The Mario Kart franchise is one that does not really need an introduction. It’s been around since the SNES days and every console generation has received its own iteration of Mario Kart since. I am more familiar with Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, so playing Mario Kart 8 at Nintendo’s booth was nothing but familiar. And for me, this is both a good and a bad thing.

Mario Kart 8 features a new mechanic to the series: gravity wheels. These wheels allow for you to travel on the walls, the ceiling, or wherever else the track permits. I played two of the new race tracks and this feature was implemented into both of them. My understanding is that the camera tends to stay locked onto the kart, while it’s the course itself that will twist around the screen. Because the game is still in development and I was only able to sample a limited number of tracks, this may change in the future.

This particular feature, the gravity wheels, doesn’t really impress me a whole lot. I can say that it adds something new to the Mario Kart franchise, but it doesn’t stand out as a “wow” factor. What’s most captivating to me is how the game features new tracks to race on (who doesn’t love new Mario Kart tracks?) and the update in graphics. By no means do I judge a game on graphics, but Mario Kart 8 simply looked stunning in HD and 60 FPS on the Wii U.

It’s safe to say that Mario Kart 8 will be a title I will own one day, because hey, it’s Mario Kart. But it’s a bit disappointing that it will be released sometime in Spring 2014, as one would hope for it to be released sooner. But thinking on it more, the Wii U is still early in its life cycle, and when I think of it that way, I think I can wait for some new Mario Kart action.

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