Mario Kart 8

I agree with the above, as I did his response in the mag itself (Drunka, you everywhere!) There's more of it, and what's there is better; not much could possibly detract from the Mario Kart experience. Many sequels in the last couple of generations seem to have been shallower experiences that their predecessors; I like Mario Kart 8's attempt to make a comprehensive game package.

(I know, I know, not the battle mode - I've sort of blocked that from memory)

I've never been that fussed about battle mode but I can see why fans would be annoyed. Hopefully there will be some DLC areas.

The other day I had this thought: we haven't played all the tracks that Mario Kart 8 has to offer just yet, what with the two lumps of DLC that are forthcoming. Perhaps they'll have more spectacular anti-gravity courses than the on-disc ones.

ZeroJones wrote:

The other day I had this thought: we haven't played all the tracks that Mario Kart 8 has to offer just yet, what with the two lumps of DLC that are forthcoming. Perhaps they'll have more spectacular anti-gravity courses than the on-disc ones.

Hopefully they go all out with them but I'd imagine the f-zero track being the craziest of them all.

I'm another one who thinks that the overall track design for Mario Kart 8 (thus far) is a bit reserved and conventional. Yet I think it was important that a balance be attained; and while I think stuff like Melody Motorway is fairly timid, it's one for the purists, one for those who like their Mario Karting to be a bit more straight-laced than racing up a waterfall.

I've got high hopes for the DLC - I'm expecting something more than old stuff cut from it's original release.

Completely disagree with that ONM view, there's a lot of stuff in there but none of it detracts from the game, I find it hard to believe there's such negativity towards it.

I'd agree that the gravity aspect isn't used to its full potential: I was expecting to be able to throw bananas in the split section on Electrodome such that they stick on the part of the track right above me, for example.

The best argument I can give is that none of this matters: the track designs are still terrific by any (and Mario Kart) standards. Right down to the remade retro courses which are far more than just a lick of paint. It seems every aspect of the game has been designed to sit in harmony with all the rebalanced mechanics, items and the ever-so-satisfying physics/driving model, and I'm happy that Nintendo continues to reinvent Mario Kart with nearly every entry despite its huge reach, building each game up from scratch.

Mario Kart 7 almost feels like an entirely different game when I go back to it, Mario Kart Wii even more-so. If only they did the same with New Super Mario Bros., which I always suspected was less ambitious so not to upset such a wide audience with every entry.

There's some DLC coming out for this, remember?  Introducing: the Master Cycle!



Sadly, from this Miiverse post, it seems to be one of those stupid turning bikes.  And heavy, too.

But what's really interesting is an almost throwaway comment from Eiji... which should go into the Zelda thread.

I'm quite excited for this DLC now especially since I haven't played MK8 in a while.

Same not played for a while

Yoshi Circuit Trailer

That's... disappointing, honestly. No upgrades to Yoshi Circuit, not that there were many that could be made on such a flat dull track. I'm sure Jaster will love it, though, for its "purity" and its "racing line".

You are simply a FOOL A FOOL I tell you! Yoshi circuit is great! I also don't see why it'd needs any upgrades when it's already fun to race on.

(side note: I also like how you say "racing line" like it's a bad thing when you are playing a racing game. )

Called it! And while I do think "racing line" is important, its importance ranks behind a few dozen things that couldn't be found in a "pure racer" like Forza.

...We're having this discussion again.

Hey! you brought it up. *shakes head*

Yoshi Circuit was fine as it was - a series highlight, in my opinion - but I'm sure the Wii U update will have a surprise or two. As it relates to the track shape and design, maybe they'll add an antigravity section up his nose, or an underwater section in his bowel, or something.

I love Yoshi Circuit, so glad to see it back, also interesting to see a Retro track we've seen more than once before, glad to see they're happy to just include the better tracks with superb racing lines rather than continue to work their way through and include the rubbish tracks (which admittedly they did do with the likes of Dry Dry Desert) as nobody will want to pay for courses of that quality.

Yoshi Circuit is nice, but if that's going to have a GameCube track that was already a retro track on ds I'd prefer Luigi circuit. Best track ever.

Oh I forgot to say something about tracks being upgraded, I'd prefer it if they didn't go too overboard with the retro tracks that will be returning & instead go all out for the new tracks.

Definitely, but I think it's pretty obvious that each pack will have four of each. I just wish that they'd pick tracks they can upgrade with zero-g and flying bits.

I reckon the already announced Wario's Gold Mine will have a lot of upgrades done to it, just seems like the perfect course for it.

Is it wrong of me to be more interested in the new track(s) than the retro ones? As fun as it is to see former favourites return upgraded, my attention's drawn to the awesome possibilities of the F-Zero track. If they get that right, it'll be a winner.

I'd say my interest is pretty evenly split, the old tracks are exciting to see what they've done with them but new tracks are new tracks!

I'm with Zero: much more excited to see the new tracks, and especially what they've done with the added franchises. That said, I want the retro tracks to be interesting too, and as new as possible. That's my main gripe with Yoshi Circuit, all told: despite what Cappa says, I don't think there are many ways you can work on it without spoiling that "purity".