It’s not unheard of for racers to have some sort of video clip editing suite, but I doubt you’ve seen one illicit as much comedy as Mario Kart TV has. The Mario Kart TV feature, new to the series with this entry, is a surprising amount of fun. Thankfully the online component here bolsters the multiplayer fun you can have with the game, and works without a hitch. Playing a full race with strangers or friends is certainly the best way to experience the game, as most familiar with the franchise already know. I’ve had no trouble finding folks to play with, I like that I can choose between Regional and Worldwide settings, and I’ve never seen an ounce of lag or been dropped from a race thus far. I do wish voice chat was an option outside of just playing with friends, but that’s really my only complaint here. Online play, from my weeklong experience thus far, has been great. The biggest draw, however, is the online mode and the addition of Mario Kart TV. There’s a lot of stuff to see that’s not available on the surface, promoting multiple playthroughs here without feeling too inconvenient or cumbersome. You can also switch out wheels, and floating devices like parachutes or plane wings. You can also unlock and customize your vehicle, with options for body types ranging between standard carts, cars, ATV’s, bikes, and so on. There’s a few alternate designs for existing characters that pad out the roster a little, but for the most part the cast is pretty unique. But there’s also a number of unlockables, including some newcomers to the series. There’s also a hefty number of characters, with your typical set at the start consisting of Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Peach, Wario and others. Granted, the single player side of Mario Kart is rarely the main draw, but you’ll still have a blast playing through all 32 tracks featured, across 8 different cups.

On top of that there’s the 16 remake tracks, featuring fan favorites across every Mario Kart that’s made it to home consoles. There are wildly different designs between all of them, great track layouts, lots of terrain and gravity changes, and without any technical hiccups to speak of. You’ve got 16 brand new tracks to uncover, all of which look absolutely gorgeous here.

Mario Kart 8 has easily become one of my favorite entries in the long-running series. I only dabbled in Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS, and didn’t devote nearly the amount of time to it that I’ve already spent on Mario Kart 8 for Wii U. Not that I didn’t care for Mario Kart Wii, but I was certainly suffering from a bit of series burnout at the time. It’s been a while since I’ve played Mario Kart, and I think having some distance from the series post-Wii has done my disposition towards the franchise a world of good.

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