Hello,
In between running some retro tournaments on various platforms this weekend at Eurogamer Expo in London, Nintendo UK were exhibiting all their new upcoming releases. Mario Kart 8 was on display with a massive queue for visitors to have a try. Luckily we didnt have to do that as Nintendo UK kindly invited Leyla and I up for a quick go on the game and be interviewed on our opinions and thoughts about the it plus some background stuff on our SMK activity etc.
Anyway some general points and thoughts so far on Mario Kart 8...
- As this was a demo version, we only got to play 3 tracks and i think it was only 2 laps on each.
- All characters were available but i think they all had fixed car types or bike types (perhaps you can choose a vehicle in the real thing, or unlock them, i dunno)
- Graphically, the HD touch makes it look quality, and that was probably the biggest plus point.
- The whole magnet gravity field work to make the karts go upside down a bit F-Zero / Wipeout like was an interesting addition i suppose, and playing the Ghost track and coming out side ways was funny.
- We had to use the main Wii system as the controller for player 1 and wii wheel for player 2. I pray that we can plug something in that resembles a proper game pad at least (like a GC pad for MKWii) if Time Trials are going to be done.
- I used DK and Leyla used Yoshi, so we could test the boundaries between heavy and lightweight and also get a feel for top speed. Heavy steering for DK so i got stuck sometimes on the harder tracks. The first track i went ahead well but the steering was still quite wide. Leyla found Yoshi fairly standard on controls but we can tell really on the top speed side of things.
- The MTs... erm... well i found them harder only cos it was a new game, and i had to use the wii wheel. I cant MT much better with it on MKWii so thats fair enough. But id say its somewhere similar ish to that the way it feels.
- Items, when i was in front i didnt find i was getting pummelled with skank items as much from the back. That was either down to luck or this watered down demo of the game didnt have all the items in maybe? Or perhaps they have fixed the major problem with the series and toned it down a bit. Again would need to see the finished game for this and play some more.
- Track designs - look cool. Not gona beat SMK for me but i think this will be very enjoyable for all gamers round the world and im keen to see what they have in store beyond these 3 tracks.
So in summary, i think theyve stuck with the general look and feel of the MKWii and MK7. Graphics look great in HD. No idea how Time Trial is going to go with the controls... but lets see. Looks like it will be a fun addition to the series
If we get any more information i'll let you know. Il enquire with Nintendo if i can get the video of our interview at some stage.
Lastly, out of the 3 races we done, i won the first track with clean driving. Leyla destroyed me on the other two; i blame DK's heavy steering and not knowing the tracks for that. On the mini cup final results out of 12 she was 1st and i think i landed up 4th
To be continued the next time we play Mario Kart 8!
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