With the first DLC pack for Mario Kart 8 under its belt, Nintendo has taken to adjusting some of how light weight racers feel. Lightweight racers like Yoshi and Toad were given additional balance in the 3.0 update in order to lessen the impact that collision with heavier weight class racers has on their control. According to Kosuke Yabuki, the director for the game, the knock back from the impact gave them a slight disadvantage in comparison to the heavier weight class characters.
For this update, we made just a minor tweak to the way two players deflect when they collide with each other. Up until now, when two players collided, the more lightweight racers would get knocked too far away. That, combined with other overall elements we considered, made us conclude that the lighter racers were at a bit of a disadvantage. If you like Toad or Shy Guy and feel like you can’t win at all, go ahead and give them another try after applying the update. Also note that this tweak doesn’t have any effect on Time Trials when playing solo.
Online races is where the balance will have the most impact, as those who are serious about Mario Kart will tell you a heavyweight character is always preferred, mostly to reduce the knock back that was adjusted. Will this get you back into the game trying light weight characters in multiplayer again?
