The winner of 2017’s D.I.C.E Racing Game of The Year has been unveiled and simulation fans might be less than enthused. Despite nominations for all of last year’s heavy hitters in the realistic racing space, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has powered on to victory.
Nintendo’s port of the 2014 kart racer has taken home the prestigious award ahead of its other racing counterparts. In what could be considered a banner year for the genre, there was a very strong suite to choose between. The shortlisted nominations list consisted of:
- DiRT 4 (Read our review)
- Forza Motorsport 7 (Read our review)
- Gran Turismo Sport (Read our review)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Project CARS 2 (Read our review)
None of these where able to beat out the plumber this time around though. 2016’s winner was Forza Horizon 3, so suggesting that Forza Motorsport 7 was in with a shout wouldn’t have been a stretch. In fact, cases could be made for each of these games to win the award but the strong hype around the Nintendo Switch and MK8D was too much to overcome.
Now put the pitchforks and consider the perspective here. The title is one of the best kart racers ever made and very importantly, portable. It’s quite the technical marvel thanks to a solid smooth 60fps and very efficient art direction. We’ve got a handful of Switch owners on the team and they all vouch for the game’s quality in action.
It’s also one of, if not the, best Mario Kart games ever and even features the Mercedes-Benz W25 Silver Arrow and weather effects. Now that’s something that not even some racing simulations can boast about!
In all seriousness, another aspect to consider is that this is a mainstream awards ceremony. The nuance of physics engines and engine sounds wouldn’t really factor into D.I.C.E’s decision making.
Congratulations to Nintendo and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for taking home the award and commiserations to the runners up. All of these titles marked a phenomenal year for the genre whether they got to take home an award or not.
