So while everyone who doesn't have Wii Us are busy playing the just-another-sandbox-game Watch Dogs, us Wii U owners are playing Mario Kart 8. I've only had enough time for two cups so far, but it is a lot of fun! Rather than write a positive piece on how much fun it is, I'd rather leave that to the 1,000,000 blogs doing the same thing right about now. What I'd like to talk about are eight little annoyances I have with the game. It needs to be noted that these are nitpicks and are not meant to be taken seriously, or in a way that this is causing me to like the game any less. I'll always love the Mario Kart games. With that said, let's get start.
#1 No Times in Gran Prix
This struck me as rather odd when I first heard about it in GameSpot's Mario Kart 8 review. I've always enjoyed seeing how close 2nd place was from me and how badly I smashed last place. It was also a great indicator of just how aggressive the AI was being with you during Gran Prix. I've yet to come up with a single positive reason for why the times were removed from this mode.
#2 No Replay, Just Highlight Reel
... What? I only get to see a 10 second highlight real of predetermined actions instead of being able to watch an entire replay? Oh wow... I get to edit it and share it too... Big freaking whoop. No replacement for an actual replay.
#3 The Coin Power-Up
As many of you know, the coins are back in Mario Kart. The more you get, the faster you go. The coins are all over the track. Yet, there's a power up you can collect that gives you ... another coin! Thanks, Nintendo! That's what I've always wanted! I don't need a banana peel to put behind me to ward off the incoming red shell, or a red shell to throw at someone who just passed me! I got my coin! I'm good!
#4 No On-Screen Map
Most people might not care about this, and hey, you get the map on your tablet screen, but I've NEVER liked the idea of taking something that you can easily display on the TV off the TV and putting it on the tablet, requiring you to divert your eyes from the TV to the tablet and back again. Why can't I just have a transparent map that shows the positions of all the other racers? Would make it much easier.
#5 Not Being Able to Pick Up Another Weapon While Holding On to a Shell or Peel
I can see the logic behind this, but I don't like it. When you're having shells constantly flung at you, it's nice to have a peel covering your back while you're picking up another weapon to hopefully get another peel or shell. You can't do it in MK8. You'll have to let it go before you can pick up another one. Hasn't been a big deal yet, but I can see it becoming a problem later on.
#6 Fall Time Recovery
So I fell off trying to access a shortcut earlier today, and I was quit surprised how quickly Lakitu swooped down, caught you and put you back on track. It was literally a second. I didn't even get to see myself fall off screen before I was already put back on the course. I find this an odd thing to do considering Nintendo is trying to promote this game as more skill-based. Falling off the course should be a major penalty, something that encourages skillful driving, not treated as a Mulligan.
#7 Roster
This is obviously subjective, but I do feel Nintendo could have done a lot more work in this area. Sure, there are loads of characters to choose from now thanks to the addition of the Koopa Kids, but that's SEVEN Koopa Kids. If you don't care about them that much, that's a huge portion of the roster you won't ever touch. Also, more babies and pallet swaps. You would think with the HUGE amount of characters in the Mario Universe they could have pulled from, the roster would be a little more varied.
#8 Recycled Courses
I'll catch flack for this one, I know, as again it's entirely subjective. The argument can even be made that it's tradition, but I'm sick of it. I'm tired of recycled courses. I don't care if they've been reworked with the new game's engine and mechanics. I'm sick of seeing 16 track slots taken up with something I've already played years ago. What I would LOVE to see is a fresh Mario Kart with 32 ALL NEW tracks. THEN, they can do 32 retro tracks. This happens every time I play a new Mario Kart. I get so impressed with the track design (and OMG the track design so far has been PHENOMENAL) that I can only help but wonder what NEW tracks I could have been racing on in the second set of cups. Tired of it, Nintendo. TRY HARDER!
Thanks all for reading.
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