The Nintendo Switch has quite a number of first party titles lined up for the year but what would any Nintendo console be without a new Mario Kart title? The problem here, is that this isn’t exactly a “new” title, which leaves the question, “Is this worth my money or not?” The answer to that question, as it turns out, depends largely upon the player really.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in and of itself is not a bad game. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe turns out to be one of the most fun Mario Kart games that we have had in a while. The problem lies in the fact that the game is just an expansion of the same titled game from the Wii U. While the game does have a number of new features and additions, such as the characters King Boo, Inkling Boy and Girl, Dry Bones and Bowser Jr, most of the additional race content is the extra DLC from the original MK8 release. Granted, this DLC was totally worth every penny and gave players a TON of additions to the game (new characters and 16 tracks!) It’s still not really new material for the game but for players who did not purchase the DLC originally, it may be a big selling point.
The game does feature a number of noteworthy features and expansions that stand out from the original release. The battle mode has been expanded upon a great deal and features a number of new modes (yeah, it has actual modes now, and they rock!) This is essentially where the game earns its “Deluxe” title. As seen in the photo above, there are now several battle modes to choose from. This is a grand improvement over the balloon battle mode from the original MK8 that didn’t really even have any battle mode tracks to choose from. Initially, I wasn’t really excited for the addition of more battle modes and was frustrated that the developers had not spent more time working on extra tracks. That changed after I played a few courses on some of the new battle modes. In particular, the Renegade Roundup where you chase down other players using a piranha plant or dodge piranha plant karts, was particularly hilarious and fun.
Overall, the game is still just as fast paced and fun as its previous iteration and the console jump has done nothing but improve how gorgeous the game looks on the Switch. It’s certainly not Forza level graphics or anything, but given the cartoony nature of a Mario Kart race, that level of realism might not compliment the game. (See above photo for a peek at the updated graphics.) In addition to the graphics that can be seen in the above photo above you may notice that there appear to be two item slots. THATS BECAUSE THERE ARE! This is a returning feature that at first glance might not seem like a huge deal but in practicality allows for a huge amount of additional strategy that can save your behind in the midst of all the chaos that occurs in a game of Mario Kart, (and possibly ruin a few friendships as well.) That chaos and fun currently however, gets a bit interrupted when playing online due to the service being somewhat iffy on holding a stable connection for more than a few games. That hopefully will all change once Nintendo starts making improvements to the online service, but we will see.
This adaptation of Mario Kart is no less fun than any of its predecessors. Actually, it’s definitely more fun, but calling the game an original entry is a bit of falsehood. The deluxe edition does earn its “deluxe” title with the addition of new characters, karts, and an almost brand new battle mode with loads of features in itself. All that still may not be enough to convince players who purchased the original game and bought all of the previous DLC. That being said, if you don’t currently own Mario Kart 8 or you didn’t purchase any of the DLC, I would highly recommend the deluxe edition for you. The game proves to be worth it for anyone who doesn’t have the previously mentioned content.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 9.0/10
If you would like to pick up a copy, you can find one here!
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