The 8th Mario Kart is now one of the most popular video games to ever exist, with seemingly everyone having played this at some point or another. With the never-ending DLC cycle finally finished, MK8D is now so full of content that its often considered the definitive Mario Kart game, even if it took a decade-long journey to get to this point, more than enough time for everyone to form their own opinion on it.
It's easy to forget MK8 started out as the humble best-selling Wii U game, with only the typical 32 tracks and a character roster often considered underwhelming. Yet as of 2023 the track total is up to an absurd 96, and the character roster now is so full of almost everyone from previous Mario Kart games that there's essentially nothing left to complain about in that regard. To get to this point it took:
- Original Wii U release
- 2 waves of DLC for the Wii U Game
- Re-released "Deluxe" version for Switch
- 6 waves of MK8D DLC spanning the course of almost 2 years
As for the initial character roster, most of the complaints were directed to half of the unlockable drivers being Koopalings, or the presence of odd made-up characters like Pink Gold Peach. The absence of fan-favorites like Dry Bones or Diddy Kong was also disappointing to many, with the amount of 'Baby' characters seemingly reaching a critical mass to top everything off (Baby Rosalina didn't even exist before this game and I think her presence here might contradict the storybook in Super Mario Galaxy but whatever I guess.) For what it's worth, I actually like the Koopalings, and am not nitpicky enough to complain about specific side characters not being playable, there isn't really such a thing as the Koopalings "stealing" a spot from other characters since there's no real limit to the amount Nintendo could put in the game if they felt like it. At least Waluigi returned, his vacation from the roster of Mario Kart 7 was enough for his devout cult of personality to denounce that game before even giving it a chance.
The most important aspect of a racing game and a huge selling point of this one is the overall high course quality. The anti-gravity mechanics breathe new life into the many Retro courses (as well as this somehow being the first HD Mario Kart game.) DK Jungle, Ribbon Road, and Moo Moo Meadows are some of my favorites from the Retro selection. Instant classics come from the Nitro courses too, in the form of the dynamic Mount Wario, waterfall-scaling Shy Guy Falls, or the thrill of that one leaf shortcut at the end of each lap on Cloudtop Cruise.
The driving controls themselves feel smooth and responsive, the new purple sparks for extra long mini-turbos are a great addition, and extended glider sections are a huge hit casually. A simple gameplay loop of trying to take the tightest lines and drift around every corner possible is really all it takes for the vast majority of what makes this game so good, even if it's easier to control overall this time around. Some might say the option of both auto-steering and auto-accelerating is too much but honestly, this it the type of game people play with their grandparents and I think pretty much all baby-mode options are totally fine at this point in our era of casual gaming, just don't use it if you don't want to, who cares.
One controversial mechanic is the item odds scaling with overall distance from first place, as opposed to flat standings like before. This can create surprising scenarios like getting a star in 3rd or 4th place, and while it might seem like a fine mechanic for combatting frontrunning, in practice this often makes the middle of the pack an overwhelming chaotic mess with what feels like little hope of escape. I've seen it countless times where super casual non-gamer friends are becoming frustrated by constantly getting the hard-to-control items like a golden mushroom or star for basically the whole race as a result of this mechanic. Frontrunning in a racing game like this is always going to exist and imo this was unnecessary, but I suppose on the other hand maybe they should just get good.
Another key mechanic returning from Mario Kart 7 is customizing one's own vehicle with a body, tires, and a glider. This is obviously cool, but as someone who goes out of their way to try out all sorts of "bad" combinations, I feel this whole system feels pretty watered down and makes different kart combinations not feel very distinct from each other to play. Everything is almost too balanced, there's no experience in this game that feels like switching between the Quacker and the Piranha Prowler in Mario Kart Wii for example, one can get by with essentially any combination in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. (Even if the Waluigi Wiggler era or the Yoshi Teddy Buggy era online would suggest otherwise.) I would argue more distinct gameplay variety, even if unbalanced, is favorable to what we got, but that opens a whole can of worms about balancing philosophy that I'm not prepared to detail in a Mario Kart review.
The other big yet unmentioned positive of MK8D is the consistently excellent soundtrack. Memorable for the heavy use of saxophone and clear jazz influence and style, this is honestly one of the most stacked track lists out there. There is plenty of standout music from the base MK8D like Dolphin Shoals, Wild Woods, or the N64 Rainbow Road, but I'd argue the DLC was yet another step up in this regard, hearing retro tracks flourish unshackled from their old original hardware was heartwarming to long-time Mario Kart fans like myself. I'm especially fond of Sky Garden and Shroom Ridge's soundtrack, and there's something hilarious about the full studio orchestra getting together to play the Coconut Mall theme. And while they aren't "retro" courses in the truest sense, (coming from Mario Kart Tour...) Ninja Hideaway and Berlin Byways of all things might actually be my favorite music from the entire game.
Musical excellence aside, this MK8D Booster Course Pass is somewhat controversial for its questionable quality in other areas, and the Mario Kart Tour tracks based on real-world locations are at the forefront of this discussion. MKTour may be due for its own ~1-star review someday, but here in MK8D we're still stuck with these overly confusing real street courses that very few people I've played with seem to actually enjoy. Tokyo Blur is especially bad since it even has trouble evoking imagery of its namesake. (The classic "World Tour" fallacy of not including anything at all from South America or Africa also remains true here.) Even courses from previous Mario Kart games have downgraded graphically, the texture quality of the grass on Shroom Ridge or Toad Circuit somehow looks even worse than it did on a mobile phone, even if it might not be especially noticeable during a high-speed race. Far more noticeable downgrades include Sunset Wilds not featuring its titular sunset anymore (the only noteworthy thing about it on GBA), or the cars in much-beloved Coconut Mall that were once recklessly driven by Miis now just spinning in place instead. New content is new content, but it's hard to say if this quantity over quality is a net-positive considering the new likelihood of going to a MKTour course when selecting random. 3DS Rainbow Road, Maple Treeway, and DK Mountain are all back though, so I suppose it's fair to call this overall DLC selection a mixed bag.
This review might have nitpicked too hard and yapped for too long, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe clearly is an overall great racing game at the end of the day, the good points and quality should just be pretty obvious to everyone who has played. This has a strong case for the best Mario Kart game, even if it may not have started that way on the Wii U. In my opinion, releasing at the right time and actually receiving content updates pushed MK8D juuuuust ahead of the rest of its series right at the finish line.
4.0/5.0
It's easy to forget MK8 started out as the humble best-selling Wii U game, with only the typical 32 tracks and a character roster often considered underwhelming. Yet as of 2023 the track total is up to an absurd 96, and the character roster now is so full of almost everyone from previous Mario Kart games that there's essentially nothing left to complain about in that regard. To get to this point it took:
- Original Wii U release
- 2 waves of DLC for the Wii U Game
- Re-released "Deluxe" version for Switch
- 6 waves of MK8D DLC spanning the course of almost 2 years
As for the initial character roster, most of the complaints were directed to half of the unlockable drivers being Koopalings, or the presence of odd made-up characters like Pink Gold Peach. The absence of fan-favorites like Dry Bones or Diddy Kong was also disappointing to many, with the amount of 'Baby' characters seemingly reaching a critical mass to top everything off (Baby Rosalina didn't even exist before this game and I think her presence here might contradict the storybook in Super Mario Galaxy but whatever I guess.) For what it's worth, I actually like the Koopalings, and am not nitpicky enough to complain about specific side characters not being playable, there isn't really such a thing as the Koopalings "stealing" a spot from other characters since there's no real limit to the amount Nintendo could put in the game if they felt like it. At least Waluigi returned, his vacation from the roster of Mario Kart 7 was enough for his devout cult of personality to denounce that game before even giving it a chance.
The most important aspect of a racing game and a huge selling point of this one is the overall high course quality. The anti-gravity mechanics breathe new life into the many Retro courses (as well as this somehow being the first HD Mario Kart game.) DK Jungle, Ribbon Road, and Moo Moo Meadows are some of my favorites from the Retro selection. Instant classics come from the Nitro courses too, in the form of the dynamic Mount Wario, waterfall-scaling Shy Guy Falls, or the thrill of that one leaf shortcut at the end of each lap on Cloudtop Cruise.
The driving controls themselves feel smooth and responsive, the new purple sparks for extra long mini-turbos are a great addition, and extended glider sections are a huge hit casually. A simple gameplay loop of trying to take the tightest lines and drift around every corner possible is really all it takes for the vast majority of what makes this game so good, even if it's easier to control overall this time around. Some might say the option of both auto-steering and auto-accelerating is too much but honestly, this it the type of game people play with their grandparents and I think pretty much all baby-mode options are totally fine at this point in our era of casual gaming, just don't use it if you don't want to, who cares.
One controversial mechanic is the item odds scaling with overall distance from first place, as opposed to flat standings like before. This can create surprising scenarios like getting a star in 3rd or 4th place, and while it might seem like a fine mechanic for combatting frontrunning, in practice this often makes the middle of the pack an overwhelming chaotic mess with what feels like little hope of escape. I've seen it countless times where super casual non-gamer friends are becoming frustrated by constantly getting the hard-to-control items like a golden mushroom or star for basically the whole race as a result of this mechanic. Frontrunning in a racing game like this is always going to exist and imo this was unnecessary, but I suppose on the other hand maybe they should just get good.
Another key mechanic returning from Mario Kart 7 is customizing one's own vehicle with a body, tires, and a glider. This is obviously cool, but as someone who goes out of their way to try out all sorts of "bad" combinations, I feel this whole system feels pretty watered down and makes different kart combinations not feel very distinct from each other to play. Everything is almost too balanced, there's no experience in this game that feels like switching between the Quacker and the Piranha Prowler in Mario Kart Wii for example, one can get by with essentially any combination in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. (Even if the Waluigi Wiggler era or the Yoshi Teddy Buggy era online would suggest otherwise.) I would argue more distinct gameplay variety, even if unbalanced, is favorable to what we got, but that opens a whole can of worms about balancing philosophy that I'm not prepared to detail in a Mario Kart review.
The other big yet unmentioned positive of MK8D is the consistently excellent soundtrack. Memorable for the heavy use of saxophone and clear jazz influence and style, this is honestly one of the most stacked track lists out there. There is plenty of standout music from the base MK8D like Dolphin Shoals, Wild Woods, or the N64 Rainbow Road, but I'd argue the DLC was yet another step up in this regard, hearing retro tracks flourish unshackled from their old original hardware was heartwarming to long-time Mario Kart fans like myself. I'm especially fond of Sky Garden and Shroom Ridge's soundtrack, and there's something hilarious about the full studio orchestra getting together to play the Coconut Mall theme. And while they aren't "retro" courses in the truest sense, (coming from Mario Kart Tour...) Ninja Hideaway and Berlin Byways of all things might actually be my favorite music from the entire game.
Musical excellence aside, this MK8D Booster Course Pass is somewhat controversial for its questionable quality in other areas, and the Mario Kart Tour tracks based on real-world locations are at the forefront of this discussion. MKTour may be due for its own ~1-star review someday, but here in MK8D we're still stuck with these overly confusing real street courses that very few people I've played with seem to actually enjoy. Tokyo Blur is especially bad since it even has trouble evoking imagery of its namesake. (The classic "World Tour" fallacy of not including anything at all from South America or Africa also remains true here.) Even courses from previous Mario Kart games have downgraded graphically, the texture quality of the grass on Shroom Ridge or Toad Circuit somehow looks even worse than it did on a mobile phone, even if it might not be especially noticeable during a high-speed race. Far more noticeable downgrades include Sunset Wilds not featuring its titular sunset anymore (the only noteworthy thing about it on GBA), or the cars in much-beloved Coconut Mall that were once recklessly driven by Miis now just spinning in place instead. New content is new content, but it's hard to say if this quantity over quality is a net-positive considering the new likelihood of going to a MKTour course when selecting random. 3DS Rainbow Road, Maple Treeway, and DK Mountain are all back though, so I suppose it's fair to call this overall DLC selection a mixed bag.
This review might have nitpicked too hard and yapped for too long, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe clearly is an overall great racing game at the end of the day, the good points and quality should just be pretty obvious to everyone who has played. This has a strong case for the best Mario Kart game, even if it may not have started that way on the Wii U. In my opinion, releasing at the right time and actually receiving content updates pushed MK8D juuuuust ahead of the rest of its series right at the finish line.
4.0/5.0