Mario Kart Archives - Page 2 of 3

Mario Kart 8 – DLC Pack #1

DLC Pack #1 (also known as the Legend of Zelda pack) is now available for Mario Kart 8 on Wii U. It includes three new characters: Link, Tanooki Mario, and Cat Peach. Four new vehicles are also included: The B Dasher, Tanooki Kart, Link’s Master Cycle, and the Blue Falcon from F-Zero. But the highlight (for me, at least), is the addition of eight new tracks–which make up two grand prix cups, the Egg Cup and the Triforce Cup. Here are my first impressions:

Egg Cup

GCN Yoshi Circuit: This is a returning track from Mario Kart: Double Dash on Nintendo GameCube. The track is literally shaped like Yoshi. There are very few straightaways here, it’s almost constant turning. It’s a decent track, but not my favorite.

Excitebike Arena: This track is based on the NES classic Excitebike, which also had a remake on Wii. The course is almost the complete opposite of Yoshi Circuit: It’s all straightaways except for the two necessary hairpins at each end. The interesting part is that the location of the ramps and speed boosts is random, and will change each time you play (except in time trials). Even though I like hearing the classic Excitebike songs again, I’m not sure this is a good match for a Mario Kart game.

Dragon Driftway: The entire course takes place in/on a Chinese dragon’s body. The course uses anti-gravity mode for virtually the entire track–everything but the very beginning and end of each lap. I enjoyed this track more than the first two tracks.

Mute City: The Egg Cup saved the best for last, with this futuristic F-Zero track. As you might expect, it uses anti-gravity mode for the entire duration of the course. There are lots of twists and turns, and ample speed boosts–this really feels like an F-Zero track. The energy fields, which would normally restore your health in an F-Zero game, will replenish your coins here. Nice touch. This track is really making me want a new F-Zero game for Wii U.

Triforce Cup

Wii Wario’s Gold Mine: This was one of the better tracks in Mario Kart Wii, so I’m glad to see it make a return in Mario Kart 8. Part of the track takes place in anti-gravity mode, but it still feels pretty much the same as it did on Wii.

SNES Rainbow Road: The original Rainbow Road has returned, in all of its colorful, borderless glory. The thwomps now cause ripples in the track, so you have to be extra careful not to be thrown from the course. This track also appeared in Mario Kart 7, so I can imagine that MK7 players might think it’s too soon to see it again. But personally, I haven’t played Mario Kart 7, so I’m quite happy to see its return.

Ice Ice Outpost: The icon for this track shows a yellow Toad and a green Toad. The course takes place around icebergs, even going inside of some. The course splits into two paths–one yellow and one green. They go different routes, rejoin, and split again. Why not call it Lemon Lime Twist instead? It’s an enjoyable track.

Hyrule Circuit: The Triforce cup finishes up with this Legend of Zelda themed track. Here, coins are replaced with rupees and piranha plants are replaced with Deku Babas (the similar-looking creatures from the Zelda games). Inside the castle, you need to hit three switches to open up a shortcut that lets you jump by/through the Master Sword. Hitting them all can be tricky at times, but I’m sure it gets easier with practice. This is a fun track, especially for Zelda fans.

Overall, I’d say the Triforce Cup is the stronger of the two cups, although Mute City is probably the best track from this DLC pack. I’m enjoying playing as Link on his Master Cycle. The controls are nice and tight, and there’s a very good chance I’m going to make Link my regular character (sorry Waluigi).

Here is a gameplay video of the Triforce Cup:

DLC Pack #1 is available for $7.99 to Mario Kart 8 players, and I recommend it. Even though I was hoping a “Zelda pack” would have more than one Zelda-themed track, the pack adds new life to Mario Kart 8 and it’s well worth the money.

Read my Mario Kart 8 Review – Buy Mario Kart 8 at Amazon.com

Mario Kart 8 – Update & DLC

Nintendo has sent out an update for Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, and it adds an on-screen map to the game. The lack of a map was one of my biggest complaints about the game, so I’m very glad to see it has now been added. Here’s a look at it:

I noticed one other small change to the game as well. In Grand Prix mode, the first and default option after a race is to continue on to the next race. Before, the default option was to view the replay. That was also something I complained about before. Even though it wasn’t a big deal, it’s nice to see Nintendo is listening.

But the biggest addition in this update is the new shop. For now, you can currently download a free pack that contains three Mercedes-Benz vehicles: GLA, W 25 Silver Arrow, and 300 SL Roadster.

Future paid DLC packs are also on the way. One is Zelda themed and one is Animal Crossing themed.

The Zelda pack is coming out in November, and it includes three new characters (Link, Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach), four new vehicles (including the Blue Falcon from F-Zero), and eight new courses.

The Animal Crossing pack will be out in May 2015, and it lets you race as Isabelle, Villager, or Dry Bowser. It will also contain four new vehicles and eight new courses.

The two packs will cost $7.99 each, or you buy them both for $11.99. If you pre-order them both, you get eight color variations you can use for Yoshi or Shy Guy right away.

I’m generally not a big fan of paid DLC, but these DLC packs will be too hard to resist for me. Sixteen new courses is a significant addition, and Mario Kart is one of my favorite game series. Not to mention, Zelda and Animal Crossing are two of my favorites as well.

There is one thing I’m not a big fan of, however. The character select screen and track select screens already show the racers and cups which are locked and unavailable.

I know they’re trying to convince people to pre-order the DLC packs, but it makes you feel like you don’t have access to the whole game. I can see some people getting upset by this, especially people who don’t plan on buying the DLC packs, or people who may have just shelled out $60 for the game. Seeing one-third of the game as unavailable and requiring a purchase to unlock is something you’d expect to see in a free phone/tablet app. There’s no reason for those cars and tracks to be displayed on the selection screens; keep it in the shop section until a player buys them.

As for my progress in the Mario Kart 8 Grand Prix mode, I have now won gold medals on all cups. I’m working towards getting three-star ratings on all of them, but I have a ways to go still.

Mario Kart 8 – Get-Together #2

My 2nd Mario Kart 8 get-together was held today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Cup #1

Josh, Jose, and Tom41 joined for the first cup of the day. That’s a much smaller turnout than I was expecting, especially when you consider Mario Kart 8 is still a fairly recent release. (Most of my Mario Kart Wii races had bigger turnouts even when the game was 4+ years old). But a few races in, DaBraxMan also joined in, giving us five racers. But Tom either left or disconnected prior to the final race, so the final standings for the first cup were:

Jose – 15 pts.
Josh – 14 pts.
Jeff – 11 pts.
DaBraxMan – 5 pts.

Cup #2

Even though I played some random worldwide races last night and did pretty well, I wasn’t doing as good in the friend races today. I think the people on my roster must be pretty good. Tom rejoined for the second cup; here are the results:

Jose – 20 pts.
Josh – 18 pts.
DaBraxMan – 11 pts.
Jeff – 10 pts.
Tom41 – 5 pts.

Cup #3

On the first race of the third cup, I accidentally picked GCN Dry Dry Desert when I meant to pick SNES Donut Plains 3. And of course, my accidental choice ended up winning the random selection. Josh and I were both playing as Waluigi; early in the race we bumped into each other and then both veered a bit off-course at the same place.

Josh – 18 pts.
DaBraxMan – 17 pts.
Jose – 13 pts.
Jeff – 11 pts.
Tom41 – 5 pts.

Cup #4

In the fourth cup, I had a few races where I was doing very well to start out, only to mess up badly towards the end of each race. I finished dead last in this cup. By the way, Tom41 has uploaded a video of the MKTV highlights of the N64 Yoshi Valley race from this cup. You can view it here.

Josh – 21 pts.
DaBraxMan – 11 pts.
Tom41 – 11 pts.
Jose – 7 pts.
Jeff – 6 pts.

Cup #5

Before the fifth cup, Tom left. We only had four racers as I won my first (and only) race of the day, 3DS Music Park.

Jose left (or disconnected) after that race, but returned for the final race of the cup. Also, mlninten97 joined in, so we had five racers once again. I finished 4th in the final race, but third in the overall standings for the cup. Of course that’s only because Jose and mlninten97 only got credit for one race.

Josh – 15 pts.
DaBraxMan – 14 pts.
Jeff – 10 pts.
mlninten97 – 3 pts.
Jose – 1 pt.

Cup #6

As for the sixth and final cup, here is a video of the whole thing. At the end of the video, there’s also a MKTV highlight reel of Toad Harbor, a race from the fourth cup.

Here are the results:

DaBraxMan – 20 pts.
Josh – 16 pts.
Jeff – 12 pts.
Jose – 11 pts.
mlninten97 – 5 pts.

I had fun at the races, although I still need more practice if I’m going to be able to compete with these guys. As for the one-player grand prix mode, I have all of the gold medals except the last one in mirror mode (I hope to beat that soon). After that, I want to go back and earn three-star ratings on all of the cups.

Thanks for reading!