Mario Kart 8

Sure, I'll start things off.

Mario Kart 8, the Wii U's last hope, came out earlier today. All four people I know with a Wii U bought it and have played it. I have beaten it, although I'm sure I'm not the only one. I still have the 150cc and Mirror Mode races left, but every course and every character is unlocked and I've played this thing for something like six hours already; it's time for a post.

Everyone who will ever read this has played Mario Kart before, and several have already played this very game. It needs no summarizing from my end. Instead, here are some of my "initial" reactions to the game.

• The reason Mario Kart still matters is because local multiplayer is a dying concept. And this franchise - along with Super Smash Bros. in particular - just makes absolute hay out of local multiplayer. Four friends, one race, endless cursing and sweating with racing hearts.
• I forget whether or not this was an option in Mario Kart Wii, but you can even do a four-player Grand Prix cup locally. That's solid.
• Unfortunately, Mario Kart 8 limits the online experience to two players per console. And there's no LAN option for connecting two Wii Us and having four people on each one. This really sucks, because before the game came out I was envisioning an entire night of twelve-man Mario Kart 8; three Wii Us in one room, four people on each one, and a tour of every single course in the game. It seemed feasible. Now, to get twelve people involved in one race, we'd need to have six Wii U systems, and again, I only know four people who own one. So, that dream is dead, but here's hoping we can get some six-to-eight-man races going on at some point all the same.
• I can't get a handle on whether online play is spotty or steady; I was booted out of the lobby with a "lost connection" message like four seconds after first entering, and before my first race began I was also booted with some kind of communication error. Fortunately, I did manage to get into four races, and I was able to complete all four. Didn't feel laggy at all, which is of course an expectation in 2014, but still nice to see.
• The anti-gravity aspect of gameplay feels like a completely equal balance of gimmick and innovation. Some of the courses just wind you around like a corkscrew, but then other times you can just kind of cling to a few walls as an option.
• The new courses will probably grow on me with time, but I was probably on the whole just a tad more disappointed than I was impressed; Rainbow Road left something to be desired and I saw no need at all for Bone-Dry Dunes or Electrodrome, and by kicking things off in something called Mario Stadium it felt like we didn't also need a Mario Circuit. Having said all of this, none of the new courses are unenjoyable to play. In fact, Shy Guy Falls, Mount Wario, and Cloudtop Cruise are instant classics for me.
• They did a wonderful job with the retro courses this time around, modifying each one for Mario Kart 8 with HD graphics and anti-gravity elements. And, man, these are stunning. Moo Moo Meadows went from being one of the most forgettable Wii courses to perhaps the best-looking Mario Kart 8 course, period. Also, it's great to have N64's Rainbow Road back, if for nothing more than the music alone.
• There are thirty playable characters in Mario Kart 8, which is awesome. 12 of them are baby versions of the main chatracters and Bowser's children, which kind of sucks. This game lacks Birdo, Diddy Kong, King Boo, Wiggler, and other series veterans… for the sake of Lakitu, Baby Rosalina and "Pink Gold Peach," among others. I actually enjoy several of the Koopalings, but their presence at the expense of Bowser, Jr. just feels weird.
• One minor change I'm not happy about, but will more than likely get over shortly? You can't drag an item behind you anymore while picking up a new one. I need layers of defense, dammit.
• Although the karts, bikes, and ATVs feel - and are - endlessly customizable, there really isn't all that much variety when it comes to end-of-the-day statistics on each one.

There's plenty more I could say, but I feel myself nodding off and I also know another three posts or so are forthcoming.