Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The reference kart-racing party game, with its anti-gravity tracks and a content library that has kept growing since its Wii U release.
- Genre
- Racing / Party game
- Developer / Publisher
- Nintendo EPD
- Year
- 2014 (Wii U) — 2017 (Deluxe, Switch)
- Status
- In progress
- Playtime
- 80h+
- Rating
- 9/10
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the game that comes out without fail whenever there’s more than one controller available at my place. Few games manage to combine total accessibility for a casual player with real technical depth for anyone looking to optimize their lines down to the perfect powerslide.
Anti-gravity, the good idea that changes everything
Adding anti-gravity sections compared to previous Mario Kart games completely changes how you read a track: you drive on walls, on the ceiling, and can ram into opponents to earn a speed boost. This lets Nintendo build far more vertical and surprising track layouts than a flat circuit ever could, without ever losing the readability that’s always been the series’ strength.
The item roster remains a masterclass in sneaky balancing: the blue shell punishes whoever’s in first, defensive items help stragglers catch back up, and a race can genuinely be decided in the last hundred meters. It’s frustrating for anyone playing seriously, but it’s exactly what makes the game so much fun on a game night between players of very different skill levels.
Content that never stopped growing
With the additional track pass released after the base game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ended up gathering remastered tracks from across the series’ entire history, on top of the original ones. Few games offer this much content years after release without ever changing the formula or demanding a full repurchase.
Still in regular rotation at my place, solo for the demanding 200cc mode or local multiplayer for game nights — it’s the kind of game you never really “finish,” and that’s exactly the point.