Piranha Plant and Boomerang Flower items join the fray across original and reimagined courses
3rd April 2014 – Nintendo today revealed new information on Mario Kart 8, the latest instalment in the fan-favourite racing series launching exclusively for Wii U on 30th May – in stores and on Nintendo eShop. For the first time in HD, Mario Kart 8 introduces original course designs that highlight the game’s new antigravity feature, which allows players to race upside down or up vertical surfaces. Racers will also enjoy a variety of series-favourite features including the return of 12-player online competitive play*, four player lo cal multiplayer, hang-gliders, underwater racing and motorbikes.
New features include:
Nintendo has lifted a new embargo on Mario Kart 8, and several press previews are now starting to arrive.
– Retro tracks have been given a noticeable upgrade
– 16 returning tracks
– 16 new courses
– Largest selection of playable characters
– Confirmed characters:
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Yoshi
Bowser
Donkey Kong
Toad
Toadette
Koopa Troopa
Wario
Waluigi
Rosalina
Baby Mario
Baby Luigi
Baby Peach
Baby Daisy
Larry Koopa
Morton Koopa Jr.
Wendy O. Koopa
Iggy Koopa
Roy Koopa
Lemmy Koopa
Ludwig von Koopa
Metal Mario
Shy Guy
Lakitu
– Retro courses feature anti-gravity sections
– Glider and underwater additions return
– Toad’s Turnpink, Moo Moo Meadows, Mario Circuit are back
– Toad’s Turnpink features ramped lorries that flip you onto new vertical track sides and let you storm past swaths of traffic hazards
– Moo Moo Meadows now has an elegant skybox, dynamic lighting and lush green fields
– GBA Mario Circuit has been altered so that part of track is tilted to a 45 degree angle
– Split screen with up to 4 players
– 30 FPS in split-screen
– At least 2 new weapons
– Piranha Plant item from last year’s Super Mario 3D World included
– The pot will gobble up passers-by
– Mario’s Boomerang Flower power-up is included for the first time as a three-shot weapon with homing abilities, able to pick off anyone in a large radius
– Earn coins from item boxes
– Up to 10 to collect in a race
– Can no longer pick up additional items while holding a weapon behind your kart
– Horn is still present on the GamePad
– Options to toggle between a live view of the main screen, a map of the track layout and a list of the current player rankings
– Edit Highlight Reel option at the end of each race
– Select parameters to automatically generate a video of your playthrough
– Choose the clip length, specific characters for the camera to follow and a focus on key racing moments such as item use or stunt jumps
Along with today’s screenshot, Sakurai passed along the following message on Miiverse:
Pikachu’s Thunder now starts off with a thundercloud that deals a Meteor Smash! From left to right, you can see this combo starting with Pikachu throwing the opponent upward, Meteor Smashing with the lightning strike, and then directly attacking. Foes can dodge, of course, so the attack won’t hit consistently, but when it does, it sure feels good!
This week’s Jump has four more character confirmations for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call. Eiko from Final Fantasy IX, Jecht from Final Fantasy X, Fran from Final Fantasy XII, and Noel from Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be included in the game. You can check out a scan showing off the characters above.
Did you know that Nintendo’s GBA Virtual Console for Wii U wasn’t an entirely internal effort? Far from it, actually.
A notice posted on M2’s website reveals that the company led development of the GBA Wii U VC. You may know the studio for its work on SEGA’s 3D Classic series on 3DS.
This week’s Japanese eShop update is as follows:
3DS
Downloadable Titles
Simple DL Series Vol. 25 The Solitaire Klondike Spider – 300 yen
Kashiramoji D (Initial D) Perfect Shift Online – FREE
Sensha 3D – 700 yen
Dokopon Choice Dragon Ball Color-ban Jis?ningen, Cell-hen 1 – 8-kan + Omake Pack – 3,600 yen
Maru G?kaku! IT Passport Shiken Heisei 26-nendo-ban – 2,800 yen
Dorakazu Nobita no S?ji Daib?ken (retail title) – 4,937 yen
Virtual Console
Super Donkey Kong GB (Donkey Kong Land, Game Boy) – 411 yen
Wii U
Downloadable Titles
Alphadia Genesis – 1,944 yen
Virtual Console
F-Zero for Game Boy Advance (F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Game Boy Advance) – 702 yen (from 4/3)
?gon no Taiy?: Hirakareshi F?in (Golden Sun, Game Boy Advance) – 702 yen (from 4/3)
Game Boy Wars Advance 1 + 2 (Advance Wars 1 + 2, Game Boy Advance) – 702 yen (from 4/3)
Super Mario Advance 2 (Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, Game Boy Advance) – 702 yen (from 4/3)
Hoshi no Kirby: Kagami no Daimeik? (Kirby and The Amazing Mirror, Game Boy Advance) – 702 yen (from 4/3)
Made in Wario (WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Game Boy Advance) – 702 yen (from 4/3)
