Mario Kart 8 review

[nakamura]

SMK Rainbow Road is ace on MK8. Lots of fun and still very challenging.

[dataDave]

Was SNES RR even that demanding to begin with?

A perfect power slide in MK8 requires much more finesse to pull off, as you'd expect from a game which utilises an analogue steering mechanism. Entries and exits take way more control to nail down properly.

[H-Man]

How does widening a track nerf anything? Surely everyone's playing on the same track and attempting to stick to the same line?



No, it isn't. It's a casual party racer for people who come around to your house for a bit of fun, but for the more serious players it develops into a dedicated racer. It simultaneously satisfies both audiences. How can that be a failing?

There's always a trade off if trying to cater for both casual and hardcore crowds - in this case the hardcore side of things takes a hit. I'm not saying it's not a good game or that it doesn't take skill, just that i'd prefer a change in direction back towards MK's roots. And widening of the tracks does take away from the driving and much of the excitement. Think back to powersliding 180 round a bend on ghost valley 1 in MK, in parallel and inches away from the guy you're racing against. That was and still is more exciting than anything offered in MK8. No crazy powerups, just belting round a track at high speeds with little room for error. There are moments in MK8 that hint of this - times when it's about the driving and speed and everyone's close together and bashing into each other. They're great.

[Nu-Eclipse]

How does widening a track nerf anything? Surely everyone's playing on the same track and attempting to stick to the same line?

More space to race on equals more room for maneuver equals more forgiving gameplay and less need for decisive driving skill.

That is effectively nerfing, or at the very least a considerable watering down of what Rainbow Road was and/or how Rainbow Road originally played on the SNES.

Was SNES RR even that demanding to begin with?

It was a hell of a lot more demanding than the MK7 and MK8 remasters would have you believe, that's for sure.

[nakamura]

Rainbow Road is undoubtedly harder on SNES. I don't think anyone can really deny that.

[dataDave]

There are moments in MK8 that hint of this - times when it's about the driving and speed and everyone's close together and bashing into each other. They're great.

The more you play it with skilled players the more these moments surface. I'll be naughty and drop the RLLMUK tourney code in here once the DLC hits. I strongly urge people to play in there exclusively.

I've never liked MK solely because of the items. MK8 is the first game in the entire series to show me otherwise.

[wakka]

You don't need to play in there exclusively to play against skilled players online. I get matched against people who are mega skilled all the time - agree with H-Man that those thrilling wheel-to-wheel tussles are superb.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Finally managed to 3-star all of the main game in all cc classes, 50 to 150 mirror. To say that one needs considerable slices of luck to do so is quite an understatement - driving skill alone doesn't cut it.

In any case, I have ?9 credit from GAME so I'm going to use that to get a download code for the Zelda & Animal Crossing DLC bundle. Full MK8 DLC for only ?2!

[Colin]

How about since this is the MK8 review thread, you guys take this elsewhere, general gaming for example. All these past pages that have nothing to do with MK8 will be removed tomorrow, fair warning.

EDIT: Multiple pages arguing about COD and SMB now removed, let's keep it on topic regarding MK8 please guys. If you want to start a thread in general gaming to continue the remaster/remake/sequel debate I will transfer the posts removed from here to there.

[dataDave]

[Nu-Eclipse]

Not that much of a surprise, given that somebody recently dug into the code and found the links to these tracks.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/04/rumour_upcoming_mario_kart_8_dlc_to_include_baby_park_and_neo_bowser_city

But it would appear that Nintendo really aren't ever making another F-Zero game.

[dataDave]

(60fps)

Big Blue is one continuous track, just like Wario Mountain.

[dataDave]

They weren't joking about this 200cc. It's going to take a long while to master all the courses again. Saying that the bikes seem to handle a lot better with their inside drift.

The ramp jumps seem waaaaaay imbalanced now, however you still can't bank very sharply in the air so trying to make a big shortcut jump will often end very badly if you can't perfectly align your landing.

[Brad]

Is.200cc a free dlc?

[thetrooper]

Is.200cc a free dlc?

Yes it is.