These stages can still get hectic, of course and some have even been updated with a few sections where you can drive up a wall. But the fact that they’re not designed with anti-gravity in mind shows — MK64’s Yoshi Valley still has its many branching paths to deal with, but the plentiful hills and valleys feel underutilized now. Fast-forward to something like the new Sweet Sweet Canyon, and you’ll find yourself racing along roads that will twist you around 360 degrees while you plunge in and out of an ocean made of cola. The new levels simply have more depth. It's sort of like playing a PS3 or Xbox 360 game after using the new generation of game consoles: the improvements might not seem all that huge initially, but it's hard to go back.

'Mario Kart 8' is absolutely bursting with life and color

Outside of the crazy new tracks, there's also a handful of other improvements that help make Mario Kart 8 better than its predecessors. For one thing, it looks amazing — it may have taken Nintendo far too long to start making HD games, but the wait was worth it. MK8 is absolutely bursting with life and color, and packed with tiny visual details that can make it hard to concentrate on the road ahead of you. When you dive underwater in Dolphin Shoals, schools of adorable fish will swim alongside you as playful dolphins jump through hoops. In the disco-themed Electrodome, thumping speakers, whirling cameras, and massive screens showing partying koopas provide more than enough distraction, and make it feel like you’re driving through a PG rave.

Aside from the blue shell-negating super horn, there's a new boomerang you can use to hit your opponents multiple times, as well as a piranha plant that will temporarily chomp down on anyone unlucky enough to get close to you. They're fun to play with, but don't really change the strategy in any way. Same goes for the new racers and vehicles: it's neat to drive around in an ATV while playing as a metallic Princess Peach, but it's more of an aesthetic change than anything. Meanwhile, the Wii U's defining feature isn’t particularly integral — the screen on the Gamepad controller can be used to display a map and doubles as a horn, and you can use it to play the game off TV as well. Motion controls are still optional, which is a good thing, since they're still not very good.

Nintendo has mastered the art of adding just enough to make familiar games feel new and interesting. It's why new Legend of Zelda and Super Mario games are still among the best-reviewed titles around — Nintendo can even make golf interesting. The Mario Kart series is a perfect example of this, as it changes slowly yet (in most cases) gets better with each new release. Mario Kart 8 doesn't offer much more than some crazy new tracks, HD graphics, and a handful of new items, but it's enough to make it the best Mario Kart game Nintendo has ever released.

And as long as I have my super horn, everything will be all right.