Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

3…..2…..1……WELCOME TO MARIO KART!

After a long wait, it finally happened, the review of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo’s latest console, the Switch. The game series that might have made or broken friendships. I think that everyone who has ever had a Nintendo console and everyone who still has one knows what kind of game he or she has with Mario Kart!

My first encounter with this series was Mario Kart 64 on the Nintendo 64, that game I literally played hundreds of hours, to this day Mario Kart 64 is still in my top ten most played video games ever. Everything was just right for that game and maybe I look that a bit through glasses with a nostalgiefilter, the fact is that since then the Mario Kart series is my absolute favorites.

The expectations were of course already fulfilled by Nintendo when this game was released a few years ago on the WII U and got very good reviews. Let us now, for a number of years, see if the video game giant from Japan has succeeded in offering us something beautiful again with this more extensive Deluxe version.

Read on and the answer will follow!

Story?

For those who do not know Mario Kart (be very ashamed!) there is little to explain in terms of story about this game except that this is one thing … as fast as possible complete a number of laps and be the first to cross the finish line. This is accompanied by disabling your opponents with all sorts of crazy objects where everything is lawful as long as you are the first to cross the finish line.

A story is therefore not present but who expects it in a racing game like this?

Most of the time you will spend – outside of the online section – racing to collect the 3 stars in every class – 50, 100, 150 and 200 cc – and this time it seems a bit more forgiving (read, slightly easier). than in previous parts to get this done. Have you finally achieved that then there are of course the time trials, battle mode and of course the online mode that simply but perfectly put together and in principle can be kept indefinitely.

The 200 cc mode that was offered as downloadable content on the WII U is immediately available, so for everyone who does not shy away from a challenge, you live!

Graphics

Let me start by telling you that I have played both the Switch version and the WII U version a lot of hours and where the game on the WII U already looked great on the Switch that is of course no different.

The game runs in the docking station at a stable 60 frames per second in 1080p full HD (in handheld 720p) and looks almost as identical as the WII U version. Whether this is the best thing that can be squeezed from the Switch is something  I can not say, it remains an upgraded version, the fact is that it all looks very tight and everyone who starts the game and runs his first few rounds immediately sees that Nintendo has pulled all registers open with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to try and deliver the best and most extensive Mario Kart game to date.

The game looks really brilliant, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong and the rest of the total of 42 (not counting color variants) drivers have never looked so good and each character has inherited those little unique details which is a feast for the eyes if you drive over the fantastic circuits. Mario’s moustache that blows through the wind or Larry’s chaff that is almost completely flattened back when it is at full speed, it looks really brilliant and looks great on the big screen as well as on the small screen.

Also on the circuits there have been no drawbacks so keep your eyes on the track, not an easy task with everything that happens on and off the tracks. Fireworks that are chipped off in the distance, planes that take off above the track and miss you by just this much or Piranha plants that stand next to the tracks and try to bite you as soon as you get too close, they are only small details in the big picture here.

The original game on the WII U had 32 circuits where later 16 were added via DLC and of course these are all part of the game which brings the total circuits to 48! The undersigned has played all Mario Kart games and I can say that these are probably the best tracks of all Mario Kart games ever.

The classic tracks that have been adapted for this game on several points have never looked so good and every nostalgic memory of those tracks is immediately annulled with the feast that Nintendo presents to us here. Older circuits such as N64 Yoshi`s Valley, Rainbow Road, Toads Turnpike and Royal Raceway were excellent tracks at the time and with a number of adjustments by Nintendo they have been successfully introduced into the 21st century.

New tracks such as Mount Wario, Shy Guy’s Falls or the new Mario Circuit are instant classics and are already among the best in the entire series. Also the newer tracks like Hyrule Circuit (where the coins have been replaced by rupees!), Excitebike Arena and Mute City (F-Zero) are great tracks and a bit of fan service where everyone who plays Nintendo games from the first hour will get a smile get his or her face!

Gravity

In Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo introduced for the first time the option to customize your kart by choosing the frame itself the wheels and the wings (Yes again go into the sky again!) And this option is available again. With more choices than ever to put together your ideal combination, it is an almost impossible task to meet someone with the same kart combination in the online section of Mario Kart.

Also bikes are here again and to get the ideal combination of speed, acceleration and strength as you like can keep you busy for hours. Note that not all parts are available right from the start but are unlocked by the number of coins you collect.

New since Mario kart 8 are the anti-gravity sections that enable racing on the head or sides of walls. This amazing new addition ensures that as soon as you enter an anti-gravity section your kart transforms into a kind of hovercraft like vehicle and you can float further along the track. Because the image rotates with your character you will never really notice that you are riding on the head apart from the action of your vehicle that has changed a bit.

Once you look back at the crazy new replays that can also be modified then you will be amazed what strange antics have all taken away in a game that gives anti-gravity a whole new dimension!

Once you are off the ground and you find yourself in a group of opponents, the fun begins. By colliding with one or more players you get a miniturbo – which is also available by driving against the special poles that are also in the anti-gravity sections – and this aspect becomes a sort of tactical game. Do you constantly bump into someone to get both a turbo and continue to shoot in the first place or do you leave the opponents alone and do you do it on your own? This amazing new addition will make your enemies become your friends for a few seconds afterwards with a red shield!

As I mentioned earlier, the floating sections as well as the underwater parts are again present which were introduced for the first time in part 7 and these have again been sublimely incorporated into the circuits.

Spiny Shell!

The worst weapon and one where many Mario Kart players still scream at night and bathe in the sweat of waking up is here unfortunately or joyfully (it all depends on what position you drive!) Again prominently present … the blue spine shield! Everyone knows this blue Judas with his characteristic sound and where in the past there was no escape, now with the introduction of the Super Horn a weapon has finally come to stop this blue flying annoyance. The horn that emits a one-off powerful air wave not only silences your opponents but also finally the Spiny Shell.

Anyone who drove in the final lap and saw him coming knew already what time it was … bye bye first place! If you have the Super Horn and you see that annoying thing flying above you, you can set it off and drive almost to the finish without any worries.

All other items that have been picked up through the series, with some new additions such as the Boomerang Flower and Piranha Plant are of course also present again. Green and red shields, banana peels and turbo mushrooms, who did not grow up with them? The new additions such as the Boomerang Flower – with which you can throw a boomerang 3 times to eliminate opponents – or the Piranha Plant – that not only breaks your enemies but also gives you mini turbos and takes coins for you – are fun new additions and fit perfectly between the old favorites. Also in this Deluxe version Boo and Coil Spring are back where you can steal items from others and jump over obstacles in battle mode.

The Lucky Seven introduced in part seven, with which you got seven items at once, has been turned into a Crazy Eight item with which – you guessed it – you get 8 items this time to improve your position. And where you could only take one item with you in the original WII U version, you can happily bring two now. The tactical game has changed a little bit, you now get a bit more room to move when you ride a bit in front, and you can now store two items to keep the constant flow of red, green and spine shields away from you.

Gameplay

The control of the karts has been further perfected and can be perfectly controlled over all curvy tracks. The bikes have been fine-tuned and are now slightly more difficult to control which makes the whole thing a bit fairer as they have a slightly higher top speed.

Making power slides in the corners is of course also possible and by making a small jump and steering you can get a turbo almost every turn. Also, every race 10 gold coins to collect that your top speed always increase something and take these ten as quickly as possible is also absolute necessity, just make sure that you do not get hit or get off the job because then you can get your coins again save each other.

Multiplayer

I can be brief about the multiplayer: it works wonderful. Of the hundreds of races I played online, both docked and on the TV, I only had to suffer from a broken connection once. Everything runs smoothly, there are tournaments and different batlle modes where you can spend hours of your time, and finding a match always happens within a few seconds.

The only thing that really lacks is the voice chat.

Verdict

After hopefully mentioning all the important points and innovations I can only come to one conclusion about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe … this is the best Mario Kart that Nintendo could have delivered, the game is really sublime in every way.

Nintendo has delivered a masterpiece with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and every minute in this game breathes that typical Nintendo magic, but perhaps it is for everyone who has put dozens of if not hundreds of hours in the WII U version in terms of new content something on the scanty side .

That said for everyone who has not played the WII U version yet, this is an absolute must and one of the best Switch games to date. I can still praise a lot more about what is so good about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe but I think that everyone with a Switch already knows what a great game this has become. Anyone who does not yet have a Switch or is looking for a reason to finally buy one … that reason has arrived and is called Mario Kart 8!