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StarTopic Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass |ST| Doubled Dash!! [WAVE 6 AVAILABLE NOW]

What is your favorite course in Wave 6?

  • Rome Avanti

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • DK Mountain

    Votes: 7 14.6%

  • Daisy Circuit

    Votes: 1 2.1%

  • Piranha Plant Cove

    Votes: 3 6.3%

  • Madrid Drive

    Votes: 1 2.1%

  • Rosalina's Ice World

    Votes: 7 14.6%

  • SNES Bowser Castle 3

    Votes: 11 22.9%

  • Wii Rainbow Road

    Votes: 18 37.5%
  • Total voters
    48
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Hooooooo boy I can already feel the rage coming with that brief face-to-face in Paris Promenade. I'm gonna get blasted by a green shell coming from the other direction, aren't I?
 
The new Ninja course was definitely confusing for me on the first run

The sky course in the 3D world red bell cup is really short
 
Why are the shy guys so big in ninja hideaway lol

Very interesting course, feels very “Mario level” in nature and not typical Mario kart. Rough around the edges but I appreciate the experimentation.
 
Whoops I crossed a wire with it coming out in tour and was expecting mushroom gorge in the second cup. Rip lol
 
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Oh hey, that image isn’t just a data mine. It’s literally visible when you click on the unreleased courses lol
 
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Just played both cups. Won the gold, but I didn't get three stars on either of them. My quick thoughts:

(Tour- Paris Prominade)- So full disclosure I have never played Mario Kart Tour. I liked how you didn't take the same route all three laps. I hope that is something that Nintendo incorporates into the next Mario Kart game. The track reminds me of Daisy's Circuit on the Wii.

(3D- Toad Circuit)- I really wish Nintendo added anti-gravity to this course. It felt like a missed opportunity.

(N64- Choco Mountain)- Anytime an N64 course comes to MK8 I am pleased, but the visuals felt really ugly. The music was awesome though.

(Wii- Coconut Mall)- This track brought back some memories. While I miss the Miis I am glad that the cars at the end of the lap do not move anymore.

(Tour- Tokyo Blur)- Another first time adventure for me. This one reminded me of Mushroom Bridge in Double Dash. Another hot music track.

(DS- Shroom Ridge)- A rather uneventful track, but so was the original DS version. Still had fun.

(GBA- Sky Garden)- Short but sweet.

(Ninja Hideaway)- So I guess this is a totally new track? I fell off so many times I am going to have to learn this track.


Overall I am pretty happy with the quality of the DLC so far. The music was really good. The visuals didn't have the same detail as the regular M8 tracks but I'll happily take this. Now bring on the online Nintendo!
 
Drifting like a pro on Shroom Ridge. Fun as hell.

Ninja Hideaway also remains an all-time series favorite for me. The amount of routes is insane.

Tracks are super fun all in all.
 
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Replaying the Special cup to compare og stages to DLC was an unfair comparison haha. I specifically chose it for cloudtop cruise since sky garden stuck out the most to me as looking… off. What’s with the movement on the clouds? Lol.

Otherwise tho, Jesus the original Mario kart 8 tracks have so much action and excitement, they feel like Universal park rides. Obviously an unfair comparison for retro tracks but I must tip my hat for how well they manage to delight all these years and hours of play later.
 
Alright, played both sets of courses twice over on 150cc. I got Thoughts:
  • Paris Promenade took getting used to - I think the lighting obscured some of the metal gates more than in Tour - but a second go had me appreciate it more. I like how the last lap has you approaching things in reverse.
  • Toad Circuit is super simple but has a banger of a song. Should have been the first race in the Golden Dash Cup.
  • Choco Mountain...I played this course twice and I surprisingly have little to say about it.
  • Coconut Mall is still a solid and memorable course. I love the new Block and Pipe details, and I love the Food Court details. Changing the end to have stationary cars was a mistake, I find.
  • Tokyo Blur being different each time makes a simple course more interesting. The Thwomp hazard comes a bit out of nowhere but I'll take it.
  • Shroom Ridge is the best of the courses. A better Toad's Turnpike. It's a tight course, and the traffic has you make a lot of decisions about your racing line but still feels like it flows with you. Surprised how much I liked this one.
  • Sky Garden is the surprise...clunker. It's visually nice but just too simple and short. I wish it got a more dramatic alteration, and I'd rather play Cloudtop Cruise over this.
  • I feel like Ninja Hideaway will grow to be a fan favorite, with it's great theming and its multitude of alternate paths. For me, the turns are just a little too sharp at points to feel comfortable racing on it. Might just be a course I have to learn, I don't know.
The big takeaway that my partner and I had while racing is that the tracks we're good but not on the level of base Mario Kart 8. This speaks less to the quality of the DLC and more on the extreme quality of 8. It's super cohesive. Everything, from the new courses to the revamped returning ones, has an incredible sense of place and detail. The DLC courses...don't reach those levels. They feel more like old school retro courses, they were straight up ripped from the old games and put into the engine. Which...yeah, to an extent they were, these are ports from Tour, which has different priorities in terms of art direction that fit its platform better. In other words...

totofogo said:
Otherwise tho, Jesus the original Mario kart 8 tracks have so much action and excitement, they feel like Universal park rides. Obviously an unfair comparison for retro tracks but I must tip my hat for how well they manage to delight all these years and hours of play later.
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...basically this. Base MK8 and the Wii U DLC are just that good.

I'm really curious to see their future course choices. It could just be that this is just a bland set. Toad Circuit is simple. Sky Garden is simple. Choco Mountain is even a little simple. The Tour courses, barring Ninja Hideaway, are simple too. Give us more elaborate courses in the future waves and perhaps this won't be an issue. For now, these courses are good but not top tier MK8D. Still can't wait to play them online though, and I'm curious to see what people gravitate toward over the next few months.
 
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Played them all on 150cc, had a great time! I think the Lucky Cat cup is the better of the two, Shroom Ridge and Ninja Hideaway are the big standouts. I liked the themed Tour tracks too. Toad Corcuit and Sky Garden a bit short and simple.

Now to see if I can get any online!
 
Love the new tracks, feels good to have some new ones to race on. Ninja Hideaway is nuts in a good way and I like how the Tour tracks change every lap (have never played Tour).

And the music is superb, of course. The best gets better. So glad these expansions are happening.
 



really tried to take a look at that banner and analyse it as best as possible. Having second thoughts on what I thought was Dino Dino Jungle though; think that might be the starting line of Maple Treeway.
 
Played online for about 40 mins and didn’t see a new course come up in the voting rotation at all. Not sure if just bad luck or they haven’t updated that side of it yet. Well off to bed for now!
 
ILikeFeet said:
the best advice for beginners is just to choose what they like. the best builds aren't going to help them win anyway
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I think beginners in the Mario kart series should pick acceleration, handling and drifting above the other stats.. Basically the lightweight karts.But we have that turn assist thing..
 
touchfuzzy said:
Played them all on 150cc, had a great time! I think the Lucky Cat cup is the better of the two, Shroom Ridge and Ninja Hideaway are the big standouts. I liked the themed Tour tracks too. Toad Corcuit and Sky Garden a bit short and simple.

Now to see if I can get any online!
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Wel thats the thing ... The first 2 laps of Tokio blur are shorter than laps of sky garden, if tome trials is anything to go by. It doesnt feel that way tho
 
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I played both new cups on 150cc. Three-starred the Golden Dash Cup, two-starred the Lucky Cat Cup. I would have three-starred both if not for that damn Ninja Hideaway! I kept falling off during the first lap and dropped all the way to last place, came back in the next two laps but in the end finished second.

It's a bit too early for me to have a definitive favorite, I had a fun time with all of them. That said, Shroom Ridge did stick out to me because racing on it felt less like a kart racer and more like an arcade racer with the quick succession of turns and dodging traffic. That's a good one.

Outside of the complete lack of anti gravity sections I felt the DLC tracks fit in just fine. Any of the much discussed graphical downgrades or differing art styles weren't really noticeable to me while I was playing, I was too busy having fun. Bring on the next wave!
 
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First impressions on the DLC courses played at 150cc:
  • Paris Promenade: It really does look like a cozy cartoony version of pop-culture Paris, and paired with the French violin soundtrack, the immersion is impeccable. The changing layout after every lap confused me for a bit but it keeps you on your toes in a good way. Especially the last lap where you have to drive through the course in reverse! Also dug the Piranha Plants cutouts at the base of the tower that you can Mushroom through.
  • Toad Circuit: Very simple, both in layout and world design. I usually randomize course selection so having a couple more courses with simpler layouts helps break things up a bit. Still wished there was more background detail. Soundtrack is fantastic however, enough to make me wanna race there again and again.
  • Choco Mountain: Honestly kind of boring. Easily my least favorite of the this wave. Needed more bats and boulders.
  • Coconut Mall: Didn’t play MK Wii much so I was surprised how much of a nostalgia bomb this was. Seeing the escalators and Piantas, hearing the chipper music, instantly took me back. Loved the extra detail in the mall, I almost lost trying to examine the stalls and stuff. Why aren’t the cars at the end moving though?!
  • Tokyo Blur: Also mixed up things every lap, which really is a cool gimmick. Having traveled to Japan a couple of years ago, it was neat seeing urban Japan in Mario Kart. The Thwomps were kinda random though, and overall of the real-world tracks I think I like Paris better. Would have probably liked this better if we saw more stuff like the temples and the giant paper lantern and less of the generic highways and toll booths. Still enjoyable, though!
  • Shroom Ridge: Another nostalgic roadtrip! Nothing fancy aesthetically but the simplicity of the graphics I feel works in its favor. Driving through the course is sooo good. Loved weaving through the traffic and nailing those drifts and turns. Banger soundtrack too. Second best of the new tracks for me.
  • Sky Garden: Aesthetically I like it more than Cloudtop Cruise, but the course design is so simple that it becomes dull. There’s not much else to look at, either, just some flying Koopas. Definitely a track that needs a lot more pizazz. The music kind of reminds me of a Pokemon route tune, that was cool.
  • Ninja Hideaway: Freaking amazing. So many nooks and crannies and goings on. There are so many ways to tackle the course, and the old school Japanese fortress aesthetic is on the point. Also, why does Wario own a ninja hideout? Anyway. This is my absolute favorite of this wave.
 
is the dlc out for everyone? it still says unavailable for me (nso expansion, NA account)

edit: nvm it worked!
 
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Stayed up late and played through these when they dropped. Overall a mixed bag, but it’s great just to have more content for MK8.

Ninja Hideaway towers above the rest, which range from decent to overly simple.
 
Woah, the update finally fixed my broken unlockables! At one point coins just stopped unlocking things even though I knew I was missing parts, and I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and kept playing. But with the update the title screen kept telling me all the new parts I unlocked. My menu looks like this now:
FOHoqSLVgAAlV0j
 
Mr.Fletcher said:
Stayed up late and played through these when they dropped. Overall a mixed bag, but it’s great just to have more content for MK8.

Ninja Hideaway towers above the rest, which range from decent to overly simple.
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Yeah Ninja Hideaway is a cracking course, many of the others are decent though. The city tour tracks having three similar but distinct laps is a nice new spin to bring into 8. Massively let down by Coconut Mall though, look what they’ve done to my baby 😩
 
First impressions after playing through all tracks once at 150cc (and getting three stars on the second cup right away!):

  • Outside of Toad Circuit graphically speaking I think these tracks are visually coherent enough with MK8's style;
  • That said, where MK8 excels is a consistently high level of detail, even on objects that are largely obstructed from view. DLC tracks at those points - like the wall texture for the buildings in Paris - often resort to flat colours which looks a tad out of place.
  • Gameplay-wise the second cup is much stronger. Overall I liked Coconut, Ninja and Sky Gardens, but loved Shroom Ridge. That track is arcade racing bliss. The first cup has a few tracks that are a bit dull: Choco Mountain has an added segment that doesn't add much, Toad Circuit doesn't have much going on either. Paris has that cool final lap, but otherwise is quite uneventful. Fortunately 200cc will likely fix every bit of dullness 😅.
  • Musically the DLC is completely on par with the main game, and it does so much for the feeling of coherence. Toad Circuit, the weakest of the tracks, has an utter banger of a soundtrack to make up for it. Love it.
All in all a solid pack of DLC with some room for improvement.
 
I played two rounds of 150 cc on each of the new courses. Just needed some time to sit down to share my early thoughts:

Paris Promenade: I was worried about the Tour courses because they were new to me, but Paris is great! It immediately hit me how surreal it was to be playing new courses for this game seven years later. Flying through the base of the Eifel Tower is cool and I loved seeing the big circular area I can't remember the name of that you drive through at the start (I took French for three years in high school, but I sadly remember none of it). My favorite part is definitely driving into oncoming traffic on the final lap. While there are plenty of console retro courses I want back, I'm also now looking more forward to more Tour city tracks now as each lap is different in some way and again they are all new to me.

Toad Circuit: I would have picked any other Mario Kart 7 track over this, but it's not bad at all! In fact, it's probably better here than it was in 7. I do think we need a few more beginner friendly courses in this game in general, so this is a welcome addition. I like how the hang glider ramp appears on lap 2. Also the music is incredible. Super glad to have the Mario band back in action.

Choco Mountain: This was one of my favorite courses on the N64 so while I'm very happy its in overall, I do have mixed feelings here. The view isn't amazing or anything, but having an outdoor view at the start is nice. The approach to the mountain's face is way too short, but the inside being more detailed / mining themed is very cool. Losing the jumps in the next section hurts, but the turn around the lake is still good. I get why they did it, but adding a guard rail makes me sad. You haven't lived until you tumbled off Choco Mountain and promptly lose the whole race. The ending hills are fine, sadly less chaotic, but fine. So yeah pros and cons here, but again very happy it's mostly in.

Coconut Mall: This was one of my favorite Wii courses and it's 95% there for me. They made it more compact for better and for worse. For the mall itself, I'll call it better, as heading up and down staircases, visiting multiple floors, the shortcut at the start, the mall is all there and a dash more hectic. I've been playing a lot of Chocobo GP lately, and the more tacky green and red stair cases remind me of tracks in that game lol. (Incidentally, tacky ramps aside, Chocobo GP is very good and different in cool ways. I'd recommend everyone here give it a try). Flying out of the mall is a cool addition, but the big gutting of the track is the last turn. Moving cars with Mii drivers and all the boost pads are out. They didn't have to be Mii drivers, but moving cars and the boost pads offered an awesome risk / reward element and makes me very worried they'll gut Koopa Cape similarly.

Tokyo Blur: While it lacks the showstopper moment of Paris, Tokyo is another great city track with fun scenery. Like the Piranha plants in Paris, adding in the Thwomps is a fun a contrast to the modern town. I love riding on the highway for the final lap. This course is really quietly great.

Shroom Ridge: I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm mostly fine with the new art style, but there are certain moments that just feel blah, like they needed just a little more attention. The opening pan of Shroom Ridge, where it flies by that super flat patch of grass is the one that hurts the most. That said, I think Shroom Ridge got the biggest upgrade in all of the retro courses. The layout feels tight and the traffic doesn't feel just kind of there like on Toad's Turnpike. I loved seeing the new shortcut with the gust of wind near the end. I also love seeing the item boxes and coins traveling the track with you. IIRC, the second turn where you can pick up like five/six coins on the side just has so much cool attitude. I didn't remember this course really existed until the Booster Pass brought it back and now I'm happy to have it.

Sky Garden: The biggest missed opportunity is Sky Garden by far. It's so different from the original track, that aside from background theming, it might as well be a different track entirely (incidentally, the graphics look good here). This different track is fine and simple and I love the steep angling on the ascents and descents. I said earlier we need more beginner friendly tracks, so this being one isn't a bad thing in that sense, but as one of the fairly memorable tracks from Super Circuit, it's a bummer seeing this one so gutted. The tight turns are gone and hopping over the track at key moments is basically all gone aside from the weak version at the start. When they brought this track to Tour and now here, they really should have renamed it as Sky Garden 2 or something.

Ninja Hideaway: Tour fans were hyping this one up and I 100% agree. I was blown away by Ninja Hideaway. The ninja theming is excellent and has so much personality packed into it. I love the entrance with the cherry blossom trees, the stair case you climb up, the shy guys that block your path both before and hanging above the pond, and that final roof top ride with the fire works blasting off. But what really does it are the multiple and shifting routes through it. We've just never had anything on this level before in Mario Kart. I mentioned I've wanted more beginner friendly courses here, but I also want some expert level tracks for me, someone whose loved Mario Kart ever since the SNES game. Ninja Hideaway is going to be so fun to master. You have to adapt on the fly a bunch and remember which turns are tight or not. I happily bonked against the wall a few times because I know I'm eventually going to learn to tear through it no matter what it throws at me and that's so exciting. That we already got a course from Wave 1 that's entering the conversation of the best tracks in the game is amazing. I can't wait to spend more time with this one and it makes me so excited for future waves especially seeing that datamined list of the various other unmarked tracks. What else are we going to get?
 
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3 stared the two cups on 50 and 100cc. now onto the actual challenge. loved pretty much every course, and the remixes are awesome.
 
touchfuzzy said:
Played online for about 40 mins and didn’t see a new course come up in the voting rotation at all. Not sure if just bad luck or they haven’t updated that side of it yet. Well off to bed for now!
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Right now the new tracks can only be played in friend rooms online. They'll be added to WWs and tournaments on Monday in North America/Tuesday in Europe and Japan.

zumaddy said:
,Are the new tracks appearing in online lobbies for everyone? Or just pass owners? How does it work?
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In friend rooms, as long as the host has the DLC, everyone in the room can vote for and play the DLC tracks, even if they don't own them. In WWs, once they're added, they'll appear for everyone regardless of whether they own the DLC or not.
 
Just did both cups on 150cc. Thoughts, starting with negatives:

  • Sky Garden especially feels like a missed opportunity. It's pleasant, and I appreciate the visual glow up given I have strong memories of Super Circuit, but consider the effort and imagination that went into reworking Ribbon Road and Cheese Land for the initial DLC. With a bit more care, the GBA tracks can really shine.
  • Choco Mountain felt really, really slow. Like, I honestly wondered if the game had glitched and wasn't doing 150cc any more. In fact, speed from one course to the next felt a little inconsistent, but Choco Mountain was the most egregious to me. Be curious to know if anyone else picked up on this.
  • Not a fan of Coconut Mall's visual presentation. Maybe it's the colour mix and flat textures, I don't know.
  • Some implementation of anti-gravity would really improve some of the tracks, Sky Garden and Choco Mountain especially.
  • it was obvious characters weren't coming, but not improving the roster right now remains a negative for me.

Positives:
  • Coconut Mall aside, I'm a big fan of the aesthetic. I think it works especially well on Shroom Ridge, with the curving track and rolling green hills, and the two city courses, where the cartoon aesthetics bring those real locations into the Mario universe in a cohesive way.
  • Shroom Ridge is the right kind of simple Kart for me. Plenty of curves and turns, visually pleasing, good music. Toad Circuit has had a good visual glow up and has a great soundtrack but again, it's an area where anti-grav might've helped.
  • Big fan of Choco Mountain's visual glow up and music, even if I think it needed a little more doing (how cool would it be if the boulder cliff turn had you racing on a vertical cliff face via anti-grav?). Biggest problem for Choco Mountain is that the original course is just... brown. With that massive limitation, I think they did a decent job here visually.
  • Musical arrangements are top tier. Kudos again Kart team.
  • I like the shifting layouts in the Tour courses.
  • Ninja Hideout is absolutely fantastic, with multiple routes. I love that you can see other racers taking the different routes. This felt closer to the high standard set by Kart 8's tracks and really does make me want some more complex tracks in the rest of the DLC. It feels like a course that has enough going on both aesthetically and mechanically that I'll need time and effort to attune to it, and that's a good thing.

All in all, it's pretty good. Right now the biggest limitation for these 8 tracks are that, Ninja Hideaway aside, there isn't a huge amount happening on each one. The other big problem they have is that, for me at least, Kart 8's track design set a high bar - a series high, imo - and Ninja Hideaway to one side, the tracks here are fine, pleasant, and in some cases, just a little on the simple side.

That being said, even the most simple Kart courses are great fun in multiplayer and I can't wait to see them in the online rotation. I'm also hoping we don't have to wait long for more and that Nintendo give us some more complex courses next time around.

Basically, this felt like the first 2 cups in a pretty good Mario Kart game, and the biggest issue with that for me is how high I felt 8 set the bar.
 
There's a certain background easter egg on Coconut Mall that's probably a good indication of one future track.

ZgSyYwz.jpg


Looking forward to racing on Daisy Cruiser again sometime soon.
 
MondoMega said:
There's a certain background easter egg on Coconut Mall that's probably a good indication of one future track.

ZgSyYwz.jpg


Looking forward to racing on Daisy Cruiser again sometime soon.
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I noticed this! Be fun if, from Daisy Cruiser, we can see Coconut Mall.

Though the fun thing would be for the cruise ship to have several different backgrounds indicating that it travels around the Mario Kart world...
 
MisterSpo said:
I noticed this! Be fun if, from Daisy Cruiser, we can see Coconut Mall.

Though the fun thing would be for the cruise ship to have several different backgrounds indicating that it travels around the Mario Kart world...
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That would be really cool! Locations like Sunshine Airport, Toad Harbor, DS Beach one or the City of the N64 rainbow road
 
Apenheul said:
My only wish is that they also update the Race Count setting in VS Mode. I'd love to be able to set it to 96 after all the new courses have come out.
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Could anyone please check for me if Vs Mode settings have been updated? I'm hoping the Race Count setting is increased but I would also be fine with an option to play just a random selection of Booster Pass courses for example.
 
Nintendo need to update the in-game versus mode options so that there's an option to play all courses as the game updates.

I want to do a 56 course binge in a randomised order, please.
 
Apenheul said:
Could anyone please check for me if Vs Mode settings have been updated? I'm hoping the Race Count setting is increased but I would also be fine with an option to play just a random selection of Booster Pass courses for example.
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Not updated yet.
 
I'm pretty satisfied with the new courses. The concept of altering each lap like they do in Paris and Tokyo is a great addition. And I love the mess the Ninja track is, with so many paths to explore.

If I had to complain something, is that these new tracks look graphically uglier to me, too cartoony, like a downgrade compared to the original tracks in the game. I think that inserting more realistic textures to Paris and Tokyo would have made this tracks look better. And Chocolate Mountain track looks ugly as fuck, considering how beautiful Yoshi Mountain is in this game.

And there were no anti-gravity tracks here. They could have introduced something in the Toad Circuit and the Sky track.

Overall, the new tracks are fun, they have included new twists that make the purchase worth it, but graphically there is a downgrade. I hope they improve the graphics in the next tracks.
 
Tour fans, what original courses from there are good? I heard about Hideaway prior to this but don't know about any others.
 
zumaddy said:
Tour fans, what original courses from there are good? I heard about Hideaway prior to this but don't know about any others.
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Ninja Hideaway is considered Tour's best track by a large margin, so just a heads up not to expect the other tracks to be on its level.

Vancouver Velocity is normally considered Tour's 2nd best original track. Also a few others that are well liked such as Los Angeles Laps and Merry Mountain.
 
totofogo said:
Did you download the DLC unlock via eshop if you’re on NSO, and restart your game so it does the content check?
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Thanks for this. I thought the game would just do a check like If(NSO+) { Let him use the stages } without requiring grabbing anything from the eShop.
 
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I played another round of 150 and my first round of 200 on every track. My already minor complaints are really washing away in having eight great new tracks to race on. Some minor thoughts:

Coconut Mall’s final hang glider section seemingly ideally being best approached with a straight nose dive is very unique where you normally want to descend naturally or hold it longer in like every other course/instance.

I don’t get to play 200 cc much since none of my family and friends care for it, but that mode is still such a blast!

200cc Choco Mountain feels like N64 Choco Mountain, just shorter. I love it.

Ninja Hideaway is still super duper cool. I think I hallucinated fireworks in the sky my first two times on the rooftop section, since I didn’t notice any these times lol.
 
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