Mario Kart DS had some absolute gems
Leading up to yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, there were a lot of rumors across the internet that Nintendo would be revealing Mario Kart 9 in some form or another for a 2022 or 2023 release. With Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still selling like hotcakes, it arguably made more sense (at least to me) to release more tracks as DLC for it rather than potentially split your player base with a new entry on Switch. As we learned yesterday with the announcement of the Booster Course Pass, Nintendo chose the latter option. In all honesty, I’m just surprised it took this long given how successful MK8 Deluxe has been.
For $25, we’ll be getting 48 beautifully remastered tracks from the franchise’s past. These tracks will be grouped into cups consisting of four races each, and each wave of the DLC will come with two cups. The DLC starts dropping on March 18 with the first two cups:
- Golden Dash Cup
- Paris Promenade (Mario Kart Tour)
- Toad Circuit (Mario Kart 7)
- Choco Mountain (Mario Kart 64)
- Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)
- Lucky Cat Cup
- Tokyo Blur (Mario Kart Tour)
- Shroom Ridge (Mario Kart 7)
- Sky Garden (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
- Ninja Hideaway (Mario Kart Tour)
8 Tracks Down, 40 Left to Go
The appearance of so many Mario Kart Tour tracks makes me happy because, despite my overall feelings of animosity toward that game, I did enjoy the design of all the original tracks created for it. Now, with the Booster Course Pass, I’ll be able to enjoy them in a Mario Kart title I actually like to play. Fingers crossed Merry Mountain and New York Minute make the cut of the final 40 tracks.
Speaking of those remaining 40 tracks, there are a lot of great courses from Mario Kart history that deserve a spot in this DLC. Mario Kart DS in particular has some absolute, all-time greats, including Peach Gardens, Airship Fortress, Waluigi Pinball, and Delfino Square (which would work perfectly in parts for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s wall-riding mechanic).
That said, there are also many tracks from the original Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit to could be wonderful when given a makeover in the Mario Kart 8 engine. I mean, just look at what they did with Cheese Land, Ribbon Road, and Mario Circuit. Mario Circuit 4 from the original SNES game has never appeared as a classic track outside of Super Circuit, so it is ripe for a 3D-HD remake here.
With that in mind, I want to know which classic Mario Kart track do you think is most deserving of a spot in the Booster Course Pass. For me, it’s Lakeside Park from Mario Kart: Super Circuit. I just love how the developers have transitioned these old, flat courses into fully 3D marvels, and with this track’s erupting volcano and falling lava boulders, I think it could make one hell of a course in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. That’s my pick, what’s yours?
