Mario Kart World has been out for 3 months now and it’s still dominating Switch 2 related discourse on line. Initial impressions were very positive, but over time its bold new direction has proven far more divisive than anyone expected. Some are even claiming that similar games like Sonic Racing Crossworlds(which had an excellent open beta) have a shot at dethroning Mario Kart.

I think what this situation ultimately suggests is that people are starting to realize just how much they appreciated Mario Kart World’s predecessor, Mario Kart 8. I’ve been playing Mario Kart 8 since it first released on the Wii U in 2014, but the sales numbers indicate most players started with the Deluxe Edition released on the Switch in 2017. I think this puts me in a good position to talk about how the game changed over time so let’s take a peak in our rear view mirrors and see what makes Mario Kart 8 so noteworthy.

When Mario Kart 8 launched in 2014, its main selling point was the introduction of anti-gravity racing. Driving up the walls and on the ceiling certainly expands potential level designs and opportunities for spectacle, but it also flips a fundamental part of racing on its head. While in anti-gravity, bumping into other racers gives you a boost of speed rather than slowing you down. This leads to faster, more aggressive, and more exciting races. Combine anti-gravity with gliding through the air and driving under water, mechanics introduced in Mario Kart 7, and players are treated to the most dynamic racetracks in the series.

Other noteworthy inclusions include a selection of brand new items, many of which are more defense oriented than the classic line up. The Super Horn is the star of the show that destroys all hazardous items within a short radius around the user, including the infamously overpowered Blue Shell. On the more aggressive side, the Piranha Plant gives a burst of speed every time it chomps down on drivers and items directly in front of the user, a fun way to utilize one of Mario’s most iconic enemies. On the flip side there’s also a lot of weak items like the Boomerang Flower, which is just a worse version of a Triple Green Shell, or Coins that give a slight speed increase after collecting 10 of them, but considering you lose 3 coins every time you take damage you probably won’t get much out of that boost in a game as chaotic as Mario Kart.

There’s also a new vehicle type that joins the returning karts and bikes: all-terrain-vehicles. ATVs stand out from karts and bikes by not slowing down as much if the racer veers off course, making it an excellent choice for players who want a little extra room for error when attempting to take short cuts. The roster of playable characters has also also increased with the inclusion of the 7 Koopalings, Baby Rosalina, and a metallic doppelgänger of Peach. The 7 Koopalings are a welcome addition, but the sheer number of them really eats into the roster’s overall variety. Baby Rosalina would have been a better choice if there weren’t 4 other baby variants of existing characters already in the game. As for Pink Gold Peach… there is no excuse for her existence, it’s just a waste of a roster slot. Don’t get me wrong, all of Mario’s most important faces are all accounted for so odds are your favorite character is still playable, however the lack of truly exciting oddballs and fan favorite side characters is really disappointing.

All that being said, Mario Kart 8’s worst feature was its rendition of Battle Mode. Battle Mode has been a series staple since the very first Mario Kart game, putting players in an arena and having them pelt items at each other to earn points. Mario Kart 8’s Battle Mode foregoes creating special arenas in favor of just putting players on one of standard racecourses to duke it out on. I can not understate just how badly Battle Mode feels without purpose built arenas to play in. It honestly would’ve been better if they removed Battle Mode entirely rather than giving players this half-baked abomination.

Mario Kart 8 has a truly refined core experience, some of the best racing in the entire video game landscape, but what rough edges it does have really held it back from being an all-time great. That’s where the review would have ended back when the game was released in 2014, but fortunately for us Mario Kart 8 got a few expansions over the years which would prove to be very beneficial. Starting with the crossover DLC packs.

In November of 2014 the first wave of DLC was released adding 8 racetracks, 4 vehicles, and 3 playable characters including Link as a guest star from the Legend of Zelda. Later still in April of 2015 the second wave of DLC added an additional 8 tracks, 4 vehicles, and 3 characters including the Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing. Put together these DLC packs gave us quite the bang for our buck back in the day. The 6 characters were a mixed bag as the crossovers with Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing were incredibly exciting, but the other 3 were once again just variations of existing Mario characters on the roster. The 16 tracks on the other hand ended up being some of the best in the entire game, absolutely worth the price of admission.

If I was covering the original Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U I would start to wrap things up right about now, but the game got yet another second wind when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released for the Switch with some pretty significant new additions. Obviously there’s new characters like King Boo and even a new guest star in the Inkling from Splatoon, all of whom make that lackluster roster just a bit better. More importantly however, are the changes made to the game’s mechanics.

Players can now hold 2 items at once which simultaneously improves their offensive and defensive capabilities. Boo has also been added to the item pool, allowing players to steal unused items from other racers. Drifting has also been changed by adding a 3rd level speed boost to extra long drifts. The item changes help deepen their strategic value while the drift change is a bit too situational for its own good, but it doesn’t hurt to have it here.

The best reason to upgrade from the Wii U version to the Switch version however, is the overhauled Battle Mode. Gone are the lazily repurposed racetracks, replaced by the mode exclusive battle arenas that should have been there from the start. Just like that Mario Kart 8 goes from potentially one of the best Mario Kart games to EASILY one of the best Mario Kart games. I could confidently end the review here with a hearty recommendation, but believe it or not Mario Kart 8 somehow managed to keep getting bigger even after the jump to the Switch.

March of 2022 marked the beginning of a massive DLC expansion to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe known as the Booster Course Pass, which rolled out a staggering 48 tracks and 8 characters over the course of 2 years. The characters included a welcome mix of missing fan favorites and fun weirdos to finally take the roster from lackluster to charming. The 48 tracks however were… mixed. Don’t get me wrong, doubling the amount of tracks in the game will probably make this the most replayable Mario Kart ever made, but the quality of the tracks definitely suffered.

The main issue plaguing the Booster Course Pass is the massive amount of tracks ported over from Mario Kart Tour, a defunct spinoff game created for mobile phones themed around racing in famous real world cities. There is some charm driving through these locations, especially when it involves passing by some of the most famous Cathedrals in the world, but it clashes pretty hard with the rest of the game’s aesthetic and level design. Fortunately the returning courses from the main series go a long way towards picking up the slack. They never quite reach the heights of tracks included in the base game, but as a fan of the series they were able to salvage the expansion pass’s price tag for me.

Speaking of driving past the most famous Cathedrals in the world, what’s the Catholic perspective on Mario Kart 8? There’s a few different angles I could take, but let’s stick with the backdrop of this review and address the Mario Kart World controversy. People aren’t happy with Mario Kart World because in its attempt to innovate on the Mario Kart formula it strayed too far from its core appeal, which Mario Kart 8 had in spades. But where things go from mixed reception to open hostility is Nintendo doubling down on World’s changes by releasing updates that limit players’ ability to play the game online in a way that feels closer to Mario Kart 8.

Observing this situation, I can’t help but draw parallels to Christianity’s relationship with change in the modern world. From past events like the French Revolution or the Spanish Civil War to contemporary movements like intersectional activism or new atheism there’s been no shortage of people demanding Christianity be totally abandoned or to adopt the spirit of the age. Whatever the powers that be want however, it is Christianity’s core beliefs that allow it to thrive even when it’s fashionable to contradict them. When churches adopt secular values they start bleeding parishioners and they find their congregations flocking to churches that stand firm on their core principles.

Whether it’s developing religious doctrines or innovating racing game mechanics, you can only stray so far from what came before until people start feeling alienated by the resulting change. This is not to say we should never accept change. There would be no reason to play new racing games if they all played exactly like Mario Kart 8 and the church sometimes needs new doctrines to face challenges our forefathers never could have imagined, but we should always be careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water in said scenarios.

It was a long and winding road to get Mario Kart 8 where it is today, but it ultimately led to one of the greatest kart racing games ever made. With a staggering 64 million units sold odds are if you own a Switch you probably already have a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but if you don’t have it yet it’s certainly worth adding to your collection. The Booster Course Pass is also worth getting, but only if you already like the game and want more out of it. If Mario Kart World isn’t your speed, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the perfect alternative.

About Gaius Requiem