In a recent round table interview with the Mario Kart 8 developers, producer Hideki Konno had high praise for the Wii U when speaking of its ability to deliver crystal clear HD graphics. Konno was quick to emphasize that compared to Mario Kart Wii, which was released about six years ago, this is the team’s best looking game yet.
“We’re working with HD for the first time, and we really wanted to take advantage of that. We put a lot of effort into making this a good looking game–it’s a very pretty game.”
According to the developers, the team was able to create a Mario Kart game that has graphical fidelity unlike anything we’ve seen before, without the drop in frame rate that players may have experienced when playing Mario Kart Wii with the local multi-player split-screen option.
“This time with the power of the Wii U we really made an effort to keep that graphic quality high regardless of how many ways we were splitting the TV into.”
In terms of graphical fidelity, the team elaborated stating that they were able to produce minor details that bring the experience together like never before. Different parts of the kart move, dirt stays on the tires, and skidmarks are left on the course through entire races.
“Using the power of the Wii U, we were able to create a Mario Kart title that feels right, and the controls feel like they’re perfect for this game.”
Mario Kart 8 launches on May 30 worldwide.