The Wii U may not be renowned for its power but the developer behind Mario Kart 8, which will be releasing for the platform on May 30th, it’s helping to deliver a visual experience that franchise fans haven’t seen before.

In a roundtable interview with Gamespot, producer Hideki Konno said, “We’re working with HD for the first time, and we really wanted to take advantage of that. The last console version was Mario Kart Wii, which was released in 2008, so it was about six years ago. And during those six years, we were able to incorporate a lot of technology in our development process, but especially on the graphics side. So we put a lot of effort into making this a good looking game – it’s a very pretty game.”

The best part is that the visual quality won’t see any drops in split-screen mode, like in Mario Kart Wii which experienced frame rate drops. “This time with the power of the Wii U we really made an effort to keep that graphic quality high regardless of how many ways we were splitting the TV into.”

Director Kosuke Yabuki also stated that, “We’ve also been able to show movement on the [karts and bikes] that we haven’t seen before. We’re seeing bounding, we’re seeing different parts of the kart move, we’re seeing dirt on the tires, we’re seeing skidmarks left on the course–again I think we’ve done a good job of utilizing that graphical power.

“Using the power of the Wii U, we were able to create a Mario Kart title that feels right, and the controls feel like they’re perfect for this game.”

Let us know what you think of Mario Kart 8 in the comments below.

Mario Kart 8 will be releasing on the Wii U this May and will feature the return of many classic elements like motorbikes, hang-gliders and the usual go-karts. This also means we’ll be seeing the return of some classic tracks, including the notorious Rainbow Road which has forever been a thorn in many gamers’ sides. Check out the latest version of the multi-coloured death course in the new trailer above..

Mario Kart 8 does things a bit differently from its predecessors by featuring anti-gravity segments which see racers moving through loops and climbing up vertical surfaces like walls. The trailer also showcases some new characters along with the usual returning cast of Mushroom Kingdom denizens.

Will Mario Kart 8 help turn the Wii U’s success around? We’ll find out when it launches on May 30th for the console in North America and Europe. Let us know your thoughts on the trailer below in the mean time.

Whilst being the eleventh title in the series chronology it’s actually only the 8th entry in the main series of kart racers.

Mario Kart 8 will be available in Japan on May 29th of 2014, North America on May 20th 2014, Europe on May 20th 2014 and Australia on May 31st of 2014.

• 1. Development
• 2. Gameplay
• 3. Characters
• 4. Items

Development

The official acknowledgement and confirmation of Mario Kart 8 came in January 2013 during a Nintendo Direct broadcast (a short online production that details up coming content and releases regarding Nintendo related products, these webcasts are streamed approximately once a month and are hosted by Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata). After receiving this confirmation the game was later shown at E3 2013.

The development of Mario Kart 8 began at sometime in 2012 and since then the game has seen various gameplay ideas scrapped including a drill-like attachment that allowed the player to dig into the ground. This was scrapped due to a lack of developer interest. Favour was given instead to the anti-gravity concept.

This concept came into being after considering the console on which Mario Kart would be played. With the Wii U being an evolution of old technology, new ideas and play styles were deemed necessary. With this in mind, the evolution of a 2D plane into a 3D plane was suitable and thus the anti-gravity idea came into being. This new gameplay mechanic is represented in the title, specifically the number 8.

The number 8 resembles a mobius strip, which despite being a 3D object is a 2D plane that allows two paths on one plane. The mobius strip is often mistaken with the infinity symbol hence some fan speculation that the game was initially to be titled Mario Kart Infinity. One idea that fans have put forth, but has yet to receive any confirmation of inclusion was the return of Mario Kart Double Dash features (two racers to a kart handling offensive and defensive capabilities as well as weight shifting during turns) that have been requested by fans many times. At the minute, the game is running a steady 60 frames per second in single player races as well as in two player races. Nintendo is hoping to bring this feature to four player local races as well, there is no word yet on how this will be affected by online play.

Gameplay

As is to be expected with the Mario Kart franchise, gameplay has fundamentally remained the same despite the near constant innovation behind the gameplay mechanics. Characters from all corners of the Mario universe race against each other in a variety of game modes in different types of Karts to claim the title of victor as their own. However, victory is no easy thing to obtain: as you try to out race the others you will run into various items  that you can use such as speed boosts and projectile weapons.

But while you’re trying to hinder the progress of other racers they will be doing the same thing with extreme hostility, making races fast and dangerous with no certainty. A returning feature from previous Mario Kart games is the inclusion of the motorbikes, these vehicles are much more nimble than other vehicles but don’t benefit from the more potent drift boost available to kart racers.

Their smaller nature however makes tighter corners and easier evasion an option, this smaller frame does open you up to being rammed much more easily. Also returning is the fan favourite hang-gliders that were first used in Mario Kart Wii, as is the underwater racing capability. New features that are being used to innovate the game series is the inclusion of HD visuals for the first time in a Mario Kart game and the new gameplay mechanic that focuses on an Anti Gravity approach that allows players to drive their vehicles on both the walls and the ceilings. In an attempt to push the Miiverse, Nintendo is introducing the new Mario Kart Tv which enables players to share their best clips from races.

Characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Daisy
• Yoshi
• Toad
• Toadette
• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Koopa Troopa
• Wario
• Waluigi
• Rosalina
• Baby Mario
• Baby Luigi
• Baby Peach
• Baby Dais
• Larry Koopa
• Morton Koopa Jr.
• Wendy O. Koopa
• Iggy Koopa
• Roy Koopa
• Lemmy Koopa
• Ludwig von Koopa

Items

• Item Box
• Coins
• Green Shell
• Triple Green Shells
• Red Shell
• Triple Red Shells
• Banana
• Triple Bananas
• Mushroom
• Triple Mushroom
• Golden Mushroom
• Fire Flower
• Star
• Blooper
• Bob-omb
• Spiny Shell
• Lightning
• Bullet Bull

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.