Mario Kart 8 Reviews

Mario Kart 8 is ranked in the 98th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
IGN
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
May 15, 2014

Mario Kart 8 is a fun kart racer that uses gravity-defying tracks and better item balance to build a better game.

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10 / 10
May 14, 2014

Video game players are familiar with the law of diminishing returns. Even as new entries in a series tirelessly improve upon their predecessors, our interest nevertheless wanes; with games, improved is somehow less exciting than new. Mario Kart 8 is a rare thing, then: the best entry in a series and the most exciting yet.

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9 / 10
May 14, 2014

The best Mario Kart has ever been, with a near perfect blend of features and frequently astonishing visuals – despite some unnecessary repetition in track settings.

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May 28, 2014

Mario Kart 8 is a slick and gorgeous-looking kart racer that's perfectly solid but not always as exciting or addictive as we've come to expect from the series.

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9.3 / 10.0
May 15, 2014

Mario Kart remains pure fun, and it's never been better

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9 / 10.0
May 14, 2014

Mario Kart 8 doesn't mess with the formula much, but it left me smiling

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GameSpot
Top Critic
8 / 10
May 14, 2014

Mario Kart 8 shifts its focus from chaotic weapons to precise driving, and that makes this one of the most rewarding entries in the series.

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Kotaku
Top Critic
Yes
May 30, 2014

Much more than a dolled-up version of its predecessors, Mario Kart 8's new features and refinements make a stale series fun again.

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May 14, 2014

Excellent new courses and spectacular visuals go a long way toward negating the sense of over-familiarity that comes part and parcel with all things Mario Kart.

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May 15, 2014

Nintendo needed another great game to make the Wii U look as enticing as possible and Mario Kart 8 fits the bill. The anti-gravity gameplay slots in alongside classic kart racing, hang-gliding, and underwater action. All the tracks look amazing and Nintendo has a lot of fun making each track twist, turn, and soar into the sky. Robust online multiplayer, downloadable player ghosts, and Mario Kart TV add a bit of extra muscle. Mario Kart 8 is not the best in the series, but it does stand near the top.

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May 14, 2014

I've played enough Mario Kart in my life to know that this is the best version of the venerable kart-racer since the Nintendo 64 era.

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9 / 10.0
May 30, 2014

Mario Kart 8 is my favorite series entry since Double Dash, and if it gets arena battle tracks at some point by way of DLC, it will be a near-perfect package. Its vibrant visuals will hold up for years to come, ensuring that the game will withstand the test of time, and it will be a staple in my household for a long, long while.

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8.6 / 10.0
May 14, 2014

The overall high quality of the game is so impressive that it doesn't really matter that much that the zero-gravity gimmick barely adds anything that's truly new. Next time around, though, Nintendo might need to come up with new tricks if it hopes to keep us coming back for more.

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10 / 10.0
May 16, 2014

The deeper handling, pop-out arcade style graphics on a scale unseen before in the series, the social network friendly Mario Kart TV and Miiverse features and of course the heavyweight Mario moniker itself are Nintendo's best chance to date of turning round the Wii U's fortunes. Quietly underpinning all this is the best Mario Kart experience I've has since it's revelatory introduction some 22 year ago.

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8 / 10
May 15, 2014

Mario Kart 8 shows a playful spirit, refinement, and attention to detail that has been missing in the last few entries.

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IGN Italy
Top Critic
9.5 / 10.0
May 16, 2014

Mario Kart 8 is a beast: with great track design, plenty of characters, karts, bikes and power ups is the best Mario Kart of all time. Also thanks to revamped online modes and some gorgeous graphics, is the single reason you need to own a Wii U.

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Unscored
May 15, 2014

All in all, these missing features and changes for the worse are disappointing blemishes on what is still an incredibly enjoyable game. Mario Kart 8 isn't the best game in the series, but it adds enough new visual, gameplay, and track design flourishes to its well-trodden core kart-racing gameplay to be worth a look.

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9 / 10.0
May 15, 2014

It may not be revolutionary, but it adds just enough to pique interests while keeping the core experience we've all grown up with, regardless of age. Mario Kart is one of those timeless franchises that every age group can enjoy, and sometimes, that's enough to celebrate.

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9 / 10
May 14, 2014

It may just be more Mario Kart, but that continues to be no bad thing.

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GamesBeat
Top Critic
85 / 100
May 14, 2014

Mario Kart is typically the best racer for most people. That's no different with Mario Kart 8.

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