In recent weeks Nintendo — through social network accounts including its Wii U UK Facebook page — has been teasing out additional courses for the upcoming Mario Kart 8. As a result it's become a slightly unexpected weekend routine of skimming the previous seven days to see what new tracks are on show, and the happy news is that there has been one additional piece of artwork to show us what's coming.
This one will be familiar to those that pored over every frame of the trailer for the racer in the final Nintendo Direct of 2013, as it opened that particular video before being joined by some of the others that have since been formally named. This one, unsurprisingly, is called Sunshine Airport.
That takes us up to eight of these formal name reveals — check out the other seven here and here; that's the equivalent of two cups. There have also been glimpses in trailers to date of reworked retro tracks, of course, including some from Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 — unless our eyes have deceived us, of course.
The series norm would be for 16 new tracks and 16 retro, though we'll see in good time. Much is still unknown about MK8, including its local multiplayer battle modes, online functionality, the likely return of Communities, and any solid demonstration of the potentially awesome Mario Kart TV sharing options. Plenty to anticipate before 30th May.
Let us know whether this is a course you're excited about; you can see some neat clips of it in the December 2013 Nintendo Direct trailer, below.
Comments 59
Cool. Makes me wish I had a Wii U.
This is shaping up to look nice.
Man oh man this game will be all kinds of amazing. More earthlings will be getting Wii U once this is sitting irresistibly on shelves.
Mario Kart is a system seller and a great game to boot! I CAN'T WAIT!
wasnt the mario kart trailer from december the koopalings one?
this one was before, i guess.
either way, that course seems as awesome as the others shown by now.
i believe we will be seeing some new ones (and new retro ones) on the next direct, hopefully first week of april, along with the launch of gba games on wiiu VC.
and smash, as always.
Man, I can't wait to get this for my Wii U.
PLEASE BRING BACK BABY PARK!!!
I think someone from Nintendo said that MK8 won't be following the usual 16 new/16 retro course routine. Can't remember explicitly what they said though….
Don't say this often, but I really hope DLC is a thing for this Mario Kart. I'd be such a sucker for older and of course new additional tracks on this edition.
This and Smash Bros. DLC would be so easy and feel a little more worthwhile than some 3DS offerings so far.
Awww yeah, My GOTY right here!
Just wow, never felt this wowed by the look of a Mario kart, each new course looks awesome and original. By original, I mean it seems to deviate from the usual Mario kart formula of a Mario circuit, Luigi Circuit, Snow-themed etc. Only 4 new tracks left to show and 2 of them are a Bowser Castle and Rainbow Road.
Finally a Wii U game to get excited about! o:
I hate Sunshine but this track looks great. The plane makes it impressive
Probably going to be the best Mario Kart game to date!
Eh, who needs this with Hello Kitty Kruisers on the eShop? I kid, of course...this looks incredible. Tick, tock...just a little over two months to go!
Those are some beautiful screens.
this looks amazing now to wait for it.
The tracks seemingly gets wider and wider with every Mario Kart release.
: (
Just as well that Super Mario Kart is coming out on the VC soon!
Looks real pretty, I hope the add more tracks over the life time of the WiiU as DLC, €3 a track and I'm sold!
@sinalefa - You hated Sunshine? I can see how that stupid water jetpack mechanic wouldn't be to everybody's liking but I still thought it was a pretty enjoyable game over all. I liked it better than Mario 64 but the SMG games are better.
It's named Sunshine Airport I'm guessing this isn't on Delfino Island seeing as how the airport may be bigger than the entire island. I guess it could have been expanded over the past 12 years though.
@rjejr
I played Sunshine after playing 64 and the two Galaxy games. But keep in mind that Sunshine was the only one of those that I did not play at launch or close to it, so maybe that was why I hated it. I thought it was better than many other games, but average for a Mario game. The graphics are top notch for its time, though.
Things I hated: the camera that won't stop self adjusting even after I moved it, a Yoshi that can't take a drop of water (in a game set on an island, water is everywhere!), those backpack-less stages where Mario can't even make a long jump and some really weird things like Mario dismembering a huge Squid boss and the Juice meter being Yoshi's stomach, implying he actually puked the juice instead of spitting it. And that godawful voice acting.
I get 100% out of all 3D Mario games, with Sunshine being the exception to that rule. I could not stand more than 92 stars.
So far from all that I have seen, this was my favorite track to anticipate. When I watched the trailer at home my wife and roommate were in awe when they saw the airplane taking off, and they were very excited. the only thing that could make this game perfect would be if Royal Raceway 64 is one of the retro tracks.
Well judging by 2 photos that don't show much track, I'd find it hard to say what I think of Sunshine Airport. Going by previous details I'm know of an airplane taking off while you race down a runway, so I'm sure it's pretty cool.
My hype... cannot... be contained!!!!
Ahhhhhhhh! Hype.... Overload!!!!!!! Brain..... Can't handle! AGGGGRHHHHHH I NEED THIS GAME!
Yea, good looking track, I've got mine pre-ordered. As for the Sunshine discussion - love it, the FLUDD is an alright addition but man the attention to detail in that game, like how you can spot the different levels from one another. Pure class.
Since this is Mario Kart we're talking about, it makes it interesting, and a tad dicey to think about Denzel Washington's "Flight" character Whip Whitaker at the helm of one of those airplanes! "BLUE SHELLS AIN'T GOT S*** ON ME!"
Welcome to the friendly skies, ladies & gentlemen!!!
@rjejr I kind of enjoyed the F.L.U.D.D mechanics. It was fun being able to have some control over how I wanted to approach a star rather than having a set path.
I do need to agree with @sinalefa on Mario's movement without the pack. He was pretty sluggish. The self adjusting camera was a pain; there were a number of situations where you could screw up a jump because of it.
However, I do like Sunshine cause it tried to make Mario do new things, it wasn't ridiculously easy like some of the newer games in the series, and because it lacked the amount of linearity in more recent Mario games.
I know a lot of people are probably not going to agree with me here, but I feel that once Mario hit the 3D plane he should have stayed there. To me it seems an open world fits more for the Mario series.
So pretty.
@sinalefa - Makes sense you feel that way about Sunshine if you played it after the 2 Galaxy games, those games were just about as good as an open world platformer can get. I bought my Gamecube for Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion and they were both really impressive to me at the time.
This is probably going to be one of my favorite new tracks.
This will most likely be the game that'll make me finally buy a Wii U.
@Ernest_The_Crab I agree with you 100%. As much as I can admire the newer 3d Mario games for their creativity and modern controls, I believe it was a step back when they decided to abandon the open world exploration for these games. The newer games could've been so much better if it were still present. Unfortunately there are many who won't agree with us and as a consequence Mario games will be kept simple and linear for quite some time.
I can't wait idk if its the lack of wiiu games or not but im so excited i just can't hide it
@readyletsgo DLC for the Wii U? Impossible!
May can't come soon enough between this and Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.9.0 (unrelated I know)
I'm really hoping for some new battle games like the balloon pop but new ones and online...destruction derby
There has to be another direct before this is released...anyone see commercials for this game or has nintendo dropped the ball again in that department
I so can't wait for this game it's really looking like it is shaping up to be better than Mario Kart Wii which was my favorite and still is for now. Also hoping Mario kart 8 will have more than just coin runners and balloon battles this time. A new battle mode of some sort would be great.
SO PUMPED FOR THIS!
@AshFoxX
That and Rainbow Road 64 would make the game legendary.
@K-Gamer So glad I'm not the only one who wants the N64's Rainbow Road to return. MK7 created what should be the norm for future Mario Kart games; that every Lightning Cup is graced with a Rainbow Road from a past game.
I so want to play that track.
How could anyone not want a Wii U with games like this?
It will be interesting to see how this sells. MarioKart Wii sold a astounding 38 million copies, but that was on a platform with a huge install base. Things are wildly different on the Wii U, so this may well be the worst selling MarioKart ever, despite it being by far the biggest budget.
How did all these cart racers get past the security checkpoints? Oh wait, this is Nintendo we're talking about!
I still thing the Thwomp palace is my favorite track so far. I can't wait to get "pancaked" by a Thwomp; there's nothing quite like it!
@Fill-N koopalings trailer was the feb's direct.
Mario sunshine ftw!!
I am excited about every course they have shown off in Mario Kart 8. I am so stoked for this game! Loving the weekly updates!
I have played every Mario Kart till date and I must say MK8 is heading towards the top of the entire chain. Beautiful levels!
Regarding Sunshine, I had a lot of fun with that game. Inventive way to use Mario and the FLUDD device added a new dimension to his movements. Indeed, the lack of the long jump made it a little less than previous games. But let's not forget that the SMG games did not have the dive jump, which I certainly missed is some life/death situations. Overall, I think you should have played Sunshine when it was the newest Mario around, then you'd have more appreciation for it.
@Frapp Me too, sunshine was so different and hard at time, but was totally addictive, but I wonder how would they make it better? multiplayer maybe? more uses for FLUDD? BTW, I GOT FRAPP IN MY STACHE! FRAPP ATTACK! lol, I miss the Cleaveland Show
I own a 3ds and most nintendo consoles dating back to the N64, and though I have stayed off the wiiu and opted to buy a PC instead, I think Mk8 and SSB4 will push me to buy one
Hopefully a new metroid, f-zero or starfox by then
@mostro328 why would nintendo start advertising 2 and a half months before launch?
@Captain-Falcon movies etc are promoted months in advance why the heck wouldn't they
So, SO excited for this game.
@BigDaddysPizza Their are some nice games already and this is no exception. U should get one, you wont regret it.
I hope Ninty advertises the hell out of this game and system. This game will be a mainstream smash and should sell systems. This game along with a new Zelda, Smash Bros, their huge indie game list and Retro's new game shoyld make for a ton of sales. Then lord willing 3rd party devs will get with it.
@ScorpionMG oh my god, youre right. I totally forgot there was a ND in february. Lol
It may sound crazy, but this game might not be half bad.
Looking better and better every single day...summer can't come soon enough
Paid off my pre order today i can't wait
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...