With Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being almost five years old, it’s safe to say that fans of the iconic track racer series featuring the Super Mario series’ most familiar faces are clamoring for a ninth installment in the series. Unfortunately for them, Mario Kart 8 was the best-selling game on the Wii U, and that trend has been continuing with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. After selling a whopping 43.35 million units, it instantly became the best-selling game on Nintendo’s next generation of consoles. Face it. Mario Kart 8 prints money, and for good reason. It may seem like a no-brainer to fans to make a new game, but as for Nintendo, they’re totally fine just drawing attention to an eight-year old game.

Now finally, Nintendo decided to throw in the towel and add some “new” tracks into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe via downloadable content. For the low price of $24.99, you have the luxury of playing through some “classic” tracks from the Mario Kart series’ back catalog. It’s a tradition for Mario Kart games to bring back old tracks and remaster them for the modern age, and many believe that Mario Kart 8 did it the best. 

The once baron and garish environments from games such as Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart Super Circuit were given a new coat of paint, and adapted with all the modern additions of the recent games. The catch is, Mario Kart 8 does it so well that it’s legitimately hard to tell which tracks were new and which are recycled from past games. I bring this up because the new Booster Course Pass DLC seems to have forgotten this. While only eight tracks have been currently released with more on the way, these eight tracks raise some concerns.

Take a look at the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe revamped Toad Circuit, a track from the Nintendo 3DS installment, Mario Kart 7. The colors are too simple, there is hardly any detail, and everything regarding the track has this sort of “plasticy” look to it. It looks like a course modded into the game by fans. It’s easy to tell that this is an old track, even if it wasn’t explicitly stated that the DLC would focus on retro course. It’s bad. 

Although, let’s write off Toad Circuit as a bad apple. Maybe the art direction of the course from Mario Kart 7 was far too generic to heed a good upgrade. Maybe the transition from game to game is underwhelming given the fact that these are games that came out three years apart from one another. This does hold true for other courses such as Choco Mountain, which most recently appeared seventeen years ago on the Nintendo DS. This track, despite the graphical downgrade, does feel like a worthy upgrade given the amount of time this track has been sidelined.  As well as other courses like Ninja Hideaway or the fan favorite Coconut Mall looking great on the new hardware. On top of this, all of the music tracks from these courses have been re-recorded by the Mario Kart 8 music team. Which is incredible given Mario Kart 8’s soundtrack prominently featuring live-recorded music across the entire game. 

Take a look at a course like Moo Moo Meadows. Despite being a course from all the way back in Mario Kart Wii, the upgrade is incredible. The time of day has been changed from day to dusk, the grass textures are detailed but not too realistic, and feels  new again. Now, take a look at any track from the DLC. Hardly anything has been changed from the original concepts and art direction. All of the ocky, grass and road textures are one-toned polygons. Worst of all, I can tell I’m playing something made for mobile devices.

That’s right. Mobile devices. Perhaps the biggest issue with these tracks is something that I’ve neglected to mention. Anyone remember Mario Kart Tour? The one Mario Kart game released for mobile devices that you downloaded and forgot about? Well, let’s just say that both mine and Nintendo’s claims on these tracks  should be taken with a grain of salt. While yes, the original courses did come from earlier games, these deluxe remakes were recycled from Mario Kart Tour. Which of course, was a visual downgrade given the platform being your phone. I do commend Nintendo for releasing remakes of tracks on a Mario Kart game that people actually care about, and even in spite of the visuals. These tracks make the game feel fresh again, but  simply copying and pasting mobile phone game assets onto an actual video game console just isn’t enough for such a high profile game.

So the music is as great as ever, but the visuals and art direction leave a lot to be desired. This leaves one question for players, are the tracks actually fun to race on? The fact that I even have to  ask this should be enough of an answer. Regardless, here is my review of all the “new” tracks in the DLC.

Paris Promenade

An interesting concept with a pretty good execution. It can be frustrating and hard to tell where to turn, making it obvious that this course was meant for a game like Mario Kart Tour, where players don’t need to worry about steering as much. It really excels as a track on the final lap, making it a decent map.

Toad Circuit:

Lame graphics, forgettable music, and only fun on 200cc, which is the fastest speed in the game. It’s a ‘by the numbers’ track that should stay in 2011.

Choco Mountain:

A truly worthy upgrade. This track was already amazing, and the visuals work pretty well for this one. I’m glad to see it make a stellar comeback in the Nintendo Switch revamp.

Coconut Mall:

For such a classic, this one is such a downgrade from its first remake in Mario Kart 7. There are some new details, which is cool, but overall it just feels… less fun. Not how I wanna feel when I get Coconut Mall-ed as the kids say.

Tokyo Blur:

The city of Tokyo has never looked better, if your idea of better is just a lame mesh of roads. Similar concept to that of Paris Promenade, but with a frighteningly-confusing execution. I was overcome with a sense of “why did I buy this?” upon finishing a race on this course.

Mushroom Ridge:

We love an underdog story. This course has been in the deepest recesses of my psyche since I played it in Mario Kart DS when I was a small child, but now, it’s even better. Although it’s pretty difficult to dodge the oncoming traffic in this course,that’s what makes it fun.

Sky Garden:

“Yep, that was definitely a course from Mario Kart Super Circuit on the Gameboy Advance,” are  going to be the first words out of my mouth when- sorry- if I play this course. Pretty frustrating on 200cc and not in a good way.

Ninja Hideaway:

Aha! Finally a good one! So many shortcuts and replay value. It’s a unique setting that I love, and an art direction that manages to make the graphic downgrade look nice. A really fun one that I’d love to play with friends that are as critical as I am when it comes to Mario Kart. 

And there you have it, Mario Kart Tour’s regurgitated circus of mediocre raceways. I hope to see Nintendo put more effort into these tracks in the future. I’m not mad about the fact that these are remakes, no one is. If anything, retro course DLC allows long time fans to see classic courses in a new light and can be more enriching than just new tracks. But, it’s hard to call it “a new light” when these courses are just taken from an inferior game. Nintendo needs to step it up if they want us to fall in love with these locations again. They’ve slipped on a banana, but with the right amount of effort, they can bring Mario Kart 8 Deluxe back into first place in our hearts.