Honestly I don't care much about Mario Kart. 64 was the only one I ever had, my sister and I played the hell out of it when we were younger. Now if I bought Mario Kart I don't even know who I would play it with, as she lives a state away. My friends aren't into Mario Kart and she's not buying a console... lol. And I don't much care for the idea of playing Mario Kart by myself or with strangers online.

Yet 8 is the only one I've actually wanted to play since 64. It looks great.

What people hated or not is irrelevant! Fact is Queen Bee and Wiggler especially are better characters because they're original concepts compared to the rest of the roster and they actually originated from mainline Mario games. Pink Gold Peach and Baby Rosalina have no history with the Marioverse and the former is just a patlette swap while the latter has been done already.

As for the roster as a whole, yes Diddy, Birdo, King Boo, etc. are far more unique and original than a bunch of turtles, babys, and reskins, hence MKWii has the most diversity in it's roster. Heck even MKWii's "reskins" (their character models aren't exactly the same) in Dry Bones and Dry Bowser are still better than MK8's literal reskins as they're very relevant to Mario series. Yeah, Diddy n Funky aren't Mario characters, but they're still unique, actual characters with history, and can fit in the game since DK is there. 

Believe it or not I didn't care much for Mario Kart either, not until I played 7, but even then I still don't care about the older ones!

God, that NintendoWorldReport video review was painful to sit through. That guy's voice and delivery were terrible. He also brings up new things in levels (such as the points on Toad's Turnpike), but then concludes each point with, "but it feels like every other Mario Kart." What did he expect? It's obviously not going to deviate from the formula in some radical way.

Some of his points may very well be valid, but except maybe for the Battle Mode issues, he failed at making a case for them IMO. One thing's certain: NWR needs a much better person to do their video reviews.

Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach are obviously lackluster additions, not unlike Mario Kart 7's Metal Mario. The issue is that the Koopalings are an excellent addition compared to any previous newcomers in the series. How is Wiggler better than a Koopaling? What about them being "a bunch of turtles" is a problem? Aren't Mario/Luigi/Peach/Daisy/babies/etc a bunch of humans? Why isn't that a problem? Personally I think Donkey, Diddy, and Funky were just a bunch of Kongs and weren't unique or original racers for the series.

It's silly that so many people are now making a stink about there being too many babies, when there is only one more than in MK Wii. I'd love to hear why Baby Peach and Baby Daisy are excellent choices for racers and four is exactly the right amount of babies while Baby Rosalina is a terrible addition and five is just way too many babies.

The reason I bring up the fact that everyone hated the roster in MK7 is because the roster of MK8 blows it out of the water. People are responding negatively to the Koopalings when they're probably the best group of mass-additions in the history if the franchise. Reviewers like Jose Otero from IGN are being downright hypocritical, complaining about same-y characters yet asking for Dry Bones for the sake of tradition. Could you imagine if Smash Bros reviews criticized Rosalina for being too similar to Peach, then said with a straight face that Pichu was a great fighter and should have returned instead?

Basically, complaints about the roster are boiling down to nostalgic purists who don't think anything should be cut from previous iterations. If Birdo and King Boo had never been playable in a previous Kart, why would anyone want them in 8? The only reason anyone would ask for Diddy Kong would be nostalgia for Diddy Kong Racing. Bowser Jr is the only cut racer who really deserves a spot, yet with all 7 Koopalings joining, how can I complain?

I hope you're prepared for Mario Kart 9, when Baby Bowser and Cat Suit Luigi are the new racers. I can't wait to hear how great the Koopalings are then.

If Mario Kart 8 reaches a 91+, I will buy 10 copies of the game and you all will have to deal with my inflation of the sales. If it reaches a 90 then I will be even more pleased considering I don't have to buy 10 copies.

88!

Seems like I'm in a much better spot to not have to buy 10 copies.

16/20 on jeuxvideo.com

BitBlock gave it 8/10, lower than Mario Golf...

>_>