There was a point in time where I cared more about Mario Kart than the mainline platformers. It was my first exposure to racing games, as it was for many people, and the dioramic racetrack designs were so mesmerizing to my preschooled noggin. Obviously the fixation subsided as I got older and found racers with tighter game design, but MK is still fun to come back to when the opportunity arrives. The go-kart setting was always the big driving force: It feels more hand-made and workshopped than traditional cars, and doesn't carry the same baggage that comes from bougie car culture.

I don't have much to say about MK8. It's good. It being the high-content-low-creativity entry in the series feels more appropriate than something like, say, Smash Ultimate. I want Mario Kart to just be a sober, playful game with family, and I appreciate their dedication to that.

If anything, MK8 makes me hope the next outing does more with the crossover content. I know 'Smash Kart' is a dumb baby concept that nintendorks drool over, but I think the kart formula is probably the best way to bring the Nintendo series iconography into a mutual setting, since you don't have to limit the roster to characters that explicitly fit the melee combat mold. I also don't trust Nintendo enough to do cool things with the Mario universe and characters anymore - especially given shit like the entire Koopalings family getting in.

What I'm saying is, let me be Advance Wars Andy in a Md Tank