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

2. Simple, Responsive Brilliance

As the trend for more realistic racing games has arched steeply, there has been an unfortunate compromise in the arcade-like pleasure of playing them. Realism is all well and good, but the learning curves on ultra-realistic games like the F1 series and the likes of Gran Turismo and even Forza mean that the rewards take too long to reach the gamer, and there's only so much appeal in seeing dazzlingly good-looking cars speed past sun-drenched vistas in the cut-scenes when the reality is that you spend more time wheel-spinning with your front end smashed to pieces in the barrier. Unfortunately for the genre, racing itself has become a secondary concern to creating the ultimate driving experience, and in turn the control systems have been tweaked so much that they are uber-responsive to a fault, and the slightest over-compensation inevitably leads to a frustrating cloud of dust and several thousand pounds worth of damage to your supercar. Mario Kart 8 on the other hand is all about a stream-lined, rewarding control system that keeps things simple and rewards players quickly. Yes, you will cannon off the end of more tricky corners, and yes you will eat blue shell regularly, but you won't find yourself turning the console off in frustration, because the game is tuned for you to want to get revenge, not stop playing.