Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch) Preview

Mario Kart 8 represents one of the company's biggest instalments to date - a lengthy number of courses, more characters than you could shake a blue shell at, and a comprehensive online mode. It is perhaps also one of Nintendo's most striking projects to date, with lush, vibrant visuals and gravity-defying course designs. So good is it, in fact, that it is still one of the Wii U's best titles. The prospect of replicating this on the move is one tempting offer indeed.

Mario Kart 8 was an ambitious title that, despite solid reviews across the board, was plagued by some peculiar balancing issues and a lukewarm battle mode. Nintendo, being Nintendo, tried to shake up the formula with tweaks to the core formula to reinvigorate a franchise that could have grown stale. These minor changes did leave a sour taste, especially where a little RNG and lack of defensive items could spoil an otherwise solid dash to first place. DLC patches, packed with additional characters and courses, came and went, but the gameplay issues still remained.

Fortunately, with the Nintendo Switch release, Nintendo has gone in and reworked some of the game's core fundamentals, back to the setup that's been key since Mario Kart 64: being able to hold items and pick up additional ones along the way. This very minor change has aired out the gameplay hindrances from the get-go. In the handful of races sampled during the Switch event, the flow was instantly bathed in instant nineties nostalgia. Mario Kart has returned in fine form. Rubber banding, where computer-controlled characters keep drawing closer, seems to be toned down in the races tried out - allowing for a more skill driven approach, rather than relying primarily on luck.

Nintendo has also fiddled with the much criticised Battle Mode from the original Mario Kart 8. The Wii U version was met with raised eyebrows when plopping racers to battle on actual, full-length tracks, rather than arenas designed for competitive balloon popping. The result: long, drawn-out, and tedious battles that never seemed to end. Perhaps when Mario eventually retires, this is how his days will end up, but certainly not for a flagship racer. A failed experiment rectified in the Switch release - the tight corridors, haunted houses, and tiered decks are back and on the attack. For anyone who's played any classic Mario Kart game, it's just as remembered - fluid, tight and utterly rewarding.

Since Nintendo revealed the Switch hardware, there has been plenty of speculation as to whether the console was up to the job. Could it run Wii U titles and maintain performance on the move? Can the Nintendo Switch go beyond what its predecessor was capable of? The short answer, at least with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, is that it runs exceptionally well when playing on the TV screen - it almost looks as if Nintendo has sprinkled polish here and there. The all-important question, though, is how the game performs when on the go. Untethered, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe runs at blistering pace, popping out all the intricate details and - thanks to the relatively smaller screen - looks ever so inviting. With the hardware offering instant two-player, thanks to the detachable Joy-Con controllers, it works well when the tablet portion is resting on a table as a portable screen.