Heck, the MK8 roster is disappointing from anyone's perspective.
Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina, and Pink Gold Peach are all dumb because they don't exist in the other games, and were MADE for Mario Kart.
(And Baby Peach is okay because she actually played major roles in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time & Yoshi's Island DS)
At least with Toadette in Double Dash, Nintendo later used her in games like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
And the Koopalings are okay, the only problem I have with them (besides their voices) is that they take up 7 spaces that could have contained such classics like King Boo, Dry Bones, or even Diddy Kong.
The could have even had some of the one time only characters like ROB, or Funky Kong, or Petey Piranha, or Paratroopa.
In fact, those last two haven't been playable in a Mario Kart game since Double Dash, 11 years ago! And Paratroopa specifically hasn't been playable AT ALL since Mario Kart Double Dash!
Heck, there isn't even Bowser JR this time! Even though I hate him, I'm surprised that the Koopalings got in, and he didn't.
I was actually kinda hoping that Cranky Kong, of all people, would be in a Mario Kart game. And his personal Kart? His rocking chair from DKC1! After all, he clearly was able to beat the game with one life (and it took less than an hour!) in that wheelchair!
Plus, it'd be hilarious.
There are a few other things that bug me 'bout MK8, like how most of the retro courses look and sound completely different (especially the N64 courses, which were my FAVOURITE courses from my FAVOURITE Mario Kart
.
They also forced some new gimmicks in ways which don't make sense, like difficulty-ruining anti-gravity in N64 Toad's Turnpike, or doesn't-make-sense underwater portion added to GCN Dry Dry Desert. Even a 1 second gliding portion in N64 Yoshi Valley!), but that doesn't change the fact that I will buy it. After all, it IS Mario Kart.