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 of 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***.

On November 7, 2017, the Miiverse service was terminated by Nintendo, which makes it no longer possible for players to use this game's Miiverse stamps, upload highlight reels onto YouTube, and attend online tournaments.

## Gameplay

The gameplay maintains the traditional elements of previous ***Mario Kart*** games, mostly from the two recent installments on the Wii and Nintendo 3DS respectively. Players pick a character of three weight classes and drive vehicles of varying stats, strengths, and weaknesses around an obstacle course-like racetrack, in an attempt to finish first of the twelve racers, the number of racers used in ***Mario Kart Wii***. During the race, racers can pick up items from Item Boxes, where the probability of receiving items is dependent on the racers' distance from the frontrunner; for example, first place typically receives defense items such as Bananas and Green Shells, while racers at intermediate distance from the lead receive more powerful offense items such as Triple Red Shells and Fire Flowers and racers far from the lead receive items that lead to an increase in speed or the possibility of going off-road without losing speed, such as the Super Star or Bullet Bill, to help compensate their distance. Players receive an amount of points depending on the position they end up with. Whichever player has the most amount of points wins the entire race.

Karts, which feature similar designs from ***Mario Kart 7***, can be customized once again, alongside the returning bikes, which handle similar to the karts now and can only perform a wheelie via a boost, and the newly introduced ATVs. The hang-glider and underwater mechanics also return from ***Mario Kart 7***, as well as Coins, with the player being able to collect up to ten in one race, and automatic drifting activated by steering in a direction for a certain amount of time, with a turning capability that, unless a Wii Remote without motion controls is used, matches the one while drifting (and even surpasses that in the case of inside drifting bikes) and the ability to slowly charge Mini-Turbo and Super Mini-Turbo boosts, added in this game. . Tricks and the ability to look behind also return in this game.

The newest feature for the series is anti-gravitational segments that not only allow for more dynamic track design, but also for racers to drive across walls, ceilings, and other seemingly unusual places. When in anti-gravity, if a racer bumps into another racer, the kart spins rather than just bumping and both racers receive a speed boost. This is called a "Spin Boost".

Two types of bikes return: standard bikes, that have the biker performing regular drifts with them and were commonly referred to as outside drifting bikes in ***Mario Kart Wii***, and sport bikes, that have the biker leaning toward the inside of the turn instead of drifting with them and were commonly referred to as inside drifting bikes in ***Mario Kart Wii***. While leaning instead of drifting, sport bikes lose less speed, but have a lower turning capability with respect to outside drifting vehicles, this being a feature seen in ***Mario Kart Wii*** as well.

The game also features Wii U GamePad integration. In addition to the standard Off-TV Play, players also have the option of displaying the course map, and when neither the television gameplay nor the map are being displayed, the GamePad can be used as a horn button. Players have the option to toggle between these features at will. The GamePad can also be used to toggle on and off the gyroscopic steering, and in its default display and when displaying the map the GamePad also displays the current rankings.

There is also Miiverse integration, which allows players to share their replay videos and comment on others' videos, in a feature called **Mario Kart TV**. Another change is that in 2-player mode, the screen splits vertically instead of the horizontally in the other console ***Mario Kart*** games, a feature that was originally intended to be in ***Mario Kart 64*** but was removed from the final game. Additionally, if the player falls off the edge of the track, Lakitu will pick them up and drop them back on to the track more quickly when compared to how he did this in past installments. This makes glitches involving falling into areas impossible.