I also think the items become more powerful every lap as when my brother is at the right distance, he gets a 🤬 3 red shells and I get sent back and it only happens on the 3rd lap.
It is do more evident if you compare an overlap challenge and being close in 12th place. Overlap challenge gives you typical last place items until you get too close. While when I was 12th and in a pack I also got Green Shells and a Bob-Omb.
The system is not perfect, I know (I find it inferior to MK7s item system) but it is an interesting turn around. Though I'd rather this than MkWiis. Where you have cheap 🤬 like the Pow Block. The more common than usual Blue Shell that makes races to random and the Thunder Cloud
. I also think the situation based item system is done as a response to MkWiis especially 1 on 1 where 2nd gets screwed over more than 1st with the Thunder Cloud and every attack item is useless since the 2 item management system and you can't hope for a Blue Shell since 2nd Place couldn't get any.
I still can't get my online to work XD.
I'll agree that some of Mario Kart Wii's items were obnoxious. The Thunder Cloud's hot potato mechanic was a good idea on paper, but it became annoying and unfair really fast when you got it and there was no one around to pass it to. I'm glad it's gone.
The Blue Shell was death with wings in Mario Kart Wii. I'm so happy it was nerfed a bit in MK8. In Wii, it would send you flying into the air, causing you to waste more time recovering and it only affected first place since it could fly instead of traveling on the ground to hit others players on its way up.
I never had issues with the POW Block. It's possible to avoid its effect so you don't lose speed.
(P. S. I did some 1 vs 1 races back when Mario Kart Wii was still online and it is possible to get the Blue Shell in second.)
However, Mario Kart 8 still has some obnoxious items of its own.
As
@Classic mentioned, the dreaded coin is given to you when there's no need for it to begin with (seriously, there are coins all over the track already), causing you to be vulnerable to red shells. I wish the Fake Item Box came back in the coin's place. It didn't protect you from red shells either, but at least you could use it as a trap to keep people behind you at bay.
Then there are the green shells. I know I can't be the only one who notices they have this strange semi-homing ability, which can make them even more lethal than red shells since the game doesn't warn you about them and you can't always predict in what direction they'll bounce.
Finally, there's the Piranha Plant. There's nothing wrong with this item in itself...except for the fact that the game does not alert you about it, while it warns you that someone with a star, a Bullet Bill, Blue Shell, etc. is coming up behind you. So inconsistent.
But on a side note, there are the Mushrooms and Stars. I don't know how I feel about their speed being nerfed. They are handy for cutting the track when possible and of course, the Star can protect you from everything. But the red Mushrooms feel useless at times, especially since the game has a weird tendency to give you and anyone else surrounding you triple mushrooms. I rarely firehop, but I sometimes resort to that to get any useful speed out of them.
@Wolfe: I never have been able to participate in Frantic mode race. I wish I could but there is never anyone there.
The miis are a joke in MK8, they look awesome in Smash so it's really disappointing when you compare the two. The MK8 fox outfit is pretty cool but a little bit 'furry' for my liking. 
I should be getting an awesome piece on MK8 merchandise coming through my door any day now, I will be sure to share it with you guys. 
