Review: Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart 8 is an injection of adrenaline right into the Wii U's quivering heart.  Now the console has had a rocky start and despite a fairly solid lineup of games currently available for the system, gamers are still reluctant to make the purchase, as if there will be "perfect time to buy" during some unforeseen golden harvest of Nintendo titles.  Well, though we may still be waiting on a few titles, I'm willing to say confidently that now is indeed the time to pick up a Wii U.  Mario Kart 8 comes powersliding onto the scene and though there are minor shortcomings and a few missed opportunities, this is one power house of a title that will draw you in with its comfortable controls, multiplayer madness, and gorgeous graphics.

Visuals are crisp and each detail pops impressively as Luigi's mustache flutters gracefully in the breeze and Bowser's shell shines after being submerged in water.  This is the most beautiful looking game on the Wii U to-date and, dare I say it, topples over many of the "next-gen" titles we've seen so far thanks to the unique art design.  And what's most noteworthy is the game functions with this level of graphical fidelity at a buttery smooth 60 FPS, a benchmark that is commonly pushed to the wayside these days in favor of higher resolution and packing the screen with textures.  Mario Kart 8 definitely proves that games can have their cake and eat it too if developers are willing to plunge into a bit of creativity with the art style.

The sound design is spot on from the diverse rumble of each kart's engine to the noisy green shell nipping at your heels.  Each course features memorable music, both reimagined from older games and original compositions that you'll joyfully hum long after the Wii U has powered down.  Dolphin Shoals, for example, features a dynamic soundtrack that changes depending on where you are in the course, delivering a sense of triumph as a jazz saxophones blares while your kart rockets out of the depths of the sea and straight into the sunlight.

There were features implemented in Mario Kart 7 to change up the races; a glider for soaring through the air and driving completely submerged in water.  Those both return on top of a new mechanic acutely advertised with MK8; anti-gravity sections.  Certain points of the course flip the kart's wheels on their side and let you stick to the track as it twists and turns like a roller coaster.  And despite its initial simplicity, this adds multitudes of depth to the racing; as alternate routes open up underwater, through the air, or up the sides of walls, players are presented with plenty of viable options in which path to take to sneakily overtake the competition.

I've never seen better course design in a Mario Kart game and I think it's due to how neatly anti-gravity pulls everything together and allowed the developers to stretch their creativity.  Even remakes of courses have their own updated spin and each new course dips its toes into the new mechanics, keeping every part of the race fresh and exciting, but never distracting.  In fact, the camera operates so smoothly behind your character that you'd be hard pressed to notice which was is up as you casually stroll along ceilings like a lunatic.  During many races, it wasn't until I noted the impressive course backgrounds flipped around that my brain clicked and I realized I had been driving upside down for the last stretch of the road.

Each Grand Prix offers a set of courses that are unique and diversified.  There will certainly be some crowd favorites, such as Wario Mountain, a single lap track that starts at the back of a cargo plane oin top of the snowy peaks and ends at the bottom of a slaloming ski slope.  Others like Sweets Canyon will aggravate many players with its tight curves threatening to plunge you into an offroad terrain of sticky chocolate, but regardless of personal opinion, each track has been crafted with care and showcases each racing mechanic in a beautiful, balanced way.

Though if there are going to be complaints about the races, it will be concerning item balance.  I personally think the item distribution is better than it's ever been.  Blue Shells and Lightning are rare this time around, so much in fact that sometimes you're gifted with several races in which you don't encounter one or the other.  But now racers can no longer stack items by dragging their current item behind their kart, so 1st place is left with less impenetrable defenses to compensate for the minimized amount of little blue devils.  The Coin (returning to MK8 as a method of reaching your top speed) is a pretty common item in 1st as well, meaning not every item you gather can be used as an effective shield.  Of course, the RNG can and will play you for a fool.  2nd or 3rd place can hit the jackpot with Triple Red Shells and become a whirlwind of force and you'll cuss as you get your sixth Coin in a row as players behind you fire shells at your exposed ass.  But despite some frustrating "Of all the luck..." instances, the balance is generally fair and the most skilled player will win 9/10 times.

A few new items make their debut, but there isn't too much to say about them.  The Boomerang can be thrown forward or backward and returns to you after reaching its max distance.  A potted Piranha Plant chomps around you, gobbling up bananas, coins, shells, road hazards, and anything else that might be in your way, including other racers.  Crazy 8 appears in the form of 8 items circling around your character, which you can time your button presses to use them in sync (though I just mash and fire everything at once). The two most talked about items will be the Fire Flower, which gives you the ability to spray a flood of fireballs around the course and the Super Horn, a single use shockwave that destroys anything around you, including the almighty Blue Shell.

On the driving front, I will claim as a long-time Mario Kart player that the physics have never felt better.  There's a sense of power to behold as you drift around a series of corners, building up a boost that slingshots you past someone else.  Whether you're landing trick shots with green shells or drafting behind your buddy to gain enough speed to pull ahead as you cross the finish line, each race becomes a series of "Did you see that?!" moments, making local multiplayer the true meat of the experience.

Mario Kart 8 supports up to 4 player splitscreen, maintaining its impressive 60 FPS when racing a second player, but dropping to 30 FPS after adding a 3rd and 4th participant.  The drop in framerate is noticeable-- especially if you played a few races in smooth 60 FPS before your buddies joined-- but after a match or two, it fades into the background as the typical fun and frustration of a night filled with Mario Kart creeps in its place.

But even though Nintendo offers a wonderful splitscreen experience that cannot be found in other current gen platforms, there are still a few missed opportunities that could have brought the game up a notch or two in terms of functionality.  For instance, an option for a 5th player, allowing one player to use the Gamepad screen, would have been a welcome touch and is something we've already seen in other games such as Nintendo Land and the upcoming Mario Party 10.  Or at the very least, they could have given one player the option to strictly use the Gamepad screen.  As it stands, if you switch to the touch screen during multiplayer, it still displays a splitscreen view.  More screen options would free up some TV space for the other drivers and it could have been a clever method for head-to-head Battle Mode as "screen peeking" would be removed from the equation.

My other major disappointment is the severely mundane character roster, which is packed with enough palette swaps and babies to make you wonder if Nintendo is completely blind to the 30 years worth of interesting, diverse Mario characters to draw from.  It's an absolute shame when Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina, and Pink Gold Peach make the cut over favorites like Petey Piranha, Dry Bones, King Boo, and Diddy Kong.  As I stare at the screen full of Koopalings, I'm left wondering if there was a rush to get the roster to a certain number before the game went out the door.  I never thought I'd say this, but I'd even prefer Birdo to be in if it meant a more diverse cast.  I'm hoping that DLC can spice things up a bit.

But Minor complaints aside, this is one solid racing experience and one of the must-own multiplayer games of the last five years.  The online mode is sturdy with minimal lag and fast lobbies, offering tons of longevity to the game.  My only wish is for some DLC courses, karts, and characters to keep things interesting.  As much as I love each of the 32 courses, after pouring hours and hours into them and memorizing each and every curve, I'm already ready for something fresh to keep me coming back.  If you're a Wii U owner, this game deserves to be on your shelf.  If you're not a Wii U owner, the Wii U deserves to be on your shelf, for now really is "the perfect time to buy."

The Monster Hunter Experience

Well, after a long week, the waves of E3 2014 are finally settling and through the murky, dark waters that were the beginning of a new console era we're finally beginning to see a silhouette of better things to come.  A full year since the announcement of the PS4 and Xbox One and at last there is a meaty list of games bubbling their way to the surface.  Unfortunately, most of these titles won't even arrive until next year, so overall the entire convention felt more like a preview for E3 2015 than a promise of anything tangible gamers can plan on sinking their teeth into any time soon.

I won't say that E3 was a disappointment; we got everything I pretty much expected.  But that's just the problem; everything announced was expected.  The only real surprises I felt we got were on Nintendo's end in the form of Splatoon, Mario Maker, and Project STEAM.  But otherwise, it felt as though each press conference was just going through the motions, dangling short CG trailers in front of us, hoping the internet hype will blind us from the fact that there still aren't many reasons to plop down cash for their console.

But if there was anything that really got me excited, it was the showcase of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for the 3DS.  Monster Hunter 4 has been out in Japan since September 2013, but it was only a few months ago that a western release for early 2015 was announced, and not just a straight up translation, but an explosive Ultimate edition, jam packed with more features, armor, weapons, and of course, monsters.  The footage shown last week was enough for me to blissfully reminisce on the days when I used to play the Monster Hunter games (sadly, I hadn't touched one since Freedom Unite around 6 years ago during the PSP days) and the anticipation forced me into a MH3 Ultimate impulse buy on my Wii U's e-Shop a few nights ago.

Youtuber Pro Jared gives an incredibly enthusiastic first impression of MH4U in this video here.  Now, if you're like me, you probably watched it, nodding along with clenched fists and wide eyes, murmuring "I have no idea what half these words are, but dammit it sounds amazing!"  Props to Pro Jared for paving the way for the hype train; he obviously knows his Monster Hunter and hearing him speak very highly of the upcoming release means the wait for next year is only going to be that much longer.

But, as I mentioned above, the other day I picked up Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for the Wii U and though you can basically treat the first two and a half hours of the game as a lengthy tutorial, the action-packed, beast slaying gameplay has honestly never been better.  Every button press matters during combat and virtues such as patience, situational awareness, and persistence are rewarded.

There is so much more, though, that makes up the entire Monster Hunter experience, and it truly is one of the most unique series out on the market.  Conquering the world, which basically becomes a string of boss battles, each bigger and tougher than the last, is as rewarding as it is challenging. Though you'll feel an endless sense of growing stronger, wiser, and faster, the monsters only grow larger and more ferocious.  This is difficulty scaling truly at its finest; a steady climb uphill that is just doable enough to give you hope while still turning your legs to noodles and making you suffer.

And we need something different like Monster Hunter.  The market needs to see some creativity, even if its in the form of a series that's been around for 10 years.  You fight monsters, you use their bones, scales, hides, and horns to make badass armor and weapons, which you use to fight bigger monsters, which give you the materials for even stronger weapons.  It's a cycle of progression that keeps you engaged and is supported by deep, satisfying combat that tests your reflexes and patience.

Three of my most cherished games of the past generation were Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls II, all which challenge the player with tight and punishing combat.  And after going back to MH3U, it wouldn't surprise me if these under appreciated Capcom titles were a source of inspiration for the Souls games.  Both offer fighting mechanics that are careful and deliberate, hailing the player that bides their time and learns from their enemy rather than swings wildly into the fray.

While a Wii U release for MH4U would be incredible, having a fully online capable Monster Hunter experience on the go is always welcome.  And since the total package is looking to be one massive improvement for the series, I'm more than ready to upgrade my old 3DS to a 3DS XL.  And to anyone reading, asking themselves, "What the hell are these games?" I do hope you find out soon and give in to the addiction (though, I prefer the term "lifestyle choice") that is Monster Hunter.