My best friends and I usually take turns playing games on game nights. These are often competitive shooters or co-op survival games that are particularly well suited to our needs. However, one night about two years ago, we hit an impasse until one of us jokingly interjected, “Let’s just play Mario Kart.” Within minutes, we had all grabbed our Nintendo Switches, started a conversation, and started the game. We didn’t put it down for about five hours.
Stories about Mario Kart 8 tend to follow this formula. It’s either the first or last game a group will play, but because it’s so reliably great, it’s pretty much the only game a group needs once they’ve decided. I’ve found Mario Kart 8 infinitely rewarding both as a participant and as a spectator, as it started ten years agoand I guess, if we’re honest, it still has another ten years to go.
When it was released in 2014, Mario Kart 8 was the biggest deal on the least incredible platform. Gravity-defying tracks melted people’s brains back then, and the breakout meme of Luigi’s Death Stare is timeless, but above all what characterized Mario Kart 8 was that it was refined down to the smallest detail. New items such as the boomerang and the super horn were crowd-pleasing additions, and Mario Kart 8 even adapted to the times and added DLC, and a lot of it. When the servers on the Wii U were shut down, Mario Kart 8 had become the best-selling game on the console, reaching a peak of around 8.5 million copies sold. Despite the numerous rounds it made there, it would shine even brighter a few years later than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch, where it Also became the console’s best-selling game, selling an incredible 61.97 million copies and counting.
In the ten years since its first publication Mario Kart 8 has taken over the damn world.
Every now and then a game breaks out of obscurity. You know a game is big when people who don’t normally play or care about games find out about it and play it. Mario Kart 8 is one such game. Hell, it’s a cultural touchstone, I guess. If I’m at a party, there’s a good chance the host will have a Switch with MK8D ready to go. In the early years of the Switch’s lifespan, wherever gamers gathered, you would see groups of people huddled around one or two Switches, playing MK8D. I never played my Switch on the go (as was often touted in Switch advertisements), but when I first got my hands on it MK8Dyou’re damn right i played it everywhere i went.
MK8D but is not only captivating; it has become part of the vocabulary. I can’t tell you how many dating profiles I’ve browsed through where girls openly challenge potential suitors like me, the drift king, to play with them Mario Kart. As video games have become more culturally acceptable and relevant, MK8D was there alongside people like Fourteen days leader in casual and competitive gaming. It is the avatar of all kart racers and undoubtedly one of the most widely played games of all time. Mario Kart Games have enjoyed great popularity, high sales and great fan enthusiasm in the past, but MK8and particularly MK8Dhas earned something more: prestige and a place in all of our lives.
It has become so big that Nintendo has doubled MK8 even after it was ported to the Switch with all of its existing DLCs. MK8D‘S Refresher Course Pass was a controversial announcement at the time, but it also created undeniable added value for one of the best-equipped games of all time. Over the course of a year and a half, Nintendo added 48 race tracks to the game, as well as eight characters and several minor fixes and changes. Most of the tracks have been remastered from previous games, but some are completely new, and regardless, MK8D has enjoyed more support and content than most long-running titles.
Is it selfish and maybe even a little stupid of me, I never want it to stop?
The step towards further support MK8D has raised the question of whether there is any need for another Mario Kart game. There will be one for sure, but it’s a little difficult to imagine where Nintendo goes from here. MK8 And MK8D were such decisive and easy wins for the company that I wouldn’t blame Nintendo if they simply re-released it on the Switch’s successor, even though it will almost certainly be backwards compatible. Why not just keep putting everything into this already signature game instead of starting from scratch? In a world where games as platforms are constantly evolving, why not just use the foundation of this perfect game as the basis for a long, straightforward future for the Mario Kart Games?
Despite all its countless strengths and legendary titles, Nintendo has never had a success like MK8D and I see no reason why it shouldn’t become the company’s brand. Resident Evil 4that has seemingly haunted every console that has come out since its release. As much as you never have to give it to a company, I have receive to give it to Nintendo: They made one of the best games of all time and accidentally put it in The the most consistent title of the last generations.
All I’m saying is that the number 8 is already a symbol that is equated with the concept of infinity, so it’s clear that Nintendo will play this tune forever… and maybe even write me a check for the idea. I don’t know of any other games that I’ve been playing for ten years. I don’t know of many other games that I think I’ll still be playing in the next ten years. However, if I had to choose one, I’d go all in on this one. Mario Kart 8and even if you don’t know it yet, you probably are.
