Mario Kart 8

andyman949 wrote:

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!

Agreed!

Balladeer wrote:

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".

Doesn't the new lick of HD paint make them feel new enough? I'm guessing Nintendo don't want to mess with the retro tracks too much as it'd be like toying with peoples fun memories of them.

The new graphics were definitely the most exciting part of the retro tracks in 8. Antigrav, Underwater and Gliders add so little I'd rather just have a basic and beautiful course.

Disagree entirely. I want to see new features, new hazards, etc. DD!! still isn't a bad looking game, and I could always play that if I want to play sodding Yoshi's Circuit "as is" again.

That's fine for single player or local MP but the majority of my MK playing is online! Can't do that with any other game (other than 7, but with 8 why would you play that?)

That's a really insensitive thing to say to me, Andy. How could you?

Get better internet

Even if I did have a decent Internet connection ( ), though, MK is still mostly about local multiplayer for me. Can't give someone a dirty look when they Blue Shell you if you're not in the same room.

Aye but ye can call them a bastard on skype.

The_Jaster wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

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".

Doesn't the new lick of HD paint make them feel new enough? I'm guessing Nintendo don't want to mess with the retro tracks too much as it'd be like toying with peoples fun memories of them.

I thought the retro tracks were one of the best things about Mario Kart 8: they were far more than what they ever were before. Where previous games attempted to recreate them in the same visual style (just look at the N64 tracks in MKWii), 8 went steps further to overhaul each course to suit now the new mechanics and changes: Tick Tock Clock plays completely differently to how it does on DS, as one example as to how a relatively small and simple course can change.

Not too sure about Yoshi Circuit, though, since that's actually missing the tunnel shortcut from the GC version and this shortcut was missing on DS as well: I wanted retro courses to undo some of the compromises from DS (Mushroom Bridge!), not retain them.

Wario's Gold Mine should be great, was that a November DLC course or May?

fronkhead wrote:

Not too sure about Yoshi Circuit, though, since that's actually missing the tunnel shortcut from the GC version and this shortcut was missing on DS as well: I wanted retro courses to undo some of the compromises from DS (Mushroom Bridge!), not retain them.

I thought they showed that shortcut in the trailer, didn't they?

fronkhead wrote:

Wario's Gold Mine should be great, was that a November DLC course or May?

It's part of the November DLC, we essentially know 4 of the 8 tracks. (Yoshi circuit, wario's gold mine, f zero & excitebike)

Nope, only the waterfall shortcut was shown in the trailer. According to this video the tunnel shortcut has gone as its exit has gone missing. It's a great look at what's changed too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTgIwa-NA0

Thanks for the heads-up on the November DLC, can't wait now!

Is this DLC dated yet? The hype is building within me...

I was almost sure it was, but I can't find anything save "November".

I'm hoping for the first half of November, surely it won't clash with Smash Bros. U?

Excite Kart

That looks like a really fun track to race on. Still just says November, though.

Looks great fun, already seen folk compare it to baby park too & as for the date? I'm going to go with an optimistic 6th November.

That was my first thought; baby park with stunts.

I wonder if they will up the lap count for it as well? As I could see it being quite annoying if it was the standard 3 laps.

I'm a little sceptical about it being "Baby Park with stunts": the pleasure(?) of Baby Park was that shells could cross the divide in the middle while cars couldn't, so you had shells ricocheting back and forth; and then halfway through somebody would pull out a Bowser Shell or Chain Chomp and send everyone else running for cover. With "Excite Kart"'s raised sections to "klonk" shells (named after the noise they made when hitting a wall in MK64), and the lack of these "uber items", I can't see it being a direct comparison.

What I am excited for is what has been suggested as a randomly changing track. I still hark back to the days of F-Zero X's CPU-destroying X Cup, and while this is unlikely to be quite as destructive, random hazards and bumps are good news.

After the direct I can't wait but I will be a day late as the 14th is payday.

But we now know everything about pack 1
Racers: Link, Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach
Vehicles: Master Bike, Blue Falcon, Tanooki Kart, B Dasher
Tires: Triforce Tires
Glider: Hyrule Kite
Triforce Cup: Wario's Gold Mine (Wii), Rainbow Road (SNES), Ice Ice Outpost, Hyrule Circuit
Egg Cup: Yoshi Circuit (Cube), Excitebike Arena, Dragon Driftway, Mute City

Dragon Driftway looks absolutely ace! Not to mention Hyrule Circuit.

I'm not so sure about the retro courses: only Wario's Gold Mine seems to make any concessions to MK8's new features, with what I hope isn't a shoehorned-in ZG section. But hey: there are only three of them.

Oh, and the pickiest of nits: the B Dasher is also included in DLC pack 1. Shame there's no Excitebike-style bike instead, really.

Isn't there a bike kinda like it all ready though.

Nintendo Life preview the DLC. Sounds like Egg Cup's the real winner, with Yoshi Circuit being better than in previous incarnations; meanwhile, three out of four tracks in Triforce sound a bit duff. I guess that's the reason we haven't seen much of Ice Ice Outpost.

Thanks for the heads-up on that, I've avoided video footage of the courses because I didn't want them spoiled, so a writeup was much appreciated.

I'd say only Ice Ice Outpost in Triforce Cup sounds like a duffer, the other two retro tracks seem as good as they've ever been, though I do worry that Mario Kart 8's more tame item set will make SNES Rainbow Road less frantic compared with Mario Kart 7.