At a Glance
Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
Although it’s been a long wait, Mario Kart 8 is one of the best in the series – mainly down to the brilliantly designed tracks and new features like anti-gravity racing. It’s the best excuse to buy a Wii U yet and would have got full marks if it wasn’t for the lacklustre Battle mode.
Best Prices Today: Mario Kart 8
The Wii U hasn’t been the biggest success for Nintendo but can the arrival of Mario Kart 8 change its fortunes? Find out in our Mario Kart 8 review.
It’s no secret that the Wii U has been a something of a flop for the legendary Japanese firm. We really wish that Mario Kart 8 was launched along with the console instead of the somewhat forgettable Nintendo Land.
Alas, it didn’t and we’ve had to sit tight for it to arrive. But was it worth the wait? Is it the Wii U’s knight in shining armour?
Before we get into the nitty gritty of the game, there’s some good news. Mario Kart 8 comes with a free game! If you register the PIN code for Mario Kart 8 in Club Nintendo between on 30 May and the end of 31 July. Available titles include Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros Wii U and Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Mario Kart 8 review: Tracks
There are a total of 32 tracks which are, as usual, split into different cups. The mushroom, flower, star and special cups are made up of 16 new tracks, while the other 16 are existing courses from previous Mario Kart titles including the Wii, N64, 3DS and SNES.
Nintendo has managed to strike a lovely balance with the old ones between making sure they’re recognisable and lovingly updating them with gorgeous graphics and features. It is a little confusing that there are two versions of Rainbow Road in Mario Kart 8, though – the N64 track and a brand new one.
There’s a good range difficulty across the tracks and the layouts are well thought-out. Visually, the design is simply stunning making it probably the best feature of Mario Kart 8. One of our favourite elements is the giant rock lava Bowser who punches the track as you drive past.
The big new feature of Mario Kart 8 is anti-gravity racing. Go over a special blue booster pad and your vehicle will turn into a sort of hover car with the wheels horizontal. You can drive on the walls and ceilings which is simply super fun.
Read : PS4 vs Xbox One review: Next-gen games console comparison .
When you’re on an anti-gravity part of a track you even get rewarded with a Spin Turbo boost if you manage to bump a competitor. Many of the tracks include excellent underwater sections and sections where you glide through the air.
Mario Kart 8 review: Characters
If it takes your fancy you can take to the Mario Kart 8 courses as your Mii character but we find it much more fun to play as the Nintendo characters. There are three different classes of driver: light, medium and heavy.
You will have your favourite and although you may have to fight over who gets Yoshi, there are some new unlockable characters. You can drive as Baby Rosalina, Pink Gold Peach (not some crazy pantone colour) and one of Bowser’s band of merry men such as Lemmy, Ludwig and Roy. You might remember them from New Super Mario Bros Wii U.
Mario Kart 8 review: Karts
If you’ve played some older Mario Kart games then you’ll be used to choosing from different karts and bikes. There’s plenty to choose from and you’ll unlock more as you play the game. I personally dislike the bikes but it’s pretty fun finding your favourite or even ones which suit different characters and tracks. Possibly even more enjoyable is simply putting characters like DK and Bowser in a bright pink car with a cat’s tail on it.
Not only can you choose from different cars and bikes, there are various different wheels too. These aren’t just for show either and will affect the stats of your ride. Thirdly, you can select different gliders for those airborne moments, although these have less impact on how you do so it’s advisable to pick the one which allows you to see best where you’re going.
A minor caveat of the game is that the stats which we’ve mentioned – which include speed, acceleration, grip and handling – aren’t shown unless you hit the ‘+’ button which isn’t obvious at all.
Mario Kart 8 review: Weapons
Mario Kart wouldn’t be Mario Kart if it wasn’t for those green and red shells and, of course, the slippery banana skins. Therefore, it’s no surprise that these remain a staple of the games arsenal of items. Old classics also make an appearance including the golden mushroom, lightning bolt and, naturally the blue spike shell.
There are some new items for Mario Kart which add to the fun, too. We don’t want to spoil them for you but they’re called the Boomerang Flower, Piranah Plant, Super Horn and Crazy Eight. There’s no explanation or tutorial on how to use the new weapons but part of the fun is finding out what they do when you manage to bag one while you drive.
Mario Kart 8 review: Modes
You probably don’t need us to tell you what different modes are available in Mario Kart 8 because it sticks to the classic formula of Grand Prix, VS and Battle. There’s also a time trial mode. Once again, you can choose from 50- 100 and 150cc karts.
We’ve been over the tracks which feature in Grand Prix mode and VS is pretty much self-explanatory. Battle involves each player wielding three balloons and you lose one each time you get hit and unfortunately there’s bad news on this one.
With previous editions this mode ensures a massive lifespan of playability but we’re not impressed with the Mario Kart 8 incarnation. Where we’re used to area style setting where you play until one player remains, here you simple play on regular tracks and often drive around for ages just trying to find someone to throw a shell at until the timer runs out. Mario Kart is about having fun but there’s no fun in this so it’s a disappointing flaw to one of the best bits about the Mario Kart series – why fix it if it aint’ broke, Nintendo?
Mario Kart 8 review: New features
Aside from the anti-gravity racing there are some new options on offer in Mario Kart 8. Online multi-player allows you to compete with up to 12 other players and you can even have two players in the same room, on the same Wii U which is neat. You can setup tournaments and also voice chat while you race.
Another new online feature is Mario Kart TV which gives players the option to upload footage to the web and show off those smooth drifting skills.
You’re probably wondering how the game uses the screen on the Wii U’s GamePad. Well it’s nothing mind blowing but there are a few different options you can choose from. For starters, like many other Wii U games, you can play Mario Kart 8 on the GamePad alone so if someone is using the TV and won’t budge, you can still play.
If you are using the TV then the GamePad will show you a top-down view of the track so you have some idea of what’s coming up. You can also see where everyone is in real-time while a list on the left shows positions and even what weapons each player has. If you don’t fancy the track view, you can choose a giant horn button and you can also switch the controls between motion and buttons.
Best Prices Today: Mario Kart 8
Author: Chris Martin, Managing Editor, Tech Advisor
Tech Advisor Managing Editor Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been with us for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.
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At a Glance
Our Verdict
There’s not much between the two, but if we had to pick a winner, we’d give it to the PS4. Not only does it edge the Xbox One on sheer graphical horsepower, it also has virtual reality support, and a better library of current and upcoming exclusive titles. The Xbox One is a little cheaper, and boasts better entertainment features, but unless you’re a serious Halo or Gears of War fan, right now the PS4 is a better bet.
Best Prices Today: Sony PS4 Slim
We’re a few years into the life of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 ; the PS4 surged ahead on sales to begin with, but the Xbox One has seen a turnaround more recently.
No other console generation has seen two rivals so similar in terms of hardware, specifications, software and services, making it surprisingly hard to choose between them. We’re going to try to explain everything you need to know in order to make the right choice.
If you’re toying with a console beyond the big two, you might be better off checking out our guide to the best games console , which includes the high-end PS4 Pro and Xbox One X alongside the Nintendo Switch , 3DS , and Nvidia Shield too.
The PS4 is generally seen as the hardcore gamer’s choice. Its hardware is slightly more powerful than the Xbox One, and Sony was smarter in focussing the PS4’s software and interface on games rather than some vision of the console as an entertainment hub.
That was Microsoft’s mistake at launch, where the Xbox One seemed too focused on TV, movies and voice-controlled entertainment, and not enough on playing games. Where Sony pushed to make its console more affordable, Microsoft saddled it with a pricey motion control peripheral that nobody really wanted – the second-generation Kinect.
Right now, the situation’s different. Kinect is now all-but-gone, and the Xbox One has dropped in price accordingly. More importantly, Microsoft seems to have got the message that people primarily buy consoles to play games, and a plethora of software updates have vastly improved the company’s offering.
PS4 vs Xbox One: Price
While the Xbox One was a pricier proposition at launch, both consoles are now available at roughly similar prices.
The Xbox One S (also a re-design from the original Xbox One) is slightly cheaper, available for £262.99 with a 500GB drive . Again, bundles are available, and generally better value – often a game is thrown in for the same price as buying the console on its own.
The comparison is made slightly more complicated by the addition of the more powerful versions of each console. Sony’s PS4 Pro costs £349.99/$399.99 with a 1TB hard drive , and offers beefed up performance and quasi-4K video output – widening the existing specs gap between the consoles even further.
Microsoft’s true 4K Xbox One X offers more bang for your buck when compared to the PS4 Pro, and is priced accordingly at £449.99/$499.99 for a 1TB console.
With both consoles there’s a hidden cost: the annual fee for the subscription service required for online play. An Xbox Live Gold membership costs £40 per year, while the PS Plus membership is slightly more at £50 a year. Both services throw in exclusive trial games, discounts and free games to sweeten the deal.
Connections and ports
To keep things simple, from here on we’re going to focus on comparing the main Xbox One and PS4 consoles, including the updated Xbox One S and PS4 Slim. We’ll leave the Pro and X out of it, because they’re covered in more detail in our separate PS4 Pro vs Xbox One X comparison .
The PS4 is the smaller and sleeker of the two consoles, with an angular design in part-gloss, part-matt black plastic. It’s reasonably quiet in operation, though noise levels pick up when you’re playing games, and so far it’s proved as reliable as previous PlayStation consoles.
There are two USB ports at the front, along with well-concealed power and disc eject buttons. At the back you’ll find the power socket, HDMI and Ethernet ports, an optical digital audio output plus an additional USB port for the PlayStation Camera accessory.
The PS4 Slim is very similar, but (unsurprisingly) runs a little smaller. It also loses the gloss finish and rounds off the corners, though there is one small sacrifice for the size: there’s no optical audio output.
The Xbox One is larger and chunkier than the PS4, but it still fits in well into the average home entertainment setup. If anything it’s a little quieter than the PS4, and Microsoft seems to have fixed the reliability issues that plagued the early Xbox 360 consoles.
Around the back you’ll find a bewildering array of ports, with two USB ports, Ethernet, an optical output and a specific port for Kinect, plus two HDMI sockets. One of these is an output for your TV, but the other is designed to take a signal from your Freeview/Freesat PVR or Virgin/Sky set-top-box.
The Xbox One S is broadly the same, but drops the dedicated Kinect port – if you want to connect Kinect, you just use one of the standard USB ports.
Hardware and specs
It’s internally that the key differences emerge. Both consoles are based on the same AMD Jaguar processor technology found in its Temash and Kabini APUs. Both have eight CPU cores, with the Xbox One running at 1.75Ghz to the PS4’s 1.6GHz.
Both also have AMD GPUs, but here things differ. Where the Xbox One’s GPU, derived from the Bonaire architecture found in the Radeon HD 7790, has 12 GCN compute units to play with, the PS4’s GPU, based on Pitcairn, has 18. Even given that the Xbox One’s GPU runs at 853MHz (or 914MHz in the Xbox One S) to the PS4’s 800MHz, that still gives the PS4 a tangible advantage on the graphics front.
To make things harder for Microsoft, the PS4 can call on 8GB of 5500Mhz GDDR5 RAM, giving it a lot more memory bandwidth than the 2133MHz DDR3 the Xbox One relies on. Microsoft compensates by using a 32MB ESRAM cache to keep data flowing smoothly, but the PS4 hardware is – when all is said and done – that bit more powerful.
How much does this matter? Well, on the one hand we’re seeing key cross-platform games that either run at a full HD resolution on PS4 but at a slightly lower resolution on Xbox One, or simply run more smoothly with more visual effects on PS4.
On the other hand, the differences aren’t always that noticeable when you’re actually playing the games rather than analysing them frame-by-frame, and the best Xbox One games are still pretty astonishing. The extra power is a key point in the PS4’s favour, but it’s not a deciding blow against Xbox One.
We should also note that neither console is significantly more powerful than a fairly basic, mid-range gaming PC. Generally speaking, the manufacturers and third party developers will do more to optimise their graphics engines and build in advanced features for the console platforms, keeping them delivering amazing-looking games in the long-term, but a games PC remains a powerful alternative, and a more flexible one in many respects.
Interface and features
Both consoles have slick user interfaces. The PS4’s is simpler and better at getting you straight to the functions you use most when playing games.
The Xbox One’s software uses Windows 10 as a base, and features an uncomplicated design and integrates search, friends, messages and notifications for much quicker access. There’s also a universal store, which means you’ll see some apps and games available on Windows 10 on the Xbox.
Both consoles have their party pieces though. The PS4 has a brilliant Remote Play feature, where you can stream games from your PS4 to a PS Vita handheld, Sony Xperia smartphone or tablet, or PC or Mac and keep playing while someone else hogs the TV – this can be done locally or over the internet. It also has some great game sharing features, where you can virtually hand over your controller to another PS4 owner, and let them stream a game from your console over the web.
More recently, Sony introduced (or should we say re-introduced?) the ability to stream music via a USB drive while you’re playing the PS4, along with the ability to appear offline on your friends list for those times where you’re feeling a little… unsociable.
The Xbox One, however, can give you a split-screen view to run two apps or one game and one app at once. Both the PS4 and Xbox One feature an ‘instant resume’ which allows you to put your console in standby, turn it on again, and carry on playing exactly where you left off.
Cameras
The Xbox One’s second-generation Kinect camera is a big improvement on the first, with more accurate motion tracking that works better across a range of lighting conditions, and can also track your body in more detail, even down to the individual finger joints. Sadly, it’s been grossly under-used so far, with just a handful of games that use it, and precious little sign of more to follow.
The PS4’s PlayStation Camera is a cheaper and less high-tech affair, and works with the same PS Move wand controllers that Sony first launched for the PS3. Again, it’s barely been used so far, and shouldn’t be considered a must-have purchase – unless you want to try out VR.
Virtual reality
This is a major difference: if you want to try out virtual reality gaming on a console, you need to get the PlayStation 4. It supports Sony’s exclusive PlayStation VR platform, which lets you play a variety of different VR experiences and games.
It’s a little expensive at £220 for the headset (and bear in mind you’ll probably also want the compatible Move controllers and Camera ), but it’s still pretty affordable compared to the likes of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and delivers great VR performance for the price.
By comparison, Microsoft hasn’t announced any firm VR plans for the Xbox One. For now, at least, PS4 is the go-to platform for console VR gaming.
Backwards compatibility
At first, neither console was backwards compatible, so there wasn’t much to compare between them. However, they now each offer some form of backwards compatibility, in very different ways.
The Xbox One is the only console that offers true backwards compatibility, and there are currently more than 300 Xbox 360 games you can play on the new machine – out of a total library of over 1,000.
Sony has handled old games very differently. It launched an on-demand service, PlayStation Now , which lets you stream a range of PS3 games. However, you still have to pay for a subscription to stream games, whether you own them or not, so there’s not a massive advantage if you have a huge PS3 games collection.
Games
The best reason to buy a specific console is to play its exclusive games, and this is an area where the PS4 has arguably built up an edge.
The Xbox One has some fantastic racing games in the Forza series , Halo 5, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and Gears of War 4 . For more, check out our round-up of the Xbox One’s best games .
The PS4 has a remastered version of the PS3’s brilliant post-apocalyptic epic The Last of Us, The Order: 1886, the gloomy RPG Bloodborne, space exploration game No Man’s Sky, Uncharted 4 , the long-delayed The Last Guardian , and action-RPG NieR: Automata . For more, check out our round-up of the PS4’s best games .
Those aside, some of the best games on either console have come from third parties, with Far Cry 5, Batman: Arkham Knight, Destiny , Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt , and an enhanced Grand Theft Auto V. Most of these games look or run slightly better on the PS4, but there’s not much in it.
Entertainment features
The Xbox One also has a Blu-ray drive and playback app, and DLNA media streaming both through the console’s own Media Player and an app for Plex. Throw in Microsoft’s own music and video services and its TV features, and it’s the best console for those who want to do more with their console than play games.
Verdict
There’s not much between the two, but if we had to pick a winner, we’d give it to the PS4. Not only does it edge the Xbox One on sheer graphical horsepower, it also has virtual reality support, and a better library of current and upcoming exclusive titles. The Xbox One is a little cheaper, and boasts better entertainment features, but unless you’re a serious Halo or Gears of War fan, right now the PS4 is a better bet.
Best Prices Today: Sony PS4 Slim
