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Although the Mario Kart games have been around for years now, nothing beats gathering around the tv with friends to play some good old fashion split screen multiplayer which could either make or break your friendships.
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Unfortunately, it seems as if more and more games nowadays are choosing to make major changes to their game franchises, such as The Legend Of Zelda. Which opted to let go of its traditional linear dungeon based gameplay to emphasize more on exploration and freedom.
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When keeping that in mind, it’s completely understandable why one would want to find out whether Mario Kart 8 has multiplayer, which it luckily does. Not only does it have multiplayer, but there are multiple modes you can play with your friends.
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Local Multiplayer
The first and oldest method of multiplayer is playing with multiple friends on the same device. Although this method requires you to have friends present with you in person, as well as for you to have the number of controllers required.
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Returning Mario Kart players will be happy to know that by selecting this option, every player will have their own section of the screen with the traditional split screen mode, which can accommodate from 2 to 4 players at once.
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To do this, simply select the multiplayer option from the main menu, highlight the number of players that will be playing, and then connect the controllers. All players can freely pick their characters and builds, and the first player has the ability to choose the map and race type.
Online Play
This is the mode most Mario Kart 8 players play. Race against players all over the world to test your skills and climb the ranks to become the best racer around. Play with or against them in a variety of different modes such as tournaments, regional, etc.
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To do this, highlight the multiplayer option and select it, then pick the racing mode you want to play along with your character. Finally, click on OK to begin the race.
Wireless Play
If you want to play with multiple friends without them being present in the same room with you, then that’s possible as well with the wireless play option. With this mode, 2-8 players can play in a variety of different race modes with or against each other.
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One thing to keep in mind, however, is that only two players can play on one console. This means if you want to do an 8 player tournament, then you’ll need at least four consoles.
To start a race with this mode, first press the wireless play option in the main menu. After selecting it, a friend list will appear, and every friend on your friend list with an open room will be present on that list.
One player has to host the game and either open their room or invite every player after which the rest of the players will be joining the room. Finally, select the characters, race type, and map, and start the race!
Final Thoughts
Multiplayer and Mario Kart are two things that go hand in hand with each other. There are multiple reasons for this, with the biggest being that competitive and friendly play is what really keeps the game alive. If the only thing a Mario Kart game had was a story mode, then players wouldn’t keep coming back to it as they do now.
