Mario Kart 8 Deluxe welcomes its third wave of DLC tracks this week, adding to Nintendo’s bid to prolong the port of a now 8-year-old Wii U game. Sadly, the first two waves had problems with texture quality, and while this still exists to some degree in wave 3, it’s also clear that the development team working on this DLC has been making a conscious effort to fix the issues people have had so far.
With all that being said, how does the third wave stack up overall?
7/7 Berlin Byways (Mario Kart Tour – Mobile)
One of the game’s least Mario-Kart-feeling tracks, Berlin Byways, retains most of the usual oval-shaped track but adds two key landmarks. The large tower at the beginning of the course is much higher in scale than just about any of the other details seen in these ported Tour courses. The train station section heading into the bridge is also an interestingly designed section. The music has an almost synthy instrumental theme, something very atypical for Mario Kart.
While the added scope and newer sections on the map are a significant improvement over the tour tracks added in the first two waves, they still do not hold a candle to earlier console courses and even the completely original courses.
London Loop is another port from Mario Kart Tour but is also the best one added to the game from Tour so far. While the other tour tracks are marked by their poor track layout, one that keeps limited controls on a touch screen, London Loop seems less prone to those disadvantages.
The details shown on landmarks like the shops in the middle of the course, along with the Ferris wheel and drawbridge toward the end, are extraordinary. The overall grace shown here shares much less with the Tour Original than the prior courses added. It still feels like a marked step down from the original tracks, but if future tour tracks share this level of quality, they should fit in with the other tracks much more comfortably.
6/7 Rock Rock Mountain (Mario Kart 7 – 3DS)
Rock Rock Mountain (called Alpine Pass in PAL regions for some reason) was one of the tracks that made the best use of the hang glider in Mario Kart 7, the game that first added the feature. The long ramp sections that saw users gliding over long stretches of the map were interesting for the time as they had never been seen before, but years later, it started feeling like a weird course design.
However, for the sake of having courses that feel drastically different from what we’ve seen in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it makes a solid addition.
5/7 Boo Lake (Mario Kart: Super Circuit – GBA)
Any time a course is taken from a non-3d Mario Kart, such as the original Super Mario Kart or Super Circuit, it’s a crapshoot as to how it will translate into 3d. Well, the usual tight corners expected from these two games are there in Boo Lake, but also with plenty of modern amenities.
The track seems normal at first, but surprisingly, players soon come across a ramp that takes them underwater. A pleasant surprise makes this a fun and unique course rather than a safe retread of a well-liked handheld track.
4/7 Peach Gardens (Mario Kart DS)
Possibly the most remembered of the DS and Mario Kart Wii tracks, Peach Gardens retains its giant shrubs modeled after Mario and Peach, as well as the plethora of chain chomps and a piranha plant littered throughout. Given this was already a course ported to Mario Kart Wii, there was less uncertainty as to what a home console version of this course would look like.
This course also may have the best new version of the original theme music, making good use of the additional sound compared to the DS and Wii version.
3/7 Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 7 – 3DS)
Another addition to the Rainbow Roads in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, though the Mario Kart 7 version may be the best of the bunch. The constant turns offer the best experience for drift-friendly users, and the strong amount of boosts at the end leads to an optimal experience throughout. The ability to leave the track toward the end and drop onto a small planet is a nice change of pace from the usual hectic rainbow road experience.
All in all, if they are going to have this many rainbow roads in the game, Mario Kart 7’s was definitely a must-have on that list.
2/7 Maple Treeway (Mario Kart Wii)
One of the most popular tracks from Mario Kart Wii (aside from Coconut Mall added in Wave 1), Maple Treeway retains its key features, but it has been made wider overall. The piles of leaves across the course still drop random items on the ground when run over, and the wood textures, in general, have much more fine detailing than on the Wii.
Much like its sister course in Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway has been an often requested returning course, and many players will be happy to see its return on an HD console.
1/7 Merry Mountain (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe)
The lone original track designed for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in this wave, Merry Mountain, comes just in time as a Christmas-themed track. Christmas theme in the mushroom kingdom comes packed in several forms, such as Christmas trees, sleigh-style train riding throughout the course, candy cane lamp posts, giant presents, and even full-sized gingerbread houses.
The track itself doesn’t break new ground layout-wise, but the track’s attention to detail and seasonal theme put it on par with anything in the game. While much of these DLC waves are to remember Mario Kart’s past, seeing what Mario Kart’s development team is capable of has got everyone excited for what’s ahead.
