Mario Kart 8 is over eight years old at this point, but February 2022’s Nintendo Direct is breathing new life into it! On March 18 of this year, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is receiving an update with two new cups and eight new courses. It’s free for subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, and it costs $24.99 for non-subscribers. Do note that that $24.99 is paying for 48 new courses, not just the eight of them releasing in March. Here’s a breakdown of all the new courses!
Wave 1 Courses
Wave 1 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pack includes past tracks from a variety of entries in the series. The first cup – the Gold Mushroom cup – includes Paris Promenade, Toad Circuit, Choco Mountain, and Coconut Mall. These hail from Tour, 7, 64, and Wii, respectively. The second cup – the Lucky Bell cup – includes Tokyo Blur, Shroom Ridge, Sky Garden, and Ninja Hideaway. These come from Tour, DS, Super Circuit, and Tour, respectively. Lots of Tour representation here for sure.
It’s important to note that visually, these courses are very much a work-in-progress. Many have noted that the footage shown in the Nintendo Direct appears flat and textureless, and that it clashes with the courses already in the game. As true as this may be, additional screenshots posted by Nintendo have shown Sky Garden with a gray rocky track, as opposed to the brown one seen in footage. As such, they are likely undergoing visual polish and will look better in the final product. Not to worry!
We do have quite a few guides for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe here on the site, including ones on unlockables and coin farming. If you’d like to take a look at the complete list, check out the link below. You can also view the trailer for the Booster Course DLC via this link. Personally, we’d like to see some new characters added too — though at the time of writing, nothing of the sort has been confirmed.
If you would like to read more guides, please follow this link.