Mario Kart 8 - Review thread

Apparently Battle Mode is still really fun once you get used to it!

You keep saying this, but can you point out any reviews that mention that it gets really fun? Many of them mention that the battle mode is lacking so far - and not only because it is different, but because it just doesn't work as well on open tracks.
 
No, I'm saying it took them less time to slap a different head on a Koopaling or baby body than to remodel a character like Birdo or King Boo. Same goes for their inclusion of Metal Mario and Peach. It's every bit of an indication of a shortcut, given that the Wii U needs a game like Mario Kart 8 to come out as soon as possible.

I want the Koopa kids more than any other possible addition other than Dry Bones. In fact, i currently can't decide which of the Koopa kids I want to play as most
 
You keep saying this, but can you point out any reviews that mention that it gets really fun? Many of them mention that the battle mode is lacking so far - and not only because it is different, but because it just doesn't work as well on open tracks.
It's never going to be as good as dedicated arenas but it could also end up being a YMMV sort of deal.

It may have been better if the tracks were walled off so you were confined to a particular area and/or Battle Mode allowed for more than 12 players, turning it nearly into a "bumper cars" sort of situation in which drivers, both human and AI, are all over the place.
 
You don't have the option to invite friends who aren't playing the game, which is a big deal I guess?
Honestly, it is pretty annoying. There's no reliable way to contact your friends on a Nintendo system. I can either sit in a lobby, and wait until one of my friends happens to check I guess, and that can work well if I have a lot of friends.

Most of the time I could pick up my phone and call them, but that shouldn't be needed. On several occasions, I've been playing Wii U or 3DS, notice that a friend is online, and had no way to get their attention or ask them to play. The Wii U could so easily give them the flashing home button notification to accept video chat or messages during a game. 3DS could easily flash a spot pass light without needing me to go to the home screen. As far as I know, none of it works that way.
 
This actually doesn't surprise me at all. They've been down to out right crapping on Mario Kart as a franchise for several weeks now if not longer on various fronts. Many there just don't seem to care for the franchise. That's the impression I've gotten from post to various podcast. So depending on who did the review, can't see at the moment, I expected a lower score from them.

he doesnt "crap" on it, he enjoys it, my problem is his English writing isn't very good.
 
Most of the time I could pick up my phone and call them, but that shouldn't be needed. On several occasions, I've been playing Wii U or 3DS, notice that a friend is online, and had no way to get their attention or ask them to play. The Wii U could so easily give them the flashing home button notification to accept video chat or messages during a game. 3DS could easily flash a spot pass light without needing me to go to the home screen. As far as I know, none of it works that way.

Doesn't the home button start flashing when you receive a Miiverse message?
 
Personally speaking, even with the invite feature of things like Xbox Live, my friends and I would always still arrange games of things externally over IRC or whatever. The thought of inviting someone to play a game of Borderlands 2 with me when I can see they just sat down for a session of GTAV horrifies me. It just sounds so rude.
 
How come the review embargo has lifted this early? There's still two weeks left till it releases. The wait is feeling ridiculously long now.
 
<.<

Y'know it might lol. Maybe my friends just ignored it, or it's a new thing.

At least I've seen the button flashing and I'm pretty sure it's coincided with me receiving a message :P

I've only had a Wii U for a couple of months though, so I can't say if it's just been added or what.
 
Not sure how to respond to this post.

joke post?

And yet FIFA and Call of Duty continuously sell year after year with almost zero changes, especially concerning FIFA. At least MK8 has several balancing adjustments.

Neither can I.

I think the real problem is not that the "more of the same" strategy doesn't make for great games. It's that it very clearly doesn't make for great console sales (see: declining console/handheld sales with the exception of DS and Wii). Certainly not the way Nintendo approaches their franchise support.

And, along those lines, FIFA and Call of Duty are not system sellers in the way Mario Kart has often been. Mario Kart is a once-a-generation experience. FIFA and Call of Duty are once-a-year experiences. The kinds of people who gravitate toward those types of games these days are often people who can sink the money into the yearly installments (and those people are probably more than wiling to buy a console for those games, too).
 
Really bummed to hear battle mode is shit once again. :/ Guess I'll continue playing battle mode on the DS. The last one to have a decent battle mode.
 
I feel like all I do is go around and talk about how badly Nintendo has mismanaged the Wii U. But it's baffling to me that anyone would be negative about this game. What?
 
Battle Mode supports 12 players now, right? I wonder if the people that said it sucks because it's hard to find people were with a full complement of players, or just 2 or 3 of them. Could make a huge difference.
 
That's really disappointing about Battle Mode, but the rest of the game seems great! Definitely going to pick this up when I get a WiiU one day.
 
Battle Mode supports 12 players now, right? I wonder if the people that said it sucks because it's hard to find people were with a full complement of players, or just 2 or 3 of them. Could make a huge difference.

With 12 players, it's really good, but I still miss the arenas.
 
I'm not surprised by the reviews at all. I haven't been *excited* about a Mario Kart game since Double Dash (which I loved) until this one. This one really has looked like something with a bit more effort and attention to detail than any others since that one. It's good to know that polish extends to the gameplay.
 
How come the review embargo has lifted this early? There's still two weeks left till it releases. The wait is feeling ridiculously long now.
Nintendo released the game early to the press.

They also lifted the embargo early.

Perhaps their trying to get as much pre-release promotion as possible.

With 12 players, it's really good, but I still miss the arenas.
I figured as long as you play with all 12 it'd be serviceable.

It's universally agreed that actual arenas are preferred and that MK8's BM is basically the result of time constraints or Nintendo just not caring much. Perhaps it can be remedied, but for now something is better than nothing I guess?
 
So do we have a "save the WiiU" count? I haven't seen many so far myself. Kinda shocked.

Haven't seen any myself, which has surprised me. Haven't read all the review though.

Even the "doesn't use the GamePad well" comments have been low.
 
WTF you guys. We have been playing the same FPS for a decade but nobody says anything about that.

Let's nit pick Mario Kart for not innovating.

This. A thousand times this. And unlike the Call of Duties, for example, at least Mario Kart 8 is refining and perfecting that old formula. I don't see anything wrong about that.
 
I don't understand the release date of this game, the press have had the game for weeks, which means the game has been finished for weeks, why didn't they release it this week, the same week as reviews?
 
Im not gonna comment on the game specifically in saying this, but it seems like the commenter metric for how good a review is correlates directly with how high of a score the reviewer gave it.
 
I sort of wanted this but am afraid i will be done with the game fairly quickly. However, the free download game deal is enough to convince me to get it.
 
Is 7 bad? I was looking to pick that up to satiate my craving until MK8 drops. Reviews look good

No, until MK8 it was the best entry in the series.

I've been playing it so much again in the run up to 8 and it's still as wonderful now as it was when I first got it.

Also, a few GAF members have some amazing weekly races. Absolute blast.
 
I don't understand the release date of this game, the press have had the game for weeks, which means the game has been finished for weeks, why didn't they release it this week, the same week as reviews?
Like I days, it was probably planned as a method of promotion. Giving the press plenty of time with the game. Getting the marketing out. Drumming up pre-release hype.

It's deliberate.
 
With 12 players, it's really good, but I still miss the arenas.

Does it allow you to populate it with computers if you have 4 players playing locally or is the 12 player mode only available online? I guess it would be OK if you could take four player splitscreen online but I think it's just limited to two player online, right?

Edit: Mostly answered in the post above right after I posted.
 
I'm kinda hoping for some battlemode dlc though doubting this will happen as Nintendo but Mario golf has some so think it might...
 
Does it allow you to populate it with computers if you have 4 players playing locally or is the 12 player mode only available online? I guess it would be OK if you could take four player splitscreen online but I think it's just limited to two player online, right?

Edit: Mostly answered in the post above right after I posted.

Yeah, you can do it offline too.
 
I don't know if I've missed it somewhere but has there been any mention of communities again?

I always thought that was a good idea and suited to forums/message boards.
 
I don't understand the release date of this game, the press have had the game for weeks, which means the game has been finished for weeks, why didn't they release it this week, the same week as reviews?

It will be almost June, so probably it was picked in order to have a steady release schedule after it, with next game coming probably at the beginning of July and at list 1 per month after that.
 
Top Bottom