I stated back in my review for the fantastic Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze that “with exclusives like Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, Lego City Undercover, and not to mention the still-coming-this-year Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 (just to name a few), you shouldn’t really need another reason to pick up a Wii U.”
Well, we’re finally on the eve of Mario Kart 8‘s anticipated release, and as expected, it’s simply another reason for you to own this console. I’ve been playing the game extensively for a few weeks now, and I absolutely can’t put the thing down. I even picked up Ubisoft’s fun yet flawed (and don’t even get me started on the broken promises) Watch Dogs on Tuesday, which I put a few good hours into… before turning it off and jumping right back into Mario Kart 8. It’s gorgeous, it’s smooth, it’s addicting as hell, and it’s the most fun I’ve had playing a video game so far this year.
The game remains fundamentally similar to its seven (yes, there has been that many) fantastic predecessors, but every aspect of the title has been tuned and retuned to produce the slickest and fastest racing game this side of F-Zero. A steady stream of unlocks keeps you saying ‘just one more cup’, as a multitude of new characters, car unlocks, stamps, and more come at a steady pace. There are some absolutely hilarious car/wheel/glider combinations that had me laughing every single time I used them, and each unlocked part can really change things up. You’ll definitely want to try out every combination, as the vehicle you think is the ‘best’ may feel even better once you change its wheels.
Some welcome changes have also made the cut. Gone are the frustrating days of a rival racer loading up on six red shells, as an item now stays in your inventory until they’re completely consumed. This also means that you can’t hold a single shell or banana at your back in order to pick up another item, you have to use what you have before you can grab something else. Honestly, I don’t understand how it took eight iterations to make this change, but it’s definitely a case of better late than never. The game’s biggest addition lies in the neat anti-gravity mode added to most (if not all) of its tracks. Many levels have twists, turns, and entire sections (going up a gigantic waterfall, and then back down for instance) that would be impossible to traverse in a regular vehicle, so in these areas your wheels turn sideways, your traction is reduced, and you regularly find yourself completely upside down. Skilled players can utilize extra speed boosts in these sections by bouncing off of opponents, but it’s definitely a risk/reward move, as you may find yourself instead flying off of the track.
The changes to Battle Mode, however, are changes that I could have gone without. There’s nothing inherently wrong the the new version, but instead of specifically designed, symmetrical battle tracks, you’re speeding through altered versions of the games racetracks. Rather than fighting each other until all balloons are lost, the default setting has you fighting for three minutes. The winner is not the last character standing, but simply the one that has collected the most balloons at the end of the time limit. It’s still fun, but it can’t shake a stick at the classic battle mode, and acts as more of a distraction than a full-fledged ‘let’s go play’ battle mode.
Nintendo has also added a trio of new items to this version, and all three of them quickly rose to sit among my favourites. The Boomerang Flower acts similarly to a green shell; it emerges straight in front of (or behind) you and flies in a straight line along the track… except it’s a boomerang, so it comes back to you. You get three throws with the item, and it can take out opponents as it travels in either direction. It’s great to see the boomerang fly past an opponent (especially a human one), only for it to collide with their character as it returns. Next up is the Piranha Plant, which gobbles up everything in front of you when it’s active, and I mean everything. It’ll grab coins, take out opponents, grab banana peels, shells, etc, making you nearly invulnerable for the time that it’s active. Then there’s the Super Horn, which nets you one use, and basically blows everything that surrounds your character when activated away from you. This includes banana peels, other racers trying to catch a draft, and it’ll also get rid of that pesky (and previously impossible to avoid) blue shell if timed right. I’ve never felt more badass than I did the first time I got rid of the blue shell in this manner… which is probably a testament to how much of a loser I am.
As expected, Mario Kart 8 looks and sounds phenomenal too. The game runs at 720p at a locked 60 frames-per-second (30 in three or four player split-screen multiplayer, but more on that later), and even though it doesn’t come close to the magical, anything-less-is-crap 1080p, it’s probably the best looking game I’ve played in some time. The vibrant, colourful artstyle of the the tracks, characters, and karts lend themselves so well to the upgraded visuals, that it’s impossible to think that this isn’t an astonishingly beautiful title. It’s said nearly every time Nintendo releases another gem for the Wii U, but Mario Kart 8 is the best looking game that the company has released.
I’m happy to say that each and every one of Mario Kart 8‘s 32 tracks (16 new and 16 refreshed retro levels) are welcome additions. You’ll race through every terrain imaginable, in a variety of new and familiar locations, and you’ll love every freaking second of it. Whether it’s a completely redone Donut Plains 3 (complete with previously mentioned anti-gravity sections) or the new Rainbow Road, there simply isn’t a dud in the entire bunch. They look fantastic from every angle, which you’ll see in the game’s new ‘Highlight Reel’ after every race. The quick (~20 second) reel shows you some of the coolest things that happened in each race, and you’ll probably spend way too much time watching these in silky smooth slow motion. You can even edit and share these reels on YouTube. It’s probably the only replay mode in any racing game ever that I’ve actually spent some time with.
My favourite part of Mario Kart 8 is the feature that other developers and consoles have all but forgotten: split-screen multiplayer. I only own one controller for my Playstation 4 and Xbox One, and that’s a fact that likely will never change. Local multiplayer on other consoles is so rare that it simply doesn’t make sense to own additional controllers (especially at the price of controllers these days). On the Wii U however, I’ve played through New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World, and now Mario Kart 8 (among other games) with three friends by my side, as in, on the same couch. I’m so happy that the conversation is “Hey, do you guys want to come over and play Mario Kart” rather than “Hey, do you guys want to come over and take turns playing Mario Kart.” Two players can head online at once (the game features 12-player online multiplayer, which I can’t wait to get more time with), but the shining star here is the four-player split-screen. Yep. Four-players, at the same time, on the same console. The game dips to 30 frames-per-second when you’re playing with three or four players, but it still looks great, and it still plays just as well as I’ve spent the last 1200 words describing. You’ll have access to every cup, track, and battle, all while sitting in the same room as your friends.
Mario Kart 8 is a beautiful, insanely fun racer that is far and away worth picking up a Wii U for. As if the game wasn’t already worth the cost (it is, and more), buying and registering the title on Club Nintendo before July 31st will get you another game FOR FREE. We’ve had a lot of great gaming experiences thus far in 2014, but as mentioned, Mario Kart 8 is the most fun I’ve had playing a video game this year.
Pros and Cons / TL;DR :
+ Phenomenal local multiplayer.
+ Gorgeous graphics, great soundtrack.
+ New items are welcome additions.
+ Great mix of tracks.
+ Antigravity.
– New Battle Mode is lame compared to old Battle Mode.
– Online is a step in the right direction for Nintendo, but still too limited.
– I’m not playing it right now.
Final Score: 4.5/5