Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

Mr E

Can't find another thread about this, so time to start one.

The review embargo is over, and Nintendo have knocked this out of the park.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii-u/mario-kart-8/critic-reviews

Will this sell Wii Us? Definitely...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

"best mario kart since double dash" has me hopeful

the videos I saw so far haven't looked great though imo.

super_furry

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-15-mario-kart-8-review

10/10 from Eurogamer. Not too sure if it will sell too many systems and it certainly won't in the numbers that Nintendo need but for people like me who are already Nintendo fans and looking for something to tip them over the edge, I think this will do it. I'm just not sure how many other people there are like me that don't already have the console.

Nody

super_furry wrote: »

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-15-mario-kart-8-review

10/10 from Eurogamer. Not too sure if it will sell too many systems and it certainly won't in the numbers that Nintendo need but for people like me who are already Nintendo fans and looking for something to tip them over the edge, I think this will do it. I'm just not sure how many other people there are like me that don't already have the console.

Can add one more here; got a PC for all major title releases but been looking at picking up a Wii U for a while now. Only waiting for E3 etc. to see if there are any major announcement / price changes / packages before buying.

SouthTippBass

Picking up a Wii-U on the 30th for this, oh yeeah!

Retr0gamer

Apparently it's even better than mario kart 7 which was fantastic. Also there's finally a way to combat the blue shell apparently.

derm0j073

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Also there's finally a way to combat the blue shell apparently.

I hate those blue shells . Anybody know of any good deals out there for the WiiU ? Might be time to jump aboard .

Banjo

There was always a way to beat the blue shell. Drop into 2nd for a moment and avoid the splash back. Or cross the finish line a split second before it hits and then dance around the room slapping your arse in the face of all your opponents. I can't be the only one....

Hope they're bringing back the Red Shell dodge where if you go into a skid just before it hits, generate a boost and then release so you boost away at an angle to your previous trajectory it hits the ground instead of you. Loved pulling that off - really felt like Skill could overcome the dumb-luck/last man back gets the biggest gun mentality of the game.

CastorTroy

For a game on a console that nobody owns, it's still doing pretty well in the amazon bestsellers. It's only being beaten by Watch Dogs on PS4 and XBone
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sv_vg_h__12

Pac1Man

I haven't played a Mario Kart game since the SNES. Are they latest versions multiplayer focused? Is that where the majority of the enjoyment is? I would primarily be a single player gamer and am trying to work out if I would get my moneys worth.

CiDeRmAn

I can't wait for the release date on this.
I'll be in the queue that morning!

Gas thing is, regardless of how good excellent or sublime it is there will be a lot of folk sneering "it's just a repeat of the same game again" and "but I don't like Mario games".
Poor b@stards.

_Redzer_

It looks great!

I hope it's not like MKWii were it got raving reviews but upon playing it it was piss easy as the AI gave no competition, the tracks were too wide and unchallenging, and you'd easily get blue shelled 3 or 4 times in a match if you were always in first, which made it feel like it was a game of chance a lot of the time.

If all that is rectified, it'll be great tho

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

_Redzer_ wrote: »

It looks great!

I hope it's not like MKWii were it got raving reviews but upon playing it it was piss easy as the AI gave no competition, the tracks were too wide and unchallenging, and you'd easily get blue shelled 3 or 4 times in a match if you were always in first, which made it feel like it was a game of chance a lot of the time.

If all that is rectified, it'll be great tho

id honestly love if it they re-released double dash but with a helping of new (good) tracks

the game was perfected on the 'cube

johnny_ultimate

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I can't wait for the release date on this.
I'll be in the queue that morning!

Gas thing is, regardless of how good excellent or sublime it is there will be a lot of folk sneering "it's just a repeat of the same game again" and "but I don't like Mario games".
Poor b@stards.

To be fair, of all the major Nintendo franchises (Smash Brothers and the sports titles aside) it is Mario Kart that updates most incrementally. The presentation improves, the courses change, but Mario Kart has always been a case of careful evolution over revolution. Various titles have experimented with one or two notable new features, but the core gameplay never really changes - unlike core Mario or Zelda that have completely mixed up the formula over the years. Mario Kart's more conservative growth is with good cause, though: as earlier entries have shown, even minor adjustments can upset the zen like balance quite significantly. And kart racing will always be kart racing, even with Nintendo's impeccable artistry.

I really look forward to playing it, as it looks and sounds like an absolute blast. But I've never considered Mario Kart a system seller for me, more something I dabble with briefly or with friends. So I'll wait to pick it up alongside the inevitable WiiU purchase later this year or early next.

One concern Edge pointed out is that the four player mode plays like **** Inevitable when so much oomph has been out into the graphical side of things, but limits one of the series' major selling points.

Inbox

I'm still debating whether to pull the trigger on a Wii U console. Does Mario Kart 8 have online races against other people?

_Redzer_

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

id honestly love if it they re-released double dash but with a helping of new (good) tracks

the game was perfected on the 'cube

God I love double dash. I got again last year

There's more challenge with it, but I still like the look of MK8 and I hope it's closer to that than the wii version.

I also remember in Mkwii how much they emphasised tricks to get a speed boost. It was so gimmicky and I felt I spent more time in the air than on the track. Plus the bikes wheely was a complete cop out. It was such a step back from double dash, I thought anyway.

The anti gravity gimmick in this one seems good though, at least it's more strategic.

cherryghost

2 weeks ladies! We have a signup for a league in the Nintendo forum

Nody

Inbox wrote: »

I'm still debating whether to pull the trigger on a Wii U console. Does Mario Kart 8 have online races against other people?

Yes it does; online and/or co-op on same screen for up to 4 people.

CiDeRmAn

I just went to Tesco, bought 8 euros worth of games and traded them in for a 28 euro preorder on Mario Kart 8.
I must nip in and do that again!

Star Lord

I think with this one, it WILL feature the slightly wider courses, like in MK Wii, which is in order to facilitate 12 people on the same track a little easier, but with the tightened and honestly fantastic mechanics of MK7 on the 3DS, so it should certainly be a winner.

It'll be 2 player at our house, or tournament play with other Boardsies when we have the time!

Oh, and Pac1Man the single player will be somewhat similar to the single player on any of the recent Mario Kart titles, it's good, and fun while it lasts, but the real fun is in the multiplayer.

_Redzer_

Been hearing that the online multiplayer is a complete pain in the ass to set up among friends.

I think that and a gimped battle mode are the only negatives to the game, which is good to hear.

I wish Nintendo would stop acting like an old person trying to use a computer when it comes to online and get rid of all the stupid restrictions.

AlanS181824

This looks really amazing.

COYVB

Moderately disappointed with it so far, but review copy only arrived yesterday so not trading too much into it yet.

I will say, however, that the last sonic racing game was better at this point - but that was genuinely a brilliant game imo

_Redzer_

COYVB wrote: »

Moderately disappointed with it so far, but review copy only arrived yesterday so not trading too much into it yet.

I will say, however, that the last sonic racing game was better at this point - but that was genuinely a brilliant game imo

What aspects of it are you disappointed by?

I think it might be the same case as the wii version being highly reviewed, yet is easily one of the weakest ones considering how dumbed down it was.

cherryghost

Mario Kart Wii is the lowest rated of all Mario Karts.

_Redzer_

cherryghost wrote: »

Mario Kart Wii is the lowest rated of all Mario Karts.

Only very slightly, even though by mario kart standards it is quite poor.

Was playing DD earlier today, and although it's not perfect, it is a far better game than MKWii, yet it's rated pretty much the same.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

double dash was the dark souls of cartoony racing games


There, I said it.

Star Lord

In our house, with Double Dash, it always came down to one course: Baby Circuit.
Nice simple small course, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Just race, and hope if someone got a red shell that you could take the turn just tight enough to lose it. And then that you could run the gauntlet that was banana skins and green shells bouncing around ad infinitum...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

so many sleepless nights in college with 4 or 5 of us staying up till 7-8am just trying to shave half a millisecond off our times on baby park. It was the track where you found out who really 'got' the game.

Some of the other tracks were excellent for learning patterns, finding a good line through traffic and obstacles... but baby park was just drifting. iirc to do it properly you had to drift into the corner, around the corner, out of the corner, two or three times up to the next corner then into the corner, around the corner...... it was a thing of beauty to watch

_Redzer_

The gimped power steering is back. Annoyingly.

I'd wish they'd bring out a remastered DD. It looks awful on a 1080p TV these days, still fun though.

My only gripe with the game is the piranha pipes being overpowered

Retr0gamer

_Redzer_ wrote: »

The gimped power steering is back. Annoyingly.

I'd wish they'd bring out a remastered DD. It looks awful on a 1080p TV these days, still fun though.

My only gripe with the game is the piranha pipes being overpowered

Still looks gorgeous to me with RGB scart cables. If you are using composite then everything is going to look like crap.

CiDeRmAn

All this worry.
Did no one one play MK64?
It was ass!

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

All this worry.
Did no one one play MK64?
It was ass!

God I'd prefer mario kart wii over mk64. Rainbow road in that game was the single worst racing track in any game ever.

Lets make a really, really long track that takes ages to record a lap in and totally forget to make it interesting in anyway.

Star Lord

Rainbow Road in MK64 might have been awful, but it had some other courses that were great, and still hold up, like Moo Moo Farm, Koopa Beach, and it's version of Bowser's Castle

TPD

God I love double dash. If this is as good it may tempt me to get a wii U.

Retr0gamer

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

Rainbow Road in MK64 might have been awful, but it had some other courses that were great, and still hold up, like Moo Moo Farm, Koopa Beach, and it's version of Bowser's Castle

Yep but I found there's a lot more bad than good.

At least there was block fort battle mode.

_Redzer_

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Still looks gorgeous to me with RGB scart cables. If you are using composite then everything is going to look like crap.

It's scart as well. I think this TV is just new and it's HD or nothing with it.

Block fort was great. The rest was awful I thought. Have it on the wii vc and it really does not hold up well.

MK8 is bound to be a lot better than 64 and wii, even if it might not be as good as DD. That's reason enough for me to get it eventually.

cherryghost

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

In our house, with Double Dash, it always came down to one course: Baby Circuit.
Nice simple small course, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Just race, and hope if someone got a red shell that you could take the turn just tight enough to lose it. And then that you could run the gauntlet that was banana skins and green shells bouncing around ad infinitum...

Man we spent many a night playing 7 laps of Baby Circuit. Even the most useless drivers could win a race. It was amazing.

SouthTippBass

Have to agree with all the Double Dash love. The peak of the series so far, that game had so much more personality than the Wii iteration. Still, hopeful for MK8.

cherryghost

Well reviews are already in and they say its the best MK game ever. Only time will tell.

_Redzer_

cherryghost wrote: »

Well reviews are already in and they say its the best MK game ever. Only time will tell.

They said that about the wii version and raved about it, ign was one I remember clearly. Once you played it you realised it was anything but the greatest version.

I'll have to play it myself, or hear the opinions of those who love DD to believe it

4Dlolz

Anyone else kinda think the gay poses the characters pull when they're in the air is kinda off-putting?!

CiDeRmAn

Nothing is as good as 8 player, LAN multiplayer in Double Dash, in my gamesroom last year.
And Rainbow Road is too damn arbitrary!

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Nothing is as good as 8 player, LAN multiplayer in Double Dash, in my gamesroom last year.
And Rainbow Road is too damn arbitrary!

You were all crap at rainbow road. I finish in first go downstairs get a drink, eat some jellies come back upstairs and there's still 7 people bouncing off all the walls of falling off the edge .:p

Kirby

I thought the Wii version was excellent. Better than DD.

There, I said it.

CiDeRmAn

Kirby wrote: »

I thought the Wii version was excellent. Better than DD.

There, I said it.

The unpopular opinions thread is elsewhere you know...

Retr0gamer

Kirby wrote: »

I thought the Wii version was excellent. Better than DD.

There, I said it.

Well it wasn't the best but I'd be hard pressed to call it terrible like some people would. I think the hardcore competitive people didn't like it but sure MK to me is a game I play with mates for a laugh and MK Wii did the job.

Retr0gamer

4Dlolz wrote: »

Anyone else kinda think the gay poses the characters pull when they're in the air is kinda off-putting?!

I'm cho aniki's biggest fan, so no:

CiDeRmAn

I didn't have much love for the Snes original Mario Kart but Super Circuit on the Gameboy Advance, that is something else.
And the DS edition as well, sublime.
I probably played the portable versions more than the console ones in truth, perhaps no 8 is going to change all that.

Parawind

Kirby wrote: »

I thought the Wii version was excellent. Better than DD.

There, I said it.

I didn't think the Wii version was bad at all, but DD was just perfect. Frankly going from that to the Wii version felt like a small step backwards to me.

Going from the Wii version to mk8 has a more positive feel and I get the impression that this one will be more fondly remembered in years to come.

Star Lord

Personally, I thought MK7 on the 3DS was the best Mario Kart to date, better than DD...

While DD had some great courses and mechanics, I still didn't like the two characters per kart. It worked well for juggling/hogging power-ups though.