Mario Kart 8 is, perhaps, the finest example of the supremely popular Mario Kart series. It’s also a deeply weird one – which is good, because otherwise I wouldn’t have too much to write about. It first came out on the Wii U, way back in 2014. To put it in perspective, that puts it both 11 years from 2025 and the release of Mario Kart: Double Dash. Yes, I get a perverse joy out of spooking people out with the passage of time.
It was a strong showing on the Wii U, but that console being what it was, meant that not many people got to experience it. Oh, sure, it sold over a million copies in its first four days, but the Wii U’s general unpopularity meant that not many people got to experience it. I remember that the rerelease on the Switch a whole three years later was a controversial move, but in the long run, it turned out to be the right one.
