Sports & Racing · 2017 · Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 9 · local · online
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The classic for two in front of one television — and one of the few racers where beginners cannot fall off the track at all.
What it is about
Eight drivers, one track, and boxes of items on the ground. Whoever is in front gets a banana, whoever is at the back gets lightning or a Bullet Bill — that is not unfairness but the blueprint: the field stays together, and a race is only decided at the finish line.
The Switch version includes everything released for the Wii U, plus the battle modes and, via the Booster Course Pass, ninety-six tracks in total. Driving aids can be switched on per person: smart steering keeps the kart on the track, auto-accelerate drives by itself.
As a pair you share the television, each getting a wide half. All it takes are the two Joy-Cons that come with the console anyway. Online, twelve race; over a local wireless network, eight consoles.
Our verdict for couples
Two checkboxes in the settings make this game what it is for an uneven pair: with smart steering and auto-accelerate a character can neither fall off the track nor come to a stop. Someone who has never held a controller races in the same event as someone who has played Mario Kart for thirty years, and is not left hopeless — the items are expressly distributed so that the strongest ones sit at the back. On top of that, nothing is missing in front of the television: one console, one copy, the two Joy-Cons out of the box, no subscription, no unlocking, no connection. A race takes four minutes, so it also fits an evening when there is really no time. The blue shell will still divide you regularly, but only ever for thirty seconds.
Pros
- One console and one copy cover you both
- Smart steering and auto-accelerate remove every hurdle
- A race is done in four minutes
Cons
- The blue shell always hits whoever is in front
- After a few weeks you both know all forty-eight tracks by heart
- Master the cornering techniques and you win nearly everything
Suitable from
Casual
- Conflict potential
- Spirited
- Cosiness
- Mixed
- When you can stop
- After 15 minutes
- How long it lasts
- No ending
What other co-op fans say
On Metacritic the user score sits at 8.6 from 4,581 votes, and what gets written there strikingly seldom concerns the driving itself — it concerns the living room. Family, friends and the split screen appear in almost every positive voice, often in several languages in a row. Praise also goes to this version containing everything that was previously scattered. The recurring objection comes from the other side: once you have mastered the cornering techniques you beat the computer opponents practically every time, whatever the difficulty.
- “The most complete Mario Kart, with excellent tracks, smooth controls and endless multiplayer value.”
- “it really good i like to ride the kart and play with my family and friends its also cool you can play as miis”
- “Once you've 'mastered' the game and learned the key techniques, you can practically steamroll it regardless of the AI difficulty.”
Summarised by machine from 4581 Metacritic user reviews, not written by our editors. The quotes appear verbatim in those reviews.
If you like this one
Runs on the same devices as this game.
You build the course you then have to run yourselves — and the other one is building too.
Pro Jank Footy unreviewed
Australian rules football in the style of NBA Jam — for two on the same television.
A racing game where the track switches into another world mid-race.
Mario Kart leaves the single track behind: between races you drive across one connected world map.
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