New racing course designs and antigravity race tracks will have you driving upside down in Mario Kart 8. You may look forward to the reintroduction of 12-player online competitive play, hang-gliders, underwater racing, and motorbikes, among other series favorites.

Mario Kart 8 is a Wii U racing game developed primarily by Nintendo EAD with assistance from Namco Bandai Holdings. It is the eighth entry in the Mario Kart series for platforms. This edition is the sequel to Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. On the final three days of May 2014, the game was launched globally.

The gameplay is generally based on the two most current Mario Kart games for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS, correspondingly. You choose a character from one of three weight classes and race cars with varied attributes, strengths, and weaknesses around an obstacle course-style racetrack in an attempt to finish first out of the twelve racers.

During the race, racers can grab items from Item Boxes, with the likelihood of obtaining items varying depending on their distance from the leading candidate. For example, the first place usually receives defense items like Bananas and Green Shells, while racers in the middle receive more powerful offense items like Triple Red Shells and Fire Flowers, and racers further back get items that result in an increase in speed or the opportunity to win.

Depending on your final position, you will be awarded a certain number of points. The player with the most points at the end of the race wins.

Karts, which have similar looks to Mario Kart 7, as well as the returning motorcycles, which behave similarly to karts now and can only execute a wheelie with a boost, and the newly introduced ATVs, can all be customized.

The hang-glider and underwater mechanics return from Mario Kart 7, as do Coins, which you can collect up to ten in a single race, and automatic drifting, which is activated by steering in a specific direction for a set amount of time, with a turning capability that matches the one while drifting, and the ability to slowly charge Mini-Turbo and Super Mini-Turbo boosts, which are new to this game. In this game, tricks and the ability to look behind returned.

The anti-gravitational feature is the series' newest addition, allowing racers to drive through walls, roofs, and other seemingly unexpected areas in addition to a more dynamic track design. If a racer clashes with another in anti-gravity, the kart spins instead of merely bumping, and both racers gain speed. This is referred to as a Spin Boost.

Standard bikes, which do normal drifts, and sport bikes, which lean toward the inside of the curve instead of drifting, are both back. 

Outside of racing, Mario Kart 8 allows online multiplayer with up to twelve players, as well as voice chat; however, voice chat is only enabled with friends online. Another difference is that during 2-player mode, the screen divides vertically rather than horizontally as it does in earlier Mario Kart games for platforms. In addition, if you go off the edge of the track, Lakitu will pick you up and drop you back on the track faster than he did in previous installments.