It's chaotic nature fits this style of game. Nintendo wants to make this a more party atmosphere for fun love/hate relationships with your friends/family rather than trying to make it a competitive race game.
Mario Kart 8 is a bit chaotic, maybe more so than the previous Mario Karts. The thing is, Mario Kart isn't supposed to be realistic. It's supposed to be wild and fun. Plus, it has a competitor that is just as chaotic. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, or more recently, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing: Transformed is a direct competitor for Mario Kart 8. Nintendo's trying to be more flashy to, once again, compete against SEGA.
Mario Kart 8 is a bit chaotic, maybe more so than the previous Mario Karts. The thing is, Mario Kart isn't supposed to be realistic. It's supposed to be wild and fun. Plus, it has a competitor that is just as chaotic. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, or more recently, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing: Transformed is a direct competitor for Mario Kart 8. Nintendo's trying to be more flashy to, once again, compete against SEGA.
That is what Nintendo has always done with Mario Kart. They're just trying to amp it up a little more, so that there's enough of a change in gimmicks to drum up sales. People don't want too much change, but they also don't want to do the same thing over and over.
The whole series is unrealistic and chaotic, but that's the fun of it. Mario is not meant to be, in any way, like real life. It's, admittedly, imaginative, and though I am a bit biased to SEGA, the Mario series is fun and enjoyable.
I don't personally find it to be *too* chaotic...there's an element of chaos, obviously, especially when compared to the average racing game, but to me that's kind of how it's intended to be. It's not a problem but rather part of the fun. But I don't find that it gets too out of control or so chaotic that it isn't fun at any point, so I don't think it's a bad thing.
It's not really a Mario game if there isn't a bit of chaos. Mario games are imaginative and unrealistic, that leaves some room for some crazy antics. That's the point, though.
Yes, a little chaos helps to add fun to most games. I think that so long as you are still able to see your kart and respond accordingly on the screen, any amount of crazy spinning, explosions or flashing is okay. It forces you to focus more, and separates the good players from the easily distracted newbies.
I don't think it's too chaotic. I've only had short moments where I was able to play the game but from what I have seen so far the chaos is not too much. The chaos is part of the game so I don't think toning it down would be a good idea, it's what makes the game different from other arcade racing games.