My 8-Year-Old Son Totally Schooled Mario Himself in a Game of Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart 8 Event

It’s not every day you get to play a brand new Mario Kart game a month or so before it comes out. And it’s not every day that you get to race against the Big “M’ himself. But my kids and I got to do just that recently at an awesome Mario Kart 8 Media Event held at the Nintendo World Store in Manhattan.

Mario Kart 8 Media Event

The second floor of the store was blocked off for invited guests only. Woot! I was on the list! Although it took awhile for the guard to actually find my name on there. I was all ready to slip him a twenty when he found Mommy’s Busy, Go Ask Daddy. Whew.

Up we went to find every console had been set up with the new Mario Kart 8 game (out on the Wii U the end of May), and even better, every course and character had been unlocked so we could really take them for a ride!

Jason took no time at mastering the controls and heading to Rainbow Road!
Jason took no time at mastering the controls and heading to Rainbow Road!
Ryan taught the Nintendo Store employee a thing or two.
Ryan taught the Nintendo Store employee a thing or two.

My full review of the game is coming up later this month (I’ll quickly state this: “OMG IT’S SO AWESOME!”), but I did get a few quick comments from Jason before he spent nearly two hours racing around (and up the sides of!) familiar and all-new tracks.

So, wadda ya think, Jason?

At one point, Mario and Luigi themselves came out to join the crowd. They posed for photos and even played a few rounds of Mario Kart 8 with the folks in the crowd.

"It's a MEEEEEEEE!"
“It’s a MEEEEEEEE!”
Brothers and brothers!
Brothers and brothers!

Ryan, who was literally running circles around me when we played together (in all fairness, he’s REALLY good just like his big brother Jason, and I’m REALLY bad…), took on Mario. I don’t know how the Big Guy held that Wii remote in his big white-gloved hands, but he managed to do it enough to move around.

Mario costume
Ryan takes on Mario in Mario Kart 8!


They played just one race and Ryan easily came in first. After a good 20 or 30 minutes, Mario finally finished the race in 12th place.

Ryan (left) ruled the course, while everyone fell asleep waiting for Mario to finish.
Ryan (left) ruled the course, while everyone fell asleep waiting for Mario to finish.

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a selfie with Luigi!

Me (right) and Luigi! Selfie time!
Me (right) and Luigi! Selfie time!

We eventually headed home but soon got back behind the wheel when we received a download code later that week! So we’ve been unlocking tracks and characters for days now! A big, fat, honkin’ THANK YOU to the folks at Nintendo for throwing an awesome shindig!

It was really such a great time at Nintendo World. Now if you’ll excuse me, the kids are off to bed, so I’m off to practice my driving, thank you very much.

"I'm a sooo bad at my a own a game!"
“I’m a sooo bad at my a own a game!”

Mario Kart 8 Speeds Into Stores on May 30

Mario Kart 8

Pre-Order Mario Kart 8

Official Mario Kart 8 website

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