I play Battle Mode in MK8 on a semi-regular basis. I actually prefer it to the past few versions of this mode.

Hear me out!

I started playing Mario Kart on the N64. And though I feel that game's racing is overshadowed by more recent games, MK64's Battle Mode was as close to perfect as the series has ever gotten. The arenas were nicely designed and the game's items and physics meshed well with the basic concept.

However, I think that the mechanics of the series changed enough over time to make Battle Mode a generally worse experience. Generally speaking, racers have gotten faster over time without becoming much more manuverable. This works wonders in regular races, but discourages the arena combat that was the staple of Battle Mode. You saw this in how the arena changed over time. MKDS had four new arenas, which were generally very open areas with few obstacles or non-curved edges. MKWii had Chain Chomp Wheel and Thwomp Desert, a pair of fat rings that encouraged plaers to go in circles to mantain speed.

Mario Kart 8 is possibly the speediest entry yet. You start with the basic formula, throw in coins and tricks for extra boosts of speed, that anti-gravity bit where bumping into opponents increases speed, and so on. Everything is faster, but the karts are not necessarily easier to hit. This is also a side effect of 12-player races; items are balanced so that players have more options available to counter item use. Note that the triple banana item now spins around a player instead of trailing behind, making it a defensive option. And of the new items, only the Boomerang Flower is primarily offensive. The Piranha Plant has a short range and the Super Horn is best used to counter enemy items.

In short, a traditional Battle Mode simply won't work witH MK8's mechanics. The only way it could work is to emphasize continuous speed and make sure the opponents will be in a limited area to maximize chances of hitting them. in other words, just keeping them on traditional race tracks.

I like Battle Mode, but the racing is what keeps me interested in Mario Kart. If the racing's changes leave the Battle Mode behind, it's a pity, but nothing more.