History YMMV / MarioKart8

* SpiritualLicensee: Seeing as though we're probably not going to get a new entry anytime soon, this is the closest we can get to a newly-released VideoGame/FZero game. The extra downloadable content helps; Mute City and the Blue Falcon in DLC Pack 1, a Captain Falcon amiibo racing suit, and even a lightning-fast 200cc mode.

* SpiritualLicensee: Seeing as though we're probably not going to get a new entry anytime soon, this is the closest we can get to a newly-released VideoGame/FZero game (especially after the Blue Falcon was released as one of the karts in one of the DLC packs). Even moreso once the 200cc mode gets released, which will give the game F-Zero levels of speed.

* SpiritualLicensee: Seeing as though we're probably not going to get a new entry anytime soon, this is the closest we can get to a newly-released VideoGame/FZero game (especially after the Blue Falcon was released as one of the karts in one of the DLC packs).

** In ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing: New Leaf'', one of the fortune cookies that rewarded Nintendo furniture -- #32, to be exact -- told Villager; "You should consider a career as a professional kart racer". Looks like he took its advice.

** The fact that the Rainbow Road remake from ''Mario Kart 64'' got the same treatment as the one from the 3DS did where the track is divided into three sections instead of three laps. Sure the track is long, but the game could've done something like shorten it to two laps like they did with Wario's Colosseum from ''Double Dash!!''. Some people, however, don't mind and are happy to see it back.

** Frogging/fire hopping, which lets you extend a speed boost by repeatedly hopping. Some think it's cheating and are comparing it to ''DS'''s snaking, others think it's skillful.

** That said, this means cruiser weights (Rosalina, Donkey Kong, Waluigi, Roy, Link, and both Metals) tend to pop up online a lot, due to having the best speed to acceleration trade off. Most notably, Rosalina, who was originally an EnsembleDarkhorse, is slowly turning into a TierInducedScrappy for a lot of people due to how many people play her online.

** Look at the BrokenBase entry about F-Zero fans thinking that F-Zero is dead due to this game's existence. Now there's an F-Zero course and an F-Zero kart that'll be released as DLC.
** When ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' was in development, there was a fake leak which claimed the game would feature a cyberpunk motif and Link driving a motorcycle. Although ''Skyward Sword'' ultimately had neither of those things, the latter seems oddly prophetic now that Link actually ''can'' ride a motorcycle as a [[GuestFighter guest racer]].
*** Made double-hilarious because in the rumored cyberpunk Zelda, some sources claimed that the motorcycle was either named Epona or that it was literally that game's version of Epona. [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike And then they unveil the Master Cycle, a steampunk motorcycle themed after Epona made special for Link.]]

** There was a rather big (debunked) rumor back in the day about a Zelda game called 'A Link to the Future' that took place in modern times where Link would ride a motorcycle. Fast forward to the pack one DLC, where not only can Link do just that, his signature kart based on the Zelda series is a bike!

** For some reason, the whistle of the magical flying train going around N64 Rainbow Road is exciting.

** One of Link's [[VoiceGrunting voice grunts]] when boosting sounds a lot like [[HellYesMoment "Hell yeah!"]] One wonders whether it was [[{{Mondegreen}} accidental]] or [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar intentional]].

** Any baby character except Baby Mario and maybe Baby Luigi or Baby Peach has gotten shades of this, due to all of them being similar to one another and are found as wasting too many slots. Particularly infamous is Baby Rosalina, who was made just for this game which [[{{Retcon}} jeopardizes]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina's actual past self]].[[note]]Technically, they can coexist since Baby Rosalina is, well, a baby, while Rosalina's past self is a little girl. However, some fans are nonetheless worried that Nintendo will start treating Baby Rosalina as the "true" younger version of Rosalina, retconning her backstory as was revealed in ''Super Mario Galaxy''.[[/note]]

*** Item distributions are now determined by the lead gap between both the player and the current leader of the race, as opposed to the player's current position.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: ''Mario Kart 8'' is shaping up to have the most gorgeous visuals of the franchise thanks to the WiiU's improved graphics. Even racetracks from past games are almost unrecognizable from their original appearances. It's especially notable with ones from as recently as ''Wii'' and ''7''. It's hard to believe how much different Moo Moo Meadows looks after only one generation.

** As far as the DLC characters are concerned, not many people seem to really care about [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand Tanooki Mario]] or [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Cat Peach]]. Mostly for them being the fourth iteration of both Mario and Peach respectively. If anything, their inclusion further points towards a suspicion that the developers are starting to get lazy and cheap enough to fill the roster with worthless, unoriginal, and undeserving characters, or for catering too much to Japanese players and their love for clone/knockoff characters, as shown with Metal Mario's fanbase in Japan.

** One of the most controversial features about ''Mario Kart 8'' is the character roster in general. While {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s like Toadette and Waluigi have returned to the race, the 9 new racers have left a mostly sour taste in much of the fanbase. The 7 Koopalings are {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s themselves, but the fact that they take a '''ludicrous''' amount of slots in the 30-character roster as well as playing somewhat similarly to each other has left the base a bit broken in that regard. Worse, Bowser Junior, a character whose fan base [[FandomRivalry is often at odds with the Koopalings']], was not included, along with other long time fan favorite Diddy Kong. The more controversial racers include Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach, largely for the fact that they both contribute as {{Palette Swap}}s, making the roster have five babies that play too similarly to one another and two metallic {{Palette Swap}}s of Mario and Peach. Counting those with the seven Koopalings, they all take up almost ''half'' of the entire roster.

** ''Super Mario Kart''[='=]s Rainbow Road in ''Mario Kart 8'' has the track widened and there are no guardrails with Star Thwomps as the only course hazard. SNES Rainbow Road is the second course of the Triforce Cup, but it's another Rainbow Road that's on the easy side since the only challenge comes from the opposing racers. Of course, one of the major things about it is that there are NO FREAKING GUARDRAILS, meaning it can either be this or ThatOneLevel.

** ''Super Mario Kart''[='=]s Rainbow Road in ''Mario Kart 8'' has the track widened and there are no guardrails with Star Thwomps as the only course hazard. SNES Rainbow Road is the second course of the Triforce Cup, but it's another Rainbow Road that's on the easy side since the only challenge comes from the opposing racers.

* Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach are very much this, as they are not fondly liked outside of Japan since the normal, Baby, and Metal forms of both Mario and Peach are present with no apparent reason as to why they were considered.

** Hitting the sign post when completing a lap in Mario Circuit or DS Wario Stadium produces a "KLANG!" sound that's strangely quite satisfying. It's a small detail that's fun to exploit.

** Hitting the sign post when completing a lap in Mario Circuit or DS Wario Stadium produces a "KLANG!" sound that's surprising quite satisfying. It's a small detail that's fun to exploit.

** As far as the DLC characters are concerned, not many people seem to really care about [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand Tanooki Mario]] or [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Cat Peach]]. Mostly for them being the fourth alliteration of both Mario and Peach respectively. If anything, their inclusion further points towards a suspicion that the developers are starting to get lazy and cheap enough to fill the roster with worthless, unoriginal, and undeserving characters, or for catering too much to Japanese players and their love for clone/knockoff characters, as shown with Metal Mario's fanbase in Japan.

* {{Adorkable}}: Iggy Koopa really exemplifies this trope in 8. If you've never played him he may seem like an average character but his 1st place animation, style moves (performed by pressing the ZR trigger after going off a ramp or any elevated surface), and overall attitude just scream this trope.

** Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, for being the [[PaletteSwap fourth incarnations]] of Mario and Peach respectively in the game, taking up character slots for more desirable characters like Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr, who were both featured in ''Double Dash!!'' and ''Wii''. Their inclusion in the game seems to be a large result of the Japanese and their big love for clone/knockoff characters, as demonstrated by the Metals.

** One of Link's [[VoiceGrunting voice grunts]] when boosting sounds a lot like [[HellYesMoment "Hell yeah!"]] One wonders whether it was [[Mondegreen accidental]] or [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar intentional]].

* EightPointEight: Gamespot rated it with an 8 out of 10. The review was glowing with postive-ness, but the uproar from fans happened when the reviewer docked two whole points for a poor Battle Mode and poor selection of characters when other games with the same flaws got higher scores.

* ReplacementScrappy: Outside of Japan, Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach for veterinarian drivers like Bowser Jr. and Diddy Kong. It doesn't help that Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach are [[PaletteSwap Palette Swaps]] of the other baby characters and Metal Mario respectively.

* ReplacementScrappy: Outside of Japan, Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach for veterinarian drivers like Bowser Jr. and Diddy Kong. It doesn't help that Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach are PaletteSwaps of the other baby characters and Metal Mario respectively.

* ReplacementScrappy: Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach for characters like Birdo, Bowser Jr., and Diddy Kong. It doesn't help that Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach are PaletteSwaps of the other baby characters and Metal Mario.
** With the announcement that the Koopalings got into Smash Brothers as Bowser Junior's alternative costumes while Bowser Junior still didn't get into the DLCs has left many Bowser Junior fans livid at the Koopalings.

** Any baby character except Baby Mario and maybe Baby Luigi has gotten shades of this, due to all of them being similar to one another and are found as wasting too many slots. Particularly infamous is Baby Rosalina, who was made just for this game which [[{{Retcon}} jeopardizes]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina's actual past self]].[[note]]Technically, they can coexist since Baby Rosalina is, well, a baby, while Rosalina's past self is a little girl. However, some fans are nonetheless worried that Nintendo will start treating Baby Rosalina as the "true" younger version of Rosalina, retconning her backstory as was revealed in ''Super Mario Galaxy''.[[/note]]
** As far as the DLC characters are concerned, not many people seem to really care about [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand Tanooki Mario]] or [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Cat Peach]]. Mostly for being more versions of Mario and Peach. If anything, their inclusion further points towards a suspicion that the developers are starting to get lazy and cheap enough to fill the roster with worthless, unoriginal, and undeserving characters.

** Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, for being the [[PaletteSwap fourth incarnations]] of Mario and Peach respectively in the game, taking up character slots for more desirable characters like Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr, who were both featured in ''Double Dash!!'' and ''Wii''.

** Metal Mario, particularly among ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' fans. Pink Gold Peach isn't so lucky in this regard.
** After the first DLC pack was released, online matches are practically flooded with Link players. They rival the number of Rosalina players (they happen to have similar stats as well).