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Mario Kart 8

Will turn your world upside down.

By Alan WalkerPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Recently, I have had the chance to play the Wii U’s installment of Nintendo’s popular Mario Kart franchise. And let me say I was blown away with just how good the game is.

Despite the fact the game debut in Spring of 2014, I’ve only recently been able to get a hold of a copy. At first glance it looked as if Nintendo where lowering the bar for the level of skill needed for this game as Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS, involve segments of underwater driving. Having grown up with Mario Kart 64, and in my adult life Mario Kart Wii, once you fall into water you have to be fished out by Lakitu. This helped players develop their Mario Kart skills by making them aware there were time penalties involved with going off track. There’s nothing worse than being in 1st Place and sliding into the water on Frappe Snowland only to get back on track to find your little brother is 3 places ahead of you.

However I do have to say that the underwater segments are a welcome addition, it’s really funny to see a tiny propeller pop out the back of a Mercedes GLA. Did I forget to mention that there are real world cars in this game? Well there are, well kind of. One of the 3 DLC packs for this game, and the only one that is free, is the Mercedes DLC Pack. In this pack you unlock the Mercedes GLA, which when combined with my daughter and Rosalina makes for an interesting combination. The DLC also includes a 300SL Roadster which in the real world is powered by a 5.4 litre 617BHp V8 engine, however as good as this car can be in the game, it seems to have lost some of that real world feel. Last but not least from the racetracks of the 1930’s comes the Mercedes W25 Silver Arrow, which tore up the Grand Prix circuit in 1934. All of this comes with a nice set of wheels called, and wait for it, the GLA wheels. It’s also worth noting this is only available with the latest software update for the game.

On the subject of DLC, this game is not exempt from what I consider to be a curse on gamers. Anyone who knows me knows I despise DLC with a passion, unless it’s free. I feel cheated when I have to fork out more money to unlock parts of a game, especially seeing as it’s a choice between food and extra game bits ‘n pieces. Sorry developers as much as I love gaming, no amount of decent DLC will come between me and a bacon sandwich. However having said that, this is the first time that I have actually wanted to purchase any DLC for any game in my collection, and I own the Bioshock series. The 2 DLC packs available are the Animal Crossing DLC and the Zelda DLC pack. Now I don’t really care for the characters in the Animal Crossing DLC packs, I do however want the new tracks and the extra vehicles such as The Bone Rattler, which looks bad [insert expletive here]. I do really want the Zelda DLC due to the fact you can go hell for leather around the Hyrule Track as you guessed it, Cat Peach.

I bet you though I was going to say Link didn’t you? Silly readers, but yes Link is included in the Zelda DLC as is The Blue Falcon. Now when I first heard this I was like “Wow the Blue Falcon in in Mario Kart 8? What about Dynomutt?” As it turns out this was not a throwback to old Hannah Barbera cartoons, but the vehicle of choice of one Captain Falcon. Now you can zip round the track and whenever you use a mushroom for a bit of a boost you can scream “Falcon Boost” at your TV.

This game will really turn your world upside down, as well as on its side. In Mario Kart 8 you can drive on the walls and upside down thanks to the Anti-Gravity section of the racetracks in the game. This makes the game in a way, more fun. Do I drive through the traffic on Toad’s Turnpike? Nah I’ll just drive up the walls and avoid the whole scene. With the combination of driving underwater in your 300SL Roadster (not good for your insurance btw, I’ve checked), and gliding across a canyon using Peach’s Parasol (yes you can do it and it isn’t girly at all) make for a very entertaining and addictive racing game.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone regardless of whether or not you like Mario Kart and Nintendo. Buy a Wii U just for this game, or get a Nintendo Switch and get the deluxe version, which comes with all the DLC mentioned above plus extras.

To quote Allo Allo, I shall say this only once: PLAY THIS GAME.

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About the Creator

Alan Walker

Part-time Avid Gamer, self appointed nerd, and volunteer Karate Instructor

Long time reader, first time blogger

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