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Mario Kart 8

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OMG I just remembered the way Diddy Kong Racing used it's Story Mode, to unlock Battle Arena's (was it?)!!

 

Driving off course to find the keys, or ringing the bell in the castle to raise the drawbridge!! Amazing!! :D

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OMG I just remembered the way Diddy Kong Racing used it's Story Mode, to unlock Battle Arena's (was it?)!!

 

Driving off course to find the keys, or ringing the bell in the castle to raise the drawbridge!! Amazing!! :D

 

Yeah, the adventure mode in that game was god tier. So much to do and unlock.

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Surely a story or challenge mode wouldn't keep drawing people back in, but would draw them in once and once only...

 

That's why you add leaderboards and notifications/tickers on the main menu. After your hard work getting a great time on mission, you see "Cube has beaten your time on Mission 3-C" the next time you load the game. You rage and vow to get revenge by beating my time.

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Aren't disconnects pretty common when a game has just launched and sold really well?

 

I'm dying with curiosity as to what the game is like after reading these impressions.

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You could dodge blue (and red) shells by using the turbo power slide boost :) You had to release the boost just as they came to hit you. That game was seriously fast though, felt like F-Zero at times. As for tracks, it had Baby Park, Bowser Castle (god tier), Daisy Cruiser, DK Jungle with those incredible corners towards the end of the lap, Yoshi Circuit, Wario's Colosseum, Dino Dino Jungle and Waluigi Stadium..Of course, it had some dud circuits too, but all those circuits I mentioned had some incredibly narrow corners which made power sliding through them such a thrill.

 

Also, thank you for reminding me of TimeSplitters 2. Man that game was incredible.

 

I will give you bowsers castle and dl jungle but surely not Daisy's cruiser and baby park. They were power up fests surely.

 

Did not know you could powers life out if blue shells though!

 

Wish FRD (or anyone) were still making games like time splitters.

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The 3DS and GameCube had the best set of tracks in my opinion!!

 

This version also has a very good set of tracks. The airport and the ski slope being my personal favourites. This version's Rainbow Road is just so fucking awful it's unreal. The N64 version is far superior and the music is superb.

 

Out of the all the retro tracks. It has got to be Moo Moo Farm, such a classic.

 

Don't get me wrong I do like the game but for me it is not a 10/10 game. No where near. The items are too fucked, the online more so. The shitty online really annoys me. So disappointing.

 

Nice graphics though :)

Edited by Blade

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Another quality hour and half of online gaming, finished in the top 3 in all but 1 race.

 

Didn't get any connection errors either. So much for the awful online experience that some say it provides.

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Another quality hour and half of online gaming, finished in the top 3 in all but 1 race.

 

Didn't get any connection errors either. So much for the awful online experience that some say it provides.

 

I think "some" is an understatement. Pretty much most people I've seen writing about the online multiplayer have experienced this issue more than they should have. It's great that some people are getting a decent experience, but every time some one drops out during course selection, I too always get kicked.

 

Moving on to the issue of item balance, I think one of the key issues here is an incompatibility with the amount of players and how the triple items function in 8 as every time I notice that first place is miles ahead, it's the races where nearly every one gets wiped out constantly with every one tripping over the triple items constantly.

 

I thought it was typical competitive mentality when I heard about this, with every one scrambling to get the best place they can whilst the top couple of players got off the heat, but it's really not the case.

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Another quality hour and half of online gaming, finished in the top 3 in all but 1 race.

 

Didn't get any connection errors either. So much for the awful online experience that some say it provides.

 

The issue is that you cannot party up with your friends.

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Another quality hour and half of online gaming, finished in the top 3 in all but 1 race.

 

Didn't get any connection errors either. So much for the awful online experience that some say it provides.

 

Some?

 

The odd Mario Kart fanatic claiming it provides a quality experience is nothing compared to the threads and threads full of complaints about the shit items and piss poor online structure.

 

I've just been playing with @Blade. I joined a game. He watched and then it disconnected us. Then he had to join a game, and we both watched. It let him join it, but not me. Then I watched some more. Then finally it allowed us to play. WOW. It's 2014 guys, let's accept something that worse than what we had in 2008. After all, who wants to play with their friends and chat to one another?

 

By the way, we did chat - on the phone. Quality stuff there Nintendo.

 

I gave up after spending a lap in first place only to get two sets of coins as items. Great. Then I end up in 12th, I get single mushrooms. Joke of a game. Nintendo's response: Please Understand - we don't do online!

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So, spent over an hour on Regional with a friend, @welsh_gamer joined too, no issues until it disconnected while selecting tracks, presumably someone quit. People joined and quit all the time.

 

That's over an hour of racing with no issues. That's not bad, it's certainly not as bad as people make it out to be.

 

No issues with balance either. Got a decent range of items at every position, which helped me always be Top 3.

 

And @welsh_gamer...holy crap at your score. Good god man.

Edited by Serebii

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it's certainly not as bad as people make it out to be.
What's the point in saying this? People aren't just making up their bad experiences with the game. Count yourself lucky instead.

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Played in Nintendo UK's 32 race Grand Prix/tournament this afternoon, and ended up 6th. Would be higher if some of the games had more players racing participating. Anywhoo, it was good fun, and if anyone else wants to take part, the code is 5447-0653-9881.

 

 

And @welshgamer...holy crap at your score. Good god man.

 

I'm sure lostmario or RedShell have passed the 3000 mark by now :wink:

 

-

 

I'm another who hasn't experienced many problems online. Sure there's been a few communication errors in lobbies, but I can count them all on one hand, and I've been online a lot during the past week.

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So, spent over an hour on Regional with a friend, @welsh_gamer joined too, no issues until it disconnected while selecting tracks, presumably someone quit. People joined and quit all the time.

 

That's over an hour of racing with no issues. That's not bad, it's certainly not as bad as people make it out to be.

 

No issues with balance either. Got a decent range of items at every position, which helped me always be Top 3.

 

And @welsh_gamer...holy crap at your score.

 

It's impossible to call the game balanced because it's not designed to be. It's like comparing Melee to Brawl. Unless you're talking about item balance, where the problem isn't the items you are given but the fact that items like mushrooms and stars don't really help you catch up at all. The items you receive isn't an issue imo.

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The one thing I hate about the online is that Global and Regional matches are 100cc rather than 150cc. It just feels sluggish.

 

Everything else has been fine for me. I am 100% happy and satisfied with this game :)

 

Played in Nintendo UK's 32 race Grand Prix/tournament this afternoon, and ended up 6th. Would be higher if some of the games had more players racing participating. Anywhoo, it was good fun, and if anyone else wants to take part, the code is 5447-0653-9881.

 

 

 

I'm sure lostmario or RedShell have passed the 3000 mark by now :wink:

 

-

 

I'm another who hasn't experienced many problems online. Sure there's been a few communication errors in lobbies, but I can count them all on one hand, and I've been online a lot during the past week.

My friend uploaded the video of Toad Harbour because he was impressed at how you managed to pilfer victory

 

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The one thing I hate about the online is that Global and Regional matches are 100cc rather than 150cc. It just feels sluggish.

 

Everything else has been fine for me. I am 100% happy and satisfied with this game :)

 

 

My friend uploaded the video of Toad Harbour because he was impressed at how you managed to pilfer victory

 

 

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP WITH THE GAME! Ah man, thought I was going crazy.

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...That's over an hour of racing with no issues. That's not bad, it's certainly not as bad as people make it out to be...

 

Serebii, have you EVER gamed online on any other consoles, including the Wii? Disconnecting after only 1 hours gameplay is shocking! Absolutely shit standards!

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Is it always 100cc?

 

I thought the game takes into account your player score online, so I'f you'd be racing with a lot of people who'd have a high score it would make it 150cc.

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Serebii, have you EVER gamed online on any other consoles, including the Wii? Disconnecting after only 1 hours gameplay is shocking! Absolutely shit standards!

Technically, it's disconnected twice in 20 hours of online play.

 

And yes, I have, and I have been disconnected numerous times on those, too. Don't act like the systems on other consoles are suddenly faultproof.

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I'm sure lostmario or RedShell have passed the 3000 mark by now :wink:

 

Funnily enough at the moment I'm on 3000 exact.

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Technically, it's disconnected twice in 20 hours of online play.

 

And yes, I have, and I have been disconnected numerous times on those, too. Don't act like the systems on other consoles are suddenly faultproof.

 

They're not, but don't act like they aren't streets ahead of the WiiU.

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Serebii, have you EVER gamed online on any other consoles, including the Wii? Disconnecting after only 1 hours gameplay is shocking! Absolutely shit standards!

 

Have to agree there. It might not be the end of the world, but ca'maaan. 1 hour or so and disconnection is not good.

 

I'd also prefer it if you could pick 2 or 3 tracks at a time. Going back to the track selection screen really slows down the game.

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I think we've all learned to expect Nintendo online to be utter shit compared to other companies. The fact I can even play this online is pretty much the ceiling for my expectations. With friends? With only occasional errors? No Brawl lag? BONUS.

Edited by Guy

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Serebii, have you EVER gamed online on any other consoles, including the Wii? Disconnecting after only 1 hours gameplay is shocking! Absolutely shit standards!

 

The thing is, this is Nintendo's BIG ONE. It's bloody Mario Kart. It's been six years since the last home console version and what have we got:

 

- The worst character roster ever, padded out with babies and Koopalings. No Bowser Jnr, no Dry Bowser, no King Boo, no Birdo, no Dry Bones, no Diddy Kong... I could go on. But we do have a re-skinned Mario and Preach!!!!

- Constant disconnections for a lot of players, especially those trying to play with friends.

- No voice chat, please don't tell me there is, but you have to play a private game and can only chat in the lobby - it's shit.

- Piss poor items, many of which don't work or are totally useless.

- Inability to party up with friends and find a race (was present in previous versions).

- Inability to see which of your friends is online unless they're in a race!

- No proper battle mode - a mode I loved on the SNES and N64.

- A major step backward with the Time Trial mode, nothing compared to the excellent Wii version.

 

And it's 2014. We've gone backwards and Nintendo have shown again how far behind the times they really are. I really am getting sick of it. I've supported them through thick and thin, but a lack lustre Mario Kart really is the last straw for me. I would love to know how decisions get made in Nintendo HQ - did anyone who actually worked on previous versions (or even played them) work on this game?

 

Why didn't they build on the successes of Mario Kart Wii? Why didn't they do some battle arenas? Why didn't they enhance the online mode? Who on earth produces a more bare bones experience in 2014 than they did in 2008???

 

I've tried to be positive about all this shit for so long, this is the straw that has broken the camel's back.

 

And to top it all off, we're days away from E3 - where we're going to get another pre-recorded lifeless presentation instead of a live show. Let's see how much lower they can go, I await my Quality of Life console with glee!

 

On a positive note, if I did have one of those stupid heartbeat monitors Nintendo could have at least seen my blood pressure go through the roof when I played Mario Kart 8!

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Still, at least the core gameplay in Mario Kart 8 is a good improvement. While MK Wii did some things right, I hated every single moment of playing it.

 

I'd love to see Nintendo work with Sumo Digital on a Mario Kart. Nintendo can sort out the gameplay, while Sumo Digital help with extra modes and online. After Sonic Racing Transformed, Mario Kart 8 feels very lacking.

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