Mario Kart 8

As I type this, the Mercedes is downloading. Then I'll pre order the two proper DLCs and get my white yoshi.

masofdas wrote:

Nintendo shows how's DLC should be done, wonder if we will ever see Mario Kart: SMASH at some stage.

Nah, I think these packs are just a special one off.

So you don't think 9 will even have special DLC.

Oh no doubt MK9 will have DLC I just don't think there will be a Mario Kart that releases with non Mario Universe characters as standard.

Once we get to the end of 8's DLC I wouldn't be surprised if it looks like a super smash kart, but I don't think Nintendo will ever ditch the mario kart name and release a multi characters title.

And I think it was pretty obvious that's what the Jaster was on about, don't mas out about it.

I'm surprised the cars are making these cups easier for me. It is still difficult but not impossible for me anymore.

Sentinator wrote:

I'm surprised the cars are making these cups easier for me. It is still difficult but not impossible for me anymore.

Really, I'm doing no better, no worse. I'd like to get the three star rating in every cup. But I am glad, for me at least, that the Merc cars don't imbalance it.

They don't totally unbalance it but they are pretty nippy. Everybody was using them online.

I've heard that they really aren't too different (stats wise) to some of the vehicles already there, a tweet I saw from a regular streamer of MK8 said:

Quote :

The GLA kart has the same stats as the steel driver. W25 silver arrow = pipe frame & 300 SL roadster = sneeker.

So perhaps it might be a case of folk thinking they're faster just because they're new.

This is all too weird, man. I first saw a link Tuesday just before midnight, saying "I really hope this is not fake"; the next evening I've pre-purchased Zelda and Animal Crossing. Nintendo made two DLC bundles for Pikmin 3 (which were well worth it); Mario Kart 8 is much more popular; therefore this might be the tip of the iceberg.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

(Oh, and that link seems not to work, so here's another.)

Good thing they didn't include some proper battle courses, or I might just explode!

Saul Iscariot wrote:

Really, I'm doing no better, no worse. I'd like to get the three star rating in every cup. But I am glad, for me at least, that the Merc cars don't imbalance it.

They are definitely helping from my view. I did the special cup in one attempt and improved my rank to two stars on the star cup. I hope they help you.

Oh yeah and these coloured Yoshis are awesome

You can't argue with this, particularly as it seems to involve Mute City 1. Epic music and, hopefully, some new anti-gravity awesomeness.

I want them now it's looking like they'll be great additions but does there really need to be such a huge gap between the two?

I can't believe how excited I am about this, even if Nintendo Kart doesn't quite sit well with me, I'd happily fork over £7 for the opportunity to just play Wario's Gold Mine in Mario Kart 8, that's how much I like this game and what Nintendo has done with the series.

Though it seems Nintendo's awfully eager to take your money given how a lot of the menus in MK8 have eShop purchase links added to them in some way or another. The cup selection screen is the one that made me cringe the most. My heart sank when I first saw the new character selection screen. I feel it cheapens the feel of things somewhat, but it's all forgotten once you get into a race.

But yes, I'm really happy about this, but I'll probably only purchase the double pack once November's DLC is released. I'd rather keep £11 now than have new Yoshis and Shy Guy variants.

The most annoying thing about having the icons on the menu is knowing that even if you've bought them you can't use them for 6 months. There's nothing you can do to get rid of the ugly clutter.

I'll most likely buy them when they come out as May 2015 is a long way away also no what Nintendo meant about 1 years support.

I'm about to purchase the non-Mercedes DLC, but I thought I'd bring up a discussion topic. This month's ONM publishes an opinion piece called "Mario Kart needs to drop the clutter", in which he says that MK8 essentially has "too much stuff in". Some snippets:

Alex Dale wrote:

Pretty much every gimmick in Mario Kart history pops up at some point. You've got the bikes from MKWii. The gliders, submarines and customisation from 7. The SNES' coin debris. The 10-trillion gimmick chassis from MKDS. And in the midst of all the retro chaos, there are brief pockets of the anti-gravity shtick.

...

One of the few complaints levelled at MK8 is that the track design is, by the series' lofty standards, conservative. The anti-gravity angle should have paved the way for outlandish track designs, but bar that bit where you tumble up a waterfall, this promise is largely unfulfilled. I believe that this is a consequence of the sheer amount of variables each track has to accommodate.

I'm still forming my own opinions on this one - anyone agree? Anyone disagree? (That latter point may be a stupid question.)

(The piece is also notable for a contribution in the comments from one Luke Summerhayes.)

I think everyone knows my opinion on the features from 7 returning so I largely agree. I think if anything 8 suffers from having too much similarity to 7 with it's only difference being the not life changing anti grav.

I've never been a fan of the coins being there honestly

Hmmm.......I'm not sure about that one & I'd imagine if things were left unchanged or it only had one set gimmick for each instalment that you'd probably see an article from someone out there saying that the game hasn't done enough to change or is too different from previous games.

This way everyone can having something in there that they like from a past game.

The gliders and submarines were a bad idea in 7 - their quality is about the same in 8. The anti-gravity looked impressive in trailers but, barring the odd moment of surprise when someone whizzes past in the distance upside-down, it adds nothing. Whilst I like the idea of coins being retained, it'd make for better racing if they didn't exist. The new weapons are great, although the 8 power-up can go home with its tail between its legs.

In short, yes, there is clutter. Mario platform games routinely freshen things up, but Mario Karts trundle along with a whole load of hand-me-downs from their ancestors. It's 9 on time for a feature cull.

Hm, I was expecting less agreement than that. Does this show that we're more open-minded than ONM's readers? Or more cynical?

I've had a thought about this. My main initial disagreement was with the courses being too simple, but I've since realised that there was so much more that could be done with the zero-g idea. Interlocking roller-coaster courses, multi-direction roads along Twisted Mansion's lines, and surely Rainbow Road could have made better use of zero-g than it did?

I will defend the coins for one reason and one only: the Coin power-up means that the front-runner isn't always safe from Red Shells, which brings some more balance to the race. Otherwise, I'll agree that they and the customisation can get stuffed. I do like the gliders, though.

Anyway, the handheld games tend to be more traditional affairs, so I'm sure that MK9 will be "purer".

I would of liked to see more of risk like with double dash, I said in my review it's a great game but doesn't have it's own personality.

I can see that point of view; wii, 7 and 8 have felt a bit identikit, but as the first HD one with the perfected online and so on, this felt like a refinement of all that went before. I think if the next one is the same again now, that would be an issue, but as is this is exactly what was needed.