Sure, Mario Kart Tour is coming to mobile devices later this year, but right now, we’re still technically playing the same Mario Kart game we were on the Wii U five years ago. Yep, on 30th May 2014, Mario Kart 8 was released in North America and Europe on a Nintendo system that was at the time struggling to appeal to the masses.
The particular entry set itself apart from previous outings in the Mario Kart series with an all-new anti-gravity feature. The DLC was also a first for the series, adding in free Mercedes-Benz karts and two paid DLC packs later down the line – featuring more characters, vehicles and tracks. The 200cc was an added bonus. All of this paid off in the long-run, with Mario Kart 8 becoming the Wii U’s best-selling title and shifting more than eight million copies worldwide.
This followed with Nintendo releasing an enhanced version, titled Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, on the Switch in 2017. The main selling point this time around was the inclusion of a classic battle mode, which was oddly missing from the original version of the game. Since the arrival of Deluxe, we’ve received a number of unique updates such as Link’s bike from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and even Nintendo Labo compatibility. This Switch release has also become a critical and commercial success, selling more than sixteen million copies globally to make it the hybrid platform’s best-selling title.
Celebrate Mario Kart 8’s fifth anniversary in the comments and tell us if you’re ready for a completely new entry in the series.