Not much quality in this vertically-scrolling shooter. The twin stick shooting comes into play only in pieces. Controls are a bit less sluggish than some, but not enough to work around how enemies drop in and fill the screen. Some homing bullets are particularly irritating. The field for movement is also oddly restricted, allowing about a third of the screen but not too far up or down as it scrolls. The more real estate an enemy takes up, the more this becomes a problem, with the boss of the Egypt level the worst offender. Music is terrible and, for some levels, seems completely out of place. If you're just looking to play through a game like this with heavy use of the rewind button, it's fine, but I can't imagine enjoying this using credits. It doesn't even get an excuse for the time in which it was released, as there were many better games of its kind in 1987.

When it comes down to it, the new courses are excellent. Remade versions of existing Mario Kart courses are fun, too, and take advantage of shifting tracks and routes. Each lap is often different, carrying one surprise after another. This expansion doesn't do much else when it comes to the mechanics of 8D. Once again, the CPU is lacking. It's abundantly clear that it can't keep up at higher speeds and so relies on barrages of items. There are better ways of making a player feel like they have to battle to get through a race, but they're not to be found in Mario Kart.