First conclusion about the booster pass from Mario Kart 8: four pearls and a real cucumber

After the first laps on the new DLC tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a preliminary conclusion is clear: The 8 courses are an enrichment for the game, the criticism in advance was exaggerated. Still, there are some disappointments.

8 routes, 2 cups: That’s what the new MK8 DLC has offered so far

Of course, on Friday evening, we’re going straight to the 8 new routes of Golden Turbo Cups and des Lucky Cat Cups fallen, now extend the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (see booster pass at Amazon). And contrary to expectations, the quota of highlight routes is really good at 50%! The tracks in the individual review.

Paris Parcours / Paris Promenade (from Mario Kart Tour)

A highlight right away: the Paris route offers an interesting race through wide and narrow alleys, through the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower to the lively sounds from the squeeze chest, The route also varies with each lap. cracker track! 3/3

Toad’s Piste / Toad Circuit (from Mario Kart Tour)

Relatively short and easy track in the style of a classic racetrack. A bit boring in terms of looks and driving, at best suitable for beginners to learn to drift. The 2D toads in the audience, textureless lawns, low-polygon 3D models – Technically, Toad’s slope is the weakest of the new routes. 1/3

Choco Swamp / Choco Mountain (from Mario Kart 64)

The route is somewhat reminiscent of the Yoshi Valley with borrowings from Wario’s gold mine, but lacks the ingenious jumble of junctions from the former and the driving finesse from the latter route. Staying true to the original, but a little ‘jewelry’ along the side of the track aside from the brown chocolate cake texture slush and the rock chip section and a few better shortcuts would have looked good on the track. 2/3

Coconut Promenade / Coconut Mall (from Mario Kart Wii)

The mall from the Wii version of Mario Kart is an absolute classic that has been lovingly modernized here. Nice shortcuts, great route details, great music – The route pass was worth it for that alone. More of the same, Nintendo! 3/3

Tokyo Tempo Tour / Tokyo Blur (from Mario Kart Tour)

The first and more urban of the two Tokyo-style routes, with a varied layout. Those who drift well have an advantage. No filler, but no highlight either. 2/3

Mushroom Pass / Shroom Ridge (from Mario Kart DS)

Ugh, there it is again, the flow of traffic off Toad’s freeway. Personally, I consider the NPC carts my nemesis, but many, for some reason, love them. The mushroom pass is really challenging with its chicanes and a blatant shortcut over the chasm in the S-curve just before the finish. Visually, the track is unspectacular, but in terms of driving, it’s a real treat for MK8D professionals. 2/3

Cloud Run / Sky Garden (from Mario Kart: Super Circuit)

A short and winding route, which of course immediately reminds you of the cloud road, but is much less varied. OK, but not a highlight. 2/3

Ninja Dojo / Ninja Hideaway (from Mario Kart Tour)

What a wild ride is this track please? In the race through a Japanese dojo temple complex, there are a number of junctions and shortcuts, some hair-raising harassment and a great, detailed environment in a beautiful bamboo and cherry blossom atmosphere. Absolute highlight! 3/3

Conclusion: Half of the routes are convincing

Beforehand, many players complained that the new tracks were recycled from old games, although this was also the case with many of the original tracks in Mario Kart 8. It was also criticized that many tracks came from Mario Kart Tour, the mobile game offshoot, so that they are shorter and “more colourful”. The former is a bit true, the latter less so – the new routes fit well into the entire Mario Kart 8 Deluxe route portfolio, and the old routes also have a great deal of variation in comparison.

With Paris Parcours and Ninja-Dojo, two tour routes are absolute highlights of the first route package. They have interesting junctions, are stylish and challenging to drive. Other highlights are the new edition of the coconut promenade and, at least in terms of driving, the mushroom pass, a real “stinker” from my point of view only Toad’s slope.

As a long-time fan of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the 25 euros alone for these four tracks would have been worth it. The new tracks are a welcome addition to an already expansive game and offer a similar range of quality to the original tracks. Also to be commended is the excellent musical accompaniment on all tracks, which shows no difference in quality compared to the main game. The Mario Kart feeling is right! So: all good. Or? Well, not quite…

If you want to see the new routes in action, take a look at the official trailer:

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Track Pass [Pre-Load] | Nintendo Switch download code

The price may be higher now. Price as of 3/28/2022 11:37 am

Disappointment 1: No new routes in online mode

On Friday evening the online mode was filled with players from all over the world who would have liked to prove themselves on the new tracks. However, the two new cups were not yet included in the list of playable routes at this point in time. They weren’t even playable if you frantically set the route to “random”.

Why this? Well, in the public online mode were new tracks only from March 21st recorded. But that was only found in the changelog, buried deep on the Nintendo website. After all, even without having bought the DLC, you can play the new routes if one of the other players owns it.

And so many players would have liked to familiarize themselves with the new routes online at the weekend and based on that decided whether they should buy the route pass. Nintendo missed the opportunity. Pre-purchasers of the route pass also felt cheated because the only way they could play them online was in private matches. All in all, a bad decision by Nintendo, which was also poorly communicated.

Disappointment 2: No more content

Anyone who had hoped that Nintendo would also add new drivers, vehicle parts or other improvements is also disappointed. True, the game was updated to version 2.0.0According to the changelog, there were also unspecified bug fixes – but, for example, the unnecessary download limit for ghosts in time trial mode was not considered – a major obstacle to being able to really enjoy Mario Kart 8’s secret “Trackmania mode”. Well, let’s hope for the upcoming updates.

What’s next for the booster pass?

According to Nintendo, the remaining 40 tracks will be rolled out in 5 more waves of 8 tracks each by the end of 2023. There are no dates yet, but mathematically that would mean that we can expect new tracks about every four months. In the summer it should continue with two more cups.