Gaming Reviews -- Mario Kart 8

Hey now everyone, hope you're all doing well, and welcome to my review of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! Since I've purchased the Switch I've been pleasantly surprised by how many good games there are for it already, and just how much time I've spent playing it. For the past couple months I hardly even turned on my PS4 because I've been to busy playing games on the Switch, and most of the games I played are from franchises that I absolutely love and haven't got a chance to play in years. When I was a kid playing my Super Nintendo one of my favorite games on there was Mario Kart, but it's been a long time since I played any of the newer ones. So now I finally got to play

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch, and man is it fun getting into one of these again.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a racing game where you play as many of your favorite characters from various Nintendo games. It's kind of hard to believe that it's already up to eight games in the series, but like I said I've been out of the loop for quite a while now. This is obviously a Nintendo exclusive title, and it was originally released for the Wii U back in May of 2014, but the Deluxe version came out for the Switch in April of 2017. The difference is that not only do you get the same content as the base game, but it also includes all the DLC, improvements on some of the racing modes, and better framerate and resolution while docked and being played on the TV. I suppose another difference is the fact that, being on the Switch, the game is completely portable too.
I know the Mario Kart franchise has had a number of changes made to it's overall gameplay, and subtle tweaks here and there to change things up and keep it from getting stale, but this Deluxe version surprisingly feels a lot like the original game just with much better graphics and controls. I was very happy about this because it felt like something I was already familiar with, despite the fact that I hadn't played one of these in ten years or more. The basic concept of the game remain the same for the most part, race around various tracks against your opponents, while picking up question mark boxes that give you random weapons to use. If used properly these weapons can give you a huge advantage and help you win the race.
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There are however a few extra things added in that I wasn't so familiar with at first. These are a handful of new game mechanics that took a minute to get used to, but ultimately made the whole experience more fun and exciting. Maybe these aren't completely new mechanics to everyone, but for someone like me who hasn't played one of these since the Super Nintendo days it took me by surprise a little. I'm talking about things like the way your kart turns into a different vehicle depending on what surface you're on. You can go from driving flat on the ground, to sideways on the wall where you're now hovering, or going right into the water and turning into a submersible.
Another surprise was how often you will go over a ramp, and while in mid-air you extend a gliding device that you can control to some extent. When going off a ramp and getting airborne if you hit the R button at just the right time, your character will do a special pose and you will receive an extra boost of energy. These little extra boosts can really help turn the tide of a race, especially if you're getting pummeled with turtle shells and find yourself dropping places rapidly. Drifting around sharp corners will build up a boost the longer you hold the drift, and mastering this will give you a big advantage. All of these little mechanics will add up and make the game more immersive and tense. Looking for opportunities to pull these moves off and pull out ahead of the pack adds another layer to the standard racing game.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes with quite a bit of content, and there's plenty here to keep you busy having fun for a long time. Right out of the gate the game gives you four different playing modes, there's the Grand Prix, Time Trials, VS Race, and Battle Mode. Time Trials basically lets you choose any track and practice racing on it while trying to beat your best time. This is a good way to get yourself familiar with the layout of all the tracks. The VS Race let's you go up against your friends. The Battle Mode gives you five different styles of combat, there's Balloon Battle, Renegade Roundup, Bob-omb Blast, Coin Runners, and Shine Thief. Then you can choose from eight different arenas to do battle in, all of them are very well done and interesting.
The bulk of my time spent playing Deluxe was with the Grand Prix mode, which is more like your classic Mario Kart experience. You can choose from five different difficulty levels, 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, Mirror, or 200cc. The higher difficulties can really be challenging unless you know the tracks very well, and are a skilled veteran of the series. I think mos people will feel most comfortable at the 100cc level. From there you choose a character to race as from 42 different possible people. After that you get to pick what type of car you want, what tires you want, and what type of glider you want. You unlock new ones after completing races and every part changes your stats, so there's a ton of customization possible.

Once you have everything sorted out, what racer to use, what car and all that, then you get to pick which cup to race in. There are twelve different cups to choose from, and each one has four different tracks in it. I'm no math whiz, but I'm pretty sure that's 48 different tracks to race on in total, and that's an impressive number in my opinion. Each track is wonderfully distinct and well done, with various secret routes to find and little tricks to learn. You can tell a lot of work went into making this Deluxe version and it shows with just how much content there is here. After completing each cup you get a beautiful trophy, and you usually unlock new parts for your karts as well.
In addition to all of this there's also a full on multiplayer mode where you can race with up to four of your friends, an online mode, and wireless play mode. I haven't played around with any of these that much, but it's there for anyone who likes that kind of thing. I have had so much fun getting back into one of my most beloved childhood franchises, and even though I've been playing it for a while now there's still endless hours I could put into the various different game modes. There are so many racers to choose from, so many tracks to learn, and there's always another level of difficulty to try if you're up for a challenge. This is a high quality game that's a must buy for Switch owners, whether you're a novice, or a long time fan of the series this accommodates everyone. I give Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a grade of................................
A
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed it!