Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

[Bored of Canada]

Fuck it. I've been doing three hour commutes for three years. I work for my money. I'm a grown ass man with no children or girlfriends to support. I've bought this mariokart. And you know what.
I'm proud.

I'm going to be listening to podcasts and playing Mario Kart on the train tomorrow and I'm going to be the king of kommutes.

Or I'll just sleep and someone will steal my 3DS from my bag.

[syntaxerror]

Pro Tip:-

If your train has plug sockets, fuck your 3DS, do this:

[The Region Legion]

It's good innit. Not great though.

They've fucked Battle Mode to the point of it being unplayable.

The "equalising" weapons being given to everyone in the back (Blue Shell, Bullet Bill, Invincibility etc.) is bullshit. Weapon distribution should be random. As it is, all it does is fuck the people in the middle and whoever got lucky enough at the start to be in first just gets first by default while everyone else battles it out behind them. Even so, if someone in 4th fires off a blue shell and the guy in first drops to 5th or 6th and all he's got to fight back with is a couple of coins or a green shell, it's pretty unfair.

On that note, Multiplayer is in desperate need of a competitive mode which would allow you to set up a lobby and turn off certain weapons. SNES weapons only, no blue shell, no lightning... possibilities are endless. Nintendo don't seem to realise that the reason their multiplayer games don't last is because they don't provide any freedom to the players.


Well worth a purchase but it could have been better.

[Johnny Textface]

You can't give someone in first place a Blue Shell though - that's crazy talk (although good if you're feeling suicidal).

[The Region Legion]

You can't give someone in first place a Blue Shell though - that's crazy talk (although good if you're feeling suicidal).

Remove the bloody blue shell from the game entirely then. Or hell, just limit who gets the blue shell. Constantly getting coin power-ups when you have 10 coins is annoying, you should be able to defend your position.

[Junglist]

Mario Kart has always worked like that. It keeps the races hectic. You can beat blue shells with skill, similar to red shells. Drift and boost at exactly the right time. Also if you get a green shell when in first, drag it behind you for extra 'armour'.

I've got my Wii U and this turning up Friday, so amped for it. Spent many an hour on the older versions, up to Double Dash. Can't wait for some MP races.

EDIT: I see weekender on the gloat, its on son.

[Johnny Textface]

There's a horn thing that beats the blue shell too. I agree about the pointless coins though. Shame the flying devices aren't available on powerups, pull back to fly for a period.

[Ignatius_S]

You can defend yourself from the blue shell with the horn – although they are pretty rare, just about all that I've picked up were in first place. Personally, I've found the lightning to be more of a problem.

....On that note, Multiplayer is in desperate need of a competitive mode which would allow you to set up a lobby and turn off certain weapons...

I thought you were able to set up tournaments to do that – one or two reviewers uploaded footage of that, anyway.

... You can beat blue shells with skill, similar to red shells. Drift and boost at exactly the right time...

In my case, I would like to say it's skill when I avoided it with a mushroom, but blind luck would be more accurate.

[Junglist]

That moment when you're in first, final lap and you hear the blue shell coming and you begin to panic, all this effort could be over in one tiny moment, and then somehow, through skill, or luck, or God knows, you manage to avoid it at the last second and that relief, well its one of the greatest moments in gaming. So, so sweet.

[weekender]

EDIT: I see weekender on the gloat, its on son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGPTVRGqfeo

Hang on son, I'm in 'practice' mode. 

[Ian Benson]

My 2 fave Luigi Death Stare videos so far:

youtube.com/watch?v=Wm3usxOu-yk
youtube.com/watch?v=Xl4GyMzi2SM

[Junglist]

I now have this.

My ID is DarkJunglist. Feel free to add me, up for MP most of the time.

[Junglist]

Getting battered but still coming first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeupkrjVx_s

I love this game.

[Junglist]

Some good races there with crisphell (I think he's from here!). We battered the Frenchies in the room.

[Johnny Textface]

Yeah that's me. Couldn't keep up with you though.. Whoa

[Junglist]

All about the coins and drift! You had me rattled on that last course until the final lap, my set-up isn't strong underwater.

I look forward to more races.

[Spiral King]

Been playing this a lot over the past two weeks. Finished all the regular cup classes, but haven't started Mirror Mode yet. I really do like it a lot... it's possibly the best since the SNES original, which has always held the position of "best Mario Kart" for me.

What really works for me is how atmospheric it is. Every race course has clearly been finely tuned, and lovingly rendered. It's so refreshing after Mario Kart Wii, which frankly looks washed out and incredibly ugly. But it's not just the graphics that are leagues better, obviously. Both 7 and 8 are way more balanced than Wii. The latter becomes tiring because it really does come down to "luck" a lot of time, where as 7 and 8 really do a brilliant job of focusing on skill (drifting and boosting) and strategy (holding onto various items). Especially with the new horn power-up. Good on them for bringing back coins too.

Oh, and because absolutely no one asked for it, here's my "best to worst" Mario Kart list:

1) Super Mario Kart
2) Mario Kart 8
3) Mario Kart 7
4) Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
5) Mario Kart DS
6) Mario Kart Wii
7) Mario Kart: Super Circuit
8) Mario Kart 64 (fuck this awful game)

Edit: Also, everyone's favourite kart/bike? I'm rather fond of the Pipe Frame.

[Beagle 2]

Why would you put Super Circuit so low? I've always seen that as basically Super Mario Kart 2. And I would put them both firmly at the top of the pile, although I haven't played 7 or 8 yet.

[vrailaine]

I enjoyed double dash a LOT but I haven't played 7 or 8.
Super didn't do much for me but I didn't play it until 2004 or so (even then I knew it was better than 64 though). Asides from nostalgia, what's it that makes it so popular?

[Junglist]

Also, everyone's favourite kart/bike? I'm rather fond of the Pipe Frame.

Metal Mario, Mach 8, Slick/Cyber Slick and Cloud glider. Very low acceleration, but I've got the ability to hold first with tight drifting, and the speed is top tier.

[Spiral King]

Why would you put Super Circuit so low? I've always seen that as basically Super Mario Kart 2.

I wish I shared your view! Despite it being the first Mario Kart that I ever owned, it is rife with serious issues. The graphics have that weird brightness issue that a lot of Gameboy Advance games suffer from, that make them nigh on unplayable on a backlit screen. The courses are dull and very linear, and seem to go on forever. The music goes out of its way to be unmemorable. I could go on.

The one thing that Super Circuit did right was to introduce "Retro Cups", by importing most of the SNES levels. A good idea that I'm glad has been carried on into almost every game in the series since. I honestly look forward to the Retro Cups more than the new courses. Speaking of which, Donuts Plains is probably the best course in MK8. Just beautiful.

I enjoyed double dash a LOT but I haven't played 7 or 8.
Super didn't do much for me but I didn't play it until 2004 or so (even then I knew it was better than 64 though). Asides from nostalgia, what's it that makes it so popular?

I just enjoy the aesthetics of it. The graphics (good old Mode 7), the music (every track is a classic)... and I adore the gameplay. It's raw Mario Kart. All the items are very tame compared to today's roster, and everything feels like it revolves a lot more around skill, and building up speed with coins. Good stuff.

Double Dash has held up astoundingly well for its age (over 10 years old now, wow). In the run up to the release of MK8, I was playing Double Dash and MKWii almost every day, and Double Dash looks a lot better than MKWii. Which is sort of ridiculous, but... there it is. Everything in Double Dash is crisp and well defined, and MKWii, as I said before, looks washed out and murky. Glad they abandoned that look for MK8.

Also glad to see that everyone seems to be in agreement about MK64 being awful. That whole generation was a bit of a dead zone in retrospect.

[Benjaminos]

Double Dash will always hold a special place in my heart, purely because of the absolutely amazing music. I still find myself whistling the beginning refrain of the main theme music now and again.

And nothing will ever beat the pure adrenaline of the third-lap sped up version of the Baby Park music, while bombing around at 150cc, red shells whistling past your ears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd07mmY253k

[Eight Taiwanese Teenagers]

My favourite ever Mario Kart music was this one, Koopa Beach from Super Mario Kart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez5boREBv6M

[Kelvin]

Is it just me or is this game fucking hard, even at 150cc? I can't imagine how maddening it's going to be in mirror mode. 

[Junglist]

Is it just me or is this game fucking hard, even at 150cc? I can't imagine how maddening it's going to be in mirror mode.

Play some online, get the hang of that, and you'll walk the AI. They have mental luck sometimes but you'll do it.

[Kelvin]

Fucking love this game. It's just so well made and fun. Every race puts a great big grin on my face.

Play some online, get the hang of that, and you'll walk the AI. They have mental luck sometimes but you'll do it.

To be honest, I'm being a bit unfair on the game. I've got 3 stars on every tournament in 50cc and 100cc and gold in the handful of 150cc ones I've tried. It's just hard to imagine getting 1st place in all four races in 150cc, in order to get all three stars. I'll persist, though, as it's still a ball, even when you lose.

I just tried the online mode, expecting it to be rubbish without the ability to talk to other players, but found even that was great fun.

If you want to play, add me as KelvinRules.

[Johnny Textface]

I'll add you tonight. I got battered online last night. Won the first race, thought i was the king, all the rest, twonked. Absolutely adore this though, most gaming fun I've had for many a year.

[Junglist]

Will add you Kelvin. Got two weeks at the start of July where I'm doing absolutely nothing so will be on this a hell of a lot.

[Johnny Textface]

Dolphin Shoals on 150cc can seriously fuck right off.

[weekender]

In case anyone's wondering, I'm stuck trying to get three stars on Banana Cup.

I have been for nearly a month now.

I'm starting to think I should change my character/vehicle/tyre/parachute combo.  It's Donut Plains 3, I can't seem to master it.  I don't usually like doing this, but I might have to ask for help via a YouTube channel, to see what I'm doing wrong.

Either that or the game's just a massive cunt.