"Mario Kart 8" is a Mario racing game which was released on Wii U around the world, right at the end of May 2014.
As in the previous Mario Kart-games, Mario characters race against each other and throw items at each other in order to get 1st place.
What makes this game a little bit different from the previous games, is the anti-gravity mechanic which allows any character to drive on any surfaces like walls and ceilings. Other features, like underwater driving, gliders from 3DS-game "Mario Kart 7", and bikes from "Mario Kart Wii", return.
I bought this game at a local electronic shop several days before writing this review. Just when I began to play this game, I happened to enjoy it right when I was about to practice on Time Trial and then race against other characters. I love the game-play, the visual effects, and especially the anti-gravity I mentioned earlier. Enjoyable when played alone, but playing it with other people might make it exciting. The race tracks itself are pretty much stylized as well, and look more realistic than before.
Another feature which I found to be surprisingly funny is this: Instead of just seeing a character doing a victory/loser pose when completing a race, we also get to see highlights from the recently completed race before going on to the next race. Skipping the highlights is optional.
However, the battle mode is different from before. While the game-play is basically the same as before, instead of the traditional battle stages, you fight against each other on race tracks. You might even have to look for an opponent to use a weapon against.
While I pretty much accept the characters appearing on the character rooster (take the Koopalings and Metal Mario for example), the only character I think is a bit unnecessary is Pink Gold Peach. If I may ask. isn't it enough with the regular Princess Peach? By the way, I'm so happy to at least have unlocked Rosalina, because she happened to be one of my favorite characters in this entire game.
Basically, I find this game to be one of the better Mario Kart-games so far. A must-have game for anyone with the Wii U-console. All in all, I give this game a well deserved overall rating: 10/10.