Chris DeAngelus: Everyone loves Mario Kart because it combines fast-paced racing action with goofy power-ups and exotic race locations. It's the definitive party game. Mario Kart 8 has all of the favorite characters, from Mario to Waluigi. Between adding F-Zero-style gravity-defying supertracks and the return of favorite gimmicks like motorbikes, Mario Kart 8 is shaping up to be the most memorable entry in the franchise to date.

Brian Dumlao: Mario Kart is always a big deal, and this one is no exception. Taking all of the mechanics from previous games means that we'll see the hang-gliding and underwater racing portions on a home console for the first time. The addition of antigravity portions to the tracks should be very interesting. The inclusion of Miiverse features should help spice things up, especially since you can upload video clips of your best times for others to see. Even if it doesn't go beyond four local players, Mario Kart 8 could be a mainstay in multiplayer game sessions for a long time.

Jason Grant: Mario Kart leaves even more of its comfort zone with HD graphics and the ability to defy gravity. After the solid Mario Kart 7, I'm definitely looking forward to this. Still, the face of racing has changed, and it will now have to contend with the likes of of the excellent Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed in the arena of quality. Time will tell if it can measure up.

Erik "NekoIncardine" Ottosen: Mario Kart has been Nintendo's longest-lasting party franchise. The kart racing series has been responsible for requiring four controller ports in Nintendo's console offerings, and it has established video game norms that have persisted to this very day. No Nintendo system has lacked a Mario Kart entry since the Super NES, so it's no surprise that one is coming to the Wii U. This installment should shake up the series norms by introducing transforming craft that could turn into hover-carts to handle courses that send players racing along walls and ceilings. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is soon to be dethroned as the Wii U's ultimate party racer, and Mario Kart fans couldn't be happier.