Mario Kart 8 Review

Although Mario Kart 8 has been on the shelves for quite sometime now I just couldn’t pass up reviewing this game. Mario Kart 8 takes a lot of risks, not nearly as much as Double Dash, but it really does payoff in the end. All the options you have in this game are enough to keep you busy for months on end even if you beat all the cups. From unlocking all the karts to characters this game will supply you with an endless amount of joy that keeps you coming back and makes you want to unlock everything the game has to offer. Oh and did I mention that the game has some of the best visuals ever on a Nintendo platform? Well it does and I’ll start off my review with that subject!

[promo title=”Stunning Visuals and Worlds “][/promo]

Mario Kart 8 is possibly the best looking Nintendo game to date. The game’s world and overall beauty is enough to suck you in and take the breath right out of you, especially when it comes to the map design. The tracks in this game are absolutely stunning and it really makes you just want to stop and admire the scenery. Not only are the backgrounds gorgeous but the tracks themselves are extremely stunning and actually prove what the Wii U is capable of and really suck you in. There are obviously some standout tracks but every single one of them are mind-blowing and really allow you to enjoy the game visually as you tear up the tracks in style.

Even if you’re not all that great at racing games the scenery and the pure epicness of the level design will keep you busy until you get better. There really isn’t anything else like this on the Wii U, graphical wise, and if you’re looking for an extremely great looking game that is extremely fun then definitely keep your eyes on this game as it is clever in both visuals and gameplay!

[promo title=”Gameplay and the Risks”][/promo]

This game really takes some risks and you can tell that Nintendo was confident all the way through and rightfully so as the risks they took paid off BIG TIME. The fact you can enter a zero gravity area and go completely sideways or upside down really changes the level designs of the Mario Kart we all know and love. But this addition isn’t a bad feature at all and it actually feels like it was in the series from day one… It’s so fluent and really adds in that layer of creativity we needed in this 22 year old franchise. The game feels fresh and new and really gives you a lot of things to do. But the overall enjoyment you get when actually racing is phenomenal. The zero gravity isn’t the only thing they risked as well… In fact there is a long list of things they changed and the crazy thing is all of them worked. The one thing that interested me the most were the gliders, this really added in a vertical style of gameplay that really wasn’t expected for Mario Kart. Every time you hit a big jump and the glider pops out you can definitely feel the difference and use that as a momentum boost to get the lead. There are millions of shortcuts you can get to if you hit the jump just right and get enough air to reach it and it just feels right. Nintendo knows what they’re doing and they can definitely change up a series when they want to and the proof lays within this game with all the changes and the 110% effort they put into this game to make it the best game on the system, as of now, and the best Mario Kart 8 game you can get.

Those aren’t all the risks Nintendo took while making Mario Kart 8 but those sure are the biggest. The ones remaining are just the kart upgrades that allow you to move faster on land, in water, or in the sky. The reason those are little risks is because they’re all extremely balanced and really help keep the multiplayer at a nice pace. The gameplay, obviously, is a HUGE part of Mario Kart 8 and although it’s not the classic Mario Kart we’re use to it’s definitely one of the best, if not THE best.

[promo title=”Replay Value and Everything You Can Unlock”][/promo]

Mario Kart 8 has tremendous replay value and gives you a ton of stuff to do, the game also has over 40+ parts for your kart and those parts include wheels, gliders, and bodies that you can unlock by grabbing coins during races. The best kart is, however, unlocked by coming in first place in every single track and winning the gold trophy for every cup. The kart is gold and is the best kart you can get in the game… It’s definitely worth the effort though. This game also has a lot of characters that you get just for starting the game up and a lot of characters you get from unlocking them. You start out with 16 characters and can unlock up to 14 other characters, that’s a total of 30 characters in Mario Kart 8! Granted that the majority of the characters consist of babies or the Koopalings but that’s a lot either way. You unlock the additional character by getting gold in the Grand Prix mode and although it’s not all that easy if you’re a new racer it’s extremely fun and challenging nonetheless.

Now that we’re done with everything you can unlock in Mario Kart 8 let’s go ahead and talk about the replay value of this game. You can easily spend 80+ hours on this game and still have stuff to do, especially if you love to 100% games. If you’re done unlocking all the characters, kart upgrades, and got every cup gold and came in first there is still a lot of things to do. You can either head into the multiplayer and reach the maximum skill level, 9999, or you can try and collect all the stamps. Yes, the stamps have made a return from Super Mario 3D World and they’re a great thing to collect and dedicate your time to. There are a lot of them so this will definitely keep you busy for a very long time. And no, that’s not a typo above… The max level in Mario Kart 8 is 9,999 and that will obviously keep you busy for an extremely long time. Either way if you don’t really like going online there are still the ghost trials and mirror mode to tackle and even then you’re not done because of all the stamps, as mentioned before, and stuff to unlock. This game is well worth the money as it gives you endless things to do and grabs a hold of you with it’s amazing visuals and gameplay.

[promo title=”The Online and the Issues”][/promo]

Although this game is extremely good it’s not perfect. The online is extremely fun but has no support for chat during a race, instead you can only chat to your friends or everyone in the game in the post match lobby. It’s a very important thing to have in a multiplayer game and Nintendo just passed it up. I’m not sure if it was done intentionally or they just forgot to put it in but either way it’s a needed feature and the game doesn’t have it. The battle mode also is a let down as the tracks are ripped straight from the regular race tracks and just result in everyone racing around the entire map. Nintendo dropped the ball with somethings but in the end the game is still amazing and it’s definitely worth getting if you love the series or need a game for your Wii U.

Even with those issues the online portion of Mario Kart 8 is extremely fun and challenging. Going up against random people and getting those close games are just extremely fun and really add in another layer of epicness into the game. This game was well needed for the Wii U and I’m just glad it’s out and we can finally play it. This is seriously the best in the series and it’s nice to see Nintendo take some risks because in the end it paid off. Now excuse me as I go play some Mario Kart 8!