Mario Kart 8 – Retro Tracks

I’ve recently completed the 50cc grand prix cups of Mario Kart 8, and I’m going to share my thoughts on the retro tracks included in the game. Keep in mind that I haven’t played Mario Kart DS or Mario Kart 7 on 3DS, so I still haven’t formed much of an opinion on those tracks yet since I’ve only played them one time so far. But let’s start with a list of the retro tracks in the game:

Shell Cup:

  • Wii – Moo Moo Meadows
  • GBA – Mario Circuit
  • DS – Cheep Cheep Beach
  • N64 – Toad’s Turnpike

Banana Cup:

  • GCN – Dry Dry Desert
  • SNES – Donut Plains 3
  • N64 – Royal Raceway
  • 3DS – DK Jungle

Leaf Cup:

  • DS – Wario Stadium
  • GCN – Sherbet Land
  • 3DS – Music Park
  • N64 – Yoshi Valley

Lightning Cup:

  • DS – Tick-Tock Clock
  • 3DS – Piranha Plant Slide
  • Wii – Grumble Volcano
  • N64 – Rainbow Road

There are some good things and some bad things about this list.

What I Don’t Like: 

No love for SNES. Why is there only one SNES track?! The original Super Mario Kart gets almost no love from Nintendo here. Especially when there are…

Four N64 tracks, three from 3DS. Including four N64 tracks is mind-boggling, especially when Super Mario Kart (SNES) and Super Circuit (GBA) are so under-represented. And Mario Kart 7 (3DS) is the most recent release, so why should it have so many tracks? Many players are still playing these tracks on 3DS! If anything, 3DS should be the system with only one track in Mario Kart 8, and everything else should have at least two.

The Wii tracks. Moo Moo Meadows and Grumble Volcano aren’t awful tracks or anything. But there are so many better tracks in Mario Kart Wii that would have made better returns. Unfortunately, a lot of the best Wii tracks were already used in Mario Kart 7, such as Koopa Cape, Coconut Mall, and Maple Treeway. And I can understand them not wanting to use those in consecutive games. But I still would have preferred Wario’s Gold Mine or DK Summit over Moo Moo Meadows and Grumble Volcano.

What I do Like:

Donut Plains 3. Even though there’s only one track from Super Mario Kart, it’s one of my favorites. I love the graphical overhaul it got, while it still retains elements of the SNES track such as the broken bridges and the Monty Moles that pop up out at you. I’m really glad to see this track again.

Donut Plains 3 - Mario Kart 8N64 Rainbow Road. Mario Kart 64 wasn’t my favorite Mario Kart game, although some of that was because it didn’t have Koopa Troopa in it for some reason. But it’s hard to argue that it had an epic version of Rainbow Road, and I’m quite glad to see it back again with an impressive makeover. However, I do have one complaint about it. The N64 track was incredibly long, so instead of having three laps in MK8, you only race one lap! It’s divided by checkpoints so that it shows as three laps, but it’s really just one full circuit.

N64 Rainbow Road - Mario Kart 8There are two other things I’d like to point out about Mario Kart 8. After completing a track in the grand prix mode, the default option isn’t to continue to the next race. Instead, the default is to view a highlight reel. Why? Do they think watching replays is more important than racing?

Also, one thing I’ve noticed about the Blooper power-ups, which spray ink on players’ screens. In Mario Kart Wii, it wasn’t much of a hidrance to see through/around the ink. But in Mario Kart 8, the ink blots are a bit more concentrated and the opaque part is larger on-screen. They’re a bit more of a problem in this game.

mk8-inkI’ll be playing much more Mario Kart 8 in the weeks and months to come, so stay tuned for more.

Mario Kart 8 Impressions

Mario Kart 8 came out for Wii U today, and it has been my most anticipated game in years (so it was easily a day-one purchase for me). So far I’ve spent about an hour and a half with the game, completing the first four grand prix cups (all the new courses, not the retro tracks yet). I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing Mario Kart Wii since 2008, so my comparisons will mainly be based on Mario Kart Wii–although I am familiar with all of the console Mario Kart games (just not the portable ones, except for Super Circuit on GBA). So here are my first impressions, and some things I’ve noticed in my first 90 minutes of the game.

mk8impCoins are back. The original Super Mario Kart had coins laid out around the tracks, and collecting them would increase your top speed (until you reached maximum speed with 10 coins). The coins returned in Mario Kart 7 on 3DS, and they’re back for this game as well. I don’t particularly care about them one way or the other, but it does add a small strategic element as you try to make sure you have the maximum number of coins at all times. Also note that you can’t collect more than ten coins–so you can’t stockpile reserves like you could in Super Mario Kart.

Also, there’s no longer a choice between automatic and manual for drifting. So now anyone can get the boost by drifting around corners, not just those who chose manual like in Mario Kart Wii. I think this is a good change.

Customization. Mario Kart 8 provides some options for customizing your ride. Choose your car or bike frame, tires, and glider. I started out as Koopa Troopa and I chose a sport bike, monster tires, and a super glider.

mk8-bikeThere’s no map on the main screen. I couldn’t help but notice there’s no mini-map on the main screen! You can see the map on the Wii U gamepad screen of course, but you can’t exactly take the time to look down at the gamepad when you’re in the middle of a fierce race where one tiny mistake could cost you a win! Every previous Mario Kart game has had this feature, at least as an option. So this is a big disappointment to me. On the bright side, this is my only significant negative thing about my first 90 minutes.

No wheelies. When using bikes, you can’t use a wheelie for a speed boost like you could in Mario Kart Wii. This is a bit of a disappointment, but not a major problem. At first, I also thought you couldn’t do mid-air tricks (stunts) either. But fortunately, you can…you just have to press the ZR button instead of using the control pad like you did on Wii.

I like the new courses. I’ve raced on all 16 of the new courses, and none of them seem to be stinkers. Some are better than others of course, but overall my first impressions of the new courses are positive. Some of them are also quite graphically impressive. The tracks that particularly come to mind are the haunted Twisted Mansion, the neon-filled disco themed Electrodome, and the new Bowser’s Castle. Of course, Rainbow Road is no slouch, either.

Electrodome - Mario Kart 8Anti-gravity mode is pretty cool. Some courses have anti-gravity segments, where your cars and bikes can defy gravity, and running into things gives you a speed boost. It might take a while to master the mechanics of running into things on purpose, but it’s a nice addition that brings something new and different to the series.

As for the new power-ups, well I haven’t really tried them yet! I only played the 50cc cups so far, and those don’t provide much of a challenge to Mario Kart veterans like me. So being in 1st place most of the time mainly just got me banana peels and green shells, along with an occasional red shell or mushroom. My opinions on the new power-ups will have to wait for another time. Ditto for the retro tracks, Mario Kart TV, and online play. I’m enjoying the game so far, but there will be much more to come. I’m sure I’ll be playing this game a lot this summer.

Twisted Mansion - Mario Kart 8

Buy Mario Kart 8 at Amazon

Wii Sports Club

This past weekend, Nintendo had a free trial period which allowed Wii U owners to play Wii Sports Club at no cost. Wii Sports Club is an updated version of Wii Sports, which was the pack-in game for the original Wii. The game uses the motion controls of a Wii Remote Plus for each event. I spent about half an hour with Wii Sports Club on Sunday night.

Wii Sports ClubI was disappointed to see that it only included three events: Bowling, tennis, and golf. The original Wii Sports also had baseball and boxing. Anyway, I tried bowling first. I’ve actually been playing some Wii Sports bowling lately, but that actually hurt me more than helped. The Wii U version is much more sensitive to putting spin on the ball. By being used to Wii controls, I put so much spin on the ball that two of my first three rolls were gutter balls. I soon adjusted and my game improved. I played two games, bowling a 148 my first game and a 171 my second game.

Wii Sports Club BowlingIn addition to updated graphics, Wii Sports Club also has Miiverse support and online play. I didn’t use those online features directly, although Miiverse posts from other people will pop-up on-screen after each frame. It may be something related to what you did (“Keep those strikes going!”) or completely unrelated (“I’m a doggy!”).

Moving on, I next played some tennis. Tennis is one of my favorite Wii Sports events, and I enjoyed this version as well. But I didn’t notice any significant changes over the Wii version. The graphics are slightly better and the announcer’s voice is different, but that’s about it. I easily won my match against the computer, which is to be expected since your ranking starts out at zero and the early opponents are very easy to beat.

wsc-tennisAnd then there was golf. I’m not a big fan of golf in general, and I rarely played the Wii Sports version. But golf seemed to get more of an upgrade than tennis and bowling did. There are more courses, and it uses the Wii U gamepad in a unique way. You place it on the ground in front of you; you’ll see the ball on the screen, along with the head of your club. So you can actually look down at the ball as you swing, instead of up at the TV. It’s a clever idea, even if it is just another gimmicky use of the Wii U gamepad.

From what little I played of golf, it seemed harder than the Wii version. The game is sensitive to the slightest movements during your swing, and it would probably require a fair amount of practice to get good at it if you’re like me and don’t know what you’re doing. 😀

Wii Sports Club golfWii Sports Club could provide hours of fun for most people. But it would be hard to recommend it to anyone who already owns the original Wii Sports. Online play could be a major selling point for some people, but otherwise, the upgrades are relatively minor. And it’s missing baseball and boxing, which were included on Wii. Even though I enjoyed Wii Sports Club, I don’t plan on buying it.

Changing gears a bit, I just want to point out that I’m also blogging about Disney Magical World for 3DS now. Nintendo has provided me with an advance copy of the game, and I’m providing updates every few days. I considered posting the entries on this gaming blog initially, but I ultimately decided to make a separate section. So check it out if you’re interested: Disney Magical World Blog.