Mario Kart 8 Review (Nintendo Wii U)

Mario Kart 8 Review (Nintendo Wii U)

Information

Mario Kart 8 | Game Version: 3.00 | Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Nintendo EAD Group No.1

System: Nintendo Wii U

Released: Japan – 29 May 2014, North America and Europe – 30 May 2014, Australia – 31 May 2014

(Source: Wikipedia)

Introduction

Mario Kart is a long standing kart racing series based off the Mario franchise with the first game in series released in 1992 (Super Mario Kart – SNES.)

This unsurprisingly is the 8th game in the series and at the time of its release, was the first game in 6 years to be released on a home Nintendo console (Mario Kart Wii – Nintendo Wii being the last.) The fact that Nintendo don’t rush out sequels really shows and has the polish you’d expect from a 1st party Wii U game.

There’s a number of changes from the last home console game, most notably this is the first game in the series that runs at 1080p and 60fps and includes anti-gravity racing.

Content

Modes

Mario Kart follows the formula it helped to invent.

All the single player and multiplayer modes you’ve come to love are present, but if you’re expecting the classic MK battle mode – think again.

Traditionally battles were fought on special stages – each with their own gimmick. Battles were a ton of fun and were a welcome break from racing and offered a unique experience.  For this game, gone are the special stages and battles now take part on regular tracks. Not a fun experience.

New modes to the game include online tournaments, MKTV (watch online replays) and the shop.

On a quick note online multiplayer can be experienced with two players locally!

Characters

Nintendo has the coolest characters

Characters are important in kart games. Fact. A good kart game will take the most loved and most well-known characters from a franchise and let them fight it out for supremacy. MK8 does not disappoint for the most part.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Toad and Yoshi are there and are probably the most known characters available. These are examples of good character choices on Nintendo’s part. There are however more awesome characters I should point out, but not until the elephants in the room are addressed.

Metal Mario (left) and Peach Gold Peach (right)

As with all franchise-based kart racers some poor choices were made; Metal Mario and Peach Gold Peach are fine examples of this. Summing up these characters is easy – reskins. Reskinning great characters does not equals a good addition to the line-up. Baby Rosalina is another dishonourable mention.

Rosalina “Space Peach” (Left) and Morton Koopa (right)

It’s always going to be subjective when stating a character is awesome – I just don’t why I find some characters so appealing!

Let’s start with Rosalina, yes she was in the Wii release but this time is she so much easier to unlock and I kept playing till I unlocked her. (Just ask my friends who I play as ALL the time.)

My favourite additions have to be the Koopa kids, I remember watching the Mario cartoons in the 90s and how much fun they were! Morton is easily the best – just look at that badass face paint.

DLC (downloadable content) makes its debut in a home Mario Kart game, and boy do Nintendo nail it. If I said you can download Link from The Legend of Zelda to play as, would you believe me? (I hope you would, he’s on one of the images above.)

Karts

The developers have done a good job of picking up on the nuances of what it means to be a Mario series character, without locking nuances to their source material.

Let me explain that sentence (even I’m confused when I read it) – I want to play as Rosalina but I really like Peach’s umbrella for my glider – and I can pick that. The system of picking your vehicle, tyres and gliders offer a lot of variation to the mix (and impact  your racing statistics as well.)

Rosalina thought these tyres would give her courage, wisdom and power…

Standard vehicles are coloured in accordance with your racer and display their respective logo; some characters even have different outfits for cars and bikes.

Tracks

Mario Kart 8 ships with 32 tracks over 8 cups and offers a lot of variety.

Half the tracks are remixes of older tracks, a “best of” previous Mario Kart tracks but with a new spin – these work great with the anti-gravity racing and it’s always nice to see the classics (because some tracks never get old.)

Naturally half the tracks are new, and really are some of the best original tracks ever put into a new MK game. Toad Harbour, Thwomp Ruins, Sunshine Airport and Mario Circuit; just to name a few.

Tracks are typically static and don’t change as the race progresses but a few will present you with different paths to take, these tracks are my favourite and I always come back to these to try something new.

There’s a total of 16 DLC tracks (when then the Animal Crossing DLC releases.) The Zelda DLC tracks are lots of fun, you’ll have to wait for the Animal Crossing ones though!

Gameplay

Controls

She’s a thing of beauty…

Accelerate, brake/reverse, drift and weapon – easy enough right? Yes and no. There’s so many controllers you can use for this game I’m not going to list them.

I recommend using the gamepad – not only because it’s the Wii U’s selling point but because the display on it really frees the TV up so you can ogle at loveliness Nintendo created.

Proof the Wii U Gamepad is more than a gimmick.

AI

Mario Kart has three difficulties - 50 CC, 100 CC and 150 CC (but no 10CC?) I’m pleased say that each fun to race at, and in no time you’ll be racing at 150 CC (as 50 CC is a little too easy.)

The game is usually fair and balanced and rarely do you feel cheated.

The Handling/Feel of the Karts

Depending on your choices in vehicle selection it can take a while to figure the game out, but once you do you’ll have a blast.

I found myself making the stupidest of mistakes when making notes for this review, but usually it was entirely my fault as I play this game very rarely (I’m a busy guy you know…)

Each character has a weight class that affects how your kart drives – either light, medium or heavy; there’s a character/kart combination to suit everyone.

In anti-gravity sections the karts handle the same but with added speed boosts for bumping into other players or special bumpers.

Weapons

Mario Kart has the best weapons of any kart game. Simple. Nintendo know how to take nuances from their franchises and make them relevant out of their comfort zone.

The shells all work great, with the blue shell sniffing out the leader and punishing him/her for being too good; bullet bill helps those lagging behind and makes you feel like a boss.

There is typical kart racer problems in this department though, the mid-card racers will often find themselves under attack a lot and getting hit before a cliff can be really unfair. (At least track re-spawn is quicker now.)

Graphics

1080p. 60fps. Shiny.

Closing Thoughts

Mario Kart 8 is great addition to the series and does a lot of things right, yet it is not a perfect game. (No game is.)

The racing is incredibly fun and addicting, but there are times when the game frustrates you with the sheer amount of weapons coming your way. My advice is trying to get into first or second place as soon as possible to avoid this.

The lack of a true battle mode is a major let down – I didn’t want to bring this point up – but even Sonic and Sega All-Stars racing has this must-have mode.

I seriously recommend buying Mario Kart 8, and this is especially the case if you own a Wii U. For those without a Wii U, get this game alongside The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and you’ll have justified the console purchase.

Final Score: 9/10