With 22 years behind them and seven games in the franchise it was pretty much a secure bet that the eighth was going to the Wii U-saving messiah-title Nintendo needed it to be. Lo and behold while the other titanic pillars of the gaming industry do battle on rendering the best car exhausts for the diehards to pick apart and note that one tiny indent is not in the right place, Nintendo have stuck to their guns and delivered another supremely polished and immensely fun kart-racer the likes of which has little to no competition these days aside from Sonic's occasional foray into the genre. MK8 delivers Pixar-esque thrills and loveable animation in spades, throwing a fan-pleasing counter-balance to the usually first place-scuppering Blue Shell in the form of the shockwave-emitting Super Horn, and that's in addition to some pretty nifty recording controls so you can remix your best moments as well as slowing everything down and zooming in to breathe in the cutesy visuals in extreme close-up. At this stage in the game you know what you're getting with Mario Kart titles, but it doesn't take away from that core gameplay being insanely fun either when playing solo or especially with friends - locally or online. Featuring a wealth of customisable karts and the best visuals seen so far on a first-party Nintendo title, if there's any one title that's going to make you want to buy a system, it's this.
