History YMMV / MarioKart8

* AmericansHateTingle: Metal Mario, Pink Gold Peach, and the baby characters have a pretty big fanbase in Japan, while overseas, they're by and large (especially Pink Gold Peach, as Metal Mario has precedent of being from a [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 beloved game]]) seen as uninspired clones that "steal" slots from more deserving characters.

** Unlike in ''Wii'' and ''7'', Rosalina's base shattered due to her being overused online and overshadowing the other Cruiserweight characters. This is on top of her new, Peach-like voice and having a baby version of herself as a part of ''8''[='=]s roster.
** The non-''Mario'' characters ([[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Villager, Isabelle]], and in ''Deluxe'', the [[Franchise/{{Splatoon}} Inklings]]) have been welcomed with open arms by many fans who find it neat to see such a {{crossover}} outside of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', with some even expressing that ''Mario Kart'' should become the kart racing equivalent of that series. Others dislike that these beloved Nintendo characters seem to have come at the expense of beloved ''Mario'' characters and roster veterans, particularly in the Wii U version which lacks Diddy Kong, Bowser Jr., and Dry Bones (though they would all be added back in ''Deluxe'', the latter two in the base game and Diddy via the Booster Course Pass). The non-''Mario'' characters were also DLC in the Wii U release, while the {{Decomposite Character}}s continued to fill the roster even via DLC. Meanwhile, still others are upset that despite the emphasis on ''VideoGame/FZero'' in this game (two racetracks and the return of the Blue Falcon vehicle from ''Mario Kart Wii''), Captain Falcon is nowhere to be seen as a playable character. (He does have a Mii costume unlocked by scanning his Toys/{{amiibo}} figure, but that's not a lot of comfort.)

* ContestedSequel: Few will call ''Mario Kart 8'' a bad game, with many considering it one of the best ''Mario Kart'' games (especially the ''[[PolishedPort Deluxe]]'' UpdatedRerelease, which is considered the definitive version for its improvements and expansions to the highly underwhelming Battle Mode from the original, various [=QoL=] enhancements, and many new characters and tracks in both the base game and its Booster Course Pass DLC), with many loving the [[SceneryPorn amazing HD graphics]], the imaginative track design, the DLC, and the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic great soundtrack once again]]. Many of these fans consider it ''the'' best ''Mario Kart'' game so far. However, other aspects like the initial character roster, the initial Battle Mode, various [[ScrappyMechanic mechanics]] and [[BrokenBase gameplay aspects]] of the game, and the fans' impression that it replaced ''F-Zero'' due to its similar use of anti-gravity are a lot more controversial. This extends to its ''Deluxe'' version, as some would have preferred a brand-new ''Mario Kart'' for the Switch instead of a port with content that easily could have been added to the Wii U version[[note]]although with Nintendo deeming the Wii U system a complete failure and discontinuing it right as the Switch was coming out in 2017, it was only natural that ''8'' would get ported over to the Switch[[/note]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Waluigi. Many were sad when he was omitted in ''7''. But he was one of the first characters announced to be returning in ''8'', making his fans very happy.
** The Koopalings. They've been popular with fans since their introduction, and now they are all finally playable, much to the fans' delight. [[RealMenWearPink Roy]] in particular is popular among fans (through Morton later became much more divisive thanks to his status as a a HighTierScrappy).
** Metal Mario, particularly among the Japanese, ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' fans. Pink Gold Peach isn't so lucky in this regard due to lacking said precedent, however.
** After the first DLC pack was released, online matches became practically flooded with Link players. They rival the number of Rosalina players (and happen to have similar stats as well, being Cruiser-weight).
** The ''Animal Crossing'' characters joined Link after the release of the second DLC pack. It's very hard to come across an online race that doesn't have at least two Isabelles or Villagers. Of course, it helps that Isabelle was a popular character to begin with.
** As of ''Deluxe'', the Inklings were also tightly embraced by the ''Mario Kart'' community.

* NintendoHard: ''Deluxe'' elevates 200cc into this. Namely, the AI is now an actual threat due to ''Deluxe'' fixing the ArtificialStupidity problem from the original[[note]]On the Wii U, 200cc still uses 150cc AI, causing them to crash and fall off constantly[[/note]]. This on top of how difficult 200cc already is.

** Shroom Ridge wasn't hated in ''Mario Kart DS'', but it was generally considered to be one of the weaker and less interesting courses when compared to the likes of [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Tick-Tock Clock]] or [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 Airship Fortress]], and especially since it also served as a bit of a DisappointingLastLevel in the DS Flower Cup due to it immediately following other fan-favorites such as [[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Delfino Square]] and [[PinballZone Waluigi Pinball]]. Its inclusion in the Booster Course Pass for ''Deluxe'' resulted in it gaining a new lease on life, as well as a stellar [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic remix of its music]].

** Riverside Park and Boo Lake from ''Super Circuit'' generally tended to be overlooked by their more difficult and unique counterparts in their original game, Lakeside Park and Broken Pier respectively. Their versions in ''Deluxe'' both reuse ''Tour''[='=]s already well-received remakes of them, but now with Boo Lake's underwater portion being in anti-gravity, Riverside Park receiving one of the strongest visual upgrades of any Booster Course Pass track and marking the debut of Ptooies in the ''Mario Kart'' series as obstacles on the course, and both tracks receiving excellent rearrangements of their music.

* SpiritualAdaptation:

** Fans of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' quickly noted that Wild Woods looks quite similar to Frontier Village, and like to think of it as an unofficial ''Xenoblade'' course.

** This game's incarnation of Bowser's Castle is also fiendishly difficult due to its back-to-back use of obstacles and its overall treacherous track design. [[BestLevelEver Not that everybody complains about it, though.]]

** Wii Grumble Volcano is back and trickier than ever, with narrow paths over lava after the first lap and lots of sharp turns coupled with large elevation changes.

** Super Bell Subway. It already has a multitude of unexpected guard rails, but the subway trains are what really make this course difficult. Unlike the cars on N64 Toad's Turnpike, the trains are ''huge'', and they appear in the narrowest parts of the track.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: ''8'' may have the most gorgeous visuals of the franchise thanks to the Platform/WiiU's improved graphics. Even racetracks from past games are almost unrecognizable from their original appearances. It's especially notable with ones from ''Wii'' and ''7''. It's hard to believe how much different Moo Moo Meadows looks after only one generation, for example. And that's before getting into all the background details that were added, especially those added to GCN Baby Park. ''Deluxe'' takes this even further and makes them look better than they did on the Wii U. Even though the Booster Course Pass' visuals received mixed reception during the DLC's early life, later tracks received acclaim for their visual presentation, in particular 3DS Rainbow Road, with its rainbow track looking as though it's made of water like real rainbows are, and the players and track designs having their shadows cast on the planets like an eclipse. Other standouts include DS Waluigi Pinball, GBA Snow Land, Wii Maple Treeway, DS Peach Gardens, GBA Riverside Park, Wii DK Summit, GCN Waluigi Stadium, Tour Singapore Speedway, GCN Daisy Cruiser, Wii Moonview Highway, Tour Vancouver Velocity, Tour Rome Avanti, SNES Bowser Castle 3, and Wii Rainbow Road.

** [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog "Gotta go fast!"]] is often used to describe 200cc. Many have snarked that the brake button is finally useful for once. There's evem an unlockable Sonic amiibo suit. The "Two speeds: Fast and WAY TOO FAST!" line from the original ''Super Mario Kart''[='=]s commercial is also used in the same context.

** FridgeHorror as it might be, there's something [[BlackComedy oddly humorous]] about the prospect of using [[ActionBomb Bob-ombs]] in [[MistakenForTerrorist Sunshine Airport, Super Bell Subway, Coconut Mall, or a city course, especially New York Minute]].

** FridgeHorror as it might be, there's something [[BlackComedy oddly humorous]] about the prospect of using [[ActionBomb Bob-ombs]] in [[MistakenForTerrorist Sunshine Airport, Super Bell Subway, Coconut Mall, or a city course]].

** Upon the Super Horn's reveal, many have claimed the Spiny Shell's "tyranny" is over at long last, which is kind of true: while it can destroy any Shell if used at the right time, and it can be picked up by the race leader, it's also quite rare to come by.

** "Woomy on a Vroomy", upon the announcement that [[Franchise/{{Splatoon}} Inklings]] would be playable in ''Deluxe''.

** The Red Shell has been made [[GameBreaker needlessly broken]] in the game, to the point it can be even more lethal than a Spiny Shell in certain circumstances. Unlike in the previous installments where the Red Shell would take the most direct route to the racer ahead of the user, it now follows the track to reach the player ahead. This makes it ''sound'' less reliable, except that this means it can now veer its way around track obstacles, making its homing properties that much more accurate. Despite it no longer taking the necessarily fastest route, it locks onto its target at a fixed speed that is much faster than the average driving speed, causing it to be a recurring nuisance. It will even follow its target into the air to hi tthem during glider segments or cannon shots. Granted, items can still deflect them, but with the return of the Coin item from ''Super Mario Kart'', there's no longer a guarantee of gaining a defense mechanism against Red Shells, which will most likely lead to a chain reaction of them hitting you over and over.

** The Red Shell has been made [[GameBreaker needlessly broken]] in the game, to the point it can be even more lethal than a Spiny Shell in certain circumstances. Unlike in the previous installments where the Red Shell would take the most direct route to the racer ahead of the user, it now follows the track to reach the player ahead. This makes it ''sound'' less reliable, except that this means it can now veersits way around track obstacles, making its homing properties that much more accurate. Despite it no longer taking the necessarily fastest route, it locks onto its target at a fixed speed that is much faster than the average driving speed, causing it to be a recurring nuisance. It will even follow its target into the air to hi tthem during glider segments or cannon shots. Granted, items can still deflect them, but with the return of the Coin item from ''Super Mario Kart'', there's no longer a guarantee of gaining a defense mechanism against Red Shells, which will most likely lead to a chain reaction of them hitting you over and over.

** FridgeHorror as it might be, there's something [[BlackComedy oddly humorous]] about the prospect of using [[ActionBomb Bob-Ombs]] in [[MistakenForTerrorist Sunshine Airport, Super Bell Subway, Coconut Mall, or a city course]].

** Riverside Park and Boo Lake from ''Super Circuit'' generally tended to be overlooked by their more difficult and unique counterparts in their original game, Lakeside Park and Broken Pier respectively. Their versions in ''Deluxe'' both reuse ''Tour''[='=]s already well-received remakes of them, but now with Boo Lake's underwater portion being in anti-gravity, Riverside Park receiving one of the strongest visual upgradse of any Booster Course Pass track and marking the debut of Ptooies in the ''Mario Kart'' series as obstacles on the course, and both tracks receiving excellent rearrangements of their music.

** With in-game vehicles being able to move on land, underwater or through the air, this feels like the closest fans will get to a sequel to ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'', even though the title character was absence until the final wave of the Booster Course Pass.

** Bangkok Rush was criticized by some ''Mario Kart Tour'' players for stripping out many of the unique elements of the course present in that game. In particular, the boats with bouncy canopies are no longer accessible to drivers, the Ink Piranha Plants have been replaced by completely harmless Piranha Plants like those in N64 Royal Raceway, and the unique cars on the road like tuk-tuks with bouncy roofs were stripped out and replaced with Sidesteppers. Other changes made to the track make for some... peculiar design choices, like changing the railway market to not have a wooden plank leading up to the left side, but leaving the one on the right side -- which still allows access to the canopies on the left in a much less elegant fashion. However, Bangkok Rush is still generally regarded as one of the better city tracks in the game because the overall layout is still one of the most complex and creative in the entire lineup.

** While the hate for Baby Daisy hsa died down over the years, Baby Rosalina is despised by many fans as she was made just for this game and [[{{Retcon}} jeopardizes]] Rosalina's actual past self according to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''[[note]]Technically, they can coexist since Baby Rosalina is [[CaptainObvious 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'', especially seeing as the storybook shows her with strawberry blonde hair while Baby Rosalina has the same platinum blonde hair as her adult self[[/note]].

*** The prefix leak had made it obvious there’d be only 2 Wii tracks in the final 2 waves. Thus, almost nobody predicted Moonview Highway to appear in Wave 5, especially since there was no leaks including it at all prior to its reveal. Theories regarding its inclusion range from it replacing GCN Mushroom Bridge mid-development as part of a larger series of changes regarding course order to it replacing one of the blank course slots (which it did, as it is labelled as "Cnsw_63" in the game's files) or even Wii's Rainbow Road (which would be proven wrong when it was revealed to be coming in the final wave).

** Much like previous ''Mario Kart''s, audience members in bleachers are 2D sprite animations placed on top of invisible vectors. Since they're usually far off in the background, this tends to not be noticeable... except in Tour Sydney Sprint, where they're within arm's reach inside of the Sydney Opera House, making their low-quality renders and few frames of animation ''very'' prominent. This can also be seen inside of Rogers Arena in Tour Vancouver Velocity, though to a lesser degree due to the more open layout. While this was also the case in the ''Mario Kart Tour'' version of the courses, this visual flub is much more pronounced when viewed on a modern television instead of a dinky phone or tablet screen. On the other hand, the 3D spectators the game has scattered around the sides of the tracks are ''way'' out of scale compared to the racers. It's incredibly weird to be loading in the next race and see a Toad that's three times bigger than Bowser standing on the sidelines.

** Much like previous ''Mario Kart''s, audience members in bleachers are 2D sprite animations placed on top of invisible vectors. Since they're usually far off in the background, this tends to not be noticeable... except in Tour Sydney Sprint, where they're within arm's reach inside of the Sydney Opera House, making their low-quality renders and few frames of animation ''very'' prominent. This can also be seen inside of Rogers Arena in Tour Vancouver Velocity, though to a lesser degree due to the more open. While this was also the case in the ''Mario Kart Tour'' version of the courses, this visual flub is much more pronounced when viewed on a modern television instead of a dinky phone or tablet screen. On the other hand, the 3D spectators the game has scattered around the sides of the tracks are ''way'' out of scale compared to the racers. It's incredibly weird to be loading in the next race and see a Toad that's three times bigger than Bowser standing on the sidelines.

** GBA Sunset Wilds wasn't as oversimplified as Sky Garden , but still lacks most of the tricky zigzagging curves that made the original challenging, including the entire final segment of the course being reduced to a straight line. With the DancingBear that is the eponymous sunset no longer present, all of the course's flaws -- its flatness, short length, and rather generic layout -- are on full display, causing many players (even those who were fans of it before) to rank it as, if not one of the game's worst, then at least one of its most disappointing.