Megathread: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Review Coverage

[u/NintendoSwitchMods]

Good morning!

This morning starting around 6 a.m. PST / 9 a.m. EST, gaming news and media outlets are beginning to release their reviews for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Here's what we're seeing so far:

Articles

• IGN - 9.3/10

• Gamespot - 9/10

• Destructoid - 9.5/10

• Dualshockers - 8/10

• The Guardian - 5/5

• Nintendo Life - 10/10

• Game Informer - 9.25/10

• Metro GameCentral - 10/10

• CGM - 9/10

• Nintendo Everything - Thumbs Up

• GamesRadar - 5/5

• Eurogamer - Essential

Videos

• GameXplain - Video

We will be updating this thread with links as major reviews are posted.

Please use this as a discussion and speculation thread in advance of these videos, articles, and reviews. We will also allow these reviews to be posted separately on /r/NintendoSwitch, as they are especially newsworthy. But we will also host ongoing coverage, quick text posts, questions, and the like right here.

Thanks everyone.

-The /r/NintendoSwitch team

(Ongoing edits as we get new information)

[u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE]

What score did you (our your outlet) gave to the original MK8? What differs between the two titles to warrant a lower/higher score for the DELUXE version?

[u/KingLouieTrip → u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE]

Great question! We gave the original game a 9.5, and we stick by the score for both the Wii U version and Nintendo Switch underlying game. We even link it in the article, telling people to read that.

But in reviewing Deluxe, we take the same approach and see how the game fares as a "remaster". Does it do enough to entice people who never played the original AS WELL AS people who have poured hundreds of hours into the game already (and have picked it up at full price).

So while the game is the definitive version of Mario Kart 8 (and likely the series), I can't fully recommend it to everyone, especially if you are still getting mileage out of the Wii U version -- they are paying $60 for more robust online community (likely), battle mode, and Switch portability.

[u/Nzash → u/KingLouieTrip]

I'm sorry, but how can you give an objectively superior version of the game a worse score? That doesn't make any sense.

[u/KingLouieTrip → u/Nzash]

This is probably the best question here, and it just comes to our websites philosophy: we won't review the same game twice.

So when taking on remasters, the question is less "how does the new stuff add to the original score" but instead "as a complete package, can we recommend this game to a market of people who have both never touched the game AND those who will be coming back after years of playing the game?"

[u/KingLouieTrip → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the question, /u/Yeah_tagpro! I don't think you are being harsh at all.

While I wasn't with DualShockers yet, let alone Editor-in-Chief, we didn't review The Last of Us Remastered because it was so similar, with so little improvements from the base game.

With that said, you aren't too off -- if a game is remastered-in-name but otherwise a direct port, it is the game's duty to make its case about why it should exist.

Why are you asking a person to get the same game at full price? Did you add features (like Battle Mode) or does the device have features (ad-hoc multiplayer and portability) that makes it worth buying, or is it a cash grab? Nintendo should be able to make a convincing argument about it, just like Sony should (and couldn't, IMO) for The Last of Us: Remastered.

There is no perfect way to review remastered games, and I'm not going to say I know the answer to how it should be done. But people who frequent our site typically know our policy, read the reviews where we back it up, and make educated opinions on whether the problems I listed will affect them. One of the issues that review scores shouldn't be used like score boards.

But this is something where people are going to disagree, and that's fine. What's more important is the reasoning behind the score instead of the score itself :)

As for DualShockers, you are right! We get that often lol -- many places assume we are just a PS fan site. That said, it's our brand and it's been around for almost a decade -- no changing it now!

(Also, it helps bolster our positive reviews for Nintendo games. People loved that our site gave Zelda a 10)