What is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Mario Kart for the rest of this article) is a kart racer featuring the iconic characters that make up Nintendo’s legendary catalog of characters racing along courses designed after a character’s world or design. It is the most recent in this storied franchise by Nintendo. It is the amalgamation of all that Nintendo has learned through these games with the most features, characters, and tracks ever available all done at such a polished level. It is the Mario Kart equivalent to Super Smash Bros Ultimate in that it is the ultimate Mario Kart experience.
Game Review:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is only available on Nintendo Switch. It is a port with added features from the Wii U game Mario Kart 8.
When you boot up Mario Kart and are ready to start playing you first pick your character, then assemble your kart in 3 pieces: kart body, wheels, and glider. All 3 parts impact the stats of your kart, and you can check these along the way to deck out your kart the way you want. After you have your character and kart ready, you get to jump into some of the best kart racing gameplay around. Mario Kart offers a variety of game modes that you can play. Single Player modes include Grand Prix, Vs, Battle, and Time Trials. Multi-Player supports up to 4 players on the same console with access to all the game modes except for Time Trials. Online Play supports up to 2 players locally where you can play online against players around the world in Vs or Battle game modes. This smorgasbord of available game modes lets each player play the way they want to.
Racing is the heart and soul of the gameplay in Mario Kart. The racing utilizes drifting, speed ramps, aerial jumps, gliding through the air, underwater portions of tracks, and antigravity portions of tracks. When you get more skillful at this game you can really achieve super high speeds and zoom around the track which feels really awesome. But even if driving isn’t your forte, the game does a good job at leveling the playing field with the use of items. So if you or your child is not particularly good at keeping up, they can get some items to catch them back up or, oftentimes, slow others down. I personally haven’t played many Mario Karts other than Mario Kart Double Dash on the Gamecube but I am genuinely impressed with the speed and precision that is achievable in the driving. The drifting mechanic specifically feels improved from the older Mario Karts and when utilized correctly can really turn the tides of a race by providing boosts for longer drifts. The use of the glider, which was first introduced in Mario Kart 7, adds another cool dynamic that lets players adjust their yaw and pitch to reach certain parts of the track or to land earlier to get accelerating faster. The mechanics available in this game lets you reach awesome speeds and really feel like an experienced racer.
There’s a common saying among the gaming community that “Mario Kart ruins friendships”. The reason is because items play a big role in determining the winner of any Mario Kart race and many of them have a knack for completely sabotaging another racer’s progress. Infamous items that make another appearance in this game include the red shells, lightning, and most infamous of all: the blue shell. These items automatically attack their targets and allow racers to stop those in front of them. Many items make their return in this game but for sake of brevity, I’m going to address new items that I had never seen before in Mario Kart games: the coin and the boomerang. The coin is used to increase a player’s max speed and the boomerang can be thrown 3 times spinning out any opponent it hits. So while I don’t necessarily agree that Mario Kart ruins friendships, I definitely understand why people might get frustrated when they get hit by a red shell 3 times in a row and move from 1st place to 10th in a matter of seconds.
Grand Prix mode gives players the closest thing to a story this game offers through a series of 4-race cups. Your placement in each race earns points that tally up to a winner at the end of the cup. This is a great single player challenge, especially at the higher gameplay speeds of 150cc, Mirror mode, and 200cc. For those of you not familiar, Mirror Mode is 150cc but you race through a course in the opposite direction. Vs mode is the best option if you want the Mario Kart experience without the commitment of a 4 race cup. Battle mode is for players who’d rather forget racing and just use the items: it is not my favorite game mode but can be a lot of fun with friends. Time Trials is the mode where you go if you want to hone your driving skills and try to nail the perfect path on every corner on any track you want to practice.
Online play in Mario Kart is also great. The game provides an online rating system based on your performance. This rating system is very generous, particularly in the racing portion of online play. You don’t have to even get top 3 to improve your rating - I have seen my rating improve when I placed as low as 9th out of 12. The matches only last a few minutes and only require the low commitment of a single race. I have only played Battle mode in local multiplayer, but with online races I never experienced lag or stuttering that inhibited my play. The online play functions really well and is a great way to play.
Family Friendliness:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an extremely family friendly game. There are no deaths, gore, or anything that I would be concerned about as a parent. When racers get hit with items they either spin out or do a little flip in the air waving their arms but then get right back to racing. When a racer falls off a track, they don’t fall to their doom, a Lakitu comes on a cloud and uses a fishing rod to pick them up and drop them back on the course, as in previous Mario Kart games. I would be comfortable playing this in front of kids as well as playing this with them. This game may be a little challenging for really little children just because it takes a little bit of skill so if you want to play with them I would make sure to set the speed to 50cc and to maybe take it easy on them so they don’t get frustrated.
Features for Parents:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe offers some features that could make it easier for a parent to play. It has adjustable challenge levels that lets a parent play to the challenge they need to be able to enjoy the game. The game also features a pause function so long as you aren’t playing online. This allows you to be able to put it down to go help your kid or spouse when needed. The game also features an assist mode that helps keep a racer on the road, which could be helpful for kids as well. This game is a great pick up and play game that you can put down as needed without missing anything.
Final Verdict:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most feature-rich Mario Kart to date with the most polished gameplay that feels so smooth and fast. It is a great pick up and play game that requires very low commitment. It features online play that works really well and provides a way to test your mettle against racers around the world. I would recommend this game to any parent looking for a fun game to spend a little time on and enjoy the moment to moment gameplay and to any parent looking to find a game to be able to spend some quality time with their kid. It has a great balancing system with the items for those who are less skilled at driving and is a lot of fun for anyone of any age, making it suitable for a parent wanting to share their passion for games with their children.