Mario Kart 8: 6 Reasons It's Game Of The Year So Far

6. The Nostalgia

Mario Kart is remembered fondly as a franchise for good reason: it played a major part in the formative console days and along with Goldeneye on the N64 was one of the first pillar games in the rise of multiplayer gaming - particularly for more casual gamers. And despite the inevitable temptation to reinvent the wheel, Nintendo have instead released a game that ticks all of the same boxes that the original game did. There is no revolution here, it's far more an evolution of brilliantly engaging elements, with an explicit agenda to capture the older gamers' attention manifesting in the inclusion of old maps given a lick of fresh paint. But crucially, despite all of the technological advances and the new additions, the gameplay experience, when it boils down to its purest elements, is based on the same appeal as the franchise has always offered. And don't be confused, this is not just a backward looking glorified port with a few new bells and whistles added in the interest of recapturing the same audience...