

They also say, “This exploit affected many of Nintendo’s games on the Switch, along with Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS.

Nintendo dataminer OatmealDome believe it is all due to the ENLBufferPwn vulnerability “which could allow an attacker to take over your console just by connecting to them online”. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.” But even if there aren’t too many players rocking the old-school racer on Wii U these days, Nintendo don’t offer much hope on their server operational status page, saying, “We do not yet have information on when network services can be restored. With Mar10 Day, the annual celebration of all things Mario on March 10, looming, you would expect Nintendo to be making fixing the situation a priority. It’s not known when or if they will be back. Finally, the blue shell has been vanquished, and Mario Kart is fun again.Sorry Wii U users, but Nintendo have pulled Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon from online, saying it’s for “urgent maintenance”, said to be regarding a security issue. So what? Well, what if I told you that you could use it on a blue shell? Time the Super Horn just right and those pesky, pole-position-seeking nuisances are nothing but a fly to swat out of your face on your road to victory. It's a hard item to grab from the random generator, and when you use it, it pushes everyone within a certain radius around you with a huge blast of noise. On top of this, the game-changing Super Horn makes its debut in Mario Kart 8, and at first glance, it doesn't seem like all that big of a deal.

But the simple, not-very-exciting truth is that this is the best, most complete version of any Mario Kart ever. You can talk about its huge roster of characters, bulked out by adding all the wonderful DLC from the Wii U version, or the seamless reintegration of the Battle Mode that worked so well in previous games. You can talk about the track design, whose introduction of zero-gravity segments offer never-before-seen thrills on its newer tracks and adds new ideas to older tracks. You can talk about the sumptuous, stylish graphics that run its cartoony vehicular combat at a never-wavering clip. There's a hell of a lot to like in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (opens in new tab).
