One blue-shell level hot-take has sent the gaming community into a headspin, with the Mario Kart 8 remake from 2018 at the heart of the issue, according to disgruntled players.
The hot take spread rapidly across social media on Oct. 9 and suggested Mario Kart 8’s remaster for the Switch snuck by unscathed when others would be trashed by the community. In particular, OldMateGamer’s The Last of Us 2 remake example had already received criticism, all while Nintendo titles get “a pass for everything.”
Players chastised the claim and pointed to the long list of added content that MK8 provides. For a game to be worthy of a remake or remaster, the title needs to bring more to the table.
MK8’s remake deserves to exist, players claimed, because it landed with six new characters in an already long roster, and several new maps as a cherry on top.
In comparison, The Last of Us Part 1’s (2022) remake for the PlayStation 5, didn’t really bring any new, game-changing features to the latest console generation, which leaves it undeserving of a rerun, players suggested. Not even the fact that the game was “rebuilt from the ground up,” could save it from gamers’ ire.
People also pointed out the Switch isn’t backward compatible with the Wii U, which means players simply cannot access titles from older generations—another perfect reason for games to return in new forms.
The remake model is incredibly profitable for game developers. The Naughty Dog franchise sold 37 million copies over nine years, and MK8 is one of the highest-selling titles throughout the Switch’s lifespan.
Titles like Resident Evil 4 2023 remake managed to accrue glowing reviews in its most recent run on the shelves. This particular port of RE4 is the 10th time it’s made the leap to a new console.
However, with RE4’s release this year, CAPCOM introduced changes to the plot, new characters, and a graphical update to match.
With games like Silent Hill 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’s potential remake on the horizon, the developers best keep note of what went down on Oct. 9, to completely satisfy gamers.
