Mario Kart 8 Review (Wii-U)

[RaychelSnr]

Do you really need another Mario Kart? After appearing on every significant Nintendo system since 1992, most gamers likely own at least one Mario Kart cartridge, disc or eShop download.

If that's true of your collection, then “Nope.” could be your answer -- especially if you're the kind of player who prefers to race solo, or loves popping balloons in Battle Mode, because Mario Kart 8 does those things about as well as Princesses Peach's servants do their guard duty.

On the flip side, if you were upset when, two weeks ago, Nintendo suddenly pulled the plug on Mario Kart Wii's and Mario Kart DS' online servers, your answer will be a resounding "Yes!" as Mario Kart 8's lag-free, 12-person network play is worth shelling out another $60, just to replace that non-functioning component of your old copies.

And if, somehow, you don't have access to any existing Mario Kart -- not even on friends' or neighbors' televisions -- then this eighth edition should still elicit a slightly less enthusiastic "Yes."

Read More - Mario Kart 8 Review (Wii-U)

[Gramps91]

I think it's pretty fun. I picked it up on Friday but more or less for the free download of Pikmin 3 since I was going to get that game soon anyway, but yea it's pretty fun.

[pb4201]

This is one of the worst reviews I've ever read on OS. Nothing but hate and yet the reviewer says this is a good game! If its as bad as you say it is then give it a horrible rating as well. I think the reviewer is missing out on how much fun this game is by his constant complaining! I play games to be entertained and for fun & this game provides that in spades!!!!

[Travan]

Quote: Originally Posted by pb4201

This is one of the worst reviews I've ever read on OS. Nothing but hate and yet the reviewer says this is a good game! If its as bad as you say it is then give it a horrible rating as well. I think the reviewer is missing out on how much fun this game is by his constant complaining! I play games to be entertained and for fun & this game provides that in spades!!!!

Agree 100% with you on this. Mario Kart 8 is easily a 9.0-9.5 game. It's the first game in years that I've played that actually exceeded my expectations. It's really fun and addicting. I'll put it this way. I'm mainly a sports gamer. I got MLB The Show for my PS4 on May 6th and had played it daily. Since Mario Kart came out last week, I've played one game of The Show. I'll get back into that game as well, but as much as I like The Show, it means a lot that I've played one game of it in a week. I give MK a 9.5

[Travan]

I think it's interesting when people review games and give bad reviews because they compare them to serious sim games. Obviously a serious sim racing fan isn't going to play Mario Kart, or at least they won't like it. just because a game isn't the type of game YOU like doesn't mean it's not a good game. I don't like any GTA game. I think they're a complete waste of time, but I can see that it's a good game. So if I reviewed it, I'd give it a 9/10 based on all that it offers. If I'm speaking on my personal opinion of GTA, I'd give it a 3/10. So it's easy to see where a good reviewer will leave their personal feelings out of their reviews. A review is about the game, not you.

[Phil_Lapineau]

Don't tell me you docked the game a point for having aliasing and running at 59 frames per second, when nearly every console game regardless of platform has aliasing, and many of them struggle to even reach 30 fps. While I agree that antialiasing is significant in sim racing game for being able to spot corners and apexes, this issue, while present, warrants no mention for this game.

The most significant argument to be made, however, is why this site would review this game at all. If you guys review boxing and MMA games, you might as well review the Street Fighters, Kings of Fighters, Tekkens, and Soul Caliburs, because Mario Kart 8 is the racing equivalent of those games. While you're at it, you might as well review StarCraft II, League of Legends, and DotA 2, as those three are technically sports games, as well.

[jyoung]

The only graphical flaws that impacted the game's final score were the issues caused by split-screening:

• 30 FPS during 3 & 4 player races
• no option for a horizontal split-screen
• no option for GamePad gameplay during multiplayer
• visibility problems during sharp turns and anti-gravity sections

The frame loss (59 FPS) and accompanying stutter effect whenever AI drivers are involved is definitely noticeable, but ultimately not a big enough issue to have any impact on the overall score. Same thing with the lack of anti-aliasing.

The main reasons I gave Mario Kart 8 a 7.5 score are the coin system, the poor weapon balance, the bungled Battle Mode, and the lack of any new single-player content. Other issues like a weak character roster and limited online voice chat contributed to my negative impression of the game, but did not affect the final score significantly.

After the gameplay flaws, the biggest issue to me is how Nintendo has not introduced one new single-player mode in over 20 years of Mario Kart sequels, which is unacceptable, when kart racers as old as Diddy Kong Racing (1997) and as recent as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2013) have proved that it's possible to have interesting single-player modes as well as a compelling multiplayer experience.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, in particular, includes everything Mario Kart 8 has (Grand Prix, Time Trials, co-op, online play), but it also features a huge World Tour mode that I still haven't beaten, after playing the game regularly for more than a year.

There's no excuse for a Nintendo-made game on its eighth version to be shown up in that regard, especially by a series that's only on it's second sequel, and is operating with a much smaller development team and staff budget.

As for why the game scored as high as it did despite all the criticisms mentioned in the review, Mario Kart 8's multiplayer experience is still extremely fun, especially online -- the netcode is some of the best I have ever seen in a console game.

Quote: Originally Posted by Phil_Lapineau

The most significant argument to be made, however, is why this site would review this game at all?

For the same reason that we review titles like NFL Blitz and NBA Jam:

Mario Kart, even with its fantasy power-ups, is still a racing game, just as Blitz and Jam are powered-up versions of football and basketball, respectively.