Video: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as an 'Ultimate' Handheld Release - Digital Foundry Weighs In

As a handheld game there is nothing that could possibly compete with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Portability, awesome graphics, multiplayer with up to 4 people, its on a tier of its own. This is definitely one area that the Switch is going to dominate, but at the same time still have a comfortable place in peoples living rooms.

Seeing the upgrade from Mario Kart 7 to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on a handheld is crazy. The Switch is going to ruin all other portables for me.

He called it Super Mario Kart 8 at the end...I want him to have a single video without getting one clearly stated fact wrong. Please? You work with data all day.

On that note I never noticed MK* ran at 59 FPS. I'm also not single. Probably not related though.

Probably.

Interesting to show this as a handheld though. One one hand, yes, for existing owners, all 9 million or so, that is the key selling point, and thus highlighting how it fares against the previous handheld entry is commendable.

On the other hand they also compare it to the Wii U when docked so...why not just acknowledge it's both? Does Digital Foundry have a hard time acknowledging a hybrid system because it means they have to change how they look at something?

Either way, its portable for us veterans of MK8 and is new to the rest of the world who didn't give a damn. ANd that's a good thing.

Just 7 more days..

@Danpal65 You can have up to 8 player local play as well if everyone has a Switch and a copy of the game. Another selling point to add to the list.

@BLP_Software I was able to spot the visual glitch in the game, but very rarely. Honestly, if I never knew about it, I would've never noticed.

Poor WiiU version... 59 fps.... how was that game ever enjoyable ??

@Yoshi I had forgotten about that. With 4 people locally with 1 Switch and a single copy of the game and up to 8 players with individual Switch and copies of the game, its an awesome portable experience.

I totally agree about the antialiasing and the bi-linear filtering is ugly. But i've never seen a nintendo game that does it well yet. Hopefully they'll start to do it better with the future games. Jagged lines one of my bigger pet peeves and blurry parts (bi-linear filtering bits).

Other then those 2 things the game seems perfect, btw loved this review too, it's not often we find someone who knows what the filtering options you talked about even are and what they mean to the in-game final renders. To me it sticks out a lot since I work on games, but to others maybe it isn't such a big deal. I just feel sorry for the 3D modelers and artists that went to so much work just to get poor filtering options at the end that make the work look only 75% as good as it should have.

@BLP_Software

LOL!

Maybe!

MK8's frame rate issue wouldn't be noticeable if it was literally running at 59 fps, that is, 59 frames spread evenly over a second.

HOWEVER! That's not what it was. It was 60 fps for 59/60 of a second, and 0 fps for 1/60 of a second, every second. That's what caused the "microstuttering."

YES !
I'm waiting for the Switch version.
I'm a bit bored with Mario Kart 7 now due to lack of Versus CPU if I want to play Solo.

I like how the karts on mario kart 8 deluxe have those flashing antennas on the back of the karts. Did you guys notice that difference too?

I would rather see dlc as opposed to Mario Kart 9.

@Yoshi You can have up to 12 players locally if you set up a LAN network. .

I hope that they offer some real quality DLC for MK8D to keep it fresh. I know it's an amazing package out of the box, but there's always scope for DLC and special events (as in the Splat Fests).

Just waiting for a quality battery add-on for the Switch to make portable gaming on the Switch more ideal.

Yeah, MK8D better get DLC to keep it interesting just as the Wii U did, it's a big release for the Switch despite being a re-release but I sure hope Nintendo treats it as a proper release.

@GrailUK Likewise. In fact, I want to see Mario Kart "as a service" - continually updated with new content, The mechanics/gameplay are so spot on that I really wouldn't care if we didn't see MK9 until 2020 or beyond.

Perfect I would say, except for the texture filtering. If it's not anisotropic 16x it isn't perfect. ^^
It can't be bilinear filtering. It can't be anything lesser than trilinear filtering. There are no performance differences between the two in modern hardware.

Well the Switch is a handheld so why not? And no, I won't be spending another €60 on top of the €75 I've already spent.

@Alex0714 That appears for people using the Smart Steering assist feature.

@GrailUK I'd rather see Mario Kart 9 as opposed to Mario Kart 8: Superglue Edition.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE What is 9 going to do that 8 doesn't? A console needs just a single Mario Kart. They may as well add to this one as I have a sneaking suspicion that a 9 wouldn't look noticeably 'better'.

@BLP_Software Switch is a handheld first and foremost that can dock.

This is actually very supportive of DF to do so. When Switch was shown off by Nintendo as a console it was ridiculed by the 'hardcore' and a mass Wii U style hate campaign was rapidly gaining pace online - until DF stated this is the most powerful handheld in existence. DF have changed the 'hardcore' opinion and the hate has passed. Comparing MK7 to MK8 is even smarter - it shows how much Nintendo have moved in the portable market in only 6 years.

When people look at Switch as a portable it seems incredible - this is actually great marketing for Nintendo - an uber powerful handheld that can actually run console games. It maximises the Switch concept. Everyone always wanted a portable console you could plug into a TV!!!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE yet it will take a few years before we get mario kart 9 so it makes sense to do what they have done with 8. Nintendo could feasibly have never released the two wii u packs they did and they could have added them as brand new content to the switch release to make it more appealing, but then they would have been criticised for that too wouldn't they.

I think this makes a lot of sense especially as a lot of switch owners in the next 12 months will never have played mario kart 8

Anyone else worried that Nintendo will ruin these mulitplayer fun game with a crappy network price in the fall?

@EternalDragonX Isn't it supposed to be like $20-30? It will be less than PSN or Xbox One Live.

@astarisborn94 That's what was planned but we will see

Glad to hear that fire-hopping has been patched out and this video finally answers the "loading time" question, which appears to be reduced on the Switch version... although still longer than I had hoped.

This makes me really reconsider my plan to wait until Fall to buy a Switch...

Hopefully Nintendo is already working on some free or cheap DLC that isn't just more Battle arenas... that would make the price point much harder to complain about for the haters and would probably eliminate a need for another MK on Switch.

@holygeez03 13 seconds is too long for you? You game on a $10k pc or something?

You know what I like about this game?

MAH BOY DRY BONES IS BACK!

@Paddle1 I just thought it was an extra thing they put on all karts now, but now I know, thx.

@liveswired yeah, I never understood why Nintendo insisted on calling the Switch a home console first and foremost. That never made sense to me from a marketing perspective.

@BLP_Software The tone of your comment seems very angry and rude. Did Digital Foundry kill your puppy or something?

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I'd rather get a port of 8 now and 9 later on. I don't want to wait three years to play Mario Kart on Switch.

To me this was expected/necessary...take some of Wii U's best titles (MK8, Splatoon, Breath of the Wild, really) and get them out in the Switch's first year to make sure they sell better than the 11 million or so install base for Wii U does. The original MK8 and Splatoon did not reach their sales potential any way you want to look at it.

I'm buying again because I want Mario Kart on this thing. The portability is worth it to me. It is going to be the best portable but can't help but chuckle at Digital Foundry's angle.

Stull going to wait on it. My Wii U version will handle just fine for the time being.

@SneakyStyle I'm reasonably certain their royalty checks/bonuses will make up for any concerns they have that their artwork might be slightly marred in the final output.

@tedko

So they don't have the media and internet pundits squealing about them leaving the home console market

@tedko
It does make sense for several purposes. Here are the ones I have identified so far:

1: It makes it clear to users that Nintendo intends for the machine to receive full-scale games from both themselves and third parties.

2: It emphasizes that you don't have play alone, but that a huge focus is on multiplayer.

3: It makes it seem reasonable for there not to be a SIM card slot in the machine.

4: It makes the relatively short battery life seem like less of an issue.

5: It makes the pricepoint seem fair, as they could not afford selling it any cheaper, and their handhelds have only ever been successful at somewhat lower prices.