Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart 8 is a game for the Wii U, which was released in Japan on May 29, North America and Europe on May 30, and in Australia on May 31, 2014. The game can be played both physically and digitally through the Nintendo eShop, with the digital version requiring 4949.8 MB (approx. 4.83 GB) of memory to be installed. The game is the eighth installment in the mainstream series, and eleventh overall in the Mario Kart series.

A prominent new addition is anti-gravity, allowing players to drive on almost any surface. Bikes, gliders, and underwater driving also return. In addition, ATVs join the returning karts and bikes as a new class of vehicle.

Gameplay
The gameplay maintains the traditional elements of previous Mario Kart games, mostly from the two recent installments on the Wii and 3DS respectively. Karts, which feature similar designs from Mario Kart 7, can be customized once again, alongside the returning bikes, which handle similar to the karts now and can only perform a wheelie via a boost, and the newly introduced ATVs. The hang-glider and underwater mechanics also return, as well as Coins, with the player being able to collect up to ten in one race as in Mario Kart 7. Like Mario Kart Wii, twelve racers are present in normal races. Tricks and the ability to look behind also return in this game.

The newest feature for the series is anti-gravitational segments that not only allow for more dynamic track design, but also for racers to drive across walls, ceilings, and other seemingly unusual places. When in anti-gravity, if a racer bumps into another racer, the kart spins rather than just bumping and both racers receive a speed boost. This technique is called "spin boosting".

The game also features Wii U GamePad integration. In addition to the standard Off-TV Play, players also have the option of displaying the course map, and when neither the Off-TV display nor the map are being displayed, the GamePad can be used as a horn button. Players have the option to toggle between these features at will. The GamePad can also be used to toggle on and off the gyroscopic steering.

Additionally, if the player falls off the edge of the track, Lakitu will pick them up and drop them back on to the track. This makes glitches involving falling into areas impossible.

Point management works similar to Mario Kart Wii, except that every racer gets at least one point in Grand Prix mode. Below is a chart of the point spread comparison between these eight games:

There is Miiverse integration, which allows players to share their replay videos and comment on others' videos, in a feature called Mario Kart TV. Another change is that in 2-player mode, the screen splits vertically instead of the horizontally 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.

Game modes
There are various game modes for Mario Kart 8. All modes available on singleplayer (some also on local and online multiplayer) are listed here.

Grand Prix
Mario Kart 8's Grand Prix works similar to past installments. Like past games the 50, 100, and 150cc engine classes are available by default, and completing 150cc unlocks Mirror; Grand Prix rankings, however, carry over to the lower engine classes after being completed on a higher engine class. Only the Mushroom and Shell Cups are available at the start of the game, with the others being unlocked after completing the cup before, and are available in every engine class after being unlocked. The player starts out with 5 coins on the first race of any cup. There is the usual four-race marathon. Players now have the option to do a multiplayer Grand Prix up to four players, unlike in most previous console Mario Karts, where only up to two players can race in Grand Prix.

Time Trials
Time Trial mode lets the player complete a selected course in the fastest time possible. Among the new features included, the user can upload Ghosts onto Miiverse and other players can give their comments about it. Additionally the user gains a stamp once he or she has competed a race against a Nintendo Staff member Ghost. Leaderboards as seen in Mario Kart Wii also return.

VS Race
VS mode can be played locally with up to 4 players. Players can set rules like which items appear, the difficulty level of the CPUs, and Team or Solo racing. Players can also set how the courses appear, choose a course after one is finished, or play all tracks randomly or in order.

Battle
Battle mode now features race tracks remixed to fit battle mode rather than contain all-new separate arenas. Balloon Battle can be played in teams or in free-for-all mode. It combines survival battle mode from Mario Kart DS and earlier installments and the timed points battle mode introduced in Mario Kart Wii; all players start with 3 points and 3 balloons each. Successfully making an opponent lose a balloon awards the player a point, and losing a balloon through any method will cause the player to lose a point. Balloons can never be regained (unless one is stolen from another player with a Mushroom), and if all balloons are lost, points can no longer be lost or gained. Defeated players can still drive and attack players as a Ghost, although they cannot receive points. Players can also now adjust the time limit from one to five minutes, and they can set up to 32 rounds in set intervals.

Online
Just like in previous Mario Kart games, players can race matches online against each other. This time players can race with random people both Worldwide and Continental, they can play in a Friend lobby, and they can start and participate in Tournaments. Players can set their own rules for tournaments.

Drivers
There are 30 playable characters in Mario Kart 8, consisting of 16 default characters and 14 unlockable characters. There are 9 characters that make their first appearance as playable characters in the series, including the Koopalings (indicated by an * in the gallery), and 2 of them making their overall debut in the Mario franchise: Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach (indicated by an **). There are 3 weight classes dependent on the size of the kart the characters ride on (with the exception of Metal Mario and Pink Gold Peach): light, medium, and heavy, though a group of certain drivers in a class have differing stats to another group.

Unlockable drivers
1 Mii's weight is determined by the height and weight of the Mii.

Unlocking criteria
Characters, except for Mii, are unlocked at random by completing cups, unlike previous Mario Kart games (where, in many cases, fixed characters were unlocked by completing specific cups on specific engine classes); however, a new character cannot be obtained if the same cup is played in the same engine class again (eg. If the 50cc Mushroom Cup is played and a new character is unlocked, another character cannot be obtained from the 50cc Mushroom Cup.). Additionally, unlockable characters appear as CPUs during races when they are not unlocked yet, making this game the first Mario Kart game to do so. Miis are the only character not randomly unlocked as they are always the 8th character unlocked.

Driver base stats
Just like in Mario Kart 7, characters in a specific group have their own stats. The units are out of 6, displaying the different stats. Just like in Mario Kart Wii, Miis can be Light, Medium, or Heavy, depending on their height and weight.

Body frame sizes
Depending on the character, the size of the vehicle can change. The size can influence how big of a target the vehicle is. The body frame size that the Mii uses depends on its weight class.

Vehicle parts
This is a list of the available kart parts to customize a player's vehicle. There are 14 karts, 9 bikes, 3 ATVs (26 bodies in total), 18 tires, and 11 gliders. The parts are listed as they appear in-game, and the stat boost/drop values are out of 6 and are relative to the standard parts for each type. However, it is impossible for a vehicle to have any stat less than 1 or greater than 5.75. All 8 logos on the parts are replaced with the character's symbol.


 * Speed: The top speed of the vehicle. Does not affect off-road travel.
 * Ground Speed: The top speed of the vehicle on land with normal gravity.
 * Water Speed: The top speed of the vehicle while driving underwater.
 * Air Speed: The top speed of the vehicle while gliding.
 * Anti-Gravity Speed: The top speed of the vehicle in anti-gravity mode.
 * Acceleration: The rate of the vehicle it takes to reach its top speed from a standing position.
 * Weight: The weight of the vehicle. Vehicles with higher weight knock away vehicles with lower weight.
 * Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle. A higher stat means vehicles turn sharper.
 * Ground Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle on land with normal gravity.
 * Water Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle while driving underwater.
 * Air Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle while gliding.
 * Anti-Gravity Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle in anti-gravity mode.
 * Traction: The grasp of the vehicle. Vehicles with higher traction slip less on certain terrain and can stay stable on the road better. Not to be confused with handling.
 * Mini-Turbo: The strength of the vehicle's mini-turbo speed boosts.

Only ground speed, acceleration, weight, ground handling, and traction are visible in-game. The other stats, known as hidden stats, exist, but are not visible in-game.

Unlocking criteria
Vehicle parts are unlocked by collecting coins from Grand Prix, VS Mode, Time Trials, and online races. Coins collected by additional players are counted. Coins will count towards the player's coin total only for completed races -- if the player collects coins then quits during a race, the coins from that race will not be added to their coin total. Players can unlock new parts for every 50 coins that they collect. However, once players have collected 1000 coins, the coin amount needed to unlock new parts increases to 100. Unlike in Mario Kart 7, it is impossible to check the exact amount of coins collected. There are a total of 38 unlockable parts, excluding golden parts, and the number of coins to unlock the parts are below:

Special parts
The special parts must be unlocked with these criteria:
 * Gold Standard: Obtain a minimum of one star ranking in all cups of every engine class.
 * Gold Tires: Beat all the Staff Ghosts on each course or obtain 15,000 coins.
 * Gold Glider: Obtain 10,000 coins.

Courses
There are 32 tracks, consisting of 16 new tracks and 16 retro tracks, featuring one track each from Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, four tracks from Mario Kart 64, two each from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart Wii, and three each from Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7. As with the retro tracks from the 3DS installment, the retro tracks in this game feature altered sections that incorporate the game's hang-glider, underwater, and anti-gravity features. The game features live-recorded music for all of the new tracks and most of the retro tracks. The tracks have been described as more narrow when compared to previous Mario Kart tracks, specifically those from Mario Kart Wii.

Battle stages
Unlike previous installments of the series, there are no stages unique to Battle Mode; instead, a quarter of the tracks in standard race modes are modified and used as stages for battles and can all be played from the start of the game, including those that are originally in cups that need to first be unlocked in the race modes. Tracks enabled for Battle mode are the following:

Ghosts
Just like in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, the player starts out with Staff Ghosts for each course. However, unlike with the past Mario Kart installments, Expert Staff Ghosts do not appear in this game.

Kart of Champions
These are Nintendo's best times for each course, as shown in the Prima Official Game Guide. Ghost data does not exist for the following times in-game.

Items
As in all Mario Kart games, Mario Kart 8 keeps the use of items during the races. Four new items have been added to the list, being the Boomerang Flower, the Piranha Plant, the Super Horn, and the Crazy Eight. The Coin makes also a return as an item since its first appearance in Super Mario Kart.

Mario Kart 8 also features changes to the items' mechanics. While past Mario Kart games allowed the users to gain a different item from the Item Boxes while dragging some other such as a Green Shell or a Banana, in Mario Kart 8, players are restricted to carry only the item they're currently holding or dragging. Releasing the item in use will allow the player to take another from the boxes. In order to keep gameplay balance, some items are much less frequent to appear, most notably the Thunderbolt and the Spiny Shell. Additionally, the Triple Bananas and the Triple Mushroom surround the vehicle in the same manner as triple shells do, and opponents receive their effects when touching them, giving some disadvantage, or advantage in the case of the triple mushrooms. Racers, finally, do not lose the items if they fall from the track. {|class="wikitable" !colspan="2"|

Items found on the track
!colspan="2"|
 * align=center|ItemBoxMK8.png Item Box
 * Gives the player a random item. Items given are based on the player's position.
 * align=center|CoinMK8.png Coin
 * Gives the player a small boost and increase top speed when more are collected, up to a max of 10.
 * align=center|CoinMK8.png Coin
 * Gives the player a small boost and increase top speed when more are collected, up to a max of 10.

New items
!colspan="2"|
 * align=center|BoomerangFlowerMK8.png Boomerang Flower
 * Can be thrown up to three times, hitting racers forward and when it returns.
 * align=center|PiranhaPlantPotMK8.png Piranha Plant
 * Automatically chomps on obstacles and other racers, giving a short speed boost for each bite.
 * align=center|SuperHornMK8.png Super Horn
 * Emits a radial shockwave hitting racers, as well as destroying all obstacles and items.
 * align=center|Crazy8MK8.png Crazy Eight
 * Generates eight items (Coin, Bob-omb, Mushroom, Star, Blooper, Green Shell, Red Shell, and a Banana) that circle around the player for them to use.
 * Emits a radial shockwave hitting racers, as well as destroying all obstacles and items.
 * align=center|Crazy8MK8.png Crazy Eight
 * Generates eight items (Coin, Bob-omb, Mushroom, Star, Blooper, Green Shell, Red Shell, and a Banana) that circle around the player for them to use.
 * Generates eight items (Coin, Bob-omb, Mushroom, Star, Blooper, Green Shell, Red Shell, and a Banana) that circle around the player for them to use.

Returning items

 * align=center|CoinMK8.png Coin
 * Grants the player 2 extra coins.
 * align=center|GreenShellMK8.png Green Shell
 * Travels in a straight line and knocks over a kart it hits.
 * align=center|TripleGreenShellsMK8.png Triple Green Shells
 * Three green shells that orbit the player's kart, protecting them from incoming attacks.
 * align=center|RedShellMK8.png Red Shell
 * Homes in on the closest kart in front of the player and knocks it over.
 * align=center|TripleRedShellsMK8.png Triple Red Shells
 * Three red shells that orbit the player's kart, protecting them from incoming attacks.
 * align=center|BananaMK8.png [[Banana]]
 * Protects the player from incoming items, and spins out other racers that hit it.
 * align=center|TripleBananaMK8.png Triple Bananas
 * Three bananas that orbit the player's kart, protecting them from incoming attacks.
 * align=center|MushroomMarioKart8.png Mushroom
 * Provides the player's kart with a small speed boost.
 * align=center|TripleMushroomMK8.png Triple Mushrooms
 * Orbits the player's kart, providing them with three separate speed boosts.
 * align=center|GoldenMushroomMK8.png Golden Mushroom
 * Provides the player's kart with continuous speed boosts for a short time.
 * align=center|FireFlowerMK8.png Fire Flower
 * Allows the player to throw fireballs for a short time that cause other karts to spin out on impact.
 * align=center|StarMK8.png Star
 * Provides the player invincibility from all terrain and items, and also giving a speed boost.
 * align=center|BlooperMK8.png Blooper
 * Sprays ink on all racers ahead and reduces their visibility. The racers hit also lose some of their traction while sprayed.
 * align=center|Bob-ombMK8.png Bob-omb
 * Explodes after a short time when thrown or dropped, knocking over any kart in its blast radius.
 * align=center|SpinyShellMK8.png Spiny Shell
 * Targets the racer in first place, knocking over all other karts in its path.
 * align=center|LightningBoltMK8.png Lightning
 * Causes all opponents to drop their items, shrink, and drive slowly for a short time.
 * align=center|BulletBillMK8.png Bullet Bill
 * Transforms the player into a Bullet Bill, rocketing through the track with auto-pilot, and providing invincibility from all terrain and items.
 * }
 * Provides the player invincibility from all terrain and items, and also giving a speed boost.
 * align=center|BlooperMK8.png Blooper
 * Sprays ink on all racers ahead and reduces their visibility. The racers hit also lose some of their traction while sprayed.
 * align=center|Bob-ombMK8.png Bob-omb
 * Explodes after a short time when thrown or dropped, knocking over any kart in its blast radius.
 * align=center|SpinyShellMK8.png Spiny Shell
 * Targets the racer in first place, knocking over all other karts in its path.
 * align=center|LightningBoltMK8.png Lightning
 * Causes all opponents to drop their items, shrink, and drive slowly for a short time.
 * align=center|BulletBillMK8.png Bullet Bill
 * Transforms the player into a Bullet Bill, rocketing through the track with auto-pilot, and providing invincibility from all terrain and items.
 * }
 * Causes all opponents to drop their items, shrink, and drive slowly for a short time.
 * align=center|BulletBillMK8.png Bullet Bill
 * Transforms the player into a Bullet Bill, rocketing through the track with auto-pilot, and providing invincibility from all terrain and items.
 * }
 * }
 * }

Stamps
As in Super Mario 3D World, NES Remix, and NES Remix 2, players can obtain stamps to use in Miiverse posts. There are 90 stamps in the game: 28 are available from the start, while the rest can be obtained by winning a Grand Prix with certain characters or defeating a Staff Ghost in Time Trials in all the stages.

Downloadable content
Nintendo and Mercedes-Benz have collaborated to announce that Mario Kart 8 is set to receive downloadable content in the form of a kart body and set of wheels based on the Mercedes-Benz GLA. The content is currently only confirmed for Japan, with a summer 2014 release, and will be available for a free download.

Amiibo
This game has been confirmed to include functionality with amiibo, Nintendo's series of NFC enabled figurines. However, the exact nature of this functionality has not yet been announced.

Development
Development for Mario Kart 8 started in 2012. Series producer Hideki Konno first revealed that he wanted to produce a Mario Kart game for the Wii U in late 2011. . A Wii U Mario Kart game was later revealed to be in development in the January 2013 Nintendo Direct and confirmed to be shown off at E3 that year, with the game being officially revealed during the E3 2013 Nintendo Direct.

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, also stemmed from the anti-gravity mechanic as, in addition to being the eighth main installment in the series, the "8" used in the official logo was stylized to resemble a Möbius strip.

Most of the game's musical tracks are orchestrated, making this game the first Mario Kart game to feature orchestrated tracks.

Limited edition
A limited edition version of Mario Kart 8 is available to pre-orders in the European and Australian regions. It includes the game as well as a Spiny Shell figurine. This limited edition is also confirmed for North American release, though it is exclusive to New York's Nintendo World Store.

Collaboration with Pennzoil
Nintendo and Pennzoil teamed up to promote Mario Kart 8. It features real-life go-karts on a specially modified track. Icons representing some of the items in the game are spread in the course as well.

Card game
Nintendo is also developing a Mario Kart-themed card game. The game features two types of cards: Mario cards (includes Peach and Luigi cards) and Rosalina Cards (includes Lakitu and Koopalings cards). These cards come with the Japanese version of the game.

Wii U Premium Pack
Nintendo is releasing a Premium Pack with Mario Kart 8. This pack is currently only available to Europe and Australia. The Nintendo UK Online store also offers two different bundles, being a Mario bundle and a Luigi bundle. Each will contain a Mario Kart 8 Premium Pack, along with a Wii Remote Plus, Wii U GamePad skin, and Wii Wheel in the corresponding brother's theme. It also contains a Mario or Luigi Hat and Mario Kart 8 guide book. Both packs will be released on May 30th, alongside the game itself, as well as Peach and Yoshi themed Wii Remote Pluses. Nintendo also revealed a Deluxe set for North American release; this one includes a black Wii U, a black GamePad, a Mario Wii Remote Plus, a red Wii Wheel, and the game.

Bonus game promotion
Nintendo is giving another Wii U game for free to those in Europe, Australia, and North America who register Mario Kart 8 on Club Nintendo between May 30th and July 31st. Players can choose between a variety of different Nintendo titles, the choice depending on region. In Europe and Australia, players have the choice of: Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Game & Wario, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Sonic Lost World, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Wii Party U, The Wonderful 101, and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, while North American players are limited to only New Super Mario Bros. U, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, and Wii Party U.

Reception
As of May 19, 2014, Mario Kart 8 has received generally favorable reviews, scoring an 89 on Metacritic based on 46 critics and an 88.37% based on 46 critics in GameRankings. Jose Otero of IGN gave the game a 9.0, praising the great graphics and sound, race tracks, antigravity, and item balance while criticizing the lack of some online features, the overload of baby characters in the roster, and the battle mode. He ended with "Mario Kart 8 is the best kart racing game Nintendo has made in a long time. It strikes a careful balance between refining old ideas while introducing fresh new ones." Tom Mc Shea of GameSpot praised the game, lauding the smooth gameplay, interesting tracks, and fair skill while criticizing the game's selection of characters and the battle mode. Though he was initially bored when first playing Mario Kart 8, Mc Shea changed his opinion after appreciating the small details in the game; his verdict was an 8/10. Thomas Whitehead of Nintendo Life gave the game a 9/10. He wrote, "The vehicles and racers have never handled better, the collection of courses is possibly the best yet, while replayability through Ghost Races or — primarily — online races and Tournaments is almost endless. A few design oddities aside, this joins the list of must-have Nintendo games on the Wii U; it’s an accomplished effort that pushes the franchise forward." Michael Damiani of GameTrailers gave the game an 8.6 out of 10. As other reviewers, he praised the stellar visuals, tight controls, and improved online experience but criticized the battle mode. He ended with, "The overall high quality of the game is so impressive that it doesn’t really matter that much that the zero-gravity gimmick barely adds anything that’s truly new. Next time around, though, Nintendo might need to come up with new tricks if it hopes to keep us coming back for more." André from GameXplain gave the game a "Liked a lot" rating, praising the tracks, online mode, visuals, and battle mode, stating "it can be fun under the right circumstances". However, he criticized some issues with the interface and the item management. The game recieved a near perfect score of 96% by Joe Skrebels of Official Nintendo Magazine.

On the slightly more critical side, Neal Ronaghan of NintendoWorldReport gave the game a 7.5 out of 10. He praised the graphics, soundtrack, and multiplayer but he criticized the stagnation of the franchise, saying, "Mario Kart 8 is just like any other Mario Kart game you’ve played in recent years, adding little to the franchise other than polish and some middling additions and tweaks." He also criticized Mario Kart TV and the battle mode. Andrew Fitch of EGM also gave the game a 7.5 out of 10. He praised the anti-gravity elements and the visuals of the game, but harped on the game's AI, underwhelming new tracks, battle mode being a shell of its former self, and the roster. He noted, "Mario Kart 8 is a rarity for Nintendo in that regard—it looks better than it plays."

Over the weekend of its launch, Mario Kart 8 sold 1.2 million units worldwide, making it the fastest-selling Wii U title so far.

References to other games

 * Famicom Grand Prix: F-1 Race: A sign in Water Park shows two submarines; one is of an "original 1987 model", which was the year this game came out, and the first time that Mario was in a racing game.
 * Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally: The Mario's Motors logo is seen at the starting line of Mario Circuit. In addition, Mario's artwork from the game can be faintly seen above the logo itself.
 * Super Mario Bros.: Various sprites of enemies and scenery can be seen on pots in Bone-Dry Dunes. Part of Cloudtop Cruise's course layout involves a large ? Block with a beanstalk coming out of it.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic: The Shy Guy Metals sign seen at Toad Harbor says that they've been around since 1987, which is the year of the Shy Guys' first appearance.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Many aspects of Cloudtop Cruise, particularly the airships, are inspired by this game. Gray Bowser Statues that shoot lasers appear in Bowser's Castle. The sprite of the Angry Sun can be seen in the yellow ornamental fabrics near the start of Bone-Dry Dunes.
 * Super Mario Kart: Donut Plains 3 returns as a retro track. Also the Coin item returns with the same function as it does in this game. Rainbow Road and N64 Rainbow Road have their design similar to the Rainbow Road from that game. Parts of the title screen music are a cover version of the Super Mario Kart title screen music. The desks in Sunshine Airport have feather pens with the same design as the Cape Feather from this game and consequently Super Mario World.
 * Super Mario 64: The merry-go-round music from Big Boo's Haunt can be heard when near the Aqua Cups ride in Water Park.
 * Mario Kart 64: Toad's Turnpike, Royal Raceway, Yoshi Valley, and Rainbow Road return as retro tracks. In Toad's Turnpike, a sign shows a highway advisory radio station running at the frequency "64 MHz", referencing both the system and the game it came from. When in two-player mode, the screen splits vertically instead of horizontally, a feature originally intended for this game.
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit: Mario Circuit returns as a retro course. Cloudtop Cruise's name in Japanese is "Sky Garden", the same as a course from this game.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Sunshine Airport has a Shine Sprite in its logo. The European release date is used as a serial number on some storage crates in Sunshine Airport (55402MS= Oct 4th, 2002).
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Like in this game, characters hold items in their hands. Dry Dry Desert and Sherbet Land return as retro courses. N64 Rainbow Road is set above a city like the Rainbow Road from this game. Toad's Turnpike and Toad Harbor can be seen within the city, referencing how some courses in Double Dash would connect themselves to each other in some manner, e.g. GCN Rainbow Road taking place above Mushroom City.
 * Yoshi Topsy-Turvy: Yoshi's artwork which depicts him using his tongue is used as a firework in N64 Rainbow Road.
 * Mario Kart DS: Cheep Cheep Beach, Tick-Tock Clock, and Wario Stadium return as retro courses. Courses with anti-gravitational segments are similar to the corkscrew and the loop in this game's Rainbow Road that allow racers to drive upside down.
 * Super Mario Galaxy series: An image of a Luma can be seen on an airplane (from Galaxy Air airlines) in Sunshine Airport, as well as on the Star Cup trophy. Also, part of Cloudtop Cruise's music is a cover of Gusty Garden Galaxy's music and Sky Station Galaxy's music.
 * Mario Kart Wii: Twelve player races and motorbikes return. The ability to perform stunts on ramps and boost panels returns. Like from this game, Rainbow Road is set above the Earth and has Launch Stars that launch racers in the tunnel to another section of the course. Moo Moo Meadows and Grumble Volcano also return as retro courses.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: One of the planes in Sunshine Airport has a logo for Propeller Toad Transport with an insignia of a Propeller Mushroom.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: Goomba Towers appear as obstacles in Mario Circuit. The Biddybuggy resembles a Para-Biddybud. The Boomerang Flower appears as an item. A silhouette of Tanooki Mario's artwork can be seen on the back of the Leaf Cup trophy.
 * Mario Kart 7: Gliders and underwater areas return. Music Park, Piranha Plant Slide, and DK Jungle return as retro courses. Vehicle customization returns from this game. The remixed music that occurs when the player is in first place also returns from this game. Mount Wario and N64 Rainbow Road are split into three sections just like the three courses from this game, and Mount Wario has an ending point that is not at the starting point like Maka Wuhu. In  N64 Rainbow Road, when the player gets to the final section of the course, the last part of the music starts, just like how the last part of the music in  Rainbow Road starts at the final section of the course. Just like from this game, Rainbow Road has one section that is not rainbow-colored. Electrodrome has some similarities with Music Park, which is when players drive on the instruments, they make their own sound. It also has Mario Kart 7's point system where each racer gets a point regardless of their position. Various kart parts that originated from this game return.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: Twisted Mansion's entrance has a statue of a Boohemoth above it, an enemy from this game. Bone Piranha Plants also make an appearance in Bone-Dry Dunes.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: The Mecha Cheep appears in this game and there is a glider based on a Waddlewing.
 * Super Mario 3D World: The Potted Piranha Plant appears as an item. Fireworks are seen in some courses. Furthermore, most of the fireworks in N64 Rainbow Road use stamp images from this game. An ad on Toad Harbor for Tropical Grocery has a Double Cherry on it. Stamps can be unlocked just like how stamps are unlocked in this game.

This glitch is most common in N64 Yoshi Valley where there are numerous multiple paths, but it can happen under specific circumstances in other courses such as Bone-Dry Dunes. Occasionally when a Spiny Shell is deployed and the racers in at least first and second place are in a section where there road forks into two, the Spiny Shell may initially follow the racer in first place and then change its target to the one in second place or the highest place out of those in the other path. This is caused by some courses especially Yoshi Valley having the checkpoint markers that determine the place of the racers being inadequately calibrated with the other routes, as players can see by going down the old bridge path in while in first place, drop a few places while in the turn and then suddenly be back in first place once the paths join up again.

Staff
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development developed Mario Kart 8. The music composition is credited to Shiho Fujii, Atsuko Asahi, Ryo Nagamatsu, and Yasuaki Iwata, with longtime series composer Kenta Nagata serving as sound director.

Trivia

 * This is the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to feature no new Donkey Kong courses and the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Double Dash!! to feature no retro Bowser's Castles, and the first to feature a retro Wario themed track. Since Super Mario Kart, it also features no Luigi-themed tracks.
 * This is the first Mario Kart game where each course features its own background music, with no tracks sharing music. All previous titles in the series included at least two tracks sharing the same music, most commonly the regular circuit music.
 * Instead, Mario Kart Stadium's music is a cover of Mario Circuit's music, as Mario Kart Stadium serves as a replacement for the Mushroom Cup circuit.
 * Unlike in Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 7, the results screen shows the name of the player's character, instead of the player's own name.
 * Unlike in Mario Kart 7, getting hit by an item while airborne with their glider opened will only cause the racer to spin out with forward momentum instead of flipping over and coming to a halt.