Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart 8 (the 8 being stylized as the Möbius strip in the logo of the game) 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 returning from this game. Bikes, which are introduced in Mario Kart Wii make a return as well, though they will not be able to do wheelies. Vehicles can also go underwater. 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

Playable

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

Non-playable

 * 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

Nitro Courses

 * Mario Circuit, which are floating islands where Princess Peach's Castle is, and also 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.
 * A haunted mansion course with an underwater chamber.

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.