Beyond Co-op Review: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pack
Review by: Paul Acevedo
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, an enhanced version of Mario Kart 8, raced onto Switch way back in 2017. All these years later, Nintendo has decided to further extend the life of the game with the release of the Booster Course Pass. This season pass-style DLC can be bought for $25 or accessed via a premium Nintendo Switch Online Plus Expansion Pack membership. The Booster Course Pass currently adds two cups with a total of eight extra tracks at launch, with a whopping 40 additional tracks set to be released by the end of 2023.
The two new cups, Golden Dash Cup and Lucky Cat Cup, can be accessed through all modes except for Battle; these tracks are just for racing, not fighting. To select them, visit the mode of your choice and scroll down on the cup selection screen. The DLC tracks appear in public online races and can be played through Friends and Rival races as long as the host player has purchased access to the Booster Course Pass. It’s always cool when games let people who own DLC play with people who don’t own it.
The Golden Dash Cup includes the following tracks:
- Paris Promenade (Mario Kart Tour): Drive around the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.
- Toad Circuit (3DS): A colorful but by-the-numbers course
- Choco Mountain (N64): Drive around a mountain populated by Shyguys, bats, and falling boulders.
- Coconut Mall (Wii): An enjoyable course featuring a mall with conveyor belts that change directions and a classic Mario-themed fresco adorning a wall
The Lucky Cat Cup includes:
- Tokyo Blur (Tour): A city-themed course with Thwomps appearing during the third lap
- Shroom Ridge (3DS): A highway populated by NPC cars and buses
- Sky Garden (GBA): Race through the clouds and bounce on giant mushrooms and leaves
- Ninja Hideaway (Tour): A much more interesting course than Tokyo Blur, this one winds inside and outside a ninja temple.
While a couple of the courses included in the Booster Course Pass at launch aren’t particularly memorable, the overall lineup is quite solid. It’s great to see the mobile courses make their way into an official console release, especially the excellent Ninja Hideaway. Some gamers have complained that the mobile courses aren’t as detailed on Switch, but they don’t look worse than any other courses. The older courses have certainly received graphical upgrades, especially the previously flat Sky Garden. Even though it’s easy to fall off the track in that one, bouncing around the clouds while Koopa Paratroopas cheer everyone on will always make for a good time.
Gamers who love Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and want more of it will easily get their money’s worth from the Booster Course Pass over time. Nintendo has 40 more courses in store for us, many of which will surely be crowd-pleasers. With Mario Kart 9 seemingly still a long way off, at least we’ll have plenty of newish content to keep us busy in the current game.
Get the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass for $24.99 on the eShop or with a Nintendo Switch Online Plus Expansion Pack subscription. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sells for $59.99 digitally and physically.
Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5