I only played MK Super Circuit, MK DS, MK Wii and MK 7, and my favourite of this 4 games is MK 7. But I miss the missions from MK DS
Items are unbalanced af.8. Literally the only thing I dislike about it is that you get teleported away if you go too far backwards. Me and my friend used to do that on Wi-Fi games and try to hit people just before they finished the final lap and ruin their game. That was hilarious to us.
Unlike a lot of Nintendo games, that's one series they haven't messed up yet.