A tribute to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Next week, a long wait finally ends. Mario Kart World will be released for Switch 2 on June 5, the first console game in the series for over a decade.

It is incredibly exciting. But it’s also a little sad, because it marks the end of an era.

I’ve been playing Mario Kart 8 for eleven years. It’s a staple of multiplayer sessions with my friends, one of the first games my son started playing, and something I still pick up in single-player when I have a spare few minutes. I’ve spent those years trying to master the game, learning the best racing lines, figuring out tactics, discovering its quirks. I can say with some confidence that after all this time, I have a feel for Mario Kart 8’s handling that borders on the instinctive.

The imminent arrival of Mario Kart World doesn’t meant Mario Kart 8 isn’t playable anymore; it’s not getting deleted or anything. But it will be supplanted as the multiplayer game of choice as everyone, myself included, moves on to the newer title.

I’m sure Mario Kart World will be great. I’m sure I’ll love it. But I can’t help but feel a little daunted. A new game means changes. It means new tracks to learn and new moves to master. And that means starting from scratch: all of the years I've dedicated to learning Mario Kart 8's secrets won't apply to the new game.

Mario Kart 8 was first released on Wii U in 2014, and was re-released on Switch a few years later as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This version is the Switch’s best-selling game by some distance, and deservedly so.

One of the odd things about Mario Kart is that each entry changes enough that the series can be relatively diverse — and divisive. The original Super Mario Kart is more of a pure racing game, while the addition of motion controls and stunts made Mario Kart Wii more of a party game. Every game takes a slightly different line, and for a time there was a strong debate over which did it best; everyone had their favorite. (Except Super Circuit, which is nobody’s favorite.)

But Mario Kart 8 is, frankly, the best. It received near-universal praise from critics both for the original release and Deluxe version. It struck the perfect balance between racing and action; it’s chaotic, sure, and items can really mess you up, but driving skill matters here. If you’re good enough you can limit the damage by zipping off into the distance.

And with a whopping 96 tracks in total — 48 from the original release, plus 48 more added as downloadable content over the last few years, many from previous games in the series — Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has long felt like the ultimate Mario Kart game.

I became a parent right at the start of the pandemic, a double-whammy that forever altered my social life. Which is a fancy way of saying I don’t get out much anymore.

Mario Kart is one of my few great social pleasures. I grew up playing the original game with my best friends. Later, we all became dads around the same time, so our schedules rarely match up to meet in-person. But we find time to race online, chatting away about our lives (and kids) while we resume a decades-long rivalry.

It’s also kept me connected to newer friends that I’ve made at work. Every few months one hosts a Mario Kart 8 night, and I’m not ashamed to say it’s the social event I look forward to more than almost anything else on my calendar. Online gaming is more convenient, but there’s nothing like huddling in front of a TV to play together, the way multiplayer gaming used to be. The banter flows freer and the competition feels more intense; there’s just this extra level of needle and psychology you can apply in person, and an extra satisfaction when you come out on top after a marathon session of 48 races in a row.

And it’s given me more great times with my son. He’s just beginning his gaming journey, and he loves Mario Kart 8. It has a few great accessibility tools like auto-acceleration and a basic auto-steer that gives younger players a gentler way to learn the game, making them feel more confident. Not that he needs much help there — his competitiveness is so fierce that I had to use the game as a way to teach him how to lose.

Before the pandemic, I met up with friends to link our Switches wirelessly and play Mario Kart 8 in restaurants. I played it in an Emirates First Class Suite. I played it on a cinema screen for my bachelor party. I played it with a friend shortly before his own wedding.

Often, I’ll just play it by myself. If I’ve got 15 minutes free I’ll fire it up for a cup (or two) because I can do it relatively mindlessly; I know the braking points and racing lines of all the tracks well enough to drive on autopilot. That might sound boring, but it’s the opposite: when you know it that well you can slip into a sort of flow, instinctively feeling when to drift, sliding impossibly close to the walls while having the experience to know you’re not going to hit them.

It feels comforting. It feels like I’m with an old friend.

It makes me wonder whether I’ll have this feeling with Mario Kart World. Will I be able to connect with the new game as well as I did with Mario Kart 8?

Don’t take this as any sort of doubt, or a lack of enthusiasm. Everything I’ve seen of Mario Kart World suggests that it will be phenomenal. I am beyond excited to finally play it and discover all it has to offer, to experience the new tracks and changes to the Mario Kart formula.

But a part of me will miss my old friend, Mario Kart 8.