Mario Kart 8 review

[Nu-Eclipse]

My favourite will always be 64, but then it was the first one I owned.

I'm sure I've said it before, but I'll always consider MK64 to be when the series mechanics changed for the worse, with its flawed track shortcut glitches, poorly-disguised rubber-banding AI and the destruction of everything that made SMK's Battle Mode so legendary.

That said, MK64's time-trialling was very satisfying. In a way that only SMK's time-trialling rivalled.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I also miss being able to nullify banana-skin slips with a split-second press of the brakes (MK64 & Super Circuit).

[kryss]

I won't lie, I miss the feather from SMK. Tactical jumping!

[dataDave]

Got to admit, never had an issue with red shells. When higher up in rankings the game offers a load of defensive weaponry to tackle them, it's still just the blue shell that annoys. Still feels unnecessary if a little better than previous entries

What about three red shells?

I find them to be way more over-powered than the blue shell. There’s nothing more rage-inducing than being knocked-out two to three times in succession.

No one ever wins with a blue shell. The whole reason they end up with one is because they are playing terribly to begin with, the most they can do is stir up the top five placements.

[Neon Ignition]

Three shells is admittedly an over powered pick up, like the blue shell it's effectively a guaranteed strike. For MK9 they could swap that one for the feather

[fishbowlhead]

Id honestly like to know where people think ninty can go from here on another Mario kart, like smash bros this game seems to have reached the end of a road on gameplay refinement, graphics, features, everything really.

[dataDave]

Id honestly like to know where people think ninty can go from here on another Mario kart, like smash bros this game seems to have reached the end of a road on gameplay refinement, graphics, features, everything really.

VR

144fps

4K resolution

[wakka]

More emphasis on team racing - a golden shell item that you can fire at teammates to boost them.

[dataDave]

Silver shell aimed, golden shell homing? Can you fire them behind you as well?

[wakka]

Firing behind you turns it into a negative bronze shell which slows down anyone it hits.

Super Bowser mode. One player plays as Bowser and drives round the track in reverse, scoring points for messing with everyone. Everyone else's goal is to complete the race before he accrues X points. Super Bowser has special abilities like not being slowed down by grass, and an instant 180 handbrake turn. He also generates low power items constantly without item boxes (e.g. bananas, fake item boxes were they reintroduced). He gains higher powered items from item boxes but has no access to blue shells. He's invulnerable to items from regular players.

There's loads they could do with the format of MK really.

[H-Man]

I'd like the game to head in a slightly more realistic direction. More similar to the first. Make it look like a race track set in these crazy locations with tyre walls, cheering crowds, lakitus with cameras, maybe even pitstops with little mushroom crews Most of all a narrowing of tracks would be welcome - you could have the tracks or elements of them become more tricky at higher cc ratings too - roadworks blocking off parts of the road etc - and less powerful/spammy powerups.

I've got friends who haven't gamed since the snes days who still play the original when we meet up. They gave MK8 a go and liked it, but things have swung a touch too far in favour of party game and not enough into racing territory. A slightly more serious, hardcore, racing focussed Mario Kart would coincide excellently with a new, more powerful Nintendo console. Bring back some of the Playstation generation they lost years back.

[Dogg Thang]

Nothing says hardcore and serious more than a fat Italian plumber, his shelled dinosaur friend and a bunch of little living mushrooms going for a race.

[Brad]

Thunderstorms in the distance, dynamic weather, reflections in the puddles, totally broken at launch and for months afterwards. Now that's next gen mario kart.

[wakka]

You have to spend hours and hours racing the same 50cc cups over and over so you can grind enough coins to buy a turbo.

[H-Man]

Nothing says hardcore and serious more than a fat Italian plumber, his shelled dinosaur friend and a bunch of little living mushrooms going for a race.

You know what I meant Hardcore in the sense the original was. That still felt like a racing game. MK8 plays like a party game.