Preview: Mario Kart 8 Is What You Expected and a Little More

[Rad Party God]

I'm a fan of Mario Kart and it looks awesome and all, but... can we get a proper F-Zero game?... please?

 

[Frozengale]

Got to play this at Best Buy during Nintendo's E3 Event (Honestly I wish more companies would off mini-E3's one of the best things ever).

I thought it was incredibly fun. Got to play the three stages mentioned in the article. I'm not really to excited for some of the Nintendo games coming up (Mario 3D World is a bit of a let down, but it's hard to follow up on Galaxy) but this looks like it's shaping out to be one of the stronger Mario Kart games.

 

[Olas]

They keep trying to add new things to the tracks like first halfpipes in the Wii version, then gliding and underwater in the 3DS version, and now antigravity, yet they never introduce any new powerups or weapons. That seems like a continually missed opportunity to me.

 

[LittleMikey]

I won't be happy till they bring back R.O.B.

 

[Terramax]

And a new F-Zero game would be even more appreciated than that. As it is, there isn't any sign of either on the horizon, so looks like if you're into anti-gravity racing, Mario Kart 8 is where it's going to be for the forseeable future.

And considering that Mario's two most acclaimed games are the ones where he got sent into space and gravity started going weird on him, I don't think Mario fans have a problem with appreciating the finer dynamics of gravity-based gameplay.

Eh, sadly, Rollcage is much more fun than F-Zero. I'd say, whatever racing game ends up on the PS4 is likely where it's going to be. Perhaps the guys who did the Motorstorm series have something good cooked up.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

They keep trying to add new things to the tracks like first halfpipes in the Wii version, then gliding and underwater in the 3DS version, and now antigravity, yet they never introduce any new powerups or weapons. That seems like a continually missed opportunity to me.

I take it you've never actually played a Mario Kart game, then. The list of items has been expanding and being tweaked with each entry. MK7 on the 3DS introduced fire flowers, tanooki leaves, and lucky 7 boxes.

I think we'd be better off with Rollcage 3 than this. I'm not convinced the anti-gravity idea makes the gameplay that innovative. Especially not after the colossal disappointment of MK7 on the 3DS, with its severely under-developed special features. I think I could live without this title.

I liked the part where you brought up a thirteen-year-old game released for the PS1 as some kind of legitimate comparison to a franchise that people actually know about.

Really, though:

1. If you aren't convinced the anti-gravity is that innovative, don't pass judgement on it so soon. From what I've seen of the gameplay, they're making a big effort to integrate it into every level, like with the mobius strip course.

2. I don't know what planet you've been living on, but Mario Kart 7 was fucking amazing. The Wii one was the colossal disappointment.

3. While whether or not MK7's special features (which I take to mean underwater, one-lap courses, and flying) were or weren't underdeveloped is up for debate, they did a damn fine job of making the game fresh. I hope that they get a lot more prevalence in Mario Kart 8.

OT:

Looks like they're taking all the things that were great about Mario Kart 7 and upsizing them onto the Wii U. I doubt I'll ever buy one, personally, but this is a step in the right direction for the series.

 

[Olas]

They keep trying to add new things to the tracks like first halfpipes in the Wii version, then gliding and underwater in the 3DS version, and now antigravity, yet they never introduce any new powerups or weapons. That seems like a continually missed opportunity to me.

I take it you've never actually played a Mario Kart game, then. The list of items has been expanding and being tweaked with each entry. MK7 on the 3DS introduced fire flowers, tanooki leaves, and lucky 7 boxes.

Wait! The Tanooki suit was supposed to be a powerup? And the lucky 7 was just a bunch of pre-existing items stuck together.

Don't you just love it when people make false assumptions about you? I own every MarioKart except Double Dash and the GBA one. I'm a huge fan of the series making an honest criticism of it. I'll give you the fire flower was new, but still I think they should be focusing more on items than on these bizarre racing methods.