Mario Kart 8

***Mario Kart 8*** is a racing game developed primarily by Nintendo EAD, with Namco Bandai Holdings assisting, for the Wii U. It is the eighth installment in the main *Mario Kart* series (hence the game's name) and, including the arcade games, the eleventh overall. This installment is the follow-up game to the Nintendo 3DS title *Mario Kart 7*. Like other Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games, this game can be purchased both physically at retail and digitally through the Nintendo eShop, with the digital version requiring 4949.8 MB (approx. 4.83 GB) of memory to be installed. The game was released on the last three days of May 2014 worldwide.

A prominent new addition is anti-gravity, allowing players to drive on almost any surface. Elements from *Mario Kart Wii* and *Mario Kart 7* are reused, such as 12-racer fields, Bikes and 2-Player online from *Mario Kart Wii*; and gliding, underwater driving, and kart customizing from *Mario Kart 7*. In addition, ATVs join the returning karts and bikes as a new class of vehicle. The game also features more detail in courses, specifically Retro Tracks, which appear more redesigned than their original appearances. The game is also the best selling title for the Wii U, selling 8 million copies as of September 30, 2016, surpassing sales of both *Mario Kart: Super Circuit* and *Mario Kart: Double Dash!!*.

### **Items**

As in all *Mario Kart* games, *Mario Kart 8* keeps the use of items during the races. Four new items have been added to the list, being the Boomerang Flower, the Piranha Plant, the Super Horn, and the Crazy Eight. The Coin also makes a return as an item since its first appearance in *Super Mario Kart*. The Super Leaf and Lucky 7 from Mario Kart 7 are absent from the game. The Thunder Cloud, POW Block, and Mega Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii are also absent as well as the Fake Item Box and Boo from the first six installments.

*Mario Kart 8* also features changes to the items' mechanics. In the races, each item's probability of being obtained depends on probability distributions that are chosen based mainly on the distance from the driver in 1st place[6]. This means that it's possible to get even a Bullet Bill in second. While past *Mario Kart* games allowed the users to gain a different item from the Item Boxes while dragging some other such as a Green Shell or a Banana, in *Mario Kart 8*, players are restricted to carry only the item they are currently holding or dragging. Releasing the item in use will then allow the player to take another from the boxes. In order to keep gameplay balance, some items are much less frequent to appear, most notably Lightning and the Spiny Shell. Additionally, the Triple Bananas, the Triple Mushrooms and the eight items of the Crazy Eight surround the vehicle in the same manner as triple shells do, and opponents receive their effects when touching them, giving some disadvantage, or advantage in the case of the *Triple Mushrooms* and the Star. Racers only lose the items they are holding in their hand when struck by a Lightning while items surrounding the drivers, with the exception of the Mushrooms, are lost when other racers touch them. The item icon, located on the top left of the screen, now displays a usage-remaining meter, either time remaining to use or uses remaining, for items with limited repeating usage.