Mario Kart 8 - Review thread

Honestly, it is pretty annoying. There's no reliable way to contact your friends on a Nintendo system.

What? You can send them a message via the home menu. If they can't be bothered to reply back, or use it, then that's hardly Nintendo's fault.
 
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'm gonna be honest, I didn't use communities in the other games, so I don't remember how it works, but there aren't any so far, what you can do is create tournaments with several options and give it a password so only people you want enter. I'm guessing that's somewhat like communities worked?
 
I went ahead and bit on a decent Wii U deal the other day- reading these reviews is making me so happy I did! Now I'm said it's still 2 weeks away, but at least I have SM3DW to keep me and my friends busy.
 
I really don't understand why they decided to change up the battle mode. All the videos I've seen of it make that mode look very boring. Maybe Nintendo will offer up some dlc with traditional battle arenas that will make the mode worthwhile. Oh well, still a day one purchase for me
 
No in-race voice chat killed thise, but it looks awesome regardless. I hope it does well and that everyone else enjoys it.
You really want to hear other gamers voices cussing at you and rambling on during a race?

I am so excited for Mario Kart atleast I paid it off before I lost my job so I still get to play it.when it releases.
 
What? You can send them a message via the home menu. If they can't be bothered to reply back, or use it, then that's hardly Nintendo's fault.
Yeah, my indignation may be a little misplaced. It may actually give the notification, and I just couldn't tell. Edit: Yeah, double confirmed. Nevermind then, sorry for being wrong everyone.

But from what I could tell, I had to press the home button and see the Miiverse icon flashing to see it, or go all the way back to the home screen. No way I would have noticed had I not been expecting a possible message. But like I said, maybe I was just mistaken.
 
I just watched the 6 gamersyde videos on my HD TV. It felt like a Wii U was running the game. Youtube compression is shit.
 
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.

GamExplain said he grew to really enjoy it, just in a different way. Which was a given. Whether it's good or not is going to be controversial, but it's definitely going to feel different either way.

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.

You are correct. The blue circle around the Wii U home button blinks when you receive messages or Wii U chat invitations.

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.

Regardless of how it feels with 12 players, by the end you're going to be down to 2 or 3 anyway. Trying to find players is still an issue and it's my personal biggest concern at this point.

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.

Rejoice!
 
Does anyone know if you can quick-start with the right timing after getting hit by something or placed back on the course by Lakitu?

My understanding is that you cannot, but you get put back on the track much faster anyway, so it should about even out. It's just a bit of a shame they took some of the skill out of it.
 
Damn, at least throw some quotes in the OP. A link dump does nothing for me while I'm at work and video game sites are blocked. Nice to see the scores though.
 
Really glad to see this game do great, still dont really want a wii u, but if it ever becomes attractive to me ill def be picking this one up
 
Item balance sounds good but with limited amount of human players playing online it's hard to take the review's comments for 100%. That said, I'm still getting this and besides if I could play MKWii for almost like 9 months online with its terrible item balance... I can play this game even if the balance isn't perfect.
 
My understanding is that you cannot, but you get put back on the track much faster anyway, so it should about even out. It's just a bit of a shame they took some of the skill out of it.

Damn... i don't remember which version they started to take that feature out, but i really miss it. It made for some awesome finishes; last stretch and your 'friend' hits you with something... he's cheering as he speeds past only to get pipped at the post by a perfect recovery!
 
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More proof, if it were ever needed, that IGN sucks.
 
was really that difficult to make 4 new maps for battle mode ?
add this to the pile of nintendo decisions that don't make any sense.

Actually, the bit that puzzles me the most is that a battle arena is an excellent environment to explicitly tailor for the demands of a four-player splitscreen to ensure the framerate remains intact. The Eurogamer review mentions that 3-4 players does take a framerate hit, so the fact that the battles take place in a high-detail track environment rather than a specifically-designed arena environment does strike me as an odd choice.
 
Damn... i don't remember which version they started to take that feature out, but i really miss it. It made for some awesome finishes; last stretch and your 'friend' hits you with something... he's cheering as he speeds past only to get pipped at the post by a perfect recovery!

I'm not sure when it started, but I know Mario Kart 7 still had that feature in it. So this is really the first time it's missed a game in quite a while, for sure.
 
Actually, the bit that puzzles me the most is that a battle arena is an excellent environment to explicitly tailor for the demands of a four-player splitscreen to ensure the framerate remains intact. The Eurogamer review mentions that 3-4 players does take a framerate hit, so the fact that the battles take place in a high-detail track environment rather than a specifically-designed arena environment does strike me as an odd choice.

Maybe they didn't have any more time to build these tracks for the release - or - Nintendo has decided to drop DLC strategically later this year to keep the game in the news and cover up software droughts that might occur later this year. Would also explain the lack of unlockable characters and cups.
 
You really want to hear other gamers voices cussing at you and rambling on during a race?

I am so excited for Mario Kart atleast I paid it off before I lost my job so I still get to play it.when it releases.

It's nice to be able to communicate with my friends as I have been doing on non-Nintendo systems for the past decade.
 
And then you have 9-10s raining from websites, smh.

I think that's totally fair. Some people don't care so much about those sorts of things, it shouldn't automatically take points off of a score.

It's still pretty ridiculous that there's no invites/proper voice chat though.
 
I'm not sure when it started, but I know Mario Kart 7 still had that feature in it. So this is really the first time it's missed a game in quite a while, for sure.
Yeah, they got rid of it for balance reasons. Lakitu is way too fast as is this time around.

Maybe they didn't have any more time to build these tracks for the release - or - Nintendo has decided to drop DLC strategically later this year to keep the game in the news and cover up software droughts that might occur later this year. Would also explain the lack of unlockable characters and cups.
There are a large amount of unlockable characters and cups, as much as any other Mario Kart.
 
Really bummed about the battle mode being gimped. What the fuck? I would've been fine if they just stuck the N64 battle maps in the game. Looks good, otherwise.
 
Really bummed about the battle mode being gimped. What the fuck? I would've been fine if they just stuck the N64 battle maps in the game. Looks good, otherwise.

They took a chance with these new tracks for battle mode and they apparently suck so I think Nintendo owes us free DLC of proper DLC arenas.
 
Oh man that hilarious. You would think Nintendo could get this kind of shit right in 2014 but nope. Trying to make a game built around fun for family and friends yet we cant get these simplistic yet crucial functions.
These people are impossible.

Its bad enough I can't talk to people during the race but now I can only talk to friends in a lobby? How are gaf tournaments going to communicate? morse code?
 
Yeah, they got rid of it for balance reasons. Lakitu is way too fast as is this time around.


There are a large amount of unlockable characters and cups, as much as any other Mario Kart.

Let me rephrase that: Characters or cups we don't know about yet. I'm also not complaining about the content, I think we have lots of it and a complete package. The only thing that irks me is the battle mode and I think it would be a good idea to bring that back later as DLC with new characters that are missing atm and maybe a new retro and a completely new cup.
 
And then you have 9-10s raining from websites, smh.

I think that's the Nintendo paradox right now, especially on the Wii U. Nintendo makes excellent quality games that most people don't care enough about to buy their system, probably because they've already played them.
 
Let me rephrase that: Characters or cups we don't know about yet. I'm also not complaining about the content, I think we have lots of it and a complete package. The only thing that irks me is the battle mode and I think it would be a good idea to bring that back later as DLC with new characters that are missing atm and maybe a new retro and a completely new cup.
Gotcha. I agree!

Its bad enough I can't talk to people during the race but now I can only talk to friends in a lobby? How are gaf tournaments going to communicate? morse code?
Online. That's how we all communicate already
 
I think that's the Nintendo paradox right now, especially on the Wii U. Nintendo makes excellent quality games that most people don't care enough about to buy their system, probably because they've already played them.
They've already played them? That's silly. The best selling games are highly familiar to their direct predecessors.

This isn't always the case obviously.
 
Another great title for a dying system. It's sad because the Wii U seems to get some of the best entries in entire series so far (3DW, TF, Pikmin and now this). It's a shame not many people will actually play them.

Anyway, I'm super hyped now! Hurry up 30th.
 
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