New Mario Kart 8 Trailer, Characters, Classic Courses and more

By Jorge Ba-oh 03.04.2014 15

New Mario Kart 8 Trailer, Characters, Classic Courses and more on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

Nintendo have confirmed a wealth of new details for Mario Kart 8, including items, classic courses, music  with an all new trailer.

With just over a month to go before the Mushroom Kingdom once again powerslides into a racing bonanza, even more details and potential spoilers have surfaced. There's a glimpse at a handful of returning faces, plus a star studded Rainbow Road in its golden glory.


 

  • There'll be a handful of returning characters including Metal Mario, Lakitu and Shy Guy.
  • A Piranha Plant item bolts onto the front of a kart and bites away at oncoming racers, banana peels and enemy shells.
  • The Boomerang Flower, one of the staple Super Mario Bros. items, can be thrown three times forwards or backwards, to take out multiple rivals in one hit.
  • There'll be 16 new and 16 remixed classic courses - including Moo Moo Meadows from Mario Kart Wii, Toad's Turnpike from Mario Kart 64 and Donut Plains from Super Mario Kart.
  • When players are upside down or clinging to walls, bumping into others or specific obstacles will gain a speed boost called "Spin Turbo" to make "antigravity racing even more exhilarating."
  • Online play returns, confirmed for up to 12 players.
  • For the first time, selected courses will feature music recorded by live performers.
  • As previously confirmed, players can race with the Wii U GamePad, Wii U Pro Controller, Wii Wheel plus the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. Naturally, off-TV play is also available.
What are your thoughts on the new items and classic courses? Which other circuits should make the Mario Kart 8 setlist?

Box art for Mario Kart 8
Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Driving

Players

4

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10 (5 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now    Also on Also on Nintendo eShop

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jb is offline. jb 03.04.2014#1

Good: Toad's Turnpike! 12 player online (obvs), live music

Bad: 32 courses again? Would have hoped for at least 40 - two extra cups thrown in for good measure.

The Ugly: Not sure about Spin Turbo - seems a bit cheap for me, imo.

Looks great though! Wondering if Rainbow Road is new or based on the N64 one given the music? May well be one long course too (Mario Kart 7-esque). Wasn't my favourite RR tbh, would have prefered a brand new one.

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Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 03.04.2014#2

Metal fucking Mario? What a waste of a slot.

Rainbow Road really looks like an updated N64 version, especially with the downhill at the start. That track will be interesting, as it was over 6 minutes long in MK64 (PAL, at least).

Nice to see Toad's Turnpike, and I hope they do have the oncoming traffic in Mirror, like Rudy mentioned recently.

I can kinda see them only sticking with three N64 tracks, but I hope there's at least one more. Yoshi Valley or Wario Stadium.

Edit: Marzipan informed me that N64 Royal Raceway is in it! 34 seconds in.

Guess that's making the two main ones I wanted slim, but any 64 tracks are good for me.

( Edited 03.04.2014 10:39 by Azuardo )

 
SirLink is offline. SirLink 03.04.2014#3

jb said:
The Ugly: Not sure about Spin Turbo - seems a bit cheap for me, imo.

I don't see how one can call anything cheap after the wheelies in Mario Kart Wii, honestly. For one, both karts and bikes can do this and you need someone else to get the boost from, meaning those cruising in 1st can't make use of it unless they have company. Looks like a nice way to encourage interaction between racers that aren't item related, in addition to the slipstream.

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Bucky (guest) 03.04.2014#4

Rainbow Road really looks like an updated N64 version, especially with the downhill at the start. That track will be interesting, as it was over 6 minutes long in MK64 (PAL, at least).

It definitely takes a lot from the N64 version, but it appears to be an abbreviated version asthe laps are not nearly as long.

Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 03.04.2014#5

Bucky (guest) said:
Rainbow Road really looks like an updated N64 version, especially with the downhill at the start. That track will be interesting, as it was over 6 minutes long in MK64 (PAL, at least).

It definitely takes a lot from the N64 version, but it appears to be an abbreviated version asthe laps are not nearly as long.

Yeah, I've heard it's only 1 lap long. I would have settled for 2 laps, like Wario Colosseum in MKDD was, but it's in and looks awesome, so that's the main thing.

 
Marzeee is offline. Marzeee 03.04.2014#6

If we like it that much, we can always vote for it twice when we play online! Smilie

 
Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 03.04.2014#7

Marzy said:
If we like it that much, we can always vote for it twice when we play online! Smilie
Or four times! There will definitely be a lot of N64 track spamming once again from me.

 
SirLink is offline. SirLink 03.04.2014#8

If it was three full laps and nearly 6 minutes long, I'd imagine it would be quite popular among the pricks who always pick the same track online (and use Metal Mario). Would rather stick with one lap with the option to pick it again.

( Edited 03.04.2014 13:12 by SirLink )

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jb is offline. jb 03.04.2014#9

Am going to Nintendo tomorrow guys, so hoping to cover as much as possible - if anyone has any Qs please post and I'll try to cover them as best I can Smilie

There'll be 2x Rainbow Roads apparently, and this is based on the N64 one.

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Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 03.04.2014#10

jb said:
Am going to Nintendo tomorrow guys, so hoping to cover as much as possible - if anyone has any Qs please post and I'll try to cover them as best I can Smilie

There'll be 2x Rainbow Roads apparently, and this is based on the N64 one.

Yes, why isn't Dixie in it? Is she going to be in it? Will she be DLC? Can Daisy have a bikini costume? Can Metal Mario die?

Will Nintendo release DLC tracks because 32 isn't enough.

Will there be a track editor? (edit: there won't, confirmed)

Can we have full customisation in friend lobbies, i.e. choose which items to have in races Smash Bros style? (I know there is customisation, but want confirmation of full item choosing)

Also on customisation for local/friends lobbies, can we choose the number of laps for races?

Is voice chat a thing? I don't know how it works on Wii U, so is it an option in MK8, if only for friend lobbies? (not that it matters when we here use Skype)

Need confirmation of 720p or 1080p (I believe it's 720p, but the odd one is claiming 1080 - want confirmation).

Can we make custom GPs for local/online MP? i.e. choose 4 tracks from any cups to make a GP out of?

When will the last retro tracks be revealed? Can they put all N64 tracks in it lool (edit: only 1 retro track left to be revealed now!).


I also don't expect any concrete answers to any of these (non)serious questions, more so because reps know nothing.

( Edited 03.04.2014 21:57 by Azuardo )

 
SirLink is offline. SirLink 03.04.2014#11

jb said:
Am going to Nintendo tomorrow guys, so hoping to cover as much as possible - if anyone has any Qs please post and I'll try to cover them as best I can Smilie

There'll be 2x Rainbow Roads apparently, and this is based on the N64 one.

You're obviously going to be playing it, right? Could you test out a bunch of bikes if possible and see how they handle compared to Mario Kart Wii, particularly the ones that drift inwards (like the Mach Bike). Haven't seen much coverage where they're used to get a good idea myself.

@Az: Good luck getting answers to those questions out of random reps lol.

( Edited 03.04.2014 14:15 by SirLink )

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Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 03.04.2014#12

SirLink said:
@Az: Good luck getting answers to those questions out of random reps lol.
They don't know shit.

 
Marzeee is offline. Marzeee 03.04.2014#13

I'd like to know if the karts handle more like Mario Kart 7 or like they do Mario Kart Wii, where they couldn't turn as sharply.

 
Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 03.04.2014#14

Important question:

Is there a free for all knockout mode in Balloon Battle? i.e. you only start with 3 balloons, and once you lose them all, you're out of the game - just like in the original SMK and MK64. Need the god damn option for that. Option to start with 5 balloons might work better in MK8.

But haven't seen anything on battle modes, so doubt you can find that out. Probably only have tracks to play on for now, and then I'll be disappointed when the time comes.

Actually, you know what else I want? 200cc. They should make that a free DLC. Give them that feedback, jb. Tell them it needs to be FASTER.

( Edited 03.04.2014 16:32 by Azuardo )

 
georg3 is offline. georg3 03.04.2014#15

Looks like an amazing game which I will endeavor to wait for, just a shame Rainbow Road had to be such a featureless track compared to the amazing track in MK7 which was an exhilarating course to say the least but still, great game with my favourite characters confirmed to return and some amazing new items. 👍
Just read the comment about two Rainbow Roads, if that is the N64 track, which it looks like, then it seems we have a real shocker of a new version to come, great, thanks jb! 👌

( Edited 03.04.2014 19:36 by georg3 )

 

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