'In addition to the Lucky 8, a rare gift that offers you eight items all at once, there are three new items,' writes Simon Parkin at Eurogamer. Nintendo has also added to the list of power-ups, used to attack nearby competitors, either in front or behind, or elude their offensive moves against you. I couldn't just memorise a layout and be safe I was constantly tweaking and improving my approach to each lap.'

It also forced me to constantly be engaged with a track. 'It's simple – you're just pressing one button and adjusting your angle to make sure you don't run off the track – but it looks cool and made me feel skillful when I pulled it off. 'While the intricacies of drifting and boosting are rote by this point for long-time Kart players, Mario Kart 8 drives home the brilliance of this system,' writes Polygon's Philip Kollar. Key amongst the game's qualities are its handling and, especially, its drifting systems. There are also 30 characters, each with their own abilities: mix in with the customisable elements of each kart and you get a wealth of speed, acceleration and strength combinations. I love the picturesque Shy Guy Falls, which sounds more like a late-90s emo band than a racing circuit, but it looks beautiful. There are around 30 courses, half of them tweaked versions of classics, half newcomers. Out of the majors, only Shacknews and Gamespot have dropped down to 8/10. And as great as the sequels have often been, they haven't quite got back there.

The controls, the power-ups, the courses, the structure, the handling feel, the music, the characters. Super Mario Kart, released on the Super Nintendo entertainment system in 1992, at the height of the 16bit console wars, was sort of perfect.

It also says that capricious systems can be empowering if players understand that they can all get lucky at times. Its drift system is so sharp and exciting and nuanced. Mario Kart? Well, Mario Kart has always told us: hey, this is why racing games are all about cornering. The Super Mario Bros titles show us why pacing and power-ups are important in a linear environment and Zelda shows us how to direct a player within an open world. It makes games that teach you about game design. No wait, there are lots of things, obviously, but one thing it does better than anyone else. There is one thing Nintendo is really good at.

Mario kart 8 wii u