Prerelease:Mario Kart 8

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Mario Kart 8.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes. Notes: There is more information and details for each of the four courses shown at Best Buy locations. Course details, possibly other changes made in later convention demos or released trailers, and hands-on previews from different media outlets.

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

To do: [Debugging printout in the Mario Kart 8 April 2014 Direct]

Mario Kart 8 began development after Mario Kart 7. Reception for the game was better than the previous entry, praising the return of features that were absent then and the game's overall new and graphically improved look.

2013

June

E3 2013

Mario Kart 8 was first announced during the Nintendo Direct@E3 digital event on June 11, 2013. In addition to being playable on the E3 show floor, Nintendo partnered with Best Buy retail locations across the United States during the week of E3 to showcase a demo of upcoming Wii U games including Mario Kart 8, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.

Shown in the trailer are early versions of Mario Circuit, Sweet Sweet Canyon, Toad Harbor, Thwomp Ruins, Dry Dry Desert, Twisted Mansion, Piranha Plant Slide, and Music Park (Melody Motorway in European English).

• The antigravity section didn't exist, and the cliff to the left of the last glider lacked a lot of detail.
• The landing section of the last glider didn't have two high ledges to drive on either side (shown in footage after the trailer).

December

December 2013 Direct

• Flying guide lights are present on the 2nd glider ramp on Sunshine Airport as well as the first. Only the first one has them in the final game.
• The coin placement on Sweet Sweet Canyon is different.
• The spin boosters on Bone Dry Dunes are missing.
• The sport bike was originally an outward drifting bike.
• The flying guide lights on the 2nd glider on Cloudtop Cruise look different.

2014

February

February 2014 Direct

• The floor after the first anti gravity strip looks different on Water Park.
• There are no coins on the glider on Shy Guy Falls.
• The propellor on Luigi's kart is missing on Water Park.

Best Buy Demo

• Different title screen featuring Mario Circuit and a 2013 copyright date. One- or two-player selection is available. This build features no online play, 3-4 player splitscreen, or single player options beyond the single race available when 1 player is picked. The Mario Kart TV feature was not announced or implemented either.

• 12 playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Toad, Koopa Troopa, Daisy, Toadette (who is unlockable in the final game), Wario, and Waluigi.
  • There is no kart, tire (wheel), or glider selection. Each character has a pre-chosen vehicle:

Driver	Kart	Tires	Glider
Mario	Standard Kart	Standard	Super Glider
Luigi	Mach 8	Slim	Super Glider
Peach	Standard Bike	Slim	Super Glider
Yoshi	Standard Kart	Standard	Super Glider
Bowser	Mach 8	Standard	Super Glider
Donkey Kong	Standard Bike	Standard	Super Glider
Toad	Standard Bike	Standard	Super Glider
Koopa Troopa	Standard Kart	Standard	Super Glider
Daisy	Standard Kart	Monster	Super Glider
Toadette	Mach 8	Monster	Super Glider
Wario	Standard Kart	Monster	Super Glider
Waluigi	Standard Bike	Monster	Super Glider

• The "Okay" confirmation screen is different from the final. The beta confirmation screen's lettering is smaller and the lettering resembles the lighting of a scoreboard with a simple fade effect when pressed. The final game features a larger, more crystalized, glossier button with a ripple effect when pressed.

• No track selection. The demo has a preselected playlist of tracks for the demo. Each race has 2 laps each.

• There is no loading screen. The screen appears white while the track loads. The final game has silhouettes of the racers scrolling across the bottom with various Mario Kart 8 logos scattered across a white screen. The load times in the beta are shorter than the final game (either on disc or installed via internal memory on the Wii U).

• It is possible to hold two items like past Mario Kart games. This feature was removed from the final version of the game. However, the feature, albeit tweaked, was revived for the Nintendo Switch port, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, released in 2017.

• Track details are different. For instance, in Mario Circuit, the Mario Kart TV trucks spectating on the side of the track at the beginning says "Mario Kart" and doesn't have the "Mario Kart TV" logo on the side of it. The satellite dish on the top of the truck is also different from the final version. Mario Kart TV banners that would later appear in the final game are Nintendo logos in the beta. The Mario Kart TV feature was not announced at the time the game was unveiled for the first time publicly.

• The Coin sound effect was recycled from Super Mario Sunshine.