How Mario Kart 8 fails, and why Mario Kart Wii was good

[MnSG]

i never got how making exclusive content not exclusive anymore would be an "insult" to people, honestly. more people enjoying the video game is a great thing. you've got the advantage of playing the game earlier....mario kart 8 is a pretty old game and definitive editions like that should include all past dlcs regardless.

It is worth nothing though, that in Mario Kart 8, you can use all the DLC vehicle parts right off the bat. That's not the case in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and it also altered the starting vehicle parts.

 

[Xiahou Ba]

it's more the fault of the random vehicle unlock bs really. they should let us use the coins to unlock parts we want to use first. at least mario kart wii does have a better vehicle unlock system but i still would prefer just getting the stuff i want first.

8 deluxe had atrocious rebalancing i agree with that

 

[MnSG]

Speaking of vehicle parts, it's good knowing that Mario Kart 8 allows all characters to use any vehicle body; the size of the vehicle body gets adjusted to be compatible with the chosen character. After Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii was one heck of a downgrade with its kart and bike restrictions.

 

[Alex95]

4. the graphics look awful even for a wii title.

I actually like the graphics. I know they aren't as good as, say, Galaxy's, but I like the visual style. Probably better than MK8's, as it just looks like any other HD game to me.

 

[Modifiable Mole Bot]

The blue shell was definitely way too common in Wii, that's for sure. I just had more fun playing Battle matches online with Wii than I did with 8. And I do think they could have done a little more with the racing on the Deluxe port, but at the same time there may or may not be a future Mario Kart game on Switch so I think they should probably focus on that instead.

It is weird that that graphics in Wii looked a bit worse in places than Double Dash, even though the GameCube and Wii have a similar graphical output. Wii even reused some stuff from Double Dash.

 

[Meta Knight]

https://i.imgur.com/o0Z24in

This is the embodiment of Mario Kart Wii for me.

 

[fantanoice]

The Thundercloud alone made MKW the worst

 

[Xiahou Ba]

4. the graphics look awful even for a wii title.

I actually like the graphics. I know they aren't as good as, say, Galaxy's, but I like the visual style. Probably better than MK8's, as it just looks like any other HD game to me.

i don't understand how 200 faced polygons with 256x256 textures lends it a "visual style" that is "better" than an hd game. mkw looks like a low-budget kart racer.

 

[Shyghoul]

you know what was stupid about mkwii
the ranking system online

"win like 200 races to get 900 vr points lose 10 and you'll be back at 5000 vr "

(granted i'm exaggerating but still)

 

[Xiahou Dun]

Personally at the very least, I think Mario Kart Wii is better than the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8. The Battle mode in that game was disappointing. (Mario Kart Wii's battle mode was sort of disappointing with the forced teams, but it wasn't too bad when playing online.) Mario Kart Wii should have had an option for elimination Balloon Battles. Funny enough, the Wii U version of 8 actually had it, but it was removed in the deluxe port for some strange reason. Also, I was never really a fan of the coins returning in 7 and 8. I wish there was an option to turn off the coins in the multiplayer options. Speaking of that, I wish there was an option to decide which items could appear in a race. I still liked Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, but the Switch version of Mario Kart 8 is so much better.

It was probably removed because the Wii U's Battle Mode just exemplified the flaws of elimination style, or at least that's probably how they saw it, and they returned it to points-style because people wanted it, and it's probably more fun and less punishing and doesn't promote camping either. Options should've been there, nevertheless, but you know, it's Nintendo, they always seem to keep stepping backward a little after going forward. I think the coins in Mario Kart 7 were tolerable and even better for things like Time Trials as it creates trade-offs between more coins or faster routes (as well as faster routes or items), as we've seen in DK Jungle from Mario Kart 7. It's the coin item that's a pain in the ass. It's even more insufferable when the fucking golden disc was even "X items only" AND those damn golden sewer caps weren't in the modes that would've made them useful: COIN RUNNERS. Oh, and I agree there should be some sort of item switch. Mario Kart 8 Battle Mode HAD some sort of X items only, but Switch seemed to restrict it to frantic/skilled/normal rather than have x items only + those three types. BUT AGAIN, it is Nintendo....

mario kart wii's battle mode was dreadful because they put in spiny shells

That is definitely the worst thing about that Battle Mode. You can even be spiny shelled if you're on the losing team, which makes no sense. It's a good thing that flying abomination never really resurfaced in a Battle Mode again, as if Nintendo realized their mistake. Good for them.

While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe does have a better Battle Mode, it really isn't any better than the original Wii U Mario Kart 8 when you're talking about racing; there are absolutely no track differences between the two games. Sure, it's one person's opinion, but since I've spent a lot more time racing than doing battles in MK8, MK8D was not a tempting offer (it's also an insult to the people who bought the MK8 DLC).

I think it's expecting much to have track differences. You also say the DLC being part of the base game (which was already 3-4 years old at release) is a bad and unjust thing, but charging $60 for Mario Kart Deluxe WITHOUT the DLC would actually be an Activision move. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe might be overpriced for lack of track content, since that repackaged game is just a few new characters and battle tracks, but it's a good starter game and helped the Switch have somewhat of a boost; Nintendo didn't want another Wii U where struggling launch sales contributed to a poor install base and contributed to the console's demise.

I actually like the graphics. I know they aren't as good as, say, Galaxy's, but I like the visual style. Probably better than MK8's, as it just looks like any other HD game to me.

Given that the Wii is practically an overclocked Gamecube, it's not surprising to say that Mario Kart Wii has the same character models from Mario Kart: Double Dash. What is surprising, however, is that you deem Mario Kart Wii's graphics better than Mario Kart 8 (which if we go by everything including poly count, texture resolution, texture technology-Mario Kart Wii has no bumpmaping OR specular maps), materials, lighting-Mario Kart Wii doesn't even use actual shadows and all "shadows" are either altered meshes in the kart's case or textures baked onto the track) track detail, system power, is false) and looks like "any other HD game".

This isn't a matter of opinion. You're just wrong.

Differences are like grassland and rainforest.

The blue shell was definitely way too common in Wii, that's for sure. I just had more fun playing Battle matches online with Wii than I did with 8. And I do think