Mario Kart 8 (Wii-U)

[Doctor MK]

Oh my gawd what the hell

 

I was playing an online race earlier on, Dry Dry Desert, way out in first place, and every single freakin' lap I got blue shelled right before the finish line. Seriously, exact same moment and position, or as near as dammit. After one I was like "okay, that's the obligatory blue shell for this race, we're good now"... and then the second one came and I thought "huh, funny coincidence"... and then the third one... well, I think I'm just more dumbfounded than angry. If I'd lost my position then I'd have been miffed, but I suppose I can't say I didn't expect it

 

Thankfully it didn't matter because I was so far in front every time anyway, but still... just because I bought the Limited Edition with the blue shell statue doesn't mean I want to be constantly reminded that the blue shell is in this game, Nintendo!

[Willsy]

They really need to add more pre-set chat options, because I was racing with Lady Soniko and I had to change what parts I was using. I had no way of telling her that I would be right back. It's not a problem now because I've explained in a PM but it could be problematic for others. At least a be right back would be great.

[Kuzu]

Ok, anyone wanna play?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Silencer226]

Ok, anyone wanna play?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I need to learn how to play I feel neglected

[-Robin-]

According to a Wii U notification today, we can upload the Fils-A-Mech Mii onto our Wii U, and have it for use in Mario Kart 8.

Have the Fils-A-Mech gifs started yet?

[TearForFear]

I don't know if this is a glitch or an easter egg, anyway.

 

Yesterday I tried to "sit" in the highest point of the elevated curve in GBA Mario Circuit, just to have a full view of the whole track and watch the other characters race (by the way: even from that far, they're still visible. Amazing graphic is f*king amazing ).

 

At one point, when I was trying to adjust my view (I was still in the middle of the track) suddendly Lakitu came in, catched me with his fishing rod and placed me in the direction I was supposed to drive.

 

As he was saying "I'm tired of your lazy shit FearTear, now race like everyone else or next time I'll drop you off for good!"

[Blue Blood]

If you're facing the wrong way in a race (so not counting time trials or battles) then Lakitu will first hold up a sign to tell you you're going the wrong way, and if you don't correct yourself he puts you back on track.

[Conando]

The game also actually makes everyone lose if you all just dick around not racing.

[Cola]

The game also actually makes everyone lose if you all just dick around not racing.

Funny story, the game doesn't end if you're playing a 4p local game and everyone finishes except one of you.

My friend Eric got bored of racing and started dicking around while we raced, then we had to wait until he finished the entire race, which he hadn't even STARTED

[Doctor MK]

I knew this game was ridiculously detailed, but some of this stuff is just insane:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-15mO3y1Kg

 

The feather makes its triumphant return to Mario Kart after all! ...sort of!

[TearForFear]

I know it's a kind-of lame question, but... what are you favourite tracks so far?

 

As for me and my early impressions, I think I can already make a countdown.

 

I'll include both New and Retro tracks

 

 

10: Mario Circuit

It's a Mobius Strip, a figure that has only one side but also two sides at the same time. An optical illusion that's also not an optical illusion. Awesome.

 

9: Toad Harbor

I want to live in this city.

 

8: Mario Circuit

It's simple but I like it very very much. Especially since you can have a complete view of the track from the top of the curve (as long as Lakitu doesn't arrive to keep you back on... track)

 

7: Mount Wario

I don't know which race is better: the one you play, or the one that happend at the right side of the last segment, where Toads and Shy Guys competes in a snow board descent.

 

6: Bowser's Castle

Giant Rock Bowser, Lazer Bowser Satues, airships in the sky (there are some, but it's hard to notice).

I'm still waiting for a full 3D Bowser Castle in a Mario platform game, but this one is satisfying enough.

 

5: Music Park

The curves like that in the picture are one of the many reasons I love this track. It's like playing Wii Music without even trying!

 

4: Wario Stadium

This track has everything: normal sections, underwater sections, anti-gravity sections, jumps, ramps, muds, and one of the best themes ever.

 

3: Mario Kart Stadium

This track is just like the Wario Stadium, minus water, mud and music. But for some reasons I like it more. It might be because of the feelings that it brings: it's Mario Kart 8, even the Mushroom Kingdome is celebrating it.

 

2: Piranha Plant Slide

Despite having less "Super Mario Bros. vibe" than the 3DS version, it's still a funny and thrilling track for me.

Mostly because it reminds me of one of those indoor boat rides you can find in the best amusement parks.

 

1: Electrodrome

OH HELL YEAH. This is just mind-blowingly amazing. If I could (well, I CAN) I would just hop up and down to the music and enjoy the scenery and completely ignore the fact that I should racing for the win.

[Jolt_TH]

Yeah...I'm gonna echo the item balance complaints, just started the 150cc cups and I've had literally nothing but coins no matter what place I'm in. Really annoying when your in 1 st and then get shell after shell after fireball hitting you and you drop down to like 7th

[JezMM]

On the subject of item balance, tonight in the Daily, I did pretty badly. Was in last the entire race on one. That's fine but... I got nothing but green shells and bananas. Sometimes triple but still useless for catching up. Granted this was only in a race of 4 but that shouldn't matter. Green shells and bananas are the items 1st place is supposed to get!

 

In addition, no exagerration, with the exception of one or two times, all the Crazy Eights I've ever recieved have been in 2nd place. I don't even know what to do with that many items in 2nd place.

[Mystwalker]

I'm sure by now that the game does it to discourage what some call "Sandbagging", or trolling for power items, and get cheap wins. But, while single Greens and Bananas in 6th-7th by up to mid-Lap 2 at most is understandable to make these positions more of a gamble, giving last place common items most of race while everyone ahead of you tends to get Triple versions of whatever you get, is... well, irrational at best. You'll never catch up. May as well throw a "You got last. Too bad!" prompt and make the player sit in the bench until next race.

 

On a semi-related note, I'm clearly suffering from Triple Red Shell Phobia. From 2nd place runners... I'm starting to feel bad whenever I get a Triple Red item in 2nd place because it's just too damn unforgiving for the guy in 1st, who not only has to deal with Coins but also can't even have a shot at a Triple Banana for best defense... (only in Frantic mode)

 

It's a bit of a trainwreck. I think they should have either nerfed power items or change item distribution. They did both, and now both things are clashing with each other.

 

 

*deep breath*

 

Though if anything, I'd be glad if they just fixed the room breaking glitch. It'd help many people have a better flow of online play and enjoy the game a tad more, because wherever community I go that bug alone seems to make people annoyed enough to the point every bad point becomes frustrating and un-enjoyable. At least from my side of things.

 

It's fun, and I definitely wasn't expecting a perfect package, but yeah, for a must-have buy Nintendo has marketed it feels like it is quickly losing it's shine. Some are already saying it is as rushed as Mario Kart 7 was (never played that game, so I can't comment on that).

[Willsy]

These are things that a patch can definitely fix, so I hope Nintendo do fix these things. Ikept on getting pounded by shells when I played yesterday with other SSMB members, and I wouldn't be surprised if any of the other members had the same issue. I got hit a ridiculous amount of times, and I'm usually fine with getting hit, but it does get annoying when you get hit three times in a row with shells and sent all the way back to last place. I also think triple red shells need to go, the other day I kept on getting them and sent all three went hurtling towards Soniko, it made me feel awful and overpowered, and I felt as though it was an unfair advantage.

All in all, the item balancing is probably the game's biggest flaw and it's one that needs to be fixed.

[Lady Soniko]

Yeah I definitely just gave up tonight in a friendly game with a bunch of friends, every time i moved up into 1st, 2nd and 3rd, just bombarded by triple red shells which is quickly becoming cumbersome and making me wonder why I should fucking bother playing this game when I can't make any headway even if I try. 

[Silencer226]

Yeah I definitely just gave up tonight in a friendly game with a bunch of friends, every time i moved up into 1st, 2nd and 3rd, just bombarded by triple red shells which is quickly becoming cumbersome and making me wonder why I should fucking bother playing this game when I can't make any headway even if I try. 

Red shells have become an absolute nuisance for me. And I can never seem to get a decent item to pop up for me, even when I'm in last place, coin or green shell pick your poison. :\

[Conando]

Maybe I just have better luck, but once I'm in the lead it's the exact opposite. I never get hit by anything. 8-4th is the war zone.

[Candescence]

Holy crap, EB Games shopped death stare Luigi into their MK8 promotions.

 

THE RIDE NEVER ENDS

[TearForFear]

 

Who knew you can also make little movies with Mario Kart

[Gabz Girl]

I've FINALLY been playing Mario Kart 8 since two days ago, and it's so much fun! But...no, it's so frustrating!

 

Yeahhh I can see now where the complaints are coming from. The item distribution in this game is really unfair. I've only just started playing 100cc and now I can see the true horrors of getting three perfectly aimed green or red shells thrown at you by the AI. Don't even get me started on the coins! Here I am in first place, a red shell is about to get close but what do I have as an item to defend myself with? COIN!

 

Why on earth do you get coins in first place? And why do you still get them when you got 10 coins already?? I seriously hope Nintendo can patch this up soon, as well as the whole unfair item advantage. Hell I even had a Mushroom once in first place! That should never happen!

 

Besides these problems (and having character unlocks being random, bleh), this game is great and plays a lot better than Mario Kart Wii. I love most of the new tracks, the music sounds bloody amazing and the choice of Classic tracks is pretty good too. Hopefully I'll be done with most of the game soon and I can play online with you guys. :3

 

Btw, am I the only one here who likes Rainbow Road N64? I actually think it's better than the new one in this game! 

[SchemingMinor]

The item balance is not just a problem in game but online. When I was trying to get a race with ProtonJon (which by the way the connection dropped me a couple of times just before it started, thanks!) I had to go up against the other people waiting in the room.

 

Constant triple mushrooms. You are in last? Oh, do you really need a star? Blue shells? TOO BAD TRIPLE MUSHROOMS. And getting pegged with triple red or green shells while in first with only a coin to pop up in your item box really, really blows hard. I wouldn't mind the green shells but in this game, they tend to be much more precise. Even if it is an attempt to prevent sandbagging, they really need to disable the coin in the item box feature when you hit the max of 10 coins in your inventory, Oh, the bad timing.

[Jolt_TH]

I think EVERYONE like Rainbow Road 64

[Lady Soniko]

If they want to prevent sandbagging, then for fuck sake Nintendo patch in some invincibility cool down after being shot with an item, do you know how rage inducing it is to be pulled to a stand still by the same triple items for a good 10 seconds?? Seriously I love this game on it's own, but Online has become a chore rather than fun due to items. I'm also suffering one day but doing fine the next day with the same kart set ups as if it feels like they fluctuate over and over despite keeping the same stats and racing the same people with the same stats as they were before. People are saying it's server lag when I'm seeing some unreal shit happening like after hitting an opponent with an item, seeing them roll  and not take the penalty but it almost looks like they recover without taking any form of damage.

 

This could actually be fixed by offering some form of recovery akin to Mario Kart 64 when you press and de-press the accelerator after being hit quickly and you recover your speed much faster instead of coming to a dead stop. Also yeah I really like N64 Rainbow Road, but it's too short, I still prefer the original over the MK8 incarnation. 

[SuperLink]

If there's one thing about items I agree on it's that there needs to be a cooldown or a few frames of invincibility after being hit by an item, especially a shell. You can't be hit while you're being hit, but if you're hit the moment you start going again it's horrible. Just like 1 or 2 seconds of invincibility after beginning acceleration could make it far less frustrating.

 

I actual item balance is still better than it's been since MKDS, but the way it can be so hard to bounce back from 4th or 5th because of all the crappy items you get in those places makes it too tough to win sometimes. I think if the knockback from Green and especially Red Shells were shortened just a bit it'd be far closer to being perfect. Knockback from everything else in the game, especially blue shells and falling off ledges, has been shortened quite a bit, so it doesn't make much sense for red shells to still stop you for so long especially as common as they are.

 

Item balance is a very hard thing to do, sure, but offer more recovery options that take skill to pull off (like the Mario Kart 64 one Soniko mentioned) and I think the whole item thing would be less frustrating.