History
Before we dive into the assessment of this latest installment in the long-running series, let’s enjoy a bit of history (with my interpretive spin on it) if you don’t mind.
Mario Kart, for all its nostalgic and historic significance, has always been a polarizing phenomenon. A large percentage of us surely recall youthful days of endless SNES Battle Mode matches, 150cc Special Cup runs, and plenty of instances where a red shell embodied the sole difference between first and fourth place in a heated match. We look back on these memories with appropriate fondness; it wasn’t merely an isolated activity; it was a cherished pastime.
But what precisely defines Mario Kart? Oft maligned for its disproportionate weighting of luck versus skill, it doesn’t fit with most other videogames known for their strength in multiplayer. Instead, much like a card or board game, it’s a particular concoction of luck and skill which leads to a successful Mario Kart product.
The SNES installment surely enjoyed some leeway in this regard thanks to its first-mover status, but there were some important differences from its successors as well. This game featured a fractional slice of the items of modern Mario Kart—a subset which could accurately be described as more tame and less disruptive overall. It also featured coins embedded in the tracks which, when collected (up to a total of 10), increased the player’s top speed by a small percentage for each coin. Plus, they served as a buffer for bumps from larger racers: without any coins at all, you would spin out with each collision, which is a major disadvantage. If it weren’t for the now-infamous rubber-band AI (a.k.a. computer assistance), Mario Kart (SNES) would probably easily qualify as the most skill-heavy entry to date.
From there, things quickly slid the opposite direction. With Mario Kart 64 introducing the Blue (Spiked) Shell (easily the most disruptive and equalizing item to date) and completely removing coins from the equation, the primary reason for its success was arguably its technical advancements as opposed to its design alterations. Granted, it did feature the first (flawed) implementation of the power slide. It was still a good game and it enjoyed tons of attention from fans, but it certainly lacked the vision and innovation which made the original such a classic.
Apart from Super Circuit briefly returning to the more skill-weighted approach of the original game, things only got more casual with the advent of Double Dash!!, which was easily the worst realization of Mario Kart to date. Among other controversial missteps, it granted the blue shell wings and transformed it into an explosive, loathsome piece of work. The sheer fact that it stood no chance of affecting anyone but the first-place racer (since it flew overhead) unless its explosive radius happened to collide with the second- or third-place karts made it even more sinister. Other items, such as the lightning bolt, continued to be comparably destructive, but the difference is that those items weren’t directly aimed at the player currently in the first position. Thanks to the incidence of such attacks, it was actually sometimes equally effective to simply lay back a couple of positions until the final lap, collect a powerful item, and then gun for the top spot (since the better items always appear in the trailing positions).
Fast-forward to Mario Kart Wii, which was the first (if you ask me) to finally get back on track following the dark ages of Double Dash!!. Sure, Mario Kart DS was a hit thanks to its great track design and online multiplayer (a first for the series), but the Wii version—if you could remove the goofy steering wheel interface from the conversation—finally began to rebalance the formula in favor of skill to a slightly greater degree. This happened in subtle ways, but perhaps the best example is that it actually became possible to evade a blue shell if you used the right items at the right time. Sure, it was quite difficult, but the sheer fact that it was an option meant that the first-place player wasn’t always doomed to succumbing to such attacks as a punishment for simply being the best. It also presented so-called Jump Boosts (tricks), which could be executed via a well-timed press of the jump button at the top of a ramp.
Mario Kart 7 continued this progress, with the reintroduction of coins to the series (finally!), and some of the best tracks to date. With 32 tracks in all (16 new and 16 classic), it was easily the best entry since Mario Kart: Super Circuit in my opinion, and also (relatedly) probably the most rewarding to skilled players.
Mario Kart 8
So where does this eighth entry in the series stand? While Mario Kart 8 isn’t radically different than 7 in the realm of general formula, it doesn’t need to be. Mario Kart 7 was a serious step in the right direction, and by many accounts, was the best game in the series since the SNES original. Mario Kart 8 takes that well-balanced formula and further embellishes on its strengths with beautiful visuals, a great soundtrack, an even better selection of tracks, and an excellent online experience.
It’s easily the best recipe the series has produced yet. Returning to the tracks in Mario Kart 8 are the different attributes for each character, kart customizations (vehicles, wheels, and hangliders, each with its own strengths), ramps and jump boosts, and boost arrows on the tracks (think F-Zero). Of course, series mainstays like the power slide (now referred to as “drifting”) have also returned, as have most items.
While Mario Kart 7 regressed to 8 racers, however, this latest entry bumps the total back up to 12 (the same as the Wii installment). It also features some of the best track designs yet, thanks in part to a new focus on antigravity mechanics which even more heavily resemble the workings of the F-Zero universe. This finds racers (sometimes optionally) racing along walls and ceilings and even on the underside of tracks in alternate paths, and it’s a lot of fun even if it’s primarily an aesthetic addition. Interestingly, when the on-track boost arrows and increased racing speeds are factored in alongside the antigravity mechanics, F-Zero’s influence on the Mario Kart series is more evident than ever in 8.
When racing in antigravity mode, the wheels on the vehicle turn sideways and there is one interesting modification: when karts collide under these conditions, rather than simply bumping into one another, they spin, which actually grants both players a short boost. This forces players to pay attention to which areas of the track are antigravity and which ones are conventional racing stretches. Racing into players and special track-bound spinners serves as a valuable strategic element which can be the difference between a victory and a loss.
For the most part, the tracks are all excellent as well; in fact, as I proclaimed earlier, this is probably the best selection of the series yet. The tracks range from relatively tame and straightforward (the Mushroom and Shell Cups) to wild and crazy (the Special and Lightning Cups). In terms of overall design, there are even more active and scripted elements in the wilder tracks than before, such as an airship which drops coins in the Bone Dry Dunes to a giant Bowser in Bowser’s Castle who slams the track with his fists in a particular stretch (to an easily-predictable pattern, of course).
There’s also a greater emphasis on branching/multiple paths throughout the tracks, including plenty of the usual shortcuts. A good number of tracks have two completely separate paths to take through a particular section, neither of which generally offers any specific advantage. Some of these take the form of optional wall-racing stretches, which is a really clever idea for expanding player’s options. Even the 16 classic tracks (much as was the case in Mario Kart 7) are completely retrofitted with such elements and even reimagined in many respects; it’s more as if they were created from memory with Mario Kart 8 mechanics in mind than merely lifted from their respective origins and reskinned for 2014. As such, they are largely equal with the original tracks in most ways, which is awfully nice.
The selection of items will be mostly familiar, with a few additions:
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Boomerang Flower – A rather unwieldy item which flies forward and then back to you and can be thrown up to three times.
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Piranha Plant – This useful weapon attacks anyone nearby as you race automatically and collects coins as well.
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Super Horn – This item produces a brief circular shockwave that destroys anything around you: racers, obstacles, and even items, including the blue shell.
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Crazy 8 – This is the new series wildcard, and it generates eight items which encircle the player and can be used individually. It might sound like it’s too powerful to be fair, but since the most effective item it produces is the star, it’s actually not that unbalanced. It’s also pretty rare.
What does all of this mean for the overall gameplay, however? Fortunately, it feels as well-balanced as it’s ever been. Although chaos is still clearly the cornerstone of the series (heck, it’s the very nature of what makes the items interesting to begin with), the opportunities for skilled players to rise above that chaos is what makes Mario Kart 8 great. Sure, you’ll still have to deal with the occasional BS that lands you three spots below where you should have been at the end of a race, but by and large, those who leverage the proper techniques will find themselves at the front of the pack. And that’s precisely the appeal of the game: gritting your teeth and dealing with the sporadic blue shell or poorly-timed lightning bolt and making your way back to the top—in other words, success in the face of chaos.
There are of course a few items holding Mario Kart 8 back from true greatness, but they’re minor overall. The first and perhaps most significant of these is the lack of special courses for Battle Mode. Rather than featuring additional courses, the game instead repurposes sections of existing tracks (slightly modified) for battle courses. This doesn’t work as well, of course, primarily because these tracks still feel much more linear than, say, the Block Fort or Skyscraper of Mario Kart 64. Additionally, in general, the game feels like it ends pretty quickly. As is normally the case, veterans will finish all of the tracks within a few hours of gameplay—so although there are 32 in all, and although some of them are rather deep in their design, it isn’t long before the credits roll and you’ve seen most of the meat the game has to offer. There are tons of car parts to unlock even after you finish with the 30 available characters—as well as individualized stamps for finishing with each character—but most of these items feel ancillary to the experience and don’t provide much incentive to continue playing. Of course, in the end, it’s a game about multiplayer and online competition, and so this might be of less importance for those who leverage it as such.
Supplementing the well-balanced (albeit requisitely chaotic) gameplay is a top-notch presentation. Graphically, Mario Kart 8 is masterfully designed, with stunning visuals, butter-smooth 60 frames-per-second motion, and beautiful art and animation. The 32 tracks are incredibly detailed and creative in their layouts; you will race through some truly rich environments, ranging from the usual tropical and fiery venues to such unique concepts as the Olympic-themed Mount Wario and even the Sunshine Airport. The soundtrack is also far and above the best of any Mario Kart yet; the songs unique to each of the game’s 32 tracks are catchy (16 of which return from whence the classic tracks hail), and moreover, many of them feature live recorded ensembles. Even the classic tracks have seen their themes completely redone—hearing Rainbow Road from N64 with live trumpet and guitar is certainly a treat.
Lastly, let’s quickly turn our attention to the online mode: in short, it’s great—at least, as far as we can tell based on our exposure to it. During our time reviewing the game, we unfortunately didn’t get much of a chance to play in any large-scale matchups (due to a serious shortage of available participants prelaunch), but the number of races we did play were smooth and without problems, and the action was every bit as enjoyable as in Mario Kart 7. Customizable tournaments, meanwhile, provide fun ways for crafting unique challenges (and they’re easy to locate and join, too). Interaction between competitors is limited to a small selection of preset conversational snippets in-between races, which as far as we’re concerned is enough. It’s pretty simple, but it’s so easy to jump in and enjoy that it’s just right for the series.
