Mario Kart is a fantastic game, in my humble opinion. It is not perfect, though, no game ever is. Let's get the bad outta the way first, so that we can talk about the good.

Every time you earn a gold medal you are rewarded with a random unlockable character (there are fourteen total), and you can earn customization options by collecting copious amounts of coins. Some people will likely be disappointed by both of these being random. For example, say that I want to unlock Rosalina and I didn't care about anyone else, I theoretically might not unlock her until I've gotten my fourteenth gold trophy. This goes for kart customization options as well, but I personally enjoyed the randomness of it all. I still felt rewarded for my efforts in the game, so it didn't annoy me.

Something that did annoy me however was how botched up Battle Mode is in this outing. Instead of being placed in a battle arena to duke it put with one another you now do so on eight of the normal race tracks. The maps are too large to find your opponents, but that's not actually my main issue with it. My main issue with Battle Mode comes from ghost players. Upon elimination you will become a ghost, and during this time you are invisible can hit the remaining competitors with items. It makes it so that matches are often based on who the ghosts decided to target. It's absurd! I never really liked Battle Mode anyway, but this is a major downgrade from previous installments. You can still get some enjoyment out of it, don;t misunderstand, but it feels rushed. Alright, now on to the good!

The racing itself is possibly the best it's ever been (minus one possible exploit which I'll address in a future blog). Gliding and underwater gameplay are bolstered by the new anti-gravity sections. In these sections you will defy gravity and can bump other racers, and some obstacles to get a boost. This new mechanic leads to the best kind of chaos, especially online. Anti-grav sections also allow for more variety, and more dynamic transitions to both the aforementioned gliding and underwater segments, preventing any possible bland level design that Mario Kart 7 had. The items have also all been re-balanced and tweaked to be more fair. The Blue Shell is more rare, and now only causes a single flip, it can be destroyed with the new item called the Super Horn, Triple Bananas now circle the player like shells do, holding an item out behind you no longer counts as using that item, etc. I think the only possible misstep is the Coin item, but even that has its uses. All of the heavyweights, middleweights, and lightweights feel like their namesake, but it is not flat-out said who is in each of the seven classes. I have a convenient list of who's in each class below.

-Featherweight: The Baby Characters, Lemmy, Small Mii

-Lightweight: Shy Guy, Koopa Troopa, Larry, Wendy, Lakitu, Toad, Toadette

-Lower Middleweight: Peach. Daisy, Yoshi

-Upper Middleweight: Mario, Luigi, Ludwig, Iggy, Medium Mii

-Heavyweight: DK, Waluigi, Rosalina, Roy

-Metal Class: Metal Mario, Pink Gold Peach

-Super Heavyweight: Wario, Bowser, Morton, Large Mii

The track design is also unique and creative. In fact, on top of that it's down right gorgeous. Everything runs in 1080p at a smooth 60 fps (30 fps with 3-4 player splitscreen). The locales are gorgeous and varied, from racing up and down waterfalls, to driving across a space station, to racing nearby by a volcano, the game nails the aesthetic appeal of each level to the tiniest details. In Royal Raceway the hot air balloons actually activate their burners, in N64's Rainbow Road the Mario-equivalent of the Statue of Liberty can be seen far in the background, that same statue appears in the stage Toad Harbor effectively linking the two. These touches aren't noticeable most of the time, but they do manage to make the world feel more alive. Oh,and don't even get me started on the fantastic musical score, just listen to Shy Guy Falls, Dolphin Shoals, or the N64 Rainbow Road remix and you'll understand, what I mean.

On top of fantastic aesthetic design, Nintendo has provided some creative pathways fitting of each stage. For example, in Sunshine Airport you can do a trick off a luggage belt for a boost of speed, you can also chose to go across a plane's wingspan, or go underneath it instead. Neither way is truly a shortcut either, which is great in my opinion. Most true shortcuts in the game require a Mushroom or Star for access, probably to give those in the back of the pack a better chance of catching up, further playing into the balanced approach to Mario Kart this game brings.

This game is another great entry in one of my favorite video game series. It gets my personal rating of "LOVED IT!" and it's definitely a must-have for any Wii U owner

>LOVED IT!

LIKED IT!

MEH

DISLIKED IT!

HATED IT!