Mario Kart 8 is one of the biggest releases this year for the Nintendo Wii U. It has, historically, been one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, but it has rarely received any kind of post launch support to keep the game fresh in its players’ minds.
That is all changing on August 27, 2014. Nintendo is releasing a free update that day that will bring some cosmetic game play changes AND introduce three new karts based on cars from Mercedes-Benz history.
The new karts are:
- Mercedes-Benz GLA
- Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
- Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow
The GLA will come with its own set of wheels, but any of the three will be useable with current stock of wheels and wings. (The idea of a GLA with giant monster truck tires amuses me to no end!)
The game updates are mostly quality-of-life changes. They make the game experience smoother and more feature rich without changing the game play itself in any meaningful way. The updates (per the Nintendo press release) are as follows:
- Drivers will now have the option to display the course map on the TV screen during races.
- The order of the menu after each race will be changed to “Next Race”, followed by “Watch Highlight Reel”.
- The game will remember the most recent kart options that were selected, even if the Wii U system was powered down.
- Users will be able to change options of other players’ Mario Kart TV downloaded highlight reels, such as changing the focus to different characters or actions.
- A score screen will be added so players can see how many coins they’ve collected, the win-loss record of their online battles and their frequently used characters.
- Improved the stability of the online connection to enhance user experience during online battles.
These are definitely all welcome changes in our book. Are any of them going to be particularly important for you? Sound off in the comments!
