Use Item Ticket Mario Kart

Mario Kart 8 Gets Even Better on Switch

Update: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting a huge amount of DLC .

Except for some cheap classics, I'm normally loath to buy a game a second time. Sure, a remaster might wait nicer or have a few more characters, only I've already seen the meat of information technology, and a little actress content often isn't worth the full price of entry all once more.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

That's non the case with Mario Kart 8 Palatial, a re-release of the 2014 Wii U title, this time on the Nintendo Switch. In my few days playing the game then far, I've establish that information technology offers plenty new stuff to justify a buy for diehard fans, and that it feels fifty-fifty more at home on the Nintendo Switch than it did on the Wii U.

New Car Smell

Unlike a lot of re-releases, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe feels similar information technology was painstakingly made to feel fresh. New characters are available, including King Boo, Bowser Jr., Dry Bones and Splatoon'south Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl.

Credit: Tom's Gude / Nintendo — (Image credit: Tom's Gude / Nintendo)

Perhaps the biggest change is the completely overhauled Battle Mode, which felt tacked on in the original release. At that place were no Battle-specific tracks on the Wii U, and there was simply i game where you popped your opponents' balloons with attacks.

Now, there are five different games in Battle Style: Airship Battle (starting with five balloons instead of the typical three), Bob-omb Blast (same as Balloon Battle, merely but with Bob-ombs), Smoothen Thief (capturing the Shine Sprite and attempting to concord it until the clock runs out), Coins Runners (collecting more coins than anyone else) and Renegade Round Up (Cops and Robbers, but for Mario Kart).

There are also half-dozen unique tracks developed especially for Battle Mode that you'll only see in this version. They include new tracks, like the space-based Lunar Colony, and adaptations of onetime courses, similar Luigi's Mansion from the Gamecube or the classic Battle Course one from the Super Nintendo.

There are also two new items: Boo, a ghost that steals items during races, and the jumping feather, a Battle Mode exclusive that lets you leap over enemy attacks, like bananas and shells.

The big changes to gameplay are that y'all tin at present hold two items at the aforementioned fourth dimension, giving you a fill-in when you lot burn a salvo. You can as well race in the 200cc race class that was previously a downloadable characteristic for the Wii U. Finally, there are iii new vehicles, two of which are based on Splatoon.

Like shooting fish in a barrel Riding

Mario Kart 8 is easily the most accessible game in the series. Every character is unlocked from the first, as are all of the courses. As before long equally you plow on the game, yous'll be able to choice from 42 characters, including all of the downloadable players for Wii U, similar Link from The Legend of Zelda, Dry out Bowser, both Fauna Crossing Villagers, Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach.

All of the courses from the original game and DLC are automatically available to yous as presently as you get the game, including content that cost extra on the Wii U.

If you're playing with a novice racer (and you convincingly will, as everyone will desire to run across a favorite franchise on your Switch), they'll appreciate Smart Steering, which keeps you from falling off the rail and provides auto-acceleration and so you lot tin can focus on driving and attacking.

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Re-Engineered for Switch

What delighted me most almost Mario Kart 8 Palatial was that despite the original existence released for the Wii U three years ago, it feels like yous're playing it for the offset fourth dimension on the Switch.

In fact, while playing the game, I found some of Nintendo's original promises for the Switch coming to life. While yous could previously utilize the Joy-Cons as split controllers in Super Bomberman R and Snipperclips, this is the first game where others I played with were super- excited to jump in speedily.

Two colleagues and I sneaked a few games into our labs (don't tell my editors), with the Switch propped up on its kickstand, and we were as airheaded every bit schoolchildren. The same thing happened when I played with my girlfriend on a TV. Information technology felt like the trailers Nintendo showed for the system -- a promise coming true.

And the game looks amend than e'er, too. It's well-baked and colorful on the Switch's brandish, fifty-fifty at 720p. When I played equally Donkey Kong in Balloon Battle, I was surprised to see then much detail in his fur. Popular the Switch into its dock, and the game outputs an even more cute 1080p. Yous can play with two players on the Switch itself or four players on a Television set. Alternatively, eight Switches can claw up wirelessly for more friends to play.

Online Play

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe lets y'all play online, but it's non a marked comeback from what the Wii U version offered three years ago. Up to 12 players tin can pick between races or Battle Manner online, just it feels stuck in Wii U territory. There'due south no voice conversation in the game (Nintendo isn't launching its online lobby and voice chat app until the fall), then you're stuck with canned messages that you can only use betwixt races. In the fall, when Nintendo's gratis trial ends, you'll have to pay for the Switch'south online services to use this mode.

So, Should I Go This Game Over again?

It striking me when I was playing Mario Kart 8 on the subway and the adult female sitting adjacent to me didn't try to hibernate that she was watching me race: This doesn't experience at all like a port. It's how it should've been designed the commencement fourth dimension.

In fact, Mario Kart eight Palatial feels like information technology fulfills many of the promises that Nintendo fabricated well-nigh the Switch. It shows off the organisation on the go, on a Television receiver and with friends.

There's also plenty content for hardcore Nintendo fans to come back for, especially because it makes up for the poor Battle Modes from the Wii U version with a complete revamp.

The just people I might hesitate to recommend this game to are those who bought not only the original game on the Wii U, but also every bit of DLC. For them, Battle Fashion is the biggest alter, so the decision hinges on how much you lot want those multiplayer experiences.

If you're looking for a party game to show off to your friends or a racing game to primary, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe more than fills that niche on the Switch.

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Andrew East. Freedman is an editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming as well equally keeping upwards with the latest news. He holds a M.Southward. in Journalism (Digital Media) from Columbia University. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Kotaku, PCMag, Complex, Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag amid others.