Mario Kart 8 - Nintendo Wii U

The game has borrowed many elements from Mario Kart 7 (for the 3DS). Making turns feels almost identical, and the ability to customize your own vehicle has returned, along with coins on the road to enhance your maximum speed.

Personally, I find all of this unnecessary and would prefer to go back to the steering mechanics in Mario Kart DS or Mario Kart Wii, where everything felt very precise and every move you made mattered, making the racing experience more intense. The variety of items you can use is also disappointing. The new items include a Piranha Plant, Boomerang Flower, Super Horn, and a coin. The new items offer little variety as they all essentially serve the same purpose of hitting opponents, except for the coin which is frustrating to receive as it leaves you defenseless.

Unfairness is part of Mario Kart, but it has never been as prevalent as in Mario Kart 8. Certain items have a magnetic pull, causing you to often be hit by your own items, and the items you receive are no longer linked to your current position but to the distance from the player in first place. This means that a racer ahead of you may receive much better items than you do. Items like the Boomerang Flower, Fire Flower, Green Shells, and Piranha Plant feel very random and only lead to frustration as there is little you can do to avoid being hit by these items.

What Mario Kart 8 excels at are the tracks within the game. Almost every new track looks amazing and is enjoyable to race on. Tracks brought back from previous games have all been revamped to fit the style of Mario Kart 8, allowing the new features of the game to be utilized on the older tracks.

Every Mario Kart game offers a variety of characters to play as. Mario Kart 8 has improved upon its predecessor with playable characters, but I am still not entirely satisfied. There are 5 baby versions of existing racers, two metal versions of existing racers, and 7 Koopalings that bear a striking resemblance to each other. It's unfortunate that there are few unique characters in the game compared to Mario Kart Wii.

Online play is similar to Mario Kart Wii and 7, except that now you can no longer choose any track you want; instead, you are given a selection of 3 tracks to vote on.

The battle mode in the game is disappointing. There are no separate battle mode tracks; instead, they utilize the original race tracks from the game.

DLC has been released for Mario Kart 8, and it is fantastic. You receive 8 different Yoshi and Shy Guy colors, 16 new tracks, 6 new characters, and 8 new vehicle parts. The new tracks added have even more details and charm, making most of them better than the original tracks in the game.

Mario Kart 8 is a great game to have if you own a Wii U. It's still Mario Kart and it's still fun. It's a shame that it lacks the originality of other Mario Kart games, and I hope that the next Mario Kart installment will dare to do more unconventional things instead of playing it safe.
Hide.

The tracks are innovative, feature cool gameplay elements, and look amazing. The retro tracks in the game have undergone a tremendous transformation, in a positive way! New anti-gravity, flying, and underwater elements also make these tracks feel fresh. In addition to the 32 standard tracks, Nintendo has released an additional 16 as DLC. The value for money is excellent. The two DLC packs (12.99 as a bundle) include fun tracks from other series, such as F-Zero and Animal Crossing. They also bring new kart parts and characters. The characters in the game are also very enjoyable. It's a shame that the Koopalings count as one character. It's especially disappointing that characters like Bowser Jr. and Diddy Kong are missing. Furthermore, I find Pink Gold Peach to be a strange choice. Metal Mario was already a reskin of Mario, which was enough for me in terms of reskins. So, I don't quite understand the decision to reskin Peach.

The major downside is the battle mode. It feels a bit lazy, as no dedicated battle stages have been designed. Now you have to battle it out on some racetracks. Encountering opponents is rare, which ruins the battle mode experience. It's a shame because the battle mode has always been very enjoyable to play with friends.

Speaking of friends, the multiplayer is fantastic, both offline and online. Local multiplayer supports up to 4 players, which always leads to hilarious moments for me. By the way, with Mario Kart TV, you can rewatch the highlights.

Online works smoothly. Whether playing worldwide, regionally, or with friends, it's all possible. Additionally, you can start your own tournament with custom rules, which is a great addition.

All in all, Mario Kart 8 is also a top title. The disappointment of the battle mode is compensated by the graphical style and the large number of super cool tracks. A real must-have for your collection!
Hide.

The new thing about Mario Kart 8 is that you can now drive without gravity! Such a fun concept.
The only downside I have is that the levels in the challenges are the same as the race tracks.
Other than that, everything is fantastic!
Hide.

New items: The Super Horn, which is new in Mario Kart 8, can hit players around you, but it can also block the Blue Shell. The Crazy 8 is also new and gives you 8 items to use at once. And finally, the Piranha Plant that can chomp on players close to you.

Also new are the anti-gravity sections. When you drive over a blue anti-gravity section, you go into anti-gravity mode, allowing you to drive on walls and giving you a boost when you bump into other players.
Hide.