I never played the original Mario Kart, so let me tell you what I thought of Mario Kart 8 as a new player.

Mario Kart 8 is a really fun racing game, but it's tons more fun playing with friends. There really is nothing like the feeling of tossing crap at your nearest and dearest and spoiling their fun. I've thrown a couple of Mario Kart parties now and everyone always has a blast. I love the sheer amount of unlockables, allowing my husband to play with a cart pulled by tiny wooden horses. Me? I like the bikes and I pink it up big time, cute and deadly.

One of the cool features of the new game is the ability to play as your Mii rather than the Mario characters. It's so much more fun crashing into the likeness of your friend and taking first right at the end. Would be good if there were a few more maps, so I'd recommend the DLC (although that's extra).

Another cool feature is that the Amiibo's can unlock custom racing suits, you can check it out on the Nintendo website and decide which ones you like, for me it was Peach (of course!) and Bowser.

Playing online multiplayer is also a blast, but honestly I don't know that I'd ever play single player. This is one of the only games I'll use online multiplayer and I like the system of voting on which track you want to play. As a new player I found the Wii remote controls fiddly and would recommend a Wii Pro controller or using the Wii gamepad for this one.