube engaged in brutal, kart-based warfare? Remember those fun stages designed just for battle instead of racing, forcing you to adjust the way you drove for combat and essentially creating a new game entirely? That’s gone, sadly. Battle Mode takes place on the racing courses. I guess it’s a race like any other but with a damage meter measured in popping balloons. Not really the same thing.

If there’s one change to the Mario Kart formula that is welcomed here, it’s the online component. There’s more than just sharing with Miiverse. Nintendo has apparently made a compact with Google by allowing racers to share the highlight reels of their races on YouTube. Nifty, huh? Nintendo’s recent discovery of the internet has been doing pretty well for them. And it doesn’t stop there.

The online play in Mario Kart 8 is pretty aces. From the American Midwest, I could race online with players from Oregon, Utah, and North Carolina without so much as a stutter or any noticeable rubber-banding. No awkward disconnects (yet) for me. Now all we need to do is set up a Rare Gamer racing clan and wipe out those plebian neckbeards.

My friends, this is the Mario Kart we’ve been waiting for. After the bland Double Dash and Mario Kart Wii, we haven’t gotten a truly solid Mario Kart on a console since 1996. Everything from the freshly-balanced items to the creative use of anti-gravity just oozes with the same sort of care and love that’s made Nintendo a household name longer than I’ve been alive. The graphics are vivacious and electric, just bursting with life and energy in every corner without being too inundating and disorienting. The music compliments these new wall-climbing tracks like the steak sauce on a sizzling sirloin. The ability to use the internet to play with friends or strangers and share experiences cements the fact that this is a next-gen Mario Kart. Yes, there is an odd roster and a disappointing exclusion of the franchise’s most unique mode. All this considered, Mario Kart 8 is still among the best kart racing that you will ever lay your hands on.

4/5

Excellent

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