The racing game to bring out your inner child.

This is a game which surely encourages sabotaging others.

Overall: 8.25/10

Sound - 9/10 

From the child-like tunes of the baby park to the mesmerizing yet adrenaline-inducing music of rainbow road, the soundtrack of MK Deluxe 8 really hits you in your childhood gut even if there are some new tracks with new sound track - they still sound familiar despite your first time hearing them.

Visuals - 9/10

My pet peeve about some games (especially as someone who easily gets distracted and dizzy) is having so much going on in the screen and not all of them you can interact with - oh, you see that plant over there? Yeah, it's just there. This may just be a personal preference since I understand that some people love a busy screen, but why bother to add it on there when it has no significance? I lost track of how many times I rammed myself to an invisible wall thinking it is a shortcut.

Interface - 8/10

Comparing to my last experience playing Mario Kart on the gamecube (yes, that long ago), everything pretty much feels the same except it being harder to drift. Speaking of drift, here's another proof that for a console meant to be played with other family members (like kids), the switch's joycon durability will be put to the test. However, if you're playing with mostly adults, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Is it just me or are the menus more dizzying though? I remember navigating them with no problem before but now I have to take a good few seconds to make sure I'm headed the right direction - because it will suck having to realize you set a race wrong a restart setting it up all over again from the beginning.

Gameplay - 7/10

What is with the physics in this game? I raced against someone bringing bowser's bulldozer and it ran faster than toad's cart. Like "weight" what? Also, what is the point of having to pick and design your cart, it's tires and the character you're bring when it has basically little to no effect on the race? I don't get it.

And another thing I noticed is that it's way harder to block anything in this version now. Like, good luck if your opponent gets any good item, bad news for you.

Despite my gripes about the Mario Kart, it would always be the racing game I would come back too - not because I hate realistic racing games but because it is just so perfectly evil and quirky that would make for a fun game session with friends and family. It may basically be the same game with better visuals and mechanics but that's what made Mario Kart stick with us through the years - it makes you remember simple times when it was about the experience the game gives you and how much you know you'll be missing moments like those as years will pass.