Mario Kart 8

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Template:Infobox Mario Kart 8 is an upcoming Mario Kart game for the Wii U, confirmed to be released in Spring 2014. The game is the eighth installment in the mainstream series, and eleventh overall in the Mario Kart series. Anti-gravity, a new gimmick for the Mario Kart series, has been confirmed. Bikes, gliders, and underwater driving are also confirmed to return.

Gameplay

The gameplay maintains the traditional elements as most Mario Kart games. The main karts use a similar design from Mario Kart 7, with gliders and underwater racing returning from this game. Bikes, which are introduced in Mario Kart Wii make a return as well, and can only do wheelies if they boost via a mushroom, a boost pad or a rocket start. The game introduces anti-gravity tracks, that allow the players to race on vertical and upside-down roads. These tracks are also more narrow when compared to previous Mario Kart tracks, specifically those from Mario Kart Wii. When in anti-gravity, if a racer bumps into another racer the kart spins rather than just bumping. Coins, introduced in Super Mario Kart and returning in Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart 7, also return for this game, and like Mario Kart 7 the player can only collect up to ten coins at one time. Also, like Mario Kart Wii, twelve racers are present in normal races. An aesthetic changes includes the kart headlights turning on in a dark area. It has been confirmed that there will be Miiverse integration, which will allow players to share their replay videos and comment on others' videos. In another interview with the developers, it was revealed that customization from Mario Kart 7 was returning with more customization options. Also, in 2-player mode, the screen will split down the middle vertically instead of the horizontal split used in the other console Mario Kart games, a feature that was originally intended to be in Mario Kart 64 but was removed from the final game.

Characters

Playable

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Peach
• Yoshi
• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Toad
• Koopa Troopa
• Princess Daisy
• Toadette
• Wario
• Waluigi

Other

• Super Piranha Plant
• Goombas/Goomba Towers
• Fishbones
• Boos
• Fishin' Lakitu

Items

• Item Boxes
• Coins
• Banana
• Triple Bananas
• Fire Flower
• Green Shell
• Triple Green Shells
• Red Shell
• Triple Red Shells
• Spiny Shell
• Mushroom
• Triple Mushrooms
• Golden Mushroom
• Star
• Thunderbolt
• Blooper
• Bob-omb

Kart Parts

Bodies

• Standard
• A blue and yellow body that slightly resembles a jet.

Wheels

• Standard
• Monster
• Wheels that resemble the Slim wheels
• Smaller wheels similar to the Roller wheels

Gliders

• Super

Courses

Nitro Courses

• Mario Circuit, which is a chain of floating islands where Princess Peach's Castle is located, as well as the main course shown in the E3 2013 trailer.
• A course made of candy and desserts.
• A ruins course.
• A residential course with similarities to the city of San Francisco, California, United States of America.
• Boo Houseref name="Ghost House">Youtube - Mario Kart 8: Course 3 Ghost House Single-Player Gameplay Footage (E3 2013 Wii U)</ref>

Retro Courses

• GCN Dry Dry Desert
• 3DS Music Park
• 3DS Piranha Plant Slide

Development

Development for Mario Kart 8 started in 2012. Some ideas that were scrapped in Mario Kart 8 included a drill that made drivers drive into subterranean depths. The idea was scrapped because the developers thought it was not as interesting as the anti-gravity idea. The anti-gravity concept stemmed from the Wii U being a powerful console, and with the upgraded hardware, the developers wanted to make courses with a 3D plane in mind rather than the 2D plane as the other tracks in the Mario Kart series.

The title, Mario Kart 8 is chosen to represent the anti-gravity mechanic as the "8" resembles the Möbius strip from Mario Circuit.

References to other games

• Mario Kart 64: Mario Kart 8 uses a vertical splitscreen display for two player mode, a feature which was planned to be in Mario Kart 64 but was not implemented in the final build.
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Dry Dry Desert returns.
• Mario Kart Wii: Bikes return.
• Mario Kart 7: Gliders and underwater areas return. Music Park and Piranha Plant Slide return as retro courses.
• New Super Mario Bros. 2: The haunted house course's house entrance has a statue of a Boohemoth above it, an enemy from this game.

Gallery

Screenshots

• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn01 E3.png

  Mario Circuit

• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn02 E3.png
• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn04 E3.png

  Luigi racing on the mansion course.

• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn05 E3.png
• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn06 E3.png

  GCN Dry Dry Desert

• MK8PiranhaPlantSlide.jpg

  3DS Piranha Plant Slide

• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn07 E3.png
• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn08 E3.png
• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn09 E3.png

  Toadette in a new Mario Kart 8 track.

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  Another view of Toadette.

• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn10 E3.png
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  3DS Music Park

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  Donkey Kong, racing on a new track.

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• WiiU MarioKart8 scrn20 E3.jpg
• Mk8image1 (1).png
• Mk8image3.png
• Mario kart 8 image.jpg
• Mariokart8image.jpg

Artwork

• MarioMK8.png

  Mario

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  Luigi

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  Mario Circuit, a course that illustrates anti-gravity.

Photographs

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  E3 2013 demo

• E32013 MK8 Character Select.PNG

  Character select screen (E3 2013 demo)