Mario’s latest kart-racing game is beautiful and fun, but too often it becomes bland.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/37427/mario-kart-8-review
Video review below!
If there’s one word that can quickly sum up Nintendo’s latest entry in the Mario Kart series, it’s beautiful. From top to bottom, this is a gorgeous game, likely the best-looking one Nintendo has ever made. Even the soundtrack is superb, with amazing songs that call to mind past Mario games in new musical styles. Behind that beauty, unfortunately, is a degree of vapidness. Mario Kart 8 is just like any other Mario Kart game you’ve played in recent years, adding little to the franchise other than polish and some middling additions and tweaks.
Playing through Mario Kart 8 feels mechanical. Like every recent Mario Kart game, there are eight cups containing 32 tracks, half of which are remade courses from past games. There’s another take on Rainbow Road, on Bowser’s Castle, on Mario Circuit, etc. All the retro tracks are lovingly remixed, twisting what you remember about past tracks and turning them into something that feels new and unique, taking advantage of air, sea, and zero-gravity. Two standouts for me were Toad’s Turnpike and Rainbow Road, both from Mario Kart 64 originally. They are reminiscent of the 18-year-old tracks, but they feel different and are extremely fun to race, with Toad’s Turnpike letting you race on the walls and Rainbow Road featuring ample amounts of jumps.
Woefully, the single-player, which is structured like recent Mario Kart games, is brief and boring, focused on making you replay cups at different difficulty levels to unlock every character. While sometimes the courses seem more focused on being a graphical spectacle, the way some courses evolve and change, such as Thwomp Ruins, is awesome. Most courses have multiple forks at different points that are faster or slower depending on your items. The only saving grace of the single-player is that you don’t necessarily need to do it all by yourself; all the content can be unlocked by playing Grand Prix mode with up to four players.
While single-player is just more of the same, the clear focus and highlight of Mario Kart 8 is multiplayer, whether it’s split-screen or online (or both!). Four-player split-screen only loses a little bit of graphical fidelity and remains a total blast. Once again the series bests any other multiplayer racing game I’ve ever played. Online runs smoothly as well, and while I would love to be able to talk with my friends during the races, it is still fun playing against other people while getting to smack talk in the lobby.
Outside of the shiny HD graphics, the big new addition for Mario Kart 8 is Mario Kart TV. Technically, it is very impressive. As far as I can tell, the game records your recent races, allowing you to customize your very own highlight reel using a few different options with little to no load times. You can even post that highlight reel to Miiverse or YouTube (YouTube functionality was not up at the time of the review).
Rewatching the highlight reels is fun, especially in multiplayer, because you can see what other racers did and instantly slow down or speed up the gameplay for dramatic effect. It’s novel but ultimately pointless. When realizing how smoothly Mario Kart TV runs, it makes me sad those resources weren’t used to do something that actually integrates into the gameplay or single-player. Instead, Mario Kart TV is a cherry on top of a week-old cupcake.
The biggest bummer of all is Battle mode. Instead of featuring arenas, you can choose between eight modified regular courses. The foundation is sound, as it becomes more of a jousting match as you circle around the course attacking other players, but the lack of an on-screen map makes finding other players difficult on the large circuitous tracks.
Mario Kart 8 is an enjoyable game that hits the basic bullet points required for the series. The new tracks are fun and the retro courses are reinvented and radical. Playing in multiplayer is still great fun, but the poor single-player experience sadly damns this game. Outside of Mario Kart TV, it adds very little that hasn’t been done before, and Mario Kart TV is nothing more than a superfluous addition.
I like playing Mario Kart 8. I think it’s a satisfactory entry in the series, but nothing more. The final package ends up feeling like someone who covers themselves in makeup to hide the fact that they are 10 years older than they are pretending to be.
What the hell does one expect from a single player mode!
Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed and even Diddy Kong Racing shows what one can expect from a single-player racing campaign, and they were awesome for it.
I actually went into playing the final version of Mario Kart 8 being super excited for it. I might have had reservations over the past year or so, but in the past month, I've gotten more and more excited for it. My logic? Well, it's Mario Kart. I'll have fun with it because it's Mario Kart. I embraced it like that, hoping to recapture the love and affection I had for MKWii and MK:DD.
Then I played the final game, and it really made every reservation and worry come to light (as I wrote about in the review). I played a lot of Mario Kart 8, and while I totally had fun with it (and I'm sure most of you critiquing this review will have even more fun with it), it just felt hollow to me. I started playing this game wanting to love it unabashedly like everyone else. It didn't happen that way. I didn't even totally realize I was skewing negative until I put the pen to paper.
Sorry you guys disagree with my score and my text.
I love the content you guys make, but if you find yourself thinking "this is more of the same," realize that this game series doesn't match your personal tastes anymore and find someone who can look at the game from a less jaded perspective.
I'm told that you can unlock things while playing 2-player. This is a big deal It was my favorite thing in Double Dash and it's why I gave away my copy of Mario Kart Wii. We always play with at least 2 players.
Obviously you shouldn't have to apologize for your score, Neal. I'm just surprised at the venom I'm picking up from your review. Battle mode in Mario Kart has never been good, in my opinion, but I don't understand what more you could possibly want from Gamepad integration aside from gyro steering and mini-map display. Mario Kart is still meant to be played in groups, and the single-Gamepad pairing to the console means any additional functionality would be unfair to pro or Wii remote players.
While this seems like an excuse, it's more of a sad truth. Nintendo still had to create a Mario Kart experience that worked for every pro and con of the Wii U. I don't understand how a game can "best any other multiplayer racing game [you have] ever played" and still be the example of mediocrity, but hopefully you stand by your score.
I would have been interested to hear how ATVs handle and what community matchmaking is like, but if you don't think those features are interesting or noteworthy enough to warrant discussion, I'll leave it at that.
I would argue that "this is more of the same" is exactly what longtime Nintendo fans that frequent and Nintendo fan site would want to know. You can assume that most of NWR's readers have played damn near every Mario Kart game so their experience would be similar to that of the reviewers'. You're essentially saying that they should review it from the perspective of a newcomer but that's not the staff or the audience.
Mario Kart 8 sounds like it's Mario Kart, no more no less. If you're sick of it, then you'll probably not be interested. If you're not, you'll probably like it.
Every single person who owns a Wii U has played at least one previous Mario Kart game. Everyone has different opinions if this series coming into the newest game, and those are going to color (not pre-determine) your reaction to what the new one brings or doesn't bring. That is inevitable when you're dealing with such a long-running franchise.
However, I think the rest of the industry would use an 8.8-9.5 for the same reasons.
Don't understand why you are trying to talk everybody out of getting this game. Maybe you should be writing for gamespot.
wow this is fucked up, is the worst review on the net, taking points off metacricit and is totally wrong, you fucked up neal, you really did, you are the new gamespot.
I get the analogy at the end, but it isn't one I would use. I suppose a more apt analogy is hanging a painting over a cracked or damaged yet still structurally sound wall. The wall is solid, it will hold, but you're not addressing the problem; you're just making it look better.
This is by far the most unprofessional review of any type of media I have ever had the displeasure to read/watch.
I do have a question, though. What are the controls like? I know you can use GamePad, Pro Controller, and Wii Remote, but can you use the Classic Controller?
Updated video review is taking longer than I thought. Aiming for this afternoon, but no promises. Thanks!This is bullshit. I rate your post a 7.5. Points deducted for lack of timeliness and innovation.
It would have been great to read more about the online portion of the game instead of just the one sentence we got.
Qbert, our two reviews of this game were posted at the same time as dozens of others. We have no way of knowing or predicting the Metacritic average. To suggest that our site's scores are intentional outliers is ignorant of the actual review process, which is independent, personal, and honest.
We don't factor Metacritic into our reviews. We don't base our reviews at all on what other reviewers do or have been perceived to do. Our reviews are the opinions of the reviewer with as little outside influence as is possible.
If you don't like what we write, might I suggest reading a different site?
So, Qbert, what you are saying that since NWR is a Nintendo fansite, Mario Kart 8 and other staple series cannot have low scores? I'm curious, what exactly is "click-bait" about the review? You can't see a score without clicking on the review already and nothing about the blurb makes it seem like click-bait.
To me, it sounds like you're a Nintendo fanboy who is a little peeved that a Nintendo fansite didn't share your opinion. I think a fansite is good for being more critical than the popular press; they seem to know Nintendo and get sick of the **** Nintendo does far more than the IGN reviewer that plays one Nintendo game a year.
We don't factor Metacritic into our reviews. We don't base our reviews at all on what other reviewers do or have been perceived to do. Our reviews are the opinions of the reviewer with as little outside influence as is possible.
If you don't like what we write, might I suggest reading a different site?
Talk about some thin skin. I wasn't aware that discourse was discouraged.
You gave your opinions on the game. I gave my opinions on your opinions including the impression that it seemed a little click-bate-ish. I find it unlikely that you are unaware of what competing game sites might say of the game. You have a website with "Nintendo" in the title. Surely you are aware of how well previous Nintendo titles were received by video game journalists.
No non-Wii U owner is looking to a website with Nintendo in its name in order to make an objective decision on whether or not to purchase a Wii U and Mario Kart 8. Surely you know that by offering what is perceived as a low-ball 7.5 score, all you are doing is trying to catch the eye of Nintendo fans to come to your Nintendo fan site (or so it seems). I generally like the work NWR does, so the perception of a click-bate score bothers me more than the score itself which is ultimately irrelevant since I was buying this game anyway (because what else am I going to play).
So, Qbert, what you are saying that since NWR is a Nintendo fansite, Mario Kart 8 and other staple series cannot have low scores? I'm curious, what exactly is "click-bait" about the review? You can't see a score without clicking on the review already and nothing about the blurb makes it seem like click-bait.
To me, it sounds like you're a Nintendo fanboy who is a little peeved that a Nintendo fansite didn't share your opinion. I think a fansite is good for being more critical than the popular press; they seem to know Nintendo and get sick of the **** Nintendo does far more than the IGN reviewer that plays one Nintendo game a year.
It's a racing game, and your Diddy Kong "appease the hub world elephant kart adventure games" are the exception. The fact that Mario Kart lives on while Diddy Kart has not shows that the Grand Prix cup formula is what kart genre fans want.
I've watched a movie with my friends that I thought was terrible and when I started complaining about it, I found out they all liked it. They'd agree with some of my points but it worked for them they said. It boggles my mind how they could like it despite very clear reasons and examples of stupidity. Now, if we were to write reviews of the movie, my score would be much lower than theirs. However, according to you, I should recognize that other people will rate it higher and I need to adjust my score to be a bit higher otherwise I'm being disingenious and not following the crowd for the sake of trying to display "independent" thought. And heaven help me if I bring down the Metacritic score! Moreover, if I had seen the movie on my own and not with my friends, I'd have assumed that everyone felt like me and would be ranking the movie the same way. How am I supposed to figure out they liked it? Knowing they liked it, however, doesn't change how I felt about the movie or what I think are legitamate complaints against it and I feel like there are other people who would feel the same as me so I'm going to write a review and score it based on my own experience with it. If people disagree with it, so be it, but it's just my honest assessment of it.
I didn't say they can't have low scores. In my other posts, I said that one could estimate the range of scores for this game without reading a review.one could also just play the game, write a review, and be like "what do you know, I guess I didn't enjoy this game as much as everyone else did, oh well.
It becomes click bate because aggregate sites like Metacritic use the NWR score.so what, you think this is some intentional attempt to bring down the metacritic score and attract clicks? If that were the case why not give it a 6.5, or go all the way and give it a 1.
If you estimate that Mario Kart will score at least an 85, then you can guess that a 75 would be much lower than the average and it stands out more than say an 80. In truth, the Metacritic score is 88.
The NWR review docked it for the same offenses as other reviews, but then docked it extra for not innovating enough. The Mario Kart bar was raised so high. It seems pretty hard to expect another Mario Kart game to raise that bar higher, and it seems asinine to dock points for failing to do so.Name a mario kart game with a good single player mode.
If the controls were bad, framerates were choppy, if the game was laggy, if the game was unbalanced to the point of being unplayable go ahead and dock points. That doesn't seem to be the case. It seems to be a case of a good series producing another good game, but the new game merely maintained the previous level of quality rather than being transcendent.Which raises the question of why you would get this one
Had Smash Bros Brawl not included Subspace Emissary, would it have lost points?it probably would have gained points given how poorly thought out that mode was ;)
I've watched a movie with my friends that I thought was terrible and when I started complaining about it, I found out they all liked it. They'd agree with some of my points but it worked for them they said. It boggles my mind how they could like it despite very clear reasons and examples of stupidity. Now, if we were to write reviews of the movie, my score would be much lower than theirs. However, according to you, I should recognize that other people will rate it higher and I need to adjust my score to be a bit higher otherwise I'm being disingenious and not following the crowd for the sake of trying to display "independent" thought. And heaven help me if I bring down the Metacritic score! Moreover, if I had seen the movie on my own and not with my friends, I'd have assumed that everyone felt like me and would be ranking the movie the same way. How am I supposed to figure out they liked it? Knowing they liked it, however, doesn't change how I felt about the movie or what I think are legitamate complaints against it and I feel like there are other people who would feel the same as me so I'm going to write a review and score it based on my own experience with it. If people disagree with it, so be it, but it's just my honest assessment of it.
What movie are you referring to? I'm asking both because I'm genuinely curiuos AND it'll spawn more interesting discussion than the bickering over a review score.
pokepal, I didn't say the low score was to bring down Metacritic. I said, here's the expected window of scores. NWR is an outlier. Outliers are often done as clickbate.
I saw the review, disagreed with the methods used to dock points down to what I consider clickbate levelso in your opinion it's clickbait, well I'm pretty sure opinion /= fact.
My issue is more the integrity of the review than the score. If the game played like crap, or if it played at a level just much lower than what we've come to expect, then fine. Take away points as needed.so you say that your issue is not with the score but with the "integrity of the review"(what the hell does that even mean) and are now trying to tell us what is apparently ok or not ok to take points off for.
Instead, points were taken away for not including things that didn't need to be included.you mean as in features, content, those things? You know that add value to a game?
and for Mario Kart TV (a bell and/or whistle at most) not being anything special.MKTV has been heavily hyped by Nintendo, it better be good.
Outliers are often done as clickbate
Maybe we should tell Nintendo to make sure not to give us any kind of advance copies in the future to prevent this from happening again.Are you even on an embargo like are there things like unrevealed characters who you can't talk about?
Zach is absolutely right. Talkback still serves a purpose, and I think we all welcome constructive criticism, fact-checking, and especially further discussion from those readers who have played the game. This is an unusual situation in which Nintendo facilitated reviews being published well before the game'a release. People who don't like the outcome here have come armed with the phantom sword of other people's opinions to fight in a proxy war of words. We can only defend our editorial integrity, and most of you can only assume that you won't agree with every word of Neal and Daan's reviews once you play it yourselves. Rather than ask questions of those who do have the game, you arrive with attacks predicated upon your own ignorance. Get bent.
Zach is absolutely right. Talkback still serves a purpose, and I think we all welcome constructive criticism, fact-checking, and especially further discussion from those readers who have played the game. This is an unusual situation in which Nintendo facilitated reviews being published well before the game'a release. People who don't like the outcome here have come armed with the phantom sword of other people's opinions to fight in a proxy war of words. We can only defend our editorial integrity, and most of you can only assume that you won't agree with every word of Neal and Daan's reviews once you play it yourselves. Rather than ask questions of those who do have the game, you arrive with attacks predicated upon your own ignorance. Get bent.
I'm honestly shocked by the thin skin demonstrated by the staff of this site. Outside of a few mean spirited comments, most of what has been said has started as constructive criticism of the review. Instead of engaging in an intelligent discussion of the review process and acknowledging some flaws in this review, the staffers have spoke with a single voice in protecting their friend from the "bullies" attacking Neal. I hoped for a more mature response.
I can't recall any instance where I didn't think the person reviewing the game was beingunfair to it.
Quote from: Khushrenada the greatest poster of all time and the only person worth quotingI can't recall any instance where I didn't think the person reviewing the game was beingunfair to it.
Ha ha ha. Whoops. That should just be fair not unfair. Gotta love Talkback errors.
Quote from: Khushrenada the greatest poster of all time and the only person worth quotingI can't recall any instance where I didn't think the person reviewing the game was beingunfair to it.
Ha ha ha. Whoops. That should just be fair not unfair. Gotta love Talkback errors.
Freudian slip.
Yeah, I don't think it's "constructive" to accuse the staff on the site of lying and creating clickbait articles.
Most people who commented here did not come to burn Neal in effigy. I have respect for Neal, but I have issues with the approach of this review. I couldn't care less if he gave the game a 2 or a 20. I wanted to discuss the optimal way that games should be evaluated. It's not too late to take this discussion in a more constructive direction.
I've watched a movie with my friends that I thought was terrible and when I started complaining about it, I found out they all liked it. They'd agree with some of my points but it worked for them they said. It boggles my mind how they could like it despite very clear reasons and examples of stupidity. Now, if we were to write reviews of the movie, my score would be much lower than theirs. However, according to you, I should recognize that other people will rate it higher and I need to adjust my score to be a bit higher otherwise I'm being disingenious and not following the crowd for the sake of trying to display "independent" thought. And heaven help me if I bring down the Metacritic score! Moreover, if I had seen the movie on my own and not with my friends, I'd have assumed that everyone felt like me and would be ranking the movie the same way. How am I supposed to figure out they liked it? Knowing they liked it, however, doesn't change how I felt about the movie or what I think are legitamate complaints against it and I feel like there are other people who would feel the same as me so I'm going to write a review and score it based on my own experience with it. If people disagree with it, so be it, but it's just my honest assessment of it.
What movie are you referring to? I'm asking both because I'm genuinely curiuos AND it'll spawn more interesting discussion than the bickering over a review score.
Transformers. The first one. I've never watched any of the others after it.
I have 4 great Mario Kart games with me in my car right now (and one not-so-great one).
blah blah something something...This review is telling people that not only is MK8 not that good of a game, but that it's not worth buying a console over too. ...blah blah something something blah blah
The only thing that bothers me about this review is the timing of it. Nintendo has thier backs against the wall, and desperatly needs Mario Kart 8 to ship a ton of consoles. This review is telling people that not only is MK8 not that good of a game, but that it's not worth buying a console over too. Whether you said that or not is beside the point, your low score implies it. And people will take this review seriously Simply becouse it appears to be a Nintendo friendly site! So a website that uses Nintendo's name to help promote themselves, kicks Nintendo when thier on the ground. And as far as the click-bait theory, well I don't know this website good enough to make an assumption about that. But what I will say is that i've never visited this website before, and didn't even know it existed until I saw the ridiculous 7.5 rating it gave to MK8. So whether this review was intentionally made for click-bait or not, like i said, it wouldn't be right for me to comment on. But it did draw me in.
If you want to be concerned about "timing", be concerned that Nintendo chose to release an apparently incredibly formulaic and underwhelming Mario Kart game when they have "thier back against the wall" and "desperatly needs Mario Kart 8 to ship a ton of consoles".
Racht, where do you get the idea that a five is an average score? Name me one game that was given a five out of ten and considered average.
And broodwars, I meant timeing as in the position that nintendo is currently in with thier Wii U, and that a bad review of such an anticipated game is, well, bad timing! And underwhelming is your opinion, as I believe it to be the best Mario Kart yet.
as I believe it to be the best Mario Kart yet.
The only thing that bothers me about this review is the timing of it. Nintendo has thier backs against the wall, and desperatly needs Mario Kart 8 to ship a ton of consoles.
This review is telling people that not only is MK8 not that good of a game, but that it's not worth buying a console over too. Whether you said that or not is beside the point, your low score implies it. And people will take this review seriously
Simply becouse it appears to be a Nintendo friendly site! So a website that uses Nintendo's name to help promote themselves, kicks Nintendo when thier on the ground.
And as far as the click-bait theory, well I don't know this website good enough to make an assumption about that. But what I will say is that i've never visited this website before, and didn't even know it existed until I saw the ridiculous 7.5 rating it gave to MK8. So whether this review was intentionally made for click-bait or not, like i said, it wouldn't be right for me to comment on. But it did draw me in.
Unclebob, yes you did say it sucked. And I only own one copy of double dash.Quote pls.
Bwahaha, I haven't seen so many cringeworthy review complaints since the equally stupid and embarrassing Pangya fiasco from back in my day
Unclebob, yes you did say it sucked. And I only own one copy of double dash.Quote pls.Bwahaha, I haven't seen so many cringeworthy review complaints since the equally stupid and embarrassing Pangya fiasco from back in my day
The fallout from the 10/10 Mario golf (or was it Tennis? Pretty sure it was Golf) was worse. I think Seanbaby did a saterical write up on it and the staffer who wrote that piece abandoned the site shortly after.
Unclebob, my apologies. You said to a lot of people it sucked.You're learning, youngling. Read what is written instead of what you think is written.
Racht, where do you get the idea that a five is an average score? Name me one game that was given a five out of ten and considered average. A 7.5 is a horrible score, and it WILL impact sales. Believe it or not. I hate when people think that these type of reviews dont have consequences or impacts on a games sales. These reviews are more than just an opinion. And get over myself? what does that even mean?
And broodwars, I meant timeing as in the position that nintendo is currently in with thier Wii U, and that a bad review of such an anticipated game is, well, bad timing! And underwhelming is your opinion, as I believe it to be the best Mario Kart yet.
Unclebob, my apologies. You said to a lot of people it sucked.You're learning, youngling. Read what is written instead of what you think is written.
I've played DD with a lot of folks in my time (having multiple GameCubes and wanting to play multi-player to justify them will do that to you)... trust me when I say - the learning curve behind Double Dash is a tough one for lots of folks to get used to. They'd rather play 4-player '64 than 8/16 player Double Dash.
NWR Karl, Maybe you should reevaluate your responces, cause I never said it was NWR's responsibility to sale nintendo games. I just said it's a bad review, and a game review can be a deciding factor for some people purchasing a new game. You know, I'll never understand why so many people will defend a bad review just out of forum loyalty. A bad review is a bad review, and your doing the site a disservice by letting it slide.
NWR Karl, Maybe you should reevaluate your responces, cause I never said it was NWR's responsibility to sale nintendo games. I just said it's a bad review, and a game review can be a deciding factor for some people purchasing a new game. You know, I'll never understand why so many people will defend a bad review just out of forum loyalty. A bad review is a bad review, and your doing the site a disservice by letting it slide.
However someone who has grown tired of a series can't really give a fair and accurate review of a game from that series.
Unclebob, I apologised becouse I was incorrect, and I admit my mistakes. There is no need to get snotty about it. And "youngling"? lol. I'm sure i'm much older than you.
broodwars, I agree. However someone who has grown tired of a series can't really give a fair and accurate review of a game from that series. Honestly I have grown tired of commenting about this review. I think I've made my point.
NWR Karl, lol. I think you have put too much infosys on metacritic. Even more so than I. I've mentioned it, yes, but it's not the motive behind my rant. Maybe I haven't been able to fully articulate my thoughts about this review, other than to say it's bad. But I assure you it's not becouse the 7.5 dropped metacritics score.
NWR Neal, well thats really suprising. How can you like the Mario Kart series but not this one? It just blows my mind, thats all. I'm sorry I can't agree with you about giving it a fair and accurate review, but I will agree to disagree. Sorry for the inconvience, my rant is over.
NWR Neal, well thats really suprising. How can you like the Mario Kart series but not this one?
NWR Neal, well thats really suprising. How can you like the Mario Kart series but not this one?
Going back to that whole "reading what was written" thing... Neal *never* said he didn't like the game.
LMAO. What a bunch of cry babies. Attack of the loyal forumers. You guys don't care what I say, your just defending Neal. He's the one taking critisism, and he's the only one who's being mature and respectful. And Marval, geez man. Your a dope.
@NWR LINDY
I didn't come here to question the integrity of the website or any reviewer for that matter. Nor did I come here to stir up trouble. I'm not trying to disrespect the site, and I'm sure you have Many knowledgable people here. I came on here becouse I was looking up Mario Kart 8 reviews, and was happy to see it was getting great reviews across the boards. Except here. This was the lowest score and I was curious as to why. As a die hard Nintendo fan I had the right to know why one of my favorite games got such a low score. So I read Neals review and it seemed like he was a little tired of the series. So I commented on that. I am a die hard Nintendo fan, and I'm usually defending Nintendo alone in a mass of Xbots and Sonyans. I will Defend Nintendo no matter what site I'm on. Yes, even against Nintendo fans themselves. I know that makes me a fanboy, but so be it. I will stand by my opinion that a 7.5 rating is far to low of a score, however i'm not gonna continue to shove it down anyones throat. I do understand now why Neal scored it low, even though I disagree. You know, if this site is full of old school die hard Nintendo fans, technically I should fit right in.
Oh yeah, well I played every game in the series and I think the mario kart series is fine, therefore Neal's opinion of the series is wrong WRONG
WRONG!!!!!
let me put it this way, between my undying hatred of mk7 and the questionable decisions made with 8 I am basically picking it up so I can get into that CN deal.I'll see you on the track then, Poképal. I've got a banana peel with your name on it. >:D
Broodwars, I think your taking my liking the game more personal than I'm taking the 7.5 score. lol
Also, most people I'm seeing aren't necessarily agreeing with my review in a herd mentality. They're just defending my right to have a unique opinion.
Neal, you obviously have a right to any opinion but they are rushing to your aid. It is a herd mentality. But anyways, what are the cracks that show up after an hour of gameplay? Did you rate MK 7 just as low as this one? Did the same cracks show after an hour of gameplay in that one?
Ymeegod, Heres a suggestion. Learn to think for yourself. You don't get far in life by being a follower.
I guess Neal and Co. pissed off the denizens of GameFAQs.
This was the lowest score and I was curious as to why.
10 implies a game is perfect and infallible, and no such game exists.
I guess Neal and Co. pissed off the denizens of GameFAQs.
Well... (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/700050-mario-kart-8/69248905)
Khushrenada, your going out of your way to defend this site, and this review, and it isn't neccesary.
I'm glad NWR gave all those other amazing Nintendo games the scores they deserved. They should have done the same to this amazing game.
About Yoshis new Island getting a 6, well I wasn't here to argue that review, and it wasn't on the same scale as this one. A six is low, should have been a 7.5.
And your sarcasm about the other games not selling consoles is inaccurate. All those games you mentioned did move consoles, just not as many as Nintendo would have wished for.
You would be suprised at the amount of people who decide not to purchase a game becouse of a metacritic score. Any negative review on any game impacts the sales of said video game, even if it's by a miniscule amount.
Broodwars, I think your taking my liking the game more personal than I'm taking the 7.5 score. lol
I have particular disdain for the hive mind mentality of fanboys, and you're fortunate the terms of service here forbid me from going any further than that.
Come to think of it we need a good Microsoft fanboy/troll to compliment broodwars, where can we get one of those?Broodwars, I think your taking my liking the game more personal than I'm taking the 7.5 score. lol
I have particular disdain for the hive mind mentality of fanboys, and you're fortunate the terms of service here forbid me from going any further than that.
Coming from the resident Sony fanboy :D .
If you think Khushrenada goes out of his way to defend this site you've clearly never read anything he's posted outside this thread. Hell, the reason you can't edit posts in TalkBack anymore is due to a MAJOR OVERREACTION TO A component of an open rebellion against this site he largely organized.fixed
If you think Khushrenada goes out of his way to defend this site you've clearly never read anything he's posted outside this thread. Hell, the reason you can't edit posts in TalkBack anymore is due to a MAJOR OVERREACTION TO A component of an open rebellion against this site he largely organized.fixed
Broodwars, I think your taking my liking the game more personal than I'm taking the 7.5 score. lol
I have particular disdain for the hive mind mentality of fanboys, and you're fortunate the terms of service here forbid me from going any further than that.
Coming from the resident Sony fanboy :D .
I figured I was as close to a Sony fanboy as you would find around here. I personally HATE everything Xbox but I am all Windows all the way. I tend to buy Sony electronics, especially TV's, home theater, and Blu Ray players plus I have always loved Playstation for their keeping the industry moving forward. But I don't consider myself a fanboy in the truest sense I bought a PS3 just last year, while I stood in line to get a Wii.
Broodwars, I think your taking my liking the game more personal than I'm taking the 7.5 score. lol
I have particular disdain for the hive mind mentality of fanboys, and you're fortunate the terms of service here forbid me from going any further than that.
Coming from the resident Sony fanboy :D .
If you think I'm a Sony fanboy, you clearly haven't been paying attention to the sheer number of times I complain about their actions. They just give me less reason to complain than the other two. :P: : It's kind of like that old Churchill quote about Democracy.
Broodwars isn't a fanboy of anybody; he relentlessly criticizes anyone and everyone.
I wish you folks would stop feeding the troll site. All of this discussion is likely getting them more page hits.then why are commenting here.
Seeing staff say the game was to kiddy on a NINTENDO game just baffles me.
Aw Neal.. Super Circuit is awesome! :(
Alright, gonna list mine now.
1. MK64
2. MK:SC
3. MK:DD
4. MK:DS
5. MKWii
6. SMK
7. MK7
The bottom end of the list is tricky to place. I liked 7 but didn't end up playing it all that much, and MKWii got frustrating with the A.I. on the higher difficulties. I've played more SMK than 7 and Wii probably.
1. 77 on top? no, just no.
2. DS
3. 64
4. Wii
5. Double Dash
6. Super Circuit
7. Original
Not really sure where 8 will go, but from what I've read, my guess is supplanting 7 or DS.
If we're doing this....The DS game had this crazy idea called 'a good single player mode' that has since apparently been deemed 'un-mario kart' and hasn't been seen since.
1. Double Dash
2. Wii
3. 7
4. 8
5. 64
6. DS
7. SMK
8. Super Circuit
For me, DD and Wii are far away the best. 7 and 8 are virtually indistinguishable for me (aside from home console vs. portable). 64 is probably only as high because I still love that Battle Mode and nostalgia. I never got into DS that much. SNES is dated. Super Circuit sucks.
Double Dash I find to be highly overrated, with the drifting being horrendous and the controls being overall pretty mediocre.
Curious that *no* one has ranked the arcade games. Has no one played them, or does everyone who's played them just not consider them to be part of the series?
Wowzers. I did not expect to see so many different rankings. What's high for some is low for others and vice versa. No wonder this series is starting to get so many mixed reactions. But the one that completely surprises me is this one:Aw Neal.. Super Circuit is awesome! :(
Alright, gonna list mine now.
1. MK64
2. MK:SC
3. MK:DD
4. MK:DS
5. MKWii
6. SMK
7. MK7
The bottom end of the list is tricky to place. I liked 7 but didn't end up playing it all that much, and MKWii got frustrating with the A.I. on the higher difficulties. I've played more SMK than 7 and Wii probably.
Ok, I got to know, what is the trick to Super Circuit? I got the game as part of the ambassador program and I put some time into it to try and beat it and get 3 star rankings before Mario Kart 7. But I could never seem to get a handle on the controls and drift or turn well at high speeds. What am I missing that you are getting to like the game this much? I finally gave up on the game.
Well you don't try and play it like other MK's with the power slide, although on some wide turns you can hold it to get a mini boost.
I use a combination of tapping the slide/jump and taking my finger off the accelerator. If I go into a corner with the slide, I usually let go as I begin to drift to the outside of the track, this will let me tighten my turn.
I like the game because it can feel very fast paced and its really satisfying to fly through a course tapping and turning your way through and not messing up. I am a fan of outrunning red and spiny shells too, that can feel pretty tense and its really cool to pull off.
Heres a rough example of me playing two tracks from the game. I haven't played it for quite some time and I was sitting at a strange angle, so its not ideal. I used a Micro to try and show what I do, I can't really notice when Im not using the A button though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MR_EwTTlxg&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MR_EwTTlxg&feature=youtu.be)
And of course my old Extra Life. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/extralife/26314/mario-kart-super-circuit (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/extralife/26314/mario-kart-super-circuit)
I didn't like Double Dash at first (would've preferred 64 at the time), but the more I think about it, the core mechanic was really awesome. There was just so much more to strategy than just picking your favorite characters. Your character combo decided what kind of cars you could drive and what the special item you get was. Plus you could get a sweet item and hold on to it for the entire race. That level of strategy hasn't reappeared since.
Well you don't try and play it like other MK's with the power slide, although on some wide turns you can hold it to get a mini boost.
I use a combination of tapping the slide/jump and taking my finger off the accelerator. If I go into a corner with the slide, I usually let go as I begin to drift to the outside of the track, this will let me tighten my turn.
I like the game because it can feel very fast paced and its really satisfying to fly through a course tapping and turning your way through and not messing up. I am a fan of outrunning red and spiny shells too, that can feel pretty tense and its really cool to pull off.
Heres a rough example of me playing two tracks from the game. I haven't played it for quite some time and I was sitting at a strange angle, so its not ideal. I used a Micro to try and show what I do, I can't really notice when Im not using the A button though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MR_EwTTlxg&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MR_EwTTlxg&feature=youtu.be)
And of course my old Extra Life. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/extralife/26314/mario-kart-super-circuit (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/extralife/26314/mario-kart-super-circuit)
Hmm. Now see that seems so unnatural to me. In a Mario Kart, I usually just hold the A button down from start to finish unless there is some sort of incident where I need to let go like in MK64 where you could press the brakes to avoid a banana wipeout. The idea of letting go and tapping the accelerator is probably what's throwing me off. I think I was starting to get to that point because I was just having trouble with turns and it seemed to be the only way I could navigate but I just felt I must be doing it wrong or missing something.
The other thing that threw me off is the speed burst from power sliding or turning. From GC and on, when you started powersliding, you could then get a blue flame and a red flame so that when letting go of the power slide, you'd get a speed burst. With Super Circuit, there were a couple times I got that power slide burst but I couldn't figure out how to get it consistantly. That's what caused me to leave it in frustration. Being able to pull off a consistant power slide burst is how you get a lead and hold onto it in current MK games and get faster times to pull of 3 star ranks and beat Time Trail ghosts. It seems from what you are saying is that it is more a bonus occurance that happens once in awhile as you race.
I was watching the video to see if I could notice your thumb tapping the a button or lifting from it but it didn't seem like it however it's not like that would require a big motion. You seem to be able to get around the tracks pretty smoothly though so congrats on master the game.
------
Alright Phil! Our rankings are pretty much the same aside from your placement of Super Circuit. This man knows what he's doing.
------I didn't like Double Dash at first (would've preferred 64 at the time), but the more I think about it, the core mechanic was really awesome. There was just so much more to strategy than just picking your favorite characters. Your character combo decided what kind of cars you could drive and what the special item you get was. Plus you could get a sweet item and hold on to it for the entire race. That level of strategy hasn't reappeared since.
Yes, yes, yes! It took me awhile to figure this out. What I like about that mechanic is that it is almost a blending of Battle Mode with racing. Besides just the usual business of racing around tracks and doing some tight cornering, you then had to be aware of your item management also, swapping out characters to maybe get a character specific item or hold onto items.
Honestly, while I was disappointed with the less than stellar battle mode courses, once I started doing this more careful character selection and item management, it really helped that mode to take off and I did come to love it like previous entries. And one of the most tense and mind-warping things for me was the GameCube course. When first playing it, I hated it because this isn't battle mode. There's nowhere to hide or outwit your opponent and item boxes galore. But much like my opinion of Baby Park changed from it being a lazy oval course to a white knuckle ride from the carnage that could be unleashed on it, my opinion changed on the Gamecube course as well. You had to make every item count in that course and be aware of your surroundings. If you saw on player 2's screen that he just acquired a red shell, you are pressing the item button like mad to stop the roulette wheel and hope you've got an item to quickly counter the shell before he lines you up in his sights. With practice, my brother and I started to have some longer battles on the Gamecube map. It can really get the heart pumping.
Curious that *no* one has ranked the arcade games. Has no one played them, or does everyone who's played them just not consider them to be part of the series?
What mechanics are broken in SC?For me, I felt like the drifting and the boost mechanics were designed for a different game and didn't work well with the tracks, especially the SNES tracks which were designed using different control. They also removed the feather item which again screws up some of the SNES tracks. There was some other stuff too but after so long, I have forgotten it.
Curious that *no* one has ranked the arcade games. Has no one played them, or does everyone who's played them just not consider them to be part of the series?
1. Wii
2. 7
3. DD
4. DS
5. 64
6. Arcade
7. SMK
8. SS
DD ranks high for me because it's still the most unique version of the series.
To me Mario Kart 8 just looks like a fresh graphical coat of paint from Mario Kart Wii.
Barely anything new, but the Nintendo hype machine never stops.
I wrote an entire article about my thoughts here: http://www.dorkystuff.com/?p=38 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn3dyFLxC0s)
Well, after spending 6+ hours with online races, both randoms and tournaments, a 7.5 score is absolutely insane. Especially in light of a 10 for an interminable cakewalk like Kirby's Epic Yarn.Well, after spending 6+ hours with online AND offline races, both with randoms and tournaments, a 7.5 score is absolutely justified. Especially in light of a 10 for an incredible gameplay mechanic infused and graphically endearing experience like Kirby's Epic Yarn.
Aren't there the same amount of tracks in Mario Kart 8 as the last few entries in the series, 16 new and 16 retro? Was this a problem before?
Aren't there the same amount of tracks in Mario Kart 8 as the last few entries in the series, 16 new and 16 retro? Was this a problem before?
I think that's part of the problem. "More of the same" isn't always a good reason to drop $60. ;)
Seriously, though, in the age of DLC, I would have liked to have seen 24-32 brand spankin' new tracks shipped with the game and "retro" courses added through DLC.
It's really hard to complain when you're getting Pikmin 3 or Wind Waker FREEAren't there the same amount of tracks in Mario Kart 8 as the last few entries in the series, 16 new and 16 retro? Was this a problem before?
I think that's part of the problem. "More of the same" isn't always a good reason to drop $60. ;)
Seriously, though, in the age of DLC, I would have liked to have seen 24-32 brand spankin' new tracks shipped with the game and "retro" courses added through DLC.
Agreed. It's true that Mario Kart has used this format for ages, but when you compare it to other racers the amount of content this time just feels anemic (especially with Battle Mode completely neutered). It's hard in today's market to justify that $60 on a game that you'll essentially see all the content in in 2 hours (especially when half that content is just a remix of tracks I've seen before). It's pretty much the same issue I'd have if Nintendo made a new Star Fox game just like Star Fox 64. Sure, the content could be awesome, but if I can finish the game in the time it would take me to watch Frozen, that $60 price tag just doesn't make sense anymore. Since I paid for Mario Kart 8 mostly using credit I'd had sitting on the eShop for months anyway, I don't feel as bad about the paltry amount of content here as I would be if I had paid $60 all at once, but it's still a serious problem with the game.
It's really hard to complain when you're getting Pikmin 3 or Wind Waker FREE
I disagree. I own Mario U and Party U and I think they're both great gamesIt's really hard to complain when you're getting Pikmin 3 or Wind Waker FREE
Not when you already own them and they're the only worthwhile games available. :P:
Just out of curiosity, what would be an appropriate amount of content?Generally speaking, I feel that new systems should bring with them bigger, better games, but I understand how difficult that has become with the skyrocketing costs of game development over the past couple decades. In the case of Mario Kart, I would gladly trade the retro tracks in order to have a total of 24-32 new ones in one game.