Game:

Mario Kart 8 (2014)

Duration: 17:56

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Welp, don't ever say I never get you anything (almost) topical to look at, huh? Very recently marked the launch of the first of two much-anticipated Mario Kart 8 DLC packs... or in other words, three new characters, three new vehicles, one new set of tires, one new glider, and eight new racetracks. That's a pretty beefy content injection.

Funny side thought... these will be my first "real" Mario Kart 8 uploads (Mario Kart TV doesn't count!), because somehow my timeliness has been buried under a deeper backlog than I thought. I also figured what the heck, it's so new that everybody and their dog's kid's brother-in-law's niece is going to be uploading Mario Kart 8.

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Tanooki Mario
-Blue Falcon
-Triforce Tires
-Waddle Wing

I'm still slightly bummed out that of the "three" new characters introduced in the set, two are just existing characters in costumes... maybe I wouldn't feel so much that way if we didn't have baby AND metallic versions that I already felt way too mixed feelings about in general.

I also avoided using the obvious Tanooki-themed vehicle choice because... well, we'll see.

I should've thought better about using tires I knew would come in handy for the next set, but it always seems like I end up with the least variety in that category, whether I meant it to happen that way or not.

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50cc Egg Cup

So the point here is to showcase the new sights and sounds... not so much my (lack of) driving ability and the tendency for your opponents to collectively cause you to call into question your sanity and/or pain threshold... well, I knew as soon as I made the choice that I had totally overkilled that expectation and now I've got a set of races where the AI opponents basically leave me alone without so much as raising a finger against me most of the way. Oops!

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GCN Yoshi Circuit

I'm not entirely sure I can put my finger on it, but this track feels like it's been tweaked a bit to be more challenging than before... maybe the track is narrower all around... and I feel like the edges are set up more so that you can't really just take a simple racing line to cut through it and its previously-generous shoulders at points where the Yoshi outline gets more jagged.

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Excitebike Arena

I feel like only one look at this track really doesn't do it the proper justice it might deserve. After all, it changes with every play! I'm probably a little spoiled by what's become of the Excite "series" in the days since, so I'm a little let down it's not more... dynamic. It's still really nice to see Excitebike represented in some way after all this time. (Anonymous Excitebike racer guy for Mario Kart 8! He could even be multicolored like Yoshi and Shy Guy!)

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Dragon Driftway

This is a pretty neat course! Is it based on something specific where I've arranged a mental block? All I really pick up on is some similarity to some large dragons and dragon-like creatures from Paper Mario and Mario Galaxy games, and none of them really played up at any sort of traditional Chinese influences. I think it's a slight bit more challlenging than one might want to take note of, since it SEEMS extremely straightforward... for a track that's been wrapped around a twisting dragon.

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Mute City

C'mawn! Show me your moves! (Seriously, watch the billboards!) Now I will finally confess to that which nobody would possibly have failed to account for... the Blue Falcon goes here! (Also I really loved the chance to drive in this version of it in Mario Kart Wii.)

It's not a new F-Zero game, but it's at least a crossover that acknowledges the fact that Captain Falcon is a racer when he's not being a fire-fisted memetic badass. Or a bounty hunter, apparently... ... ...why is it that the man can't get steady work in the video games industry again?!

Forget about coins on the track, the reparative effects of the pit strips will fill your pockets! Wait, how does that even work? I'm not normally one to notice the precise effects of coin collecting on people's lead feet, but is this measure that's almost certain to have maxed out their moneybags supposed to bring us closer to the blistering speeds F-Zero is known for? I don't know about that, but it's a fun assertion to carelessly sling around, isn't it?!

I'm also really fond of the alterations to the starting line and results jingles that make them the same as in the original F-Zero!

If you don't know them, I know SOMEONE who happened to do a quick overview on the series... cough cough

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1B20D8F2335A2AD8

cough--excuse me! I don't know what that could possibly have been!

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I have a license to use Nintendo’s content in this video through the Nintendo Creators Program. This video is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, but any advertising revenue from this video will be shared with Nintendo.

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