mario kart 8 – Trekking with Dennis

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List: Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I put all 48 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s racetracks into an internet-friendly tier list! But the Booster Course Pass has seen the launch of another 48 racetracks over the past couple of years, and now that the sixth and final wave has landed, it’s time to give each one a ranking!

The same rules apply as last time: racetracks will be given one of six rankings from F-tier at the bottom to S-tier at the top, and I’ll be basing their positions on criteria such as track layout, theming, music, and just how much fun I have with each one overall. Racetracks I hate or never choose to play will be at or near the bottom, and the ones I adore will be close to the top.

So what was the state of play when we ranked the first set of racetracks? I’m glad you asked!

F-tier: three racetracks,
D-tier: five racetracks,
C-tier: ten racetracks,
B-tier: twelve racetracks,
A-tier: twelve racetracks,
S-tier: six racetracks.

You can see the first tier list above, complete with all of the racetracks we ranked last time. If you want to check out the full list, including my comments on all of the above tracks, you can find it by clicking or tapping here.

I’ve enjoyed the Booster Course Pass on the whole. The decision to release racetracks in waves was fun, and gave me a reason to keep dipping back into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. There have also been some wonderful inclusions from past games, as well as some wild new additions to the Mario Kart series. All in all, the Booster Course Pass has been good fun, and feels like good value for the asking price. When you consider you’re doubling the amount of racetracks from the base game, as well as getting a few new characters, the cost definitely seems reasonable to me!

Racetracks will be listed in the order in which they appear in the game, beginning with Wave 1 and ending with Wave 6. Each track will be given a tier ranking of either F, D, C, B, A, or S, and I’ll provide my reason(s) for my decision. Please keep in mind that not only is this just one person’s subjective take on the Booster Course Pass… but also that this is just for fun. If you hate all of my choices, that’s totally fine!

With all of that out of the way, let’s rank some racetracks!

Tour Paris Promenade (Golden Dash Cup)
Tier: A

Paris Promenade is a wonderful encapsulation of everything Paris wants to be, and in that sense it’s the exemplar of what Mario Kart Tour aimed to achieve with these city-themed tracks. Having visited Paris as a tourist (with a friend acting as a local guide) I have to say that the city itself is probably the worst I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit; it’s an absolute dump. But its idealised version makes for a fun racetrack, and hits all of the tourist hotspots that you’d expect, including the iconic Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées.

I also absolutely love the accordion melody that accompanies the track; it feels wonderfully French!

3DS Toad Circuit (Golden Dash Cup)
Tier: B

Toad Circuit gets a lot of stick from people who say it’s “boring,” but I actually don’t mind it. It was a great first track to introduce new players to Mario Kart 7, and it’s been recreated in more or less its original form here. It was a solid track then, and it remains a solid track now. It’s a pretty basic layout set at a modern raceway – much like other tracks from other games with the “Circuit” name. But there’s nothing wrong with it at all, and I’m perfectly content to race through it.

Decent music, decent theming, and a decent layout come together to make a racetrack that’s… well, decent.

N64 Choco Mountain (Golden Dash Cup)
Tier: D

I felt that Choco Mountain stood out on the Nintendo 64… but this recreation feels decidedly mediocre. The all-brown colour palette manages to feel more akin to dirt than the titular chocolate, and I just don’t find much visual interest in the racetrack or its theming. There aren’t any really challenging points that are fun to master, and this is one of those racetracks where there isn’t one glaring flaw… but rather a lot of smaller things all come together to make it unappealing.

Nice bluegrassy music, though.

Wii Coconut Mall (Golden Dash Cup)
Tier: S

Coconut Mall is elevated to S-tier thanks in no small part to an absolutely amazing soundtrack! Honestly, the musical accompaniment to this racetrack is one of the best in the entire Mario Kart series, and I love the upbeat, fun energy that it brings. Coconut Mall is a fun setting in its own right, with a cartoony shopping centre to race through that’s something a bit different from other offerings in the game. There are plenty of twists, turns, and jumps – and the conversion of the final ramp into a glider section was a great way to update this track with newer Mario Kart mechanics.

There are so many positives here that Coconut Mall absolutely deserves its S-tier ranking!

Tour Tokyo Blur (Lucky Cat Cup)
Tier: C

There’s nothing particularly wrong with Tokyo Blur… but there’s not much about it that leaps out at me, either. I’m surprised, in a way, that Nintendo opted to go for Tokyo instead of Kyoto – the city where the company is headquartered. But maybe they’ll do that in Mario Kart 9 or Mario Kart Tour 2… who knows? Truth is that I’m waffling right now to fill some space because I really can’t think of much to say about a decidedly mediocre racetrack. It was nice to visit Tokyo and have a non-Western city included in the Booster Course Pass.

I just wish that Tokyo Blur had been a bit more… memorable.

DS Shroom Ridge (Lucky Cat Cup)
Tier: B

I like Shroom Ridge. It’s essentially a newer version of N64 Toad’s Turnpike; a racetrack with moving vehicles as obstacles, but with a somewhat more complicated layout. There are a few dips, sharp turns, and generally a bit more theming and scenery. Traffic poses a unique challenge, and darting in between different cars and vans manages to feel like good fun.

Races on Shroom Ridge can be chaotic – but the good kind of chaotic!

GBA Sky Garden (Lucky Cat Cup)
Tier: F

I don’t enjoy Sky Garden. Its “racing on clouds” schtick is dull, and the white-blue-and-tan colour palette isn’t the most exciting, either. The layout is pretty basic, and while we could say that’s to be expected for a racetrack that debuted in Super Circuit on the Game Boy Advance… look at what Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the Booster Course Pass have done with several GBA and even SNES tracks. There was more that could’ve been done here – but even then, the bland theming would have let it down.

There’s a neat shortcut that can be fun to pull off online, though.

Ninja Hideaway (Lucky Cat Cup)
Tier: B

I should endeavour to play Ninja Hideaway more often, because it’s a racetrack with a unique Japanese-inspired theme that’s a lot of fun. It’s great when a racetrack offers branching paths that take more or less the same amount of time to traverse; it keeps things interesting and varied. Ninja Hideaway also has an easily-missed shortcut that involves breaking a wooden barrier, and an exciting glider section where landing on a higher or lower path is possible.

The theming carries this one a long way – but underneath all that, it’s still a great track to race through!

Tour New York Minute (Turnip Cup)
Tier: S

I adore New York Minute. The jazz soundtrack feels perfect for the “city that never sleeps,” and racing around Central Park and through the Rockefeller Center – where Nintendo’s official shop is situated – is an absolute blast. It’s been more than fifteen years since I last set foot in New York City, but several locations felt genuinely familiar to me, showing just how well the Booster Course Pass (and Mario Kart Tour) have recreated famous landmarks.

Could this be the best of the real-world city tracks? Read on to find out!

SNES Mario Circuit 3 (Turnip Cup)
Tier: S

Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking (again), but I absolutely love SNES Mario Circuit 3. As I said in the first part of this list when discussing SNES Donut Plains 3, everything I loved about Super Mario Kart is present here, and although the racetrack is flat and its theming is basic… the wave of nostalgia that washes over me every time I boot it up is more than enough to carry it into S-tier. I had so much fun with Super Mario Kart in the SNES days… to think I’m still racing through some of these tracks more than thirty years later is funny to say the least!

Definitely a blast from the past – but a solid racetrack in its own right, with a couple of fun shortcuts to pull off, too.

N64 Kalimari Desert (Turnip Cup)
Tier: S

Am I giving out S-tier rankings like they were E’s at a rave… or is the Turnip Cup just that good? Kalimari Desert is one of my favourite racetracks from the Nintendo 64, and the adaptations made to it for the Booster Course Pass take it to another level. I adore racing through the train tunnel, and that each lap takes a different path. I love that there are different routes to take, glider options, and a sneaky shortcut. And the musical accompaniment is just fantastic.

Kalimari Desert’s “American Southwest” theming felt wonderful on the Nintendo 64 – and if anything, it feels even better on the Switch!

DS Waluigi Pinball (Turnip Cup)
Tier: A

I’m not sure what Waluigi has to do with pinball… but there’s no denying that this is a great racetrack! I have fond memories of playing pinball – not at an arcade, but at a leisure centre. That pinball machine was a Star Trek: The Next Generation one, and it was an absolute blast! Everything you’d expect to see in a pinball machine is present in this racetrack, and dodging the giant rolling balls can be challenging! Waluigi Pinball is also the longest racetrack in the game, which is neat. Some tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe can feel a tad short… looking at you, N64 Rainbow Road!

A great soundtrack, a fun and unique theme, challenging obstacles, and an exciting layout all come together to make Waluigi Pinball a great racetrack.

Tour Sydney Sprint (Propeller Cup)
Tier: B

Sydney Sprint takes racers through the Sydney Opera House and across Sydney Harbour Bridge. Those are basically the only two landmarks I know of in the city – the latter from seeing it lit up on New Year’s Eve – so from my point of view at least, it’s a racetrack that hits the major highlights of the city it’s recreating! I like the layout of the racetrack, with each lap feeling different from the last and the final lap actually going “backwards” from the direction the race started.

A solid city track.

GBA Snow Land (Propeller Cup)
Tier: B

I love snowy and wintery racetracks, and GBA Snow Land is a perfectly creditable addition to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s growing roster of those. The penguins add something a little different midway through, as the track veers off the road and onto a frozen lake. There’s a particularly complicated shortcut that really only works if you have a mushroom and you absolutely nail your drifting alignment… but pulling it off online, in the final lap, and jumping from being in tenth place to first in a matter of seconds? That’s pure racing bliss.

The wintery theming is doing a lot for Snow Land, but it’s a fun racetrack with a cool (get it?) shortcut.

Wii Mushroom Gorge (Propeller Cup)
Tier: A

Mushroom Gorge was great fun on the Wii, great fun on the 3DS, and it’s great fun again here on the Switch. The addition of an optional glider section makes the multi-mushroom jump section different, and perhaps a tad easier for players who find the bouncy mushrooms a bit tricky. I’m not wild about the musical soundtrack, but if that’s my only complaint about this well-laid-out racetrack… that’s not too bad!

A racetrack that’s an absolute blast – and that can lead to some fun and chaotic moments online!

Sky High Sundae (Propeller Cup)
Tier: F

Although it doesn’t officially have the “Tour” prefix, it’s worth pointing out that Sky High Sundae debuted on Mario Kart Tour shortly before it arrived in the Booster Course Pass. Food-themed racetracks are pretty “meh” for me, as I think I said last time, and Sky High Sundae really has nothing going for it. The music is uninteresting, the theming is dull, and the plain oval layout is pretty uninspired, too. Anti-grav does nothing to cover up Sky High Sundae’s flaws.

A racetrack that I almost always avoid.

Tour London Loop (Rock Cup)
Tier: A

I was born in London… and if you’d told me a few years ago that there’d be a Mario Kart track set in that city I don’t think I’d have believed it! London Loop hits most of the landmarks you’d expect: Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Thames, Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch, and the London Eye being the ones that spring to mind. The soundtrack is fun, each of the three laps takes a different route, and there are many of the London/British staples that tourists and visitors love to see, like phone boxes and double-decker buses.

A fun track that captures the spirit of London.

GBA Boo Lake (Rock Cup)
Tier: D

I appreciate that Boo Lake features an actual lake in this reimagined version… but even a dash of underwater racing can’t salvage what is a pretty bland and uninteresting racetrack. There just isn’t all that much going on here: a fairly minimalist soundtrack, a plain boardwalk to race on, and only one pinch point that offers anything resembling a challenge.

Still, Boo Lake can be a bit of fun at Halloween!

3DS Alpine Pass/Rock Rock Mountain (Rock Cup)
Tier: B

On the 3DS, Alpine Pass (as we know it in the UK) felt like a racetrack that was there to showcase the all-new gliding system. As a result… maybe it wouldn’t be totally unfair to suggest that other parts of the racetrack were less of a priority. Still, there’s a fun soundtrack and some great theming, and I like that the glider sections come with the option to either rush back to the ground or keep sailing through the air. Both approaches feel like they have merit.

A lot of gliding… but most of it is fun!

Wii Maple Treeway (Rock Cup)
Tier: S

Maple Treeway is a beautiful autumnal racetrack that I’m so glad has returned. It looks stunning in 1080p HD on the Switch, and racing up and down a massive tree while the leaves are turning shades of red, orange, and gold… it’s just an incredible experience. The wigglers offer a bit of a challenge, there’s an interesting alternate route if you have a mushroom, and replacing the bouncing net with a short glider section mixes things up a bit.

Oh, and the music! The soundtrack to Maple Treeway is one of the best in the entire Mario Kart series without a doubt!

Tour Berlin Byways (Moon Cup)
Tier: B

Berlin Byways has one of the best musical accompaniments in the Booster Course Pass, and that really helps this city racetrack stand out. It’s been years since I’ve been to Berlin, but a couple of the racetrack’s tourist sites – the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall – felt familiar. I love the addition of Whomps in the Berlin Wall, too – that was a bit of fun, and a surprisingly bold move from Nintendo given that it might’ve seemed flippant and thus controversial.

All in all, a fun dash through the German capital.

DS Peach Gardens (Moon Cup)
Tier: B

Peach Gardens was always a decent racetrack in both its original form and when it was recreated on the Wii. It’s been shaken up this time around with its final lap now running most of the racetrack in reverse. This is a really fun inclusion, and really transforms Peach Gardens into something a bit more special. Racing through the gardens at Peach’s castle was always a neat idea, and although not much has changed visually from the racetrack’s original version on the DS, the titular garden looks better than ever.

Not many Mario Kart racetracks let you go backwards!

Merry Mountain (Moon Cup)
Tier: S

Although Merry Mountain is another racetrack that, if it was being honest, should come with the “Tour” prefix… I can’t really fault it! I love Christmas, and this racetrack’s “Christmas village” theme is beautiful. Part of why I love snowy and wintery racetracks is because of the association with the holiday season, so having an overtly Christmas-themed racetrack in the game for the first time is just fantastic. The music is great, the theming is fantastic, and there are a few fun twists and turns before the racetrack ends with a long, straight run to the finish line.

Merry Christmas! And no, it’s not too early to say that.

3DS Rainbow Road (Moon Cup)
Tier: A

This might be the best version of Rainbow Road in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – even though it isn’t my all-time favourite Rainbow Road! This racetrack was a blast on the 3DS, and its recreated version takes all the beauty and wonder of racing through outer space to a whole new level. I love the soundtrack, which brings back the N64 Rainbow Road theme as part of a new, longer musical track, and hopping from the titular rainbow road to planetary rings and the surface of the moon will always be loads of fun.

3DS Rainbow Road really nails that feeling of wonder and magic that the racetrack should have.

Tour Amsterdam Drift (Fruit Cup)
Tier: F

Amsterdam Drift fails at the only real task it had: it doesn’t feel like Amsterdam. The racetrack spends far too long underwater in empty, featureless concrete ditches with crystal-clear water that don’t resemble Amsterdam’s world-famous canals in any way. And the rest of the track isn’t much better, either. The musical accompaniment isn’t noteworthy – nor does it have any features reminiscent of the Netherlands or Amsterdam – and the city sections feel bland and uninteresting. The tulip garden was a nice touch – but can’t salvage this racetrack.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city, and it deserves better than this!

GBA Riverside Park (Fruit Cup)
Tier: B

Riverside Park is fun – if a tad short! Jumping through a waterfall will always feel great, and the walking piranha plants are a different take on a familiar obstacle. There are a couple of turns that are fun to drift around, and because Riverside Park isn’t too long, when racing online you’re usually never too far off the pace – making it easy to catch up if you fall behind.

A good example of how to upgrade a classic track without completely changing it into something new.

Wii DK’s Snowboard Cross/DK Summit (Fruit Cup)
Tier: A

I don’t like comparing racetracks from different games to one another… but I can’t help it here because comparisons with Mount Wario are inescapable! DK’s Snowboard Cross might’ve cracked its way into S-tier were it not for Mount Wario taking the same concept and doing it far better. DK’s Snowboard Cross was outstanding on the Wii – and has been recreated in more or less its original form here. But having seen Mario Kart 8′s take on the same idea… it doesn’t seem quite as impressive as it once did.

I love racing through the half-pipe near the finish line – and there’s no denying that this is still a great racetrack.

Yoshi’s Island (Fruit Cup)
Tier: D

Yoshi’s Island is one of only two racetracks to make its debut in the Booster Course Pass. And it’s a shame it’s so disappointing! The theming here is on point, and I will absolutely give credit to Nintendo for recreating the look and feel of Yoshi’s Island. But the racetrack’s layout is dull and it comes with a glaring flaw: that awful flying button that unlocks a slightly shorter elevated path near the end of the lap. There are times when the button is literally unreachable; it’s drifted too far such that it becomes completely impossible to hit it no matter what angle you take from the glider ramp.

That’s poor design, in my view, and drags Yoshi’s Island down a peg.

Tour Bangkok Rush (Boomerang Cup)
Tier: D

I’ve never been to Bangkok, so I’m hardly a good tour guide to the Thai capital. But even with that caveat, I cannot believe that one of the most interesting, important, and noteworthy features of Bangkok is a multi-storey car park. It’s mind-boggling to me that this was included in the racetrack given that there must’ve been other touristy sights worth racing past. Beyond that weird inclusion, though, Bangkok Rush doesn’t do anything to stand out from a growing roster of city tracks.

It’s great to get another city outside of Europe and North America, though.

DS Mario Circuit (Boomerang Cup)
Tier: C

I’m not convinced that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe needed yet another “Circuit” track. Nintendo has made a significant alteration to DS Mario Circuit, adding a forested section with a sleeping Wiggler that wasn’t part of the original version. The inclusion of a couple of tight turns that are relatively fun to drift around just before the finish line help drag DS Mario Circuit out of D-tier… but only just.

A racetrack that just feels… unnecessary.

GCN Waluigi Stadium (Boomerang Cup)
Tier: D

Waluigi Stadium was near the bottom of the list in both Double Dash and Wii, and this revised version doesn’t do enough to make it feel any better or more interesting. The generic “motorsport stadium” theme is bland, the halfpipe sections are functionally useless, and there just isn’t much going on to elevate Waluigi Stadium into being anything better than the sum of its parts. It was a disappointment in both of its earlier appearances, and it is again here.

Waaagh!

Tour Singapore Speedway (Boomerang Cup)
Tier: B

Singapore Speedway is a lot of fun. It feels almost futuristic in places; a reflection, no doubt, of the city-state’s renowned infrastructure and technological prowess. Being set after dark makes the city and its buildings pop, and racing through Chinatown is a change of scenery from the high-rises and neon-lit skyscrapers of the rest of the racetrack.

Maybe it isn’t the best city track… but it’s far from the worst!

Tour Athens Dash (Feather Cup)
Tier: D

Athens Dash is another like Amsterdam Drift where I just don’t feel like its theming has been handled well. Athens – modern Athens, that is – has more to offer than the ruins of Ancient Greece, yet this racetrack ignores all of that and sticks only to the ruins of the Parthenon and the rest of the Acropolis. Including at least one modern building or attraction should’ve been possible, even if the racetrack were to keep its focus on the ruins. Athens Dash leaves me conflicted, because as enjoyable as parts of it are, I feel like it’s missing the point. Some of the buildings in the background are incredibly low-poly, even for a Tour track.

There are also a couple of genuinely confusing points in the racetrack that aren’t well-signposted.

GCN Daisy Cruiser (Feather Cup)
Tier: B

Daisy Cruiser is just… nice. It’s a pleasant track to race around with a sweet musical accompaniment and a fun theme. This version of the racetrack hasn’t really been enhanced beyond where it was in Mario Kart 7 (when it was recreated for the first time), but there’s nothing wrong with that. The underwater section had already added a lot, and it’s hard to see where else to take Daisy Cruiser without losing some of what makes the racetrack as fun to play as it is.

I like the sliding tables in the dining room, those always win a chuckle!

Wii Moonview Highway (Feather Cup)
Tier: A

Yes! Moonview Highway is back! I’d been hoping to see this racetrack make a return, as I’ve long felt it was underappreciated on the Wii. One of the more difficult racetracks in the game thanks to a combination of road traffic and some tight turns, Moonview Highway is a blast. It hasn’t been changed too much from its original incarnation, which is great – but I do lament the loss of Mii characters staffing the toll booths!

A fun, challenging racetrack that I’m happy to play over and over again.

Squeaky Clean Sprint (Feather Cup)
Tier: A

I didn’t think I was going to like Squeaky Clean Sprint when it was first announced. It just seemed, from those clips, like a pretty generic and uninteresting racetrack… but I was so very wrong about that! Ribbon Road proved that shrinking down Mario and the gang for a race was a great concept, and Squeaky Clean Sprint makes such good use of its “toy-sized racers” idea. Racing down the plug hole of a bathtub – past accumulated grime and dirt – felt genuinely icky the first few times I did it, and there’s something about the bathroom setting that’s just comical and fun. The design of the track itself is great, too, with alternate routes opening up in the second and third laps.

A surprise, to be sure… but a welcome one!

Los Angeles Laps (Cherry Cup)
Tier: F

What’s the one landmark that comes to mind when you think about LA? The Hollywood sign! Not only does Los Angeles Laps not race past the most famous landmark on the entire American Pacific coast, but it doesn’t even appear on the hills in the background. Instead, Los Angeles Laps worms its way through the most bland and generic city, with only the brief beach section near the start feeling like anything vaguely inspired by LA or California. And what was going on with that diversion through an oil field?

A boring, generic racetrack that ignores the most iconic emblem of the city it’s meant to represent.

GBA Sunset Wilds (Cherry Cup)
Tier: C

Sunset Wilds came within a hair’s breadth of a B-tier ranking… but then Nintendo opted to rip out its most unique feature! One of the best tracks from Super Circuit – and, I’d venture, one of the best desert racetracks in the entire Mario Kart series – Sunset Wilds lived up to its name in both its original incarnation and when it returned in Mario Kart Tour. The sun would actually set – with the final lap of the race taking place after the sun had gone down. For some reason, this version removes that iconic feature.

The racetrack left behind is still enjoyable… but it’s missing a key element of what made the original so much fun.

Wii Koopa Cape (Cherry Cup)
Tier: B

Koopa Cape was a blast on the Wii, and this version is almost as good. I don’t like the changes made to the warp pipe section; removing the obstacles and rushing water changed things a bit too much. But despite that minor downgrade, Koopa Cape is still fun to race through, and the river section in particular can lead to some fast-paced and hectic fun.

A solid addition to the lineup, all things considered.

Tour Vancouver Velocity (Cherry Cup)
Tier: B

Vancouver Velocity has some cute autumn and winter theming that I appreciate, and racing through both a park and an ice rink adds a bit of visual diversity to what could’ve easily been yet another city track. The anti-gravity section shakes things up, too. There’s also a pleasant soundtrack along with a night time setting that, again, adds something a little different to help Vancouver Velocity stand out a little.

The ice skating Shy Guys are cute, and I love seeing the aurora in the sky.

Tour Rome Avanti (Acorn Cup)
Tier: C

There’s nothing especially wrong with Rome Avanti, and it balances its historical and modern sites far better than Athens Dash. But there’s not a lot about it that leaps out at me, either, and along with a fairly convoluted criss-crossing layout, I just don’t find it a ton of fun to drive. I like the Chain Chomps in the Colosseum, and again the night time look gives Rome Avanti something to help it keep its head above water. But I guess I just don’t see much else about it that’s all that special or memorable.

Still, the standard of driving is far higher than anything ever seen in the real Rome!

GCN DK Mountain (Acorn Cup)
Tier: B

DK Mountain is fun, and it comes with a great musical accompaniment! The cannon section can feel painfully long, but once that’s out of the way, the race down the mountain/volcano feels fast-paced and exciting. The angry face on the volcano looks better than ever in this version of the racetrack, too, which is fantastic, and the return of the dangerous bridge just before the finish line was a much-needed inclusion! There’s a lot to love here.

Oh, and this version retains the shortcut from Double Dash and Wii (that I’ve never been able to successfully pull off!)

Wii Daisy Circuit (Acorn Cup)
Tier: A

Daisy Circuit always felt like an underappreciated racetrack on the Wii, and I’m glad to see it make a return. It’s not got an especially complicated layout, but the inclusion of the original shortcut – now with an added glider ramp – does provide an option if you have a mushroom to use. I like the aesthetic and music of Daisy Circuit, and racing around a sweet little seaside town at sunset will always feel like a ton of fun.

Probably one of the best racetracks to have the “Circuit” name!

Piranha Plant Cove (Acorn Cup)
Tier: A

Piranha Plant Cove is another track that should come with the “Tour” prefix, but we can forgive it because of how much fun it is! The use of the word “Cove” conjures up images of pirates, and this racetrack’s underwater ruins theme kind of plays into that. I like the night time setting, and it’s fun to get a racetrack that’s almost entirely underwater – only the second in the game after Dolphin Shoals to really lean into the underwater racing idea.

A fun concept that has been executed well – and a racetrack that looks outstanding on the Switch.

Tour Madrid Drive (Spiny Cup)
Tier: B

The best part of Madrid Drive is also the shortest: driving through the football stadium! But this short section definitely elevates a racetrack that can feel, in parts, a bit samey in a game with so many other European city tracks from Tour. In a way, Madrid Drive drew the short straw by being the final city track in the game; it’s easy to feel bored of the concept by this point. But its art gallery is fun, the Wiggler in the city square is just plain random, and the aforementioned football stadium – complete with ball-kicking Goombas – gives the track a unique element to help it stand out.

Not the best city track, perhaps… but definitely not the worst!

3DS Rosalina’s Ice World (Spiny Cup)
Tier: A

I love icy and wintery racetracks, and Rosalina’s Ice World really leans into the magic and wonder that snow and ice can provide. Heavily inspired by Super Mario Galaxy, the racetrack has a lot of those magical, mystical elements that really compliment its ice road setting. It was great fun on the 3DS, and this recreation feels faithful to the original while bringing much more visual detail.

As the final icy track in the game, Rosalina’s Ice World delivered!

SNES Bowser Castle 3 (Spiny Cup)
Tier: B

I adore the way in which the original Bowser Castle music from Super Mario Kart has been adapted here. The heavy metal cover brings it in line with the music for Mario Kart 8′s Bowser’s Castle – which is great! Overall, though… I can’t help but feel that this version of SNES Bowser Castle 3 is a little too different from its original appearance. Heck, it’s basically a brand-new racetrack altogether. It’s a good track, don’t get me wrong… I guess it just doesn’t give me the same nostalgic vibes as other SNES racetracks have.

It’s great to get another Bowser’s Castle track in the game, though!

Wii Rainbow Road (Spiny Cup)
Tier: A

I feel a little sorry for Wii Rainbow Road, because it would have almost certainly made S-tier were it not for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe having so many other versions of this iconic racetrack. By the time I reached Wii Rainbow Road at the end of the Booster Course Pass, I couldn’t help but feel it was just a little too samey. That’s not its fault at all, and the way it’s been recreated here is still wonderful. But it gets a little lost amongst other versions of the racetrack – including the 3DS one discussed above.

A solid end to the Booster Course Pass, though.

So that’s it!

We’ve put all 96 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Booster Course Pass racetracks into our tier list. Let’s take a look at the final standings, shall we?

F-tier: seven racetracks,
D-tier: eleven racetracks,
C-tier: fourteen racetracks,
B-tier: twenty-eight racetracks,
A-tier: twenty-four racetracks,
S-tier: twelve racetracks.

Let me just add those up on my calculator… yep, that’s all ninety-six racetracks officially ranked! Check out how the tier list looks:

As I said at the beginning, all of this has just been the wholly subjective (and occasionally arbitrary) take of one person. I’m a huge fan of Mario Kart – and I have been since the very beginning. I think you can see that there are far more racetracks in the upper half of the list than the lower half, and even those racetracks that I don’t enjoy every aspect of can still be fun to race through from time to time.

This has been a fun experiment. I’ve never made a tier list before, but the format is surprisingly good fun. I can already think of a few more ideas for tier lists… so this might become an occasional part of the website going forward!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the different Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Booster Course Pass racetracks. I’ve certainly had fun racing through all of them – though I was clever this time and took my time instead of trying to rush through all of them in quick succession! Now that the final wave of the Booster Course Pass has landed, I think it’s an easy recommendation for any Mario Kart player. Doubling the number of racetracks in the game really does expand it and give it a boost – and with Mario Kart 9 potentially still a ways off, that’s a good thing in my book!

I have more than 200 unused screenshots of Dry Bones (my favourite Mario Kart driver, if you couldn’t tell) racing around practically all of the racetracks in the game, so maybe I’ll put together some kind of gallery of those in the days or weeks ahead. And be sure to stay tuned for more Mario Kart and Nintendo content here on the website in future! If we start to get news about a new Nintendo console, Mario Kart 9, or anything else in that vein, I’ll do my best to cover it and share my thoughts.

Until next time!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now for Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Booster Course Pass, and the Super Mario series are the copyright of Nintendo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Twelve Mario Kart racetracks that can stay in the dustbin

Thu 02.11.23Thu 02.11.23Dennis

Yesterday, Nintendo announced which eight racetracks have made the cut and will be included in the final wave of the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And spoiler alert, but there are some incredibly fun ones! Returning to SNES Bowser Castle 3 – in its upgraded form – is perhaps the one I’m most excited about, but there were several others that look like an absolute blast.

But that got me thinking: which racetracks haven’t been included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or the Booster Course Pass? Nintendo has obviously been saving some real classics for Mario Kart 9, including some highly-requested fan-favourites. And with the Switch’s successor console potentially only a year or so away from launch… that seems absolutely fair enough! One of my only real concerns with the Booster Course Pass has been that Nintendo has used up a lot of good, solid racetracks – potentially leaving fewer to be remade next time around.

While there are some racetracks whose omissions from the Booster Course Pass will undoubtedly have upset fans, those aren’t the ones we’re going to look at today! Instead, we’re going to focus on a handful of racetracks from across the Mario Kart series that I’m perfectly happy to consign to the dustbin – permanently! These are racetracks that I didn’t enjoy either in their original games or when they returned as retro tracks in later games.

It goes without saying that all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of one person! If you love any or all of these racetracks, please don’t take it personally! We all like different things, and this list is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek fun. I’m a huge fan of Mario Kart, and the fact that I’ve found a handful of racetracks to dislike doesn’t change that.

Racetracks will be put into one of three “cups” (which have been given dustbin-appropriate names) just like they would be in any other Mario Kart game. And any racetrack that has appeared in a Mario Kart title is fair game. I’ve tried not to select too many tracks from the same entry in the series.

With all of that out of the way, let’s jump into the list!

Empty Baked Bean Tin Cup

Wario Stadium
Mario Kart 64

Wario Stadium’s unforgivable flaw is that it’s just… boring. There’s nothing interesting or exciting about the titular stadium or the dirt track set there, and while it has a decently twisty layout, all that manages to do is drag out the racetrack too much. There are a couple of turns that can be challenging to take, but even those aren’t anything to write home about. The musical accompaniment isn’t spectacular, either.

Probably Mario Kart 64′s least enjoyable offering.

Baby Park
Mario Kart: Double Dash

As you’ll know if you’ve already checked out my Mario Kart 8 Deluxe tier list, I detest Baby Park. The racetrack’s plain oval layout is bad enough, but what’s worse is how random it is. If you hit a run of bad luck you can end up in last place not because of any skill issue, but by sheer chance. That might keep things “interesting” in some online races… but it doesn’t feel like a lot of fun most of the time.

An admirable attempt to try something different… but one that did not succeed.

Desert Hills
Mario Kart DS

I’m not the biggest fan of desert racetracks. One or two per game might be okay, depending on what else they bring to the table apart from sand. But DS Desert Hills really only has sand. There just isn’t much else going on here that’s any different, and the racetrack has an incredibly bland colour palette that doesn’t offer much by way of visual interest either. Mario Kart can do better desert racetracks than DS Desert Hills – and it has done so on multiple occasions.

With that in mind, what place could there be for a racetrack like this one?

Sweet Sweet Canyon
Mario Kart 8
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

I’m not wild about food-themed racetracks in Mario Kart, and nothing about Sweet Sweet Canyon jumps out at me as being especially fun or memorable. The bland colour palette drowns in tan, brown, and yellow tones, and the inclusion of an underwater section doesn’t seem like it adds much. There are no fun secret routes or shortcuts to learn, and Sweet Sweet Canyon tends to end up as a racetrack I skip every time I play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Those massive donuts look delicious, though!

Dirty Nappy Cup

Toad’s Factory
Mario Kart Wii

There was speculation that Toad’s Factory might’ve been one of the racetracks to join the Booster Course Pass, but you know what? I’m glad that it didn’t! This is probably my least-favourite track from Mario Kart Wii, and one I’d seldom choose to play. The idea of a racetrack set at an operational factory is a fun one… and there were moments in Toad’s Factory that came close to living up to the promise. But there were also annoying pinch points, a pretty basic layout, and one of the worst pieces of music in Mario Kart Wii to drag it down.

I’m all but certain that Toad’s Factory will be back in the next Mario Kart, though!

Yoshi Desert
Mario Kart Super Circuit

Most of what I said above about DS Desert Hills also applies to GBA Yoshi Desert. Desert tracks too easily fall into the trap of being one-note and uninteresting, and while Yoshi Desert gets some credit for being one of the first desert racetracks in the Mario Kart series… even that’s not enough to save it. Also included in Super Circuit was the wonderful Sunset Wilds – a racetrack that took the desert theme in a completely different direction. Yoshi Desert is nothing in comparison!

Yoshi Desert returned in Tour, though… so maybe it’ll be back in a future Mario Kart game, too.

Koopa Beach 2
Super Mario Kart

I adore Super Mario Kart, and I’m not sure that it’s always fair to compare unenhanced SNES tracks with the best that modern Mario Kart has to offer. But that being said, Koopa Beach 2 is a pretty basic track even by Super Mario Kart standards, consisting of a fairly plain oval on a beach. There isn’t much else to say; at least Koopa Beach 1 had some moments of island-hopping to mix things up. This track just… doesn’t have a lot to offer.

Compared with other beach-themed racetracks, Koopa Beach 2 just comes up short.

Amsterdam Drift
Mario Kart Tour

I have a particular criticism of Amsterdam Drift: it doesn’t really feel like Amsterdam. The main reason for that is how much time is spent racing underwater. Now I know that Amsterdam’s canals are famous… but it just felt to me like too much of this racetrack was taken up with underwater racing in these deep ditches that had no points of interest within them. If the racetrack had been called “Canal Crunch” or something, and wasn’t meant to be a representation of Amsterdam, maybe that would’ve been okay.

But the racetrack fails at its one and only objective as far as I’m concerned.

Cigarette Butt Cup

Daisy Hills
Mario Kart 7

To be honest, it was a toss-up whether to include Daisy Hills or Mario Circuit from the 3DS… but Daisy Hills claims the “win” on this occasion. While there are some moments of visual interest and a soundtrack that’s at least okay, Daisy Hills is one of those easily-overlooked racetracks that just feels bland and generic. The brown dirt track, green grass, and blue sky combo has been seen on so many different racetracks with better layouts or more memorable musical accompaniments that it doesn’t feel interesting in the slightest here.

I’d almost forgotten that Daisy Hills existed.

Hyrule Circuit
The Legend of Zelda x Mario Kart 8 DLC
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

You may disagree with this pick if you’re a big fan of The Legend of Zelda… but as someone who never played any of those games, I just don’t feel any connection to Hyrule Circuit. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it’s neat to race through a castle that isn’t filled with molten lava, but in every other way this track just feels bland and generic. I don’t think its gimmick of a hidden path that could be opened by hitting switches was particularly well-implemented, either.

Plenty of Zelda theming (I assume, anyway) but I just don’t care about that in the least.

Yoshi Falls
Mario Kart DS

Yoshi Falls is a plain oval with a few boost panels. Its brief waterfall sections are so short that they’re easily overlooked, and there just isn’t much else that’s exciting or even memorable about such a plain racetrack. The giant Yoshi egg gives it a small amount of visual interest, I guess, but even that’s not enough to salvage this one.

Yoshi has indeed fallen.

Rainbow Road
Super Mario Kart

SNES Rainbow Road is a great track, an all-time classic, and a nostalgic punch in the face for those of us who loved Super Mario Kart! So why on earth is it on this list? Simple: it’s been recreated in the last four Mario Kart titles (7, 8, 8 Deluxe, and Tour)… so it needs a break. Bringing it back again in Mario Kart 9 would be repetitive, and transforming the racetrack in the way some other retro tracks have been would take away from its unique charm.

Give SNES Rainbow Road the day off and bring back other racetracks instead!

So that’s it!

I hope your favourite wasn’t on the list… but if it was, sorry! Actually no, I’m not sorry… because this is just one person’s entirely subjective take, and we’re all entitled to our views on this wonderful kart racing series.

There’s only a few days left until the sixth and final wave of racetracks arrives for the Booster Course Pass… and with the development of new tracks for Tour seemingly coming to an end as well, does that mean production is shifting toward Mario Kart 9?! It’s been almost a decade since Mario Kart 8 debuted on the Wii U, so it’s about time for a new entry in the series! I hope that Nintendo doesn’t include the racetracks listed above in the next game… but if they’re present I daresay I’ll get over it! Not every track can be an absolute favourite, but I think every Mario Kart game so far has managed to have far more good ones than bad.

So I hope this was a bit of fun! Stay tuned, because the second part of my Mario Kart 8 Deluxe tier list is in the works! You can find the first part, in which I ranked all 48 racetracks from the base version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, by clicking or tapping here. And you can find my dedicated Mario Kart webpage by clicking or tapping here.

See you on the track!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now for Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Booster Course Pass, and the Super Mario series are the copyright of Nintendo. Images of GBA Yoshi Desert, SNES Koopa Beach 2, and 3DS Daisy Hills courtesy of the Super Mario Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List: Part 1

Fri 27.10.23Fri 27.10.23Dennis

As promised, I’m going to put all of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe racetracks into an internet-friendly tier list! In this first part, we’re going to look at all 48 of the racetracks that come with the base version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Next time, when I’ve had a chance to fully play through all of the Booster Course Pass additions, I’ll put those 48 racetracks into a tier list as well – so stay tuned for that around the holidays or in the new year.

So… what’s a tier list? Well, I’m glad you asked!

Rather than ranking every racetrack from 1-48 – which would be pretty difficult, especially with tracks in the middle – each track is going to be given a rating. There are six possible ratings based on the “tier list” formula that you may have seen elsewhere online.

F-tier racetracks will be at the bottom; these are the worst or least-enjoyable tracks that I’d almost never choose. Next is D-tier: a step up from the worst of the worst, but still racetracks I either generally dislike or hate a particular aspect of. C-tier racetracks are right in the middle and have no major flaws… but relatively few impressive elements. B-tier is a step up from average; these are racetracks that are fun, but not quite perfect. A-tier is where we start to see the best that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has to offer! And finally, S-tier racetracks are the absolute cream of the crop.

Why is “S” the uppermost tier? Why not A or A-star? Truth is… I have absolutely no idea. But that’s how other people have made their tier lists, so I’m sticking with the same basic formula and nomenclature. I guess I could Google it… but there’s no time for that now. We’ve got racetracks to rank!

It goes without saying that this tier list is the wholly subjective opinion of one person! I have my own criteria for determining what I like and what I dislike… and if you disagree or hate all of my rankings, that’s okay! There’s plenty of room for differences of opinion, and I’m in no way trying to say that this is the “objective,” definitive way that everyone should rate the racetracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This is just my opinion, and I share it in the spirit of light-hearted fun.

I’ll be going through the racetracks in the order in which they appear in the game and assigning each one a tier. With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!

Mario Kart Stadium (Mushroom Cup)
Tier: B

Mario Kart Stadium is a great introduction to the game. It’s not an especially complex racetrack – but it shouldn’t be, as it’s the first one that players will try out. The theming is fine, being set at a modern speedway at night, and Mario Kart Stadium introduces players to gliding and anti-gravity. The anti-grav section is pretty basic, but again, this is the first track in the game.

All in all, a solid start.

Water Park (Mushroom Cup)
Tier: C

Water Park is a racetrack I’ll occasionally choose. I like the theme park vibe that it gives off; it reminds me somewhat of the likes of Disneyland or Sea World. But nothing about Water Park screams “Mario Kart” to me. There isn’t much to firmly place the racetrack – which is only the second in the game – in the Mushroom Kingdom or the Mario franchise, and if I had to sum it up in one word it would be “generic.”

The very definition of a C-tier racetrack, I suppose!

Sweet Sweet Canyon (Mushroom Cup)
Tier: D

Another racetrack that just feels incredibly generic, Sweet Sweet Canyon is one I’d rarely choose to play. It has a very uninteresting colour palette, with lots of yellow, brown, and tan tones that all sort of blend into one, and a musical score that isn’t particularly memorable. The food theme is just kind of “meh” for me, and I know that Mario Kart can do better. It’s not the worst track in the game or anything… just not a particularly fun one.

And that’s coming from a fatso who loves sweets and doughnuts!

Thwomp Ruins (Mushroom Cup)
Tier: B

Thwomp Ruins has some fun theming, being set in an ancient temple that feels like something you might expect to see in the Tomb Raider series! The titular Thwomps are present at several key points along the racetrack, providing an extra challenge, and there are a couple of alternate paths to race along, as well as anti-gravity and underwater sections. There’s also a couple of excellent shortcuts if you have a mushroom (and the skill to use it right!)

This is definitely one to choose if you want a frantic race online!

Mario Circuit (Flower Cup)
Tier: C

There are several great racetracks where anti-gravity feels crazy and exciting… but Mario Circuit isn’t one of them. It’s only if you look into the background and see upside down or sideways trees and other detritus that you’ll even realise you’re racing in anti-gravity… and I just think that’s not great. Mario Circuit isn’t bad; it has a great soundtrack and I’ll always appreciate seeing Peach’s castle.

The layout just feels uninspired, and while there are long anti-gravity sections, they don’t feel all that special.

Toad Harbour (Flower Cup)
Tier: S

In 2013, I was lucky enough to play a preview build of Mario Kart 8 at a press event – and Toad Harbour was the racetrack I got to try out. It was the ideal track for such a demo, as it’s damn near perfect! Taking inspiration from both New York City and San Fransisco, this harbourside racetrack is incredible. Its theming is on point, it has a great soundtrack, and the addition of trolleybuses as moving obstacles keeps each lap feeling different and fun.

Definitely one of the best that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has to offer – and no, I’m not just saying that because I got to play it before anyone else!

Twisted Mansion (Flower Cup)
Tier: B

Twisted Mansion is hands-down the best ghost-themed racetrack in the Mario Kart series to date. It brings together the ghostly Boos – mainstays of the Mario franchise – with elements from the Luigi’s Mansion games, and its haunted house aesthetic sticks the landing. The layout of the track itself is perhaps Twisted Mansion’s weakest element, because aside from the anti-grav section near the start, it doesn’t feel especially innovative. There’s a neat shortcut and an underwater-into-glider section… but other than that, the theming and music are doing most of the heavy lifting here.

Still, that’s more than enough to make Twisted Mansion a fun racetrack!

Shy Guy Falls (Flower Cup)
Tier: C

I love the idea of Shy Guy Falls way more than the execution. This is another track where Mario Kart 8′s signature anti-gravity mechanic just feels lacklustre. I never really manage to get the sense of racing up and down a waterfall; the racetrack’s waterfall sections feel like driving through a river. There’s nothing in the distance or surrounding the waterfall to really evoke the wonder of this setting – not until the very last second. The rest of the theming also feels pretty bland, but I’ll give Shy Guy Falls points for being decently pretty to look at.

There’s a tricky shortcut toward the end that’s a pain to learn… but it can be fun to pull off when racing online or with friends!

Sunshine Airport (Star Cup)
Tier: A

Sunshine Airport is a blast. There are so many little details in the theming that tie this racetrack into other parts of the world of Super Mario, including destinations on the departures and arrivals boards in the airport lobby. Racing along an active runway with a plane coming right at you is also an incredibly tense and exciting moment. I love the way that the track twists and turns, offering multiple paths around an aircraft or across its wings.

Sunshine Airport also has a great musical accompaniment!

Dolphin Shoals (Star Cup)
Tier: B

A racetrack that’s almost entirely underwater could’ve come across as being a bit too gimmicky, but Dolphin Shoals pulls it off well enough. I like tropical beach racetracks, and the crystal clear waters of Dolphin Shoals definitely play into that. The titular dolphins are only present for a brief moment, which is a bit of a shame – but the return of the giant eel from Super Mario 64 as an actual part of the racetrack was a masterstroke!

I’ll definitely give Dolphin Shoals extra points for being something a bit different.

Electrodrome (Star Cup)
Tier: S

Electrodrome is amazing. It’s one of the few tracks where two alternate anti-gravity routes are close enough that you can see other racers – and seeing people racing upside down (from your perspective, at least) is an absolute blast. The music here is fantastic, and the nightclub/discotheque theme is absolutely unique. This is the kind of racetrack that could only work in Mario Kart!

Oh, and the dancing piranha plants bopping in time to the beat? Adorable.

Mount Wario (Star Cup)
Tier: S

Two S-tiers in a row? Wow, the Star Cup is really doing some incredible things! I love snowy, wintery racetracks – when done well – and Mount Wario represents a fun twist on the standard snowy circuit that has been present throughout the Mario Kart series. Racing down a mountain (after jumping out of a plane) is a ton of fun, and the slalom skiing section toward the end is one of the most exciting in the game. There are so many twists and turns and changes in the scenery as you descend the mountain.

Mount Wario is one of the best snowy tracks in the entire Mario Kart series without a doubt.

Cloudtop Cruise (Special Cup)
Tier: D

Cloudtop Cruise has a long cannon section that I’m not wild about, a lot of plain white clouds at the beginning and end, and… not much else. The music isn’t great, the theming isn’t anything special, its one shortcut is a little too easy to pull off, and because the cannon takes such a long time it leaves you incredibly vulnerable to shells and other items.

This just isn’t a racetrack I’m all that bothered about, and I almost never choose to play it.

Bone Dry Dunes (Special Cup)
Tier: C

Argh, this is painful! I adore Dry Bones (if you haven’t figured that out by now), so to rank his first-ever track so low isn’t where I’d have wanted to be. But to tell the truth, I’m being generous giving this one a C-tier ranking, and it’s only Dry Bones’ presence that carries an otherwise bland and uninteresting desert racetrack over the line. I don’t care for the music, the track layout is pretty boring, and there are a couple of pinch points where I always seem to run off the track or into a fence.

There were so many ways to create a Dry Bones-themed racetrack… why go for such a boring desert?

Bowser’s Castle (Special Cup)
Tier: A

Mario Kart 64′s version of Bowser’s Castle is probably the best of the bunch, but this version of the iconic Mario Kart racetrack has to be a close second. There’s everything you’d expect to find in King Koopa’s castle – lava, giant statues, and even lasers! The heavy metal soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to this difficult racetrack, too. There are plenty of obstacles to dodge, from lava plumes and fireballs to punching statues and rolling rocks, making this one of the most challenging racetracks in the game.

Definitely not the first racetrack to show to a beginner – but a ton of fun nonetheless!

Rainbow Road (Special Cup)
Tier: C

I don’t hate this version of Rainbow Road, but when I compare it to other absolutely iconic racetracks bearing the name… I find it comes up short. The space station idea could’ve worked well for another track with a different name, but I feel it gets in the way here and detracts from the whimsical magic of Rainbow Road. The music isn’t quite up to par with other versions of the racetrack, either.

The twisting anti-gravity paths (with no guard rails) do pose a challenge, though – and I can appreciate that, at least.

Wii Moo Moo Meadows (Shell Cup)
Tier: A

Moo Moo Meadows has always been a fun, relatively gentle racetrack – as was its predecessor, Moo Moo Farm. I like the American setting of this cattle farm; it reminds me of several farms that I saw while living in the United States. The soundtrack is just pitch-perfect for that kind of locale, too, and the overall theming carries Moo Moo Meadows a long way!

The cows on the farm are too cute! Extra points for adorableness!

GBA Mario Circuit (Shell Cup)
Tier: C

GBA Mario Circuit, in this modified form, feels like a less-exciting version of Mario Kart Stadium. The layout of both racetracks is similar, even down to the anti-gravity section with a tight turn. I will give points for adapting a fairly plain racetrack in a novel way, and for finding a way to shoehorn anti-grav racing into a retro track that never had it in its original form. But as with most tracks with the “Circuit” monicker, GBA Mario Circuit is nothing special.

I don’t hate it, but it’s not one I’m going to choose very often.

DS Cheep Cheep Beach (Shell Cup)
Tier: A

The tropical beach theme carries Cheep Cheep Beach a long way – but I like the adaptations made for underwater racing in this version of the racetrack, too. The tropical musical accompaniment is great, the sunshine, sand, and clear waters are beautiful in 1080p HD, and there are a couple of places where different routes open up. There’s a lot to love here!

Cheep Cheep Beach is definitely one of the better retro courses.

N64 Toad’s Turnpike (Shell Cup)
Tier: B

I detested this racetrack on the Nintendo 64, but the updated version has definitely improved things. Maybe I’m misremembering, but I feel that the N64 version was a lot less forgiving, with either more road traffic or less space in between the vehicles causing more frequent collisions – and after spinning out in Mario Kart 64, it took longer to get going again than it does in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Updating this racetrack has been good, then – but the anti-gravity path is utterly useless, and the occasional glider moments don’t really add much, either.

Still, a solid reworking of one of my least-favourite racetracks from Mario Kart 64.

GCN Dry Dry Desert (Banana Cup)
Tier: D

A boring desert track without much going for it… Dry Dry Desert scrapes its way above the dreaded F-tier because it has a brief underwater section themed around an oasis that breaks up the otherwise drudging monotony of this bland, uninteresting racetrack. Were there really no better options from Mario Kart Double Dash to recreate?

Aside from the oasis section – which you’ll race through in a matter of seconds – it’s hard to find another redeeming feature in this one.

SNES Donut Plains 3 (Banana Cup)
Tier: S

Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but I adore Donut Plains 3. The track has had less done to it than something like GBA Mario Circuit, but the subtle new additions really elevate it and make it something special. Underwater racing is now present, and I love how one of the bridges has fallen into the lake. The music hits all of the nostalgic notes for me, as someone who played and loved Super Mario Kart in the ’90s, and although it’s a relatively short and flat racetrack… I can’t fault it.

Donut Plains 3 brings back incredibly fond memories.

N64 Royal Raceway (Banana Cup)
Tier: A

If we were ranking the original versions of these racetracks, Royal Raceway would be in the S-tier without a doubt. But this updated version took away one of its most iconic and defining elements: the off-road area in front of Peach’s castle. This part of the racetrack was a little “Easter Egg,” allowing players to stop racing for a moment and enjoy driving in front of the iconic setting of Super Mario 64. Stripping it out feels unforgivable… but I still love Royal Raceway in spite of this shameful omission!

Great music, a fun, twisty layout that’s perfect for drifting, and another nostalgic punch definitely justify Royal Raceway’s A-tier ranking.

3DS DK Jungle (Banana Cup)
Tier: B

DK Jungle is a lot of fun. I love the Donkey Kong Country theme, as the first entry in that series is one of my all-time favourites from the SNES era, and this racetrack adapts it well. Or rather, it adapts the newer Donkey Kong Country Returns! The jungle feels dense and almost claustrophobic, and the banana temple is weird but totally on theme. The soundtrack is another absolute bopper, too!

The only thing I’d have added is some kind of DK-themed coin to replace the standard coins.

DS Wario Stadium (Leaf Cup)
Tier: F

I’m just flat-out not interested in anything Wario Stadium brings to the table. I don’t care for the music, the layout, or the generic “motorsport stadium” theming, and as a result it’s got to be one of my least-used racetracks. As a dirt track in a crowded stadium with jumps, at a couple of points I get almost a Motorcross Madness vibe from Wario Stadium… but even that can’t salvage what is a generally unenjoyable track.

Not sure what else to add, really.

GCN Sherbet Land (Leaf Cup)
Tier: C

Although I’m a big fan of snowy and wintery racetracks in general, GCN Sherbet Land feels decidedly average. I like the ice-skating Shy Guys, and I appreciate the addition of an underwater section in this adaptation. But nothing else about Sherbet Land really jumps out at me, and compared to other winter tracks, it comes up short. It’s not atrocious, and if I’m in the mood I’ll definitely play through it along with its wintery cousins. But most of the time, this is one I tend to skip over to get to more enjoyable racetracks.

The winter theme is definitely doing a lot of work to keep Sherbet Land out of D-tier status!

3DS Melody Motorway/Music Park (Leaf Cup)
Tier: A

Melody Motorway (as we know it in the UK) is fantastic. I love that driving across the various instruments actually changes the racetrack’s musical accompaniment – and hitting a “wrong” note leads to an off-key note being played! This feature alone adds a lot to Melody Motorway – but the racetrack also has a fun optional glider section, the ability to perform tricks in time with the beat, and a twisty layout that keeps things interesting.

Melody Motorway did for the 3DS what Electrodrome did for Mario Kart 8 – and this updated version is pitch-perfect!

N64 Yoshi Valley (Leaf Cup)
Tier: C

Yoshi Valley was a blast on the Nintendo 64. You couldn’t tell at a glance whether you were in first place or fifth, and the whole racetrack had a uniquely chaotic energy as a result. However, upon returning to Yoshi Valley… I think it’s one of those tracks where the concept is let down somewhat by the execution. A multitude of winding, maze-like paths that frequently cross over and intersect one another is a really fun idea, but the way it’s implemented in Yoshi Valley means there’s one “optimal” path and a bunch of others that you’d be almost silly to choose.

I do like the big Yoshi egg, though, and this is another one that hits me with the nostalgic feels.

DS Tick-Tock Clock (Lightning Cup)
Tier: B

I tend to overlook Tick-Tock Clock, but it’s undeniably a fun racetrack. The name and design harken back to the level of the same name in Super Mario 64, but the racetrack puts its own spin on the “clock mechanism” idea. The use of rotating platforms is neat, and the changing clock hands that can provide a shortcut is a clever concept, too. And once again, there’s some great music to bring it all together.

A fun racetrack… and one I should endeavour to use more often!

3DS Piranha Plant Pipeway/Piranha Plant Slide (Lightning Cup)
Tier: A

Piranha Plant Pipeway feels like a creative and fun take on the warp pipes that have been featured in every Mario game going all the way back to the ’80s. The underground sections of the racetrack really nail the feel of some of those early Super Mario Bros. underground levels, and there’s a fun underwater section to boot. It’s not the easiest racetrack to get the hang of, and there are several points where it’s easy to topple off the track or oversteer. But the challenge is part of what makes it great!

Who knew going down a warp pipe could be so much fun?

Wii Grumble Volcano (Lightning Cup)
Tier: D

Grumble Volcano’s gimmick of having pieces of the track fall away is interesting – and one I’d like to see reproduced on a better racetrack! I’m just not sold on the theming here, and the colour palette of the track doesn’t help it stand out. We’ve already got lava in racetracks like Bowser’s Castle… and even on the Wii, I didn’t really see what Grumble Volcano had to offer beyond its gimmick.

Not a racetrack I choose very often.

N64 Rainbow Road (Lightning Cup)
Tier: B

I’m so conflicted about this one. Rainbow Road – as it appeared on the Nintendo 64 – is one of my all-time favourite Mario Kart racetracks… but this version feels much less enjoyable than it ought to be. I think the key to the success of that original version was its relative simplicity: the neon characters in the background, the occasional Chain Chomps on the road… and that was all. Mario Kart 8 filled in too much of the background, created an entire city underneath the racetrack, turned the neon signs into bursts of fireworks, and added a flying train. But the real unforgivable mistake was making it last for only a single lap! In its original form, maybe Rainbow Road was slightly too long. But this one-lap version is too short.

Cracking music, though!

GCN Yoshi Circuit (Egg Cup)
Tier: B

Here’s an embarrassing admission: it took me way too long to realise that Yoshi Circuit is in the shape of Yoshi’s sprite! That layout provides for some surprisingly tight turns and fun twists, which elevate a racetrack that’s visually quite plain into something a bit more special. I love pulling off the waterfall shortcut – even though I’m not good enough to nail it every time – and when racing online, this is another track that can become quite frenzied.

This racetrack was a pleasant surprise when I bought the DLC for the original version of Mario Kart 8.

Excitebike Arena (Egg Cup)
Tier: A

A plain oval sounds like it should be boring as all hell to race around, but Excitebike Arena’s unique randomisation aspect really keeps it feeling fresh and fun every single time. Obstacles and ramps are randomly placed on the track, and there are more than 200 possible variations depending on where they end up. I also like the callback to Excitebike, a game I remember playing on a friend’s Nintendo console in the late ’80s or early ’90s. Excitebike was a fun game for its time… and it’s nice to see that Nintendo hasn’t forgotten some of these old classics!

The randomisation definitely lifts this track up… but the theming is great, too.

Dragon Driftway (Egg Cup)
Tier: C

I don’t hate Dragon Driftway… but I just can’t think of anything about it that’s in any way noteworthy other than its vaguely Chinese aesthetic. The dragon-themed track is fun enough, I suppose, but unless you’re driving slowly enough to admire the scenery that’s not really good enough to take Dragon Driftway into a higher tier. There are a couple of decent turns and good use of anti-gravity, but again… none of that really stands out to me all that much.

A fairly forgettable racetrack, but one where the theming helps it keep its head above water.

Mute City (Egg Cup)
Tier: S

I was a huge fan of F-Zero on the SNES (along with its sequel, F-Zero X, on the Nintendo 64), and it’s a colossal disappointment that Nintendo continues to sit on the series and do nothing with it! But I suppose an F-Zero Mario Kart track is a nice addition. Mute City is a blast, and as a racetrack it really manages to nail the F-Zero feel. The speed, the boost panels, and the futuristic cityscape all bring back wonderful memories of a series of old-school racers that Nintendo has all but forgotten.

The F-Zero sound effects were a nice touch, too!

Wii Wario’s Gold Mine (Triforce Cup)
Tier: C

Wario’s Gold Mine was decent on the Wii, but changing the minecarts from obstacles into moving boost panels really nerfed a significant portion of the racetrack. The overall mine theme isn’t spectacular, either, but I will give credit for the rollercoaster-like dip at the beginning and a fun piece of music. These two elements carry Wario’s Gold Mine a long way!

When I downloaded Mario Kart 8′s DLC on the Wii U, this wasn’t one of the tracks I was most excited to see.

SNES Rainbow Road (Triforce Cup)
Tier: B

SNES Rainbow Road is a classic, don’t get me wrong. And it makes sense to add it to the Mario Kart game that’s been around for the longest amount of time. But at the same time… SNES Rainbow Road had already been recreated several times, including in Mario Kart 7. This version doesn’t do much that 7′s hadn’t already, and I’d rather have seen SNES racetracks like Bowser Castle or Vanilla Lake brought back for the first time than play Rainbow Road again.

All that being said, it’s a challenging racetrack that looks great on the Switch – and it’s another one that brings back those nostalgic SNES memories!

Ice Ice Outpost (Triforce Cup)
Tier: B

I wasn’t sold on Ice Ice Outpost at first. It didn’t feel particularly special the first few times I tried it out, but it’s a racetrack that’s definitely grown on me since the DLC for Mario Kart 8 landed. I like that the iceberg/glacier theme takes the typical wintery track to a slightly different place, and while understated, Ice Ice Outpost’s musical accompaniment is solid.

The dual path design – complete with easily-missed shortcuts – is also something a bit different.

Hyrule Circuit (Triforce Cup)
Tier: D

Having never played any of the Zelda games, I have no connection to the land of Hyrule nor any frame of reference for the inclusions made in Hyrule Circuit. And it’s for that reason that this racetrack doesn’t do much for me. It’s neat to race through a castle that isn’t filled with molten lava for once… but that’s really all that Hyrule Circuit has to offer. For fans of Zelda, I can absolutely see this being a B- or even A-tier track, though. I liked the idea of hitting switches to unlock a hidden path… but the execution was poor and this feels too difficult to achieve consistently. Or maybe I’m just bad at video games!

All things considered, this racetrack just isn’t for me… and I’m okay with that.

GCN Baby Park (Crossing Cup)
Tier: F

This absolute abomination should be nowhere near Mario Kart! Okay, maybe that was too harsh. But Baby Park might be my least-favourite racetrack in the entire game. It’s boring as all hell, consisting of a single, short, unembellished oval. If this was Nascar, maybe that would be okay! Races on Baby Park also feel horribly unbalanced, as it’s too easy to hit a run of bad luck (or good luck, conversely), meaning that races end up feeling less about skill and more about random chance.

If this gets picked online, I might actually disconnect from the lobby rather than play through it!

GBA Cheese Land (Crossing Cup)
Tier: F

Oof, the Crossing Cup is off to a rough start. Cheese Land on the Game Boy Advance had a lot more personality than this bland, uninspired desert track. The titular cheese is all but absent, replaced by the most generic-looking sandy dirt that not only fails to live up to the racetrack’s name, but also feels incredibly boring and too similar to other desert tracks.

I appreciate the attempt to add anti-gravity, but that doesn’t do anything to salvage this thoroughly disappointing racetrack.

Wild Woods (Crossing Cup)
Tier: A

Wild Woods is a surprisingly fun addition to Mario Kart 8 – and the first step toward saving the reputation of the Crossing Cup! Its theming reminds me of books like The Faraway Tree, and the whole racetrack gives off a kind of “enchanted forest” vibe that’s really gentle and sweet. This stands in contrast to a very fast-paced racetrack with a rushing water section, lots of anti-gravity, and some tricky corners!

Races on Wild Woods can take unexpected turns, and the pacing of the racetrack overall feels fantastic.

Animal Crossing (Crossing Cup)
Tier: S

I’m a huge fan of the Animal Crossing series, and this racetrack is absolutely incredible. I love the “four seasons” idea, and the autumn and winter variants in particular are beautiful. Animal Crossing includes practically all of the major buildings, characters, and locales from New Leaf (the game upon which it was based), and racing through this wonderful setting feels absolutely amazing. The music is also inspired by the soundtrack to New Leaf – and has different variants for the four seasons.

Until Merry Mountain was released as part of the Booster Course Pass, Animal Crossing was the only track with any Christmas theming!

3DS Koopa City/Neo Bowser City (Bell Cup)
Tier: A

When I first played Mario Kart 7, I found Koopa City to be too difficult. I’m not sure if that’s been toned down very much in this revision or whether I’ve just gotten a little better at it, but in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe I’ve definitely come to appreciate the racetrack a lot more. I no longer quiver in fear when I see it pop up! The environment is a ton of fun, and something completely different from other Bowser-themed racetracks. In fact, Koopa City feels closer, in some respects, to an F-Zero racetrack than it does to Mario Kart. And yes, I mean that as a compliment!

A rain-soaked futuristic city with some sharp turns makes for a fun and challenging racetrack.

GBA Ribbon Road (Bell Cup)
Tier: B

Ribbon Road reminds me of a Dreamcast game called Toy Racer that I had a bit of fun with around the turn of the millennium. Shrinking down the racers and placing them in a bedroom surrounded by toys is a really fun idea, and I think Ribbon Road executes it quite well. If you pay attention to the background, there are a lot of references to other Mario and Nintendo games, which is fun, and reimagining some of the typical enemies and obstacles to be toys was neat.

Oh, and the rippling section of the track is a ton of fun to land tricks on!

Super Bell Subway (Bell Cup)
Tier: A

I like trains, so Super Bell Subway’s theme definitely sits right with me! I also love the subtle additions of things like graffiti to the titular subway, as it implies that graffiti and vandalism are a thing in the Mushroom Kingdom! There’s a fun shortcut to pull off if you have a mushroom, the moving trains take up a lot of real estate on the racetrack to pose a unique challenge, and there’s a great soundtrack to boot.

All in all, a solid addition to the lineup.

Big Blue (Bell Cup)
Tier: A

Rounding out this first set of racetracks is Big Blue, the second track based on F-Zero. And it’s another fun one! I like the rushing water section, the boost panels, and the incredibly fast-paced final third of the racetrack. Seeing jets (or spacecraft?) performing acrobatic feats in the background is a ton of fun, and Big Blue also manages to really recapture the F-Zero feel.

A fun and exciting way to wrap up the first 48 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe racetracks!

So that’s it… for now!

When I’ve had time to play through the final wave of Booster Course Pass racetracks – which aren’t out yet, but will be released before Christmas – I’ll put together the second part of this tier list. So we’re really only at the halfway point! I feel pretty confident about many of the Booster Course Pass tracks that have been released so far, but there are a few I’d like to spend a bit more time with before settling on an “official” ranking.

Speaking of rankings, let’s take a look at the tier list as things stand after the first 48 racetracks!

Here’s the breakdown:

F-tier: three racetracks,
D-tier: five racetracks,
C-tier: ten racetracks,
B-tier: twelve racetracks,
A-tier: twelve racetracks,
S-tier: six racetracks.

After going back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and replaying all 48 of these racetracks to capture screenshots for this piece, my poor arthritic thumbs need a break! I haven’t played Mario Kart quite so intensively for some time, and I’m definitely feeling the effects.

So I hope this was a bit of fun. I have a bunch of extra screenshots of Dry Bones racing around almost all of these racetracks, so I might put together a gallery of those sometime in the new year. And please don’t forget to come back after the final wave of the Booster Course Pass lands to see the second part of this list!

Eight Ideas for the Next Mario Kart

Wed 18.10.23Wed 18.10.23Dennis

With the Booster Course Pass dumping new racetracks, characters, and content onto Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it’s been a while since we looked ahead to what might come next for Nintendo’s flagship racing series. Although it seems pretty clear that the opportunity for Nintendo to launch a brand-new Mario Kart game on the Switch has come and gone, a new Nintendo console might be right around the corner. That can only mean one thing: Mario Kart 9 is on the way!

Okay, maybe I’m getting a little too excited. But with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being the Switch’s top-selling game, and the Booster Course Pass giving it a bit of a refresh, I’m absolutely convinced that Nintendo will want to get a new title in the series onto the Switch’s successor console as quickly as possible – perhaps in time for the new machine’s first holiday season. If, as has been rumoured, a new Nintendo console might launch next year… we could be a mere twelve months away from Mario Kart 9!

A screenshot from Mario Kart DS. — Can you spot the mistake in this beta version of *Mario Kart DS*?

Or not. But either way, today we’re celebrating my dedicated Mario Kart webpage going live by considering five ideas that I think could make for neat inclusions in the next Mario Kart game – or in any game after that, if Nintendo doesn’t see fit to include them this time! If you missed the Mario Kart page, you can find it using the drop-down menu above… or just click or tap here to head there directly! All of my Mario Kart content will be available there – including my tier lists of all the racetracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is something I’m currently working on! So check back for that at some point soon.

Before we go any further, I’ll give my usual caveat: I have no “insider information.” I’m not claiming that Nintendo is planning to include anything we’re going to discuss today in Mario Kart 9 – and I don’t even know for certain that Mario Kart 9 even exists or is in development! Also, everything we’re going to consider today is the entirely subjective opinion of one person – so if you hate all of my ideas or I don’t include something that seems obvious to you, that’s okay! We’re all entitled to our opinions on this wonderful racing series.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at my ideas!

Idea #1:
A first-person mode.

A screenshot of Mario Kart 7's first-person perspective. — First-person racing in *Mario Kart 7*.

The first and only time that the Mario Kart series has offered a first-person view came in Mario Kart 7. In that game, it was possible to see the race from a first-person perspective – but only when also using the 3DS’ gyroscope to steer. It was a bit of a gimmick on the 3DS, and I didn’t use it extensively – but there’s something about racing in first-person that’s just fun.

I’d love to see Mario Kart 9 bring this back, using the more powerful hardware of Nintendo’s next console to allow us to get up close and personal with some great-looking karts and bikes. It would be a blast to be able to race in first-person mode using a standard control pad, without having to be tied to a gyroscope or motion controls, too.

A screenshot of Forza Motorsport (2023). — First-person racing in *Forza Motorsport*.

A first-person perspective is something offered by many racing games on other platforms, and is something most driving and racing titles have done for a long time. The Mario Kart series has long stood apart from racers that take themselves more seriously… but that doesn’t mean Nintendo can’t take inspiration from other titles in the racing space!

Racing in first-person puts you in the middle of the action, and it would also be a great excuse for Nintendo to design different steering wheels, handlebars, and kart interiors. There’s a lot of fun to be had here – and I hope Nintendo’s sole experience with a first-person mode in Mario Kart 7 won’t shoot down this idea.

Idea #2:
A logo maker (like in Mario Kart DS).

Recreating the website’s logo in *Mario Kart DS*!

Mario Kart DS allowed players to draw their own custom logos using a pretty basic in-game logo maker. Making a personal icon instead of using the generic ones made for each character adds a bit of customisation and personality to the game – and that’s always something fun to see!

Again, with more powerful hardware on the way, there’s the potential to expand this feature far beyond the capabilities of the Nintendo DS. Players could even get the option to give karts and bikes custom liveries – something seen in games like Forza Horizon 5, for example. But even if that’s not practical, making custom logos and taking them online would be a ton of fun.

The logo as it appears on a standard kart.

There’s obviously the potential for abuse here, unfortunately. And as we’ve seen in the past, some players will draw rude, offensive, or just plain silly things. But as we’ve seen with custom designs in the Animal Crossing series, for instance, it’s possible to give players these options in a way that’s safe and appropriate for sensitive eyes. Nintendo wouldn’t need to have a whole team of content monitors checking everyone’s logos… just make sure that it’s easy to report anyone with an inappropriate logo so they can be sanctioned.

I’m a big fan of customisation in games – even though I have the imagination of a sleep-deprived pigeon and the artistic skills to match. This could be a whole mini-game in itself… and I’d love to see some of the wonderful and creative ideas that other racers come up with!

Idea #3:
Identical stats for every racer and vehicle.

This is a subject I’ve covered already – and you can find that article by clicking or tapping here. But to summarise: Mario Kart is unbalanced. What that has meant is that there’s one “ideal” combination of driver + kart that, in many races, everyone online is using. It’s not a lot of fun to race online against eleven Waluigis all riding the same Wiggler kart!

Recent tweaks to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe haven’t actually helped this issue – they’ve just shifted the ideal combo to another character and another kart. So my proposal is simple: dump the stats and make every racer and vehicle behave the same way. This would completely negate the problem and open up the next Mario Kart game to allow players to choose who they want to race with and how they want to race.

Complicated stats in *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*.

I find it disheartening, sometimes, to join an online race only to see almost everyone has picked the same kart and driver. Part of the fun of Mario Kart is mixing it up and trying out different combos. With such cosmetic variety, it seems a shame that, in order to remain competitive online or in time trials, there’s really only one (or at the most two) options that are viable.

Mario Kart isn’t a racing simulation, so things like tinkering with stats to get more horsepower… it just seems unnecessary. It would simplify Mario Kart in one way, but it would also open it up and diversify it in another.

Idea #4:
Racetracks with different variants.

The *Booster Course Pass* version of Kalimari Desert has different routes for each lap.

Mario Kart Tour introduced racetracks with different layouts and variants – and I think this is something that could be carried into the next main Mario Kart title. In the Booster Course Pass, several racetracks have different layouts for each lap, which is neat – but I’m thinking of racetracks with completely different layouts that could either be chosen or selected at random.

This could be a relatively easy way to add variety to the next game’s roster of tracks without having to create wholly new tracks with new assets. One variant of a track could be a simple loop, but a second could add additional twists and turns, for example. Both variants could use the same background, textures, and even some parts of the racetrack – like the start/finish line – as well as music. But there’d be something different for players to get stuck into each time.

It would be nice to get some varied tracks in the next game.

Mario Kart 8 launched in 2014 – and it looks set to reach its tenth anniversary before a brand-new mainline Mario Kart game will be ready. If Nintendo hopes to keep Mario Kart 9 around for even half as long, finding ways to keep the game varied and interesting to players will be essential. If the game came with 32 racetracks, but some of those had two, three, or even four different variants, that would go some way to accomplishing that objective.

I expect that the next Mario Kart title will be a kind of live-service experience, with Nintendo making changes and updates on the fly. Some of these updates could add new racetrack variants, which is something Nintendo has already done in Tour. That would be a possibility, too.

Idea #5:
Character costumes and outfits!

Mario in swimwear from *Mario Kart Tour*.

It would be great if every character could have different costumes to choose from. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, there are different colours for Yoshi – but I’d love to extend this to every character in the game. And not just different colours, either, but costumes and hats that transform the look of our favourite drivers.

This could also be a way to simplify the roster. Mario variants (like Metal Mario or Tanooki Mario) could be merged into one, with those outfits being available to players who choose Mario. That doesn’t have to happen, but it could open up the driver list to new and exciting characters!

Princess Peach in a blue dress in *The Super Mario Bros. Movie*.

For other characters, different colour variants, costumes, and hats could all be included. I think Tour has done something like this, so clearly it’s something Nintendo has already been toying with. I think there’s a ton of potential to really mix it up – and it would be great fun to see what outfits people would choose when racing online!

At the end of the day, this is another point about customisation and personalisation. Without having to create entirely new character models, Nintendo could add a whole lot of variety to Mario Kart 9 and allow us to really get a tailored, personal experience from the game.

Idea #6:
Designs from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Kart racing in *The Super Mario Bros. Movie*.

After spending a lot of money on it, I’m surprised that Nintendo has made no effort so far to cash in on the wild success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. There’s a ton of potential in bringing elements from the film into the next Mario and Mario Kart games… and the sooner the better!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie included a kart-racing sequence, and it was one of the most exciting and entertaining in the entire film! The sequence included several designs based on vehicles from the Mario Kart series – but also some brand-new designs, too. It would be great to see even one of these make its way to the next Mario Kart game.

There were also characters from the movie who could be included. Mario’s parents, for instance, or the penguin king from the opening act. Even including some of these designs as alternate costumes for characters like Luigi, Peach, and Donkey Kong would be a great way to connect with the success of the film.

Creating a racetrack – or better yet, four racetracks in the “Movie Cup” – would also be a fantastic idea. New tracks could draw on the film’s locations in both the real world and the Mushroom Kingdom, taking advantage of the new designs and adaptations that were created. Obviously a game will never be able to completely recreate the art style of a big-budget animated picture… but it could certainly take those designs as a starting point.

Idea #7:
Crossover characters from other franchises and properties.

“More characters” is always going to be a request when we’re talking about a new Mario Kart game – but that’s not really what I’m suggesting here! I think it’s a given that Mario Kart 9 will have an expanded driver roster, bringing in old favourites like Diddy Kong and newcomers to the Mario universe like Cappy.

Instead, what I’m hoping to see are licensed characters from other games and franchises. We’ve already seen Link from the Zelda games, characters from Splatoon, and Isabelle from Animal Crossing… but Nintendo can do better than that, surely!

Although it seemed unfathomable in the ’90s, when Sega and Nintendo were fierce competitors, we’ve seen Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog team up on several occasions over the past few years. Sonic is absolutely the kind of character I’m thinking of – but it needn’t stop there! Characters from games that have been popular on the Switch, like Minecraft or Fall Guys, could be great inclusions, too.

If Nintendo could strike deals with some of the gaming world’s big studios and publishers, there’s almost no limit to the character possibilities for the next Mario Kart game. Even just within the Nintendo extended family, though, there are literally dozens if not hundreds of possibilities.

Idea #8:
More real-world vehicles.

Mario Kart 8 launched in 2014 with a surprising merchandising tie-in: Mercedes! Three Mercedes cars were reimagined as karts in Mario Kart 8, and have been retained in the Switch version, too. Although it was definitely a bit of a surprise to see the likes of Dry Bones and Wario driving scaled-down versions of real-life cars… it was a ton of fun, too!

I don’t pretend to be an expert on merchandising and product placement, so I have no idea how easy or difficult it might be for Nintendo to license real-world vehicles. But the success of the Mercedes tie-in surely makes it something worth considering!

Car manufacturers are clearly open to this idea – otherwise why would they license their vehicles for games like Forza Motorsport? I’m not saying that Nintendo could necessarily get the likes of Lamborghini or Koenigsegg to sign on… but then again, why not? Scaled-down supercars could be an absolute blast… and maybe there could be something like a Tesla or other electric vehicle, too.

The possibilities are limitless, really – there could be classic cars, modern racing cars, and more. If we really branch out, we could look at monster trucks, lorries… even trains!

So that’s it!

We’ve considered eight possibilities for the next Mario Kart game. I’d love to see everything we’ve discussed above when the next game launches… but I’m not sure how likely all of these things are! Still, it was a bit of fun to speculate and fantasise about what Mario Kart 9 might look like.

So I hope this has been an interesting look ahead. As I said at the beginning, I have no “insider information,” and it’s likely that none of the things we’ve been talking about today will make it into any future Mario Kart game. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to consider what the next Mario Kart game might look like! With the series being a mainstay of Nintendo consoles, and a new console potentially launching in the next eighteen months… we might be closer to a new Mario Kart game than it seems!

Remember to check out my dedicated Mario Kart webpage for more speculation and discussion. You can find it by clicking or tapping here.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now for Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Booster Course Pass, and the Super Mario series are the copyright of Nintendo. Some images used above courtesy of the Super Mario Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Rebalancing Mario Kart

Tue 30.05.23Tue 30.05.23Dennis

If you’ve spent a reasonable amount of time playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online, chances are you’ve been in races where practically everyone uses the same combination of driver and kart. Usually this ends up being Waluigi – Luigi’s “evil twin” – for reasons that will become clear in a moment. I’d been wanting to talk about this phenomenon for a while, but the recent release of Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass brought some changes to the game that make it even more timely.

In short, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is unbalanced. The way the game is set up means that each driver and each kart component have their own individual stats, and when there are differences between these elements, that almost always means that there’s one golden combination that ends up being, by as close to objective standards as possible, “the best.” There’s a reason why more than 90% of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe world records all use the same character and build!

Prior to Wave 4, many time trial world records used this combination of Waluigi, roller tyres, Biddybuggy/Buggybud, and paper glider.

Nintendo has made an incredibly late attempt to rebalance this, with Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass giving a bit of a boost to other characters and kart components, but the only real result of that will be that the best possible combination will change – possibly from Waluigi to Rosalina, in this case. In a few weeks’ time, online races will be full of Rosalinas instead of Waluigis… until the next time Nintendo tries to rework things.

For most players, I guess that this doesn’t really matter. At my low level, online multiplayer lobbies are still pretty varied, and in single-player mode I can just pick whatever combo I like the look of or feel like trying out. But I think the balancing issue in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe speaks to a bigger issue with the game, and while I would absolutely argue that trying to fix it now, almost a full decade after the original release of Mario Kart 8, is far too late and honestly just plain dumb, there are definitely lessons for Nintendo to learn as the franchise moves forward.

Pink Gold peach and Paris Promenade on a promo image for *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*.

It’s disappointing that there hasn’t been a Mario Kart 9, and that the next entry in this long-running series is now almost certain not to be released until Nintendo launches a new console. I held out hope for a while that a new game might’ve launched last year to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Kart – but alas, it didn’t happen! As we look ahead, though, I have no doubt that Nintendo would want to create a new game for their new console – and with the Switch’s 6th birthday fast approaching, that could be within a year or two!

So when we think about Mario Kart 9, there are definitely lessons to learn from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The first is that racing online has become a huge part of the experience for many folks – even casual players like myself. Online gaming has grown a lot since the Wii U’s release back in 2012, and for many players it’s a core part of the Mario Kart experience now. A new game has to be created with that in mind – even though I hope it will retain robust single-player and local multiplayer modes, too!

It’s hard to believe that *Mario Kart 8* is almost a decade old and was first released on the Wii U!

But most importantly for what we’re talking about today, I think that the idea of individual character and kart stats has got to go. This isn’t a “hard-core” racing simulation – it’s a casual, fun game with a brightly-coloured cartoon aesthetic aimed at players of all ages. We don’t need stats to tinker with like we might in a game of Forza Motorsport or Project CARS; Mario Kart simply isn’t that type of racer.

The fact that most players online and practically every time-trialler end up picking the exact same racer and kart every time kind of detracts from the experience. It makes races feel less unique and less… well, fun. Although characters having weight classes has been a part of Mario Kart going all the way back to its first title more than 30 years ago, if having these stats means that some characters just aren’t viable choices… maybe it’s better to scrap them altogether.

Mario Kart doesn’t need complex stats calculations. This isn’t *Forza Motorsport*!

In short, if every character and every kart behaved the same way, the differences between them would be purely cosmetic, and players would have a lot more fun picking the character they liked best or the kart they thought looked the most fun instead of being forced to choose from a very narrow range of options. I mean, if you don’t like Waluigi, it can’t be all that enjoyable to feel like you have no choice but to pick him every time you race online. Can it?

Even if Nintendo completely shakes up the way stats work for each kart and character, if differences remain there will always end up being better and worse options; it’s unavoidable. If the goal here is to give players more choices, and to make the character and kart options matter, then really the only way to achieve that is to drop the stats idea altogether and have every character behave the same way.

A trio of *Mario Kart Tour* characters – some of whom may be added to *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe* one day!

I don’t think that this would make races any less entertaining. Far from it, I think it would open up higher-level competitions to look completely different, and the same for time trials and world records, too. Sure, it might not “make sense” that a huge kart with monster truck wheels driven by a tall, husky character would be just as fast as a sleek racecar piloted by a tiny driver… but this is Mario Kart. You’ve got sentient tortoises and literal babies racing against ghosts and a plumber’s evil twin across tracks made from clouds or mushroom-trampolines. We’re way, way past “realism!”

So that’s my proposal in a nutshell: dump the stats. Obviously this can’t happen in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – nor should it, as that would completely change a long-running game and probably invalidate a bunch of world records that people worked hard to achieve. But when it comes to Mario Kart 9, I think it would be a great way to rebalance the game and to bring diversity back to racers and karts. If such a move were combined with a great variety of racetracks that offered a range of obstacles and shortcuts, as well as plenty of items for players to blast each other with in competitive races, there’d still be lots of ways to have fun.

Racing around one of the newly-added DLC racetracks.

At the end of the day, when practically everyone online ends up picking the same racer and kart combo anyway, at least doing things the way I’ve suggested would mean people could pick the cosmetic/aesthetic options that they liked best instead of being forced to use a particular character whether they like them or not. For online racing, and especially at higher levels, it seems like a good idea to me, anyway!

As to the changes Nintendo introduced in the Booster Course Pass… I’m on the fence. I can understand the intention behind making this kind of change, as it’s basically a scaled-back version of my own proposal. But in an established game that’s been out in some form for almost a decade… these kinds of changes can upset players, and I can understand that. It’s better to work on this while the game is still in development, and that’s why I’ve suggested that Nintendo should look at how this issue arose. Tackling the root cause – stats – will mean it should be able to be avoided by the time the next game in the series is ready!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass: Who are the mystery characters?

Fri 07.04.23Sat 08.04.23Dennis

The latest update to the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC brought with it a big surprise: the returning character of Birdo! I genuinely couldn’t care less about Birdo, to be honest with you; I didn’t like her in Super Mario Bros. 2 and I’ve never been fussed about having her as a playable character in Mario Kart, either. But that’s beside the point!

The Booster Course Pass has updated the game’s character roster, and in addition to Birdo there are now five mystery characters who will presumably be added later this year. On this occasion, I thought it could be fun to make a few educated guesses about who these mystery characters might be… as well as pick five of my own that I’d add if I had the option!

If you read my review of the Booster Course Pass last year, you’ll know that I think it’s been a decent addition to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe… but it isn’t anywhere near as much fun as a new game would’ve been. The addition of new characters, however, certainly has added an extra element to the game – and as the original version of Mario Kart 8 was released almost a decade ago, that was sorely needed!

I’m breaking this list into two parts. The first part will be characters that I consider likely additions, based on their appearances in Mario Kart Tour – a game that the Booster Course Pass is heavily borrowing from. The second part will be my “fantasy” picks. I’m sticking to five characters in each half of the list – because there are currently only five vacant character slots.

Let’s jump into the list!

Part 1: Mario Kart Tour characters

With only one exception, all of the racetracks added in the Booster Course Pass so far appeared first in Mario Kart Tour. The character of Birdo, who was a surprise addition in the latest update, also appeared in Tour before joining the roster. So in my view, characters who are already part of Mario Kart Tour are far more likely to join Mario Kart 8 Deluxe than anyone else!

With that in mind, here are five of my favourite contenders.

Tour character #1:
King Bob-Omb

Two versions of King Bob-Omb can be seen in this promo screenshot from *Mario Kart Tour*.

King Bob-Omb first appeared in Super Mario 64, and his turn in the driver’s seat in Mario Kart Tour is the first time he’s appeared in the series. It was also his first time as a playable character, having been a boss or enemy in a number of Mario spin-off titles. King Bob-Omb is a heavy character who could join the likes of Bowser and Wario in that category, and as a villain, he could be a lot of fun to race with.

Tour character #2:
Kamek

Promo art for *Mario Kart Tour* featuring Kamek.

Kamek was originally intended to be a playable character in Mario Kart 64, even appearing in the game’s demo version and in some promotional material released by Nintendo. For unknown reasons, Kamek was subbed out for Donkey Kong before the game’s final release – and that was probably the right call! A quarter of a century later, Kamek made their first appearance as a playable character in Mario Kart Tour, and I think they’ve gotta be in contention to join the main game!

Tour character #3:
Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong as he appeared back in the Nintendo 64 era.

Diddy Kong was a playable character in two previous Mario Kart titles: Double Dash and Wii. On the Nintendo 64, Diddy even had his own game: Diddy Kong Racing, which was a fun multi-vehicle arcade racing title. It’s a surprise in some ways that Diddy Kong hasn’t appeared in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, especially as the Switch port added a lot more characters than the Wii U original. Diddy Kong feels like a strong candidate to add to the game!

Tour character #4:
Pauline

Mayor Pauline as she appeared in *Super Mario Odyssey*.

Because Mario Kart 8 was made years before Super Mario Odyssey, none of the characters from that game made an appearance. But with Odyssey proving so popular – and selling so well – it makes a lot of sense for characters like Pauline to cross over. Cappy is also a great candidate, but Pauline could join Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina to give players another female racer to choose. Pauline originally appeared in 1981’s Donkey Kong – making her one of the original characters in the Mario series.

Tour character #5:
DK Junior

DK Junior’s pixellated character model in *Tour*.

This one is a bit of a wish, to be honest! But back in the SNES days, DK Junior was one of my favourite characters to race with when I played Super Mario Kart. His return in Tour is the first time the character has been seen since. It could be a blast to bring him back, especially as Super Mario Kart has recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary.

Part 2: My Picks

Karting in *The Super Mario Bros. Movie*.

There are a whole host of Nintendo and Nintendo-adjacent characters that I can think of who’d be a ton of fun to play as in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! The game has already expanded beyond the world of Super Mario, bringing in characters from the Zelda, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing franchises. So there’s plenty of scope to cast an even wider net!

These characters are less likely to appear than those above – but if I had my way, all five of them would join the party!

Pick #1:
Sonic the Hedgehog

Ever since Sega’s unceremonious exit from the console wars shortly after the turn of the millennium, Sonic has teamed up with his old mascot rival Mario on more than one occasion. As strange as it was to see these two long-time adversaries working together, they make a great pair! Although Sega has its own racing games, several of which feature Sonic, perhaps the time has finally come to have Sonic line up alongside Mario in the definitive kart racing series.

Pick #2:
Minecraft Steve

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, and has sold more than 3.5 million copies on the Nintendo Switch alone. Steve – Minecraft’s iconic default player character – would be a fun and unexpected addition to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. He’d be no more out-of-place than the likes of Link, and it could be a really fun way to bring two gaming powerhouses together!

Pick #3:
Tom Nook

Joining Isabelle and the Villager from the Animal Crossing series could be extreme venture-capitalist Tom Nook! Tom Nook was a lesser part of Animal Crossing: New Leaf – the Nintendo 3DS title upon which Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Animal Crossing inclusions are based – but he went on to play a much larger role in New Horizons. As the second-best selling Nintendo Switch title of all time (despite being unfinished and offering less to do than its predecessor) it would make a lot of sense for Nintendo to take advantage of New Horizons!

Pick #4:
Fox McCloud (Star Fox)

Fox McCloud as he appeared in promo art for the SNES title *Star Fox*.

I absolutely adored Star Fox on the Super Nintendo – though the franchise now feels like one that Nintendo has put on the back burner. With 2023 being the franchise’s thirtieth anniversary, bringing Fox McCloud into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe could be a great way to celebrate! Nintendo could do more with the Star Fox series, and I’m surprised that no new game has been forthcoming on the Switch.

Pick #5:
Doom Guy

The Doom series has a history on Nintendo devices, and there was even an exclusive: Doom 64 was only available on the Nintendo 64 (until a recent port brought it to PC, that is!) Doom and Nintendo also had an unexpected team-up in 2020, when the launches of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal coincided, leading to some fun collaborations. Doom is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and it could be a blast (pun intended) to bring a character like Doom Guy into a totally different kind of game!

So that’s it!

I hope this was a bit of fun as we look ahead to some of the characters who may (or may not) be joining the roster of drivers in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It now seems all but certain that there won’t be another Mario Kart game until the Switch’s successor console is launched, and while that’s a disappointment in more ways than one, the Booster Course Pass has at least convinced me to dust off my Switch and jump back into the game. Adding new racetracks has certainly padded out Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and extended its playable lifespan, and new characters will do the same.

Who would you choose to add to the lineup? There must be hundreds of Nintendo and non-Nintendo characters that could make for fun or interesting inclusions in a future Mario Kart title, so we’ve only scratched the surface today! Still, I hope it was interesting to consider who might line up on the grid!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the Booster Course Pass are out now for Nintendo Switch. The Booster Course Pass will add more racetracks and characters in two more “waves” across 2023. The Mario Kart series – including all titles discussed above – is the copyright of Nintendo. Some screenshots courtesy of the Super Mario Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Eight racetracks I’d add to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Wed 21.12.22Wed 21.12.22Dennis

It’s official: I’ve given up on seeing Mario Kart 9 any time soon. That game most likely won’t arrive until the Nintendo Switch’s successor console is released, which is a shame if you ask me! 2022 has been the Mario Kart series’ thirtieth anniversary, and with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being just an extended port of a Wii U game released back in 2014, I felt that the time was right for a brand-new entry in the series. But Nintendo disagreed, and instead what we’ve had this year has been the Booster Course Pass – downloadable content for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that’s slowly adding extra tracks to the game in “waves” of eight at a time.

Let’s set Mario Kart 9 and its associated disappointment to one side for now and focus on the Booster Course Pass. For the money, I reckon the Booster Course Pass is pretty good value – or at least it will be when all of the tracks are ready! Only half of the new racetracks have been released at time of writing, so your mileage may vary on how much value for money you think you’re getting!

As I said when I reviewed the Booster Course Pass, several of my favourites from past editions of the series have already been added. Racetracks like Kalimari Desert, from the Nintendo 64, and Coconut Mall, from the Wii, have been included in the Booster Course Pass already, and would likely have made a list like this if I’d made it a few months ago! But there are still plenty of racetracks from past iterations of Mario Kart that I’d love to see updated – so that’s what we’re going to look at today!

I’ve tried to pick tracks from different entries in the series, some of which I’m more familiar with than others. I haven’t invented any brand-new racetracks this time around; these are all tracks that have appeared in one or more Mario Kart titles. For obvious reasons, I haven’t picked any tracks that are already part of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or the Booster Course Pass! And as always, my usual caveats apply: I have no “insider information,” and I’m not trying to claim that any of these racetracks will be part of the Booster Course Pass in future. Finally, all of this is just the subjective take of one person! If I don’t include your favourite racetrack, or include a track you absolutely hate, that’s just the way it goes!

With all of that out of the way, let’s begin!

Trekking Cup:

Racetrack #1:
^SNES Bowser Castle 2

We’ll start by going all the way back to the Super Nintendo! Super Mario Kart may seem rather basic by today’s standards, but it’s where the series began – and it was one of my most-played games of the mid-90s! There were three Bowser Castle tracks, all of which used the same basic aesthetic, and on this occasion we’re going to pick Bowser Castle 2, from the Flower Cup.

Bowser Castle 2 has the infamous “STOP” sign if players take a wrong turn, and that could be something fun as relatively few Mario Kart tracks have anything quite like it; a dead-end path that leads to nothing but lava! The track also splits into two roughly equal paths at one point, and has several hops over the lava. As we’ve seen with other older racetracks, Bowser Castle 2 could be adapted to incorporate anti-gravity or gliding sections.

Racetrack #2:
^Tour Singapore Speedway

One of the surprise hits for me from the first three waves of the Booster Course Pass has been the inclusion of real-world cities. I talked extensively about New York Minute in my review of the Booster Course Pass as I think it’s one of the best racetracks in the game, but I’ve also really enjoyed what Mario Kart has done with Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, and London. At time of writing there aren’t many more Tour-exclusive tracks that could be added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so I’m picking Singapore Speedway this time.

Singapore would join Tokyo and Sydney to represent another non-European city, and while I’d love to see many more real-world cities represented as I feel it’s a fun concept, of the cities that Nintendo has chosen to adapt so far, Singapore feels the most interesting. As the world’s only real city-state, Singapore is a unique place – and I’m sure it’ll be fun to race through!

Racetrack #3:
^N64 Frappe Snowland

I like the music that accompanies this winter-themed track, and I think it would be fun to see it updated. Out of 72 racetracks in the game (at time of writing) only five are winter- or ice-themed (six if you include the winter variant of the Animal Crossing track). So there’s definitely room for another snowy, wintertime track in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

As happened with Kalimari Desert when it was added to the Booster Course Pass, there’s scope to reimagine parts of Frappe Snowland, updating them for the Switch. The jump could be replaced by a glider ramp, an anti-gravity hill could be added, and the final part of the lap, with towering walls of snow, could become narrower or even change shape with each lap.

Racetrack #4:
^Wii Moonview Highway

One of the few Wii tracks not to have been ported to another game, Moonview Highway is notorious for its difficulty. Some fans consider Moonview Highway to be one of the hardest tracks in the entire Mario Kart series – so perhaps some adaptations would need to be made to mitigate this before it could join Mario Kart 8 Deluxe!

Moving traffic is always a difficult obstacle in a racetrack, and has proven tricky going all the way back to Toad’s Turnpike on the Nintendo 64. But as annoying as they can be, moving vehicles keep players on their toes and ensure that every lap – and indeed every race – feels different. I also really like the theming of Moonview Highway; the night time setting, the rising moon, and the combination of city and forest sections make it a visually interesting and distinct racetrack.

Dennis Cup:

Racetrack #1:
^3DS Shy Guy Bazaar

There are plenty of desert levels in the Mario Kart series (and several already in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) but for me, Shy Guy Bazaar has always been a little different. It picks up a vaguely Arabian-inspired theme, with some of the buildings and the main marketplace using that aesthetic. Most other desert tracks in the Mario Kart series take place across dunes or ruins, so having one set in the marketplace of a living town definitely makes Shy Guy Bazaar unique.

I have very fond memories of Mario Kart 7. When the game was released, I was working in a large office in a big city, and I had several colleagues with whom I’d play the game using the 3DS’ download play feature. It was great fun to take part in some very competitive races! Shy Guy Bazaar may not be Mario Kart 7′s best-remembered racetrack – but that’s just another reason to bring it back!

Racetrack #2:
^{Arcade GP} Diamond City

Now we’re heading into some real uncharted territory! Beginning in 2005, Nintendo created a series of arcade machines based on the Mario Kart series, each of which featured a handful of new and unique racetracks. At time of writing, none of these tracks have made it to a home console, remaining arcade exclusives. That means relatively few players have had the chance to try any of these racetracks – and I can’t be the only one who thinks it’s high time to change that!

Diamond City has a fun look – at least based on what I’ve seen of it. A Wario-themed near-future city with some Japanese elements, the racetrack is at least superficially different from others set in big cities. The layout is more than just a simplistic oval, with a tight turn at the beginning, and there are plenty of places where anti-gravity, gliding, or even underwater sections could be included.

Racetrack #3:
^N64 Unfinished Town

If you thought we were getting into some weird territory with the arcade version of Mario Kart, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! This racetrack was seemingly abandoned during development on Mario Kart 64, never making it into the final game. However, thanks to the tireless work of modders and data-miners, the track’s existence was confirmed, and a playable version has even been recreated from files that were uncovered.

The racetrack known simply as “Town” is actually pretty basic from what I can tell, following a fairly straightforward route through a generic town setting. Had work on the track continued, perhaps more theming would have been added! The concept remains interesting, though, and as a slice of Mario Kart history, I think it would be incredible to finally allow this unfinished track to see the light of day in an official release.

Racetrack #4:
^GCN Rainbow Road

In true Mario Kart style, we finish with Rainbow Road! The version from Mario Kart: Double Dash has yet to be remade, and I think it would be great to bring it back here. Like other Rainbow Roads it’s a difficult racetrack, but one whose verticality could lead to a truly excellent reworking that would really showcase Mario Kart 8′s anti-gravity feature in particular.

There are already four Rainbow Roads in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – so what’s one more? The tracks are all different enough from one another to be distinct, so there’s no harm in including this version of Rainbow Road. With only four tracks from Double Dash in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at time of writing, bringing back another from the GameCube era would be no bad thing, too.

So that’s it!

I think we’ve picked some different racetracks that would make for fun and exciting additions to the Booster Course Pass – although I’d be happier, in many ways, if they’d be part of a brand-new game instead! But in lieu of Mario Kart 9, the Booster Course Pass is definitely filling a gap, and has convinced me to pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe all over again. I suppose in that sense it’s achieved its aim!

This time, I tried to pick racetracks that haven’t gotten as much attention, or that haven’t been remastered or made many appearances outside of the games in which they originally appeared. I’d be happy to see any of these tracks return to the Mario Kart series – and if none of them make it into the Booster Course Pass then maybe they’ll crop up in a future title!

I’ve been having a good time with Wave 3 of the Booster Course Pass. The track Merry Mountain in particular is just what I want to see at this time of year, and it’s been a blast racing through that Christmassy village! London – the place where I was born! – also features in Wave 3 as one of the more interesting (and longest) city tracks shown off so far, and it’s been a blast to replay racetracks like Maple Treeway too.

So I hope this was a bit of fun; some fantasy racetrack additions from a long-time Mario Kart fan. I certainly had a good time going back to replay some of these tracks or just looking at gameplay videos. What better way to celebrate Mario Kart’s thirtieth anniversary?

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the Booster Course Pass are out now for Nintendo Switch. The Booster Course Pass will add more racetracks in three “waves” across 2023. The Mario Kart series – including all titles discussed above – is the copyright of Nintendo. Some screenshots courtesy of the Super Mario Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass: thoughts and impressions

Wed 17.08.22Wed 17.08.22Dennis

I’ve got to be honest with you right at the start: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass disappointed me before I’d raced a single lap… or even downloaded it. That’s because I was really hoping to see Mario Kart 9 this year; a brand-new game with new features rather than just an expansion pack for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The original version of Mario Kart 8 released for the Wii U back in 2014 (though I played a preview build at a press event in 2013; lucky me!) so I’ve been waiting to see what Nintendo would do next for a long time. This Booster Course Pass just felt underwhelming when it was announced compared to what I’d been hoping for.

With 2022 being the thirtieth anniversary of the Mario Kart series (Super Mario Kart was released for the SNES all the way back in 1992), and with Nintendo’s love of celebrating big milestones and anniversaries, again the timing for a new game felt right. But I guess Nintendo is sticking to the “one Mario Kart game per console” thing, and the Booster Course Pass is intended to throw players a bone and give the game a bit of a refresh as the Switch enters what must be the latter part of its life. I have no doubt that there’ll be a Mario Kart 9… but now it seems like it’ll be on whatever console Nintendo makes in the years ahead rather than coming to the Switch.

Pink Gold Peach in a promo image for the *Booster Course Pass*.

But the Booster Course Pass makes Mario Kart 8 Deluxe “feel like a new game,” right? That seems to be the cliché that a lot of folks have trotted out to describe the expansion pack. I’d answer that question with a firm “no.” An expansion pack like this refreshes the game, gives it a new lick of paint and shuffles things around, but the same Mario Kart 8 gameplay and visual style is still front-and-centre, even as new racetracks are added. For players who’d been getting bored of that, or who had drifted away from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in search of new experiences, this will be at best a shot in the arm; a temporary boost to bring them back for a while. But the novelty of the new courses will fade faster than it would had there been a brand-new game this year.

But is it fair to judge the Booster Course Pass by that standard? No expansion pack is really intended to be a wholly new game, and there are undoubtedly some fun tracks that have been added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe this time around. Not only that, but the format that Nintendo has used here is a fun one; tracks will be added in “waves” of eight at a time until the end of 2023. The total number of tracks added by the time the Booster Course Pass is complete will be forty-eight – doubling the number of racetracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The *Booster Course Pass* includes tracks from past Mario Kart titles.

I quite like the “wave” approach to the expansion pack. Building up the Booster Course Pass slowly over the span of a couple of years keeps the game feeling fresh for longer compared with dumping all of the racetracks at once in a single event. Your mileage on that may vary, though, and there’s nothing wrong with holding off on picking up the Booster Course Pass until late 2023 when the final wave of racetracks has been added. At a cost of £20 ($25 in the United States) it felt a bit steep at first for only eight additional racetracks; the value of the Booster Course Pass will feel a lot better when all forty-eight are playable!

So who is this expansion pack really for? I don’t think it’s necessarily the natural next step for the Mario Kart series in general, rather the Booster Course Pass is for people who’ve started to get bored of what Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has to offer. Once you’ve played Rainbow Road, Toad Harbour, and GBA Cheese Land a hundred times apiece, this expansion pack shakes things up and provides some new layouts, new scenery, and a bit of a new challenge. For someone new to the Nintendo Switch and/or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I’d say you don’t have as much to gain by picking up the Booster Course Pass at this stage, but it could be worth it later on. It just depends on how repetitive you begin to find the forty-eight courses that come with the base game!

The *Booster Course Pass* may feel like better value in a year’s time.

I’ve made a couple of lists here on the website of racetracks that I’d want to see in a future Mario Kart title, and two of my favourites have appeared already in the first couple of waves of the Booster Course Pass. As with racetracks across the rest of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, older tracks have seen more changes to both mix things up and to fit with the game’s anti-gravity, flying, and underwater mechanics that weren’t present in earlier titles.

Both Coconut Mall and Mushroom Gorge, which were tracks that debuted on the Wii, feel more or less unchanged in the Booster Course Pass. Both tracks were fantastic in Mario Kart Wii and make wonderful additions here. Their musical accompaniments are likewise neat, and both feel like a nostalgia blast! I have fond memories of playing these racetracks with friends during the Wii days, and replaying them in HD on the Switch has been a blast.

Kalimari Desert and Choco Mountain have returned from the Nintendo 64, and the former in particular is one of my all-time favourite Mario Kart racetracks. Choco Mountain is a fun course, although I would say that its all-brown colour palette makes it feel a little bland, and that’s something that could’ve been worked on or adapted for this new version.

Kalimari Desert, though, is absolutely fantastic in the Booster Course Pass. It’s more linear this time around – each of the three laps follows a definite route, meaning players don’t have as much choice when it comes to taking risky shortcuts through the tunnel or over the train tracks. But the adaptations that have been made are fantastic and really showcase the course at its best. There’s something about the “American Southwest” aesthetic that I’ve always loved about Kalimari Desert, and seeing it brought into the modern day thanks to a visual and gameplay overhaul has been wonderful. Although the track also appeared on the 3DS back in 2011, this new version feels like the definitive take on Kalimari Desert.

Kalimari Desert is one of my favourite Mario Kart tracks… ever.

Mario Kart Tour is a crappy mobile game that is bedevilled by many of the pay-to-play and pay-to-win microtransactions that blight the mobile gaming scene. As a result I’m not familiar with most of its racetracks, so the inclusion of several in the Booster Course Pass has given me my first real opportunity to play them. At time of writing (wave two) there have been four racetracks from Mario Kart Tour added; there may be six more to come for a total of ten.

I’ve been lucky enough earlier in my life to have visited both Paris and New York – the settings for two of the Mario Kart Tour tracks included in the Booster Course Pass – and I have to say that New York Minute in particular really hit me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. There were some genuinely recognisable locations in Central Park and the downtown area that I vividly remember travelling to with friends years ago, and again I wasn’t expecting this brand-new track to give me the nostalgic feels in the way that it did! The music for New York Minute is one of the best in the game; the perfect jazz accompaniment to a beautiful racetrack.

New York City comes to *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*!

The Mario Kart Tour tracks also have fun and varied layouts, with each of the three laps taking different routes. I think this keeps things interesting and makes it a lot harder to just drive on “autopilot” even after playing each of the tracks a dozen times. The three other Mario Kart Tour tracks – Paris Promenade, Tokyo Blur, and Sydney Sprint – all hit a number of tourist attractions and key locations in their real-world settings, and it’s something both fun and a little different to race through a Mario Kart track based on a real-life locale.

Having first played Super Mario Kart in the early 1990s, not too long after it was released here in the UK, I’m a dab hand at practically all of the SNES courses that have been included in Mario Kart 8! The sole SNES inclusion in the Booster Course Pass (again, at time of writing after wave two) is Mario Circuit 3, and it’s perhaps the least-interesting from my perspective. Not much has been done to the course’s layout, and with Donut Plains 3 as part of the base game I guess it just wouldn’t have been my first choice. There are better SNES courses, like one of the Vanilla Lake tracks or possibly a Bowser Castle or Koopa Beach that might’ve offered a bit more diversity. That isn’t to say Mario Circuit 3 is bad, just that as an addition to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe it doesn’t offer as much originality as some of the other SNES courses could’ve.

Though there’s nothing wrong with SNES Mario Circuit 3 per se, there are other SNES tracks that might’ve been more fun.

Rounding out the retro courses we have Toad Circuit from the 3DS, which is fine, Snow Land from the Game Boy Advance, which is a cute winter-themed track with an icy road, Waluigi Pinball from the DS, which is one of the most unique concepts on show in the Booster Course Pack so far, Sky Garden from the Game Boy Advance, which reminded me a lot of Cloudtop Cruise from the base game in terms of the way it’s been adapted, and finally Shroom Ridge from the DS – a racetrack with traffic.

There are two brand-new tracks, too: Sky High Sundae and Ninja Hideaway. I like food-themed tracks, so Sky High Sundae was a visual treat! It’s also one of the rare tracks to fully take advantage of Mario Kart 8′s anti-gravity racing feature, which is neat. Ninja Hideaway is a Japanese-themed track with a couple of flying sections that break up what is otherwise a pretty basic layout – albeit one with a fun aesthetic.

So that’s the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I’ve tried to judge the additional racetracks on their own merits as much as possible, and there are definitely some fun inclusions that make Mario Kart 8 Deluxe worth returning to for lapsed players and those who’d been getting bored of the same lineup over and over again.

However, I can’t shake the feeling that it would’ve been better for Nintendo to include these tracks as part of a new game: Mario Kart 9. There could’ve been transformational gameplay changes, perhaps some new drivers from both Nintendo titles and from games and series that have found success on the Switch in recent years, and while the visuals wouldn’t be significantly improved due to the limitations of the Switch’s hardware, changing things up from a gameplay perspective would’ve been worth doing. The Booster Course Pass adds a lot of content and a lot of value to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but a new game this ain’t.

For what it is, though, and for the price, the Booster Course Pass has plenty to offer. There are some fun tracks that I hadn’t played before as well as several blasts from the past that really hit the right nostalgic notes. I daresay the Booster Course Pass will keep Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at the top of the Switch charts now that we’re well into the second half of the console’s life – though whether it’s worth picking up now and trying out each wave of tracks as they arrive or whether it would be better to wait and pick it up in the latter part of next year is going to be up to you.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now for Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass is available as an expansion pack for an additional fee. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, and all other titles and properties discussed above are the copyright of Nintendo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Ten racetrack theme ideas for Mario Kart 9

Tue 18.05.21Sun 13.11.22Dennis

With Nintendo planning a digital presentation for next month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo – more commonly known as E3 – rumours abound as to what they could talk about. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2? A new 3D Mario game? A new Donkey Kong title? Those are all contenders, and I would posit that Nintendo would be unlikely to put out a major E3 broadcast unless they had something big to say! But there’s still the prospect of a new Mario Kart game – something I’ve discussed on a couple of occasions already.

Super Mario Kart was released for the SNES in 1992, which means that next year will be the Mario Kart series’ 30th anniversary. In recent years we’ve seen a number of anniversary-themed events from Nintendo, and I can’t help but feel that they’ll do something to acknowledge Mario Kart. E3 would be the ideal time to announce Mario Kart 9, then, in time for the title to be released in the first half of next year!

Maybe I’m wrong about that, though – and as I always like to say, I have no “insider information!” But regardless, it’s always fun to talk about the Mario Kart series and the prospects for a new title. Having already talked about a number of older racetracks I’d like to see come back, a roster of Nintendo characters who could be drivers, and even a handful of non-Nintendo characters who could join the fun, this time I want to talk about the possibilities for new racetracks – specifically, what theming Nintendo could use.

Past Mario Kart games had a number of Nintendo-themed tracks – such as Royal Raceway, based around Princess Peach’s castle, DK Mountain, which obviously pays homage to the jungle home of Donkey Kong, and of course the Bowser Castle tracks. But many Mario Kart titles also had more generic or non-Nintendo tracks too – things like Vanilla Lake, Choco Island, Sweet Sweet Canyon, and even Rainbow Road are all based less on specific Nintendo properties than just generic theming. My list will include a mix of both kinds of racetrack!

So let’s take a look, shall we?

Number 1: The museum from Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The upgraded museum as it appears in *New Horizons*.

A racetrack based around Animal Crossing: New Horizons seems like a given considering how popular the game has been since it launched! But rather than a generic island – or perhaps as well as one – I think a racetrack themed around New Horizons’ museum could be neat. I do still check in with my New Horizons island from time to time, partly because I still haven’t collected every last bug, fish, fossil and work of art! The museum is one of the game’s most interesting locations, and would make a fun setting for a racetrack.

Starting in the lobby, players would race through four areas: the bug room, fossil exhibit, art gallery, and aquarium. The aquarium offers the potential for underwater racing – if that feature is coming back in Mario Kart 9 – so there’d be at least two terrains as well as a variety of scenery! The higher levels of the museum would also offer space for jumps and tricks. But above all, it would be a different take on the expected “Animal Crossing island” track that I think would take a lot of folks by surprise.

Number 2: The Last Resort hotel from Luigi’s Mansion 3

The Last Resort hotel is the setting for *Luigi’s Mansion 3*.

I know, I know. My playthrough of Luigi’s Mansion 3, which I commenced in the run-up to last Halloween, still needs to be finished. And I will get around to it eventually! But for now, let’s consider how The Last Resort hotel could make for an amazing racetrack! The Mario Kart series has never shied away from spooky, ghostly racetracks, and given the popularity of Luigi’s Mansion 3 on Switch, incorporating it into Mario Kart 9 makes a lot of sense.

Players could start in the basement garage and race to the top in a one-way route broken into three segments. That would put a twist on several of the similar one-way downhill tracks in Mario Kart 8! Ghostly apparitions could make for interesting moving obstacles, and above all, the track would have the potential to be a lot of fun. There could certainly be jumps or aerial sections, though I’m not sure about racing underwater.

Number 3: A track based on the world of Minecraft

This kind of ties into my idea of having Minecraft Steve as a playable racer! Minecraft has been popular on the Nintendo Switch – just as it has been on practically every other console – and considering that Nintendo and Microsoft have happily worked together to bring Minecraft Steve into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, why not go one step further and have a Minecraft-themed racetrack?

The open worlds of Minecraft have a multitude of biomes and terrains, and there’s scope for anti-gravity racing up cliffs or down deep caverns, underwater sections through seas and rivers, aerial sections jumping off mountains or into the sky – and that’s before we even get to the Nether or the End! There could even be a Minecraft cup with four racetracks based around this game – though maybe that’s a bit much!

Number 4: Bubblaine from Super Mario Odyssey

Remember when the internet went wild for Mario’s nipples? We live in strange times…

There’s bound to be at least one racetrack based on a location from Super Mario Odyssey in the next Mario Kart title, so I’d like to propose Bubblaine! The Mario Kart series has previously featured a number of beach-themed tracks, but this would be the first to be based on an actual level from a mainline game. There’s even the possibility for a track based on Bubblaine – or the other water level from Odyssey, Lake Lamode – to be fully underwater, with no above-water sections at all. That could make for an interesting twist!

I like beach-themed racetracks in Mario Kart. They’re relaxing and often have great music, and though Bubblaine wouldn’t necessarily be unique in the Mario Kart series, it could pick up the baton for beach racetracks.

Number 5: New Donk City from Super Mario Odyssey

New Donk City played a big role in the marketing campaign for Odyssey, and it seems at least possible that Nintendo would want to capitalise on the name and imagery for Mario Kart 9 as well. There have been urban racetracks in the Mario Kart series before but none quite like New Donk City.

Just like how street circuits like Monaco or Singapore are popular in Formula 1, the closed-in nature of New Donk City’s network of roads could make for a fun racetrack. With tall buildings to potentially jump from, and Mayor Pauline’s iconic song forming the basis for the soundtrack, this one has a lot of potential to be a fun – if slightly tricky – racetrack!

Number 6: The Galar Region from Pokémon Sword & Shield

A promo screenshot of a city in the Galar Region.

I’ve never played a Pokémon game. Make of that what you will! But Pokémon Sword & Shield have been successful on the Nintendo Switch – despite the so-called “Dexit” controversy the games generated! Although Pokémon has always been a franchise strongly associated with Nintendo, no Pokémon characters or locales have appeared in the Mario Kart series – at least, not yet.

I don’t know too much about the Galar Region other than it’s based on my native United Kingdom, but that in itself could make for a fun concept for British Nintendo fans! There have been some Pokémon characters included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so it’s not impossible to think that a crossover between two of Nintendo’s biggest exclusive properties is on the cards.

Number 7: The city of Kyoto, Japan

Now we’re leaving the realm of video games behind to look at some racetrack themes from the real world. Kyoto – which was the capital city of Japan for more than 1,000 years before it moved to Tokyo – is where Nintendo is headquartered. Many of the company’s developers live and work in the city, and know it intimately. It could be a lot of fun for them – and for us as players – to bring the city to life as the basis of a racetrack.

A Japanese-themed racetrack is a win-win for any Mario Kart title in many ways. The game’s Japanese audience would be pleased to see a representation of their home, and there are many in the west who love all things Japanese and would be equally thrilled. Kyoto makes a lot of sense because of its connection to Nintendo, and we could see recreations of famous landmarks like the Imperial Palace, To-Ji Temple, Kyoto Tower, and Teramachi Street.

Number 8: A food-themed racetrack

Choco Island and Choco Mountain, which appeared in Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 respectively, kicked off a trend of Nintendo including at least one racetrack with a food theme in most mainline Mario Kart games. In addition to chocolate we’ve had the likes of Cheese Land and Sweet Sweet Canyon. It would be great to keep this trend going with another foody track, perhaps one based around Japanese cuisine?

A restaurant could make for a fun setting, and would allow shrunk-down racers to drive through the kitchen, into the dining room, across tabletops, past plates of food, and so on. Mario Kart has always been a series which is happy to set logic aside when it comes to theming, so why not?

Number 9: Ice or a glacier

Ice and snow have appeared a lot in Mario Kart.

There have been plenty of snow- and ice-themed tracks in past Mario Kart games, and I’m sure the next entry in the series will bring at least one to the table. There’s scope for a track set on a glacier to have an environmental theme, especially if the glacier were melting! Perhaps each lap could see more and more of the glacier melt away, until the final lap has players racing through a track that’s more water than ice.

Regardless, snow and ice are tricky surfaces to race on, and can be made to feel extra slippery under the wheels of players’ karts. This alone makes them fun and challenging in equal measure, and I hope there’ll be at least one track with this kind of icy, wintry theme in Mario Kart 9.

Number 10: An alpine or mountain stage

A picture-perfect Alpine village and lake.

The famous cycling races Tour de France and Giro d’Italia both run stages through the Alps, and it’s something along those lines that I’m thinking of here. Mountainous racetracks in Mario Kart tend to either be snowy or have some other theming, but I quite like the idea of racing along past a mountain village, pine trees, and the like, in a track with an alpine setting.

The Alps border several countries, including France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, so elements from those cultures could be incorporated into the theming of the track. This could also be a one-way track divided into segments instead of a loop to run laps around.

So that’s it. Ten theme ideas for Mario Kart 9 racetracks!

Still the best version of Rainbow Road… change my mind!

Because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is just a port of a Wii U game, there hasn’t been an original Mario Kart title released for the Nintendo Switch yet. I know that’s kind of splitting hairs, but it provides a small amount of hope that we’ll see another title in the fun kart racing series before this generation is over. The Switch should still have several years’ of life left, so if we don’t get Mario Kart 9 this generation it could be a while before we see it.

I’m hopeful, then, of a new Mario Kart game sometime soon. Whether it will be announced at E3, or whether it will be connected to the 30th anniversary of the series are just guesses on my part – but I think both are educated guesses. It makes sense to me, at any rate!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now on Nintendo Switch. All other titles and properties mentioned above are copyright of Nintendo or their respective studio, developer, publisher, and/or owner. Some screenshots and promo artwork courtesy of the Mario Wiki. Some stock images courtesy of Pixabay. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Ten non-Nintendo characters who (probably won’t) appear in Mario Kart 9!

Fri 23.04.21Sun 13.11.22Dennis

A few days ago I had a lot of fun putting together a short list of (mostly) Nintendo characters who I think should appear in Mario Kart 9 – whenever that game may come! As a follow-up, I thought it could be interesting to consider a few characters from outside of Nintendo’s walled garden who could also join the fun. If you’d like to check out the original list, you can find it by clicking or tapping here.

Mario Kart 8 and later Mario Kart 8 Deluxe pushed the boat out as far as the roster of drivers is concerned, including characters from outside of the Super Mario series for the first time, including Link from The Legend of Zelda series, Isabelle from Animal Crossing, and two characters from the Splatoon games. However, it would be a first for the series to include non-Nintendo characters!

Isabelle, from the Animal Crossing series, is a driver in *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*.

Although the Mario Kart games haven’t done so yet, Nintendo has proved itself willing to open up to other companies’ franchises and characters in recent years. We’ve seen Minecraft Steve, for example, as well as characters from the Castlevania, Persona, and Dragon Quest series appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch, so I think that demonstrates a willingness on Nintendo’s part to think outside the box when it comes to characters in popular titles.

Whether it will happen, though, is completely unknown! And to reiterate what I always say: this is pure guesswork and a wishlist from a fan, nothing more. I’m not claiming to know for a fact that any characters listed below will appear in Mario Kart 9 – or even if such a game is currently in development. With the 30th anniversary of the Mario Kart series coming up in 2022 I think it’s possible that we might see a new game, but even that’s just a guess on my part!

With that out of the way, let’s jump into the list!

Number 1: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)

Sonic as he appears in *Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020*.

Of all the characters on this list, Sonic is arguably the most likely to crop up in Mario Kart 9. Not only is he a character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but there have been a number of Nintendo games over the last decade or more in which he’s been prominently featured. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games in 2007 marked his debut alongside Mario, and since then the duo have appeared together in five more Olympic-themed titles.

It would’ve seemed unthinkable in the ’90s for Mario and Sonic to appear together; they were the mascots of competing companies! It was only when Sega retired from manufacturing their own consoles shortly after the millennium that Sonic appearing on Nintendo hardware was even a possibility, but he’s since become a mainstay. He’d make for a fantastic character, and having already featured in his own kart racer, he definitely knows a thing or two about driving!

Number 2: Pac-Man (Bandai Namco)

A 3D rendering of Pac-Man from 1999’s *Pac-Man World*.

Another character who appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pac-Man is a gaming icon from the medium’s early days. Originally an arcade game created in 1980, Pac-Man spawned a whole host of titles in a series that continues to this day. Though the games have no real story or plot, Pac-Man was arguably one of the first video game characters, and was, for a time, symbolic of the games industry as a whole. His simple design became iconic, and even today Pac-Man is instantly recognisable.

As with Sonic above, even a few years ago the idea of a collaboration between Nintendo and Pac-Man (short of licensing one of the games to their consoles) wouldn’t have seemed possible. But as companies continue to pool their resources and work together, it could make a lot of sense for both Nintendo and Bandai Namco (or should that be Bando Namcai?) to bring Pac-Man to Mario Kart 9.

Number 3: Fall Guy (Epic Games/Mediatonic)

Three Fall Guys seen in a recent Nintendo Direct.

If I’d been in charge of the development of cute obstacle course/battle royale title Fall Guys, I would have prioritised a Nintendo Switch release. Regardless, the title is finally going to be released on Nintendo’s console, months after it’s PC and PlayStation 4 debut. The Fall Guys themselves are adorable little jelly bean characters with a huge variety of costumes, and their cartoon aesthetic would fit perfectly with Nintendo’s long-running kart racing series.

The recent Epic Games buyout may complicate matters, but with Fall Guys coming to Switch I really feel it has a shot at being successful on that platform – especially if Mediatonic can get cross-platform play up and running. If the game is a hit, bringing a Fall Guy to Mario Kart 9 would be fantastic, and something Nintendo could absolutely consider doing. It would arguably benefit Fall Guys more, with the character’s inclusion serving almost as advertising, but that should just be an incentive for Epic Games to allow this crossover to go ahead!

Number 4: Master Chief (Microsoft)

The Master Chief in *Halo: The Master Chief Collection* concept art.

The inclusion of Minecraft Steve in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate shows that Microsoft is quite happy to work with Nintendo, and a number of their recent moves – like their partnership with EA – have opened up the possibility of further collaborations and crossovers with big games companies. With that in mind, could the Halo series’ iconic protagonist end up as a racer?

Halo games, as first-person shooters, are quite violent, so perhaps Nintendo would opt not to include such characters for the sake of keeping the game family-friendly. But Master Chief’s design isn’t aggressive or scary, and I think he could be made to fit. It would be a fun collaboration between two of modern gaming’s big powerhouses.

Number 5: Doom Guy (Bethesda/Microsoft)

*Doom Eternal* promotional artwork featuring the character known as Doom Guy.

Though visually similar in some respects to the Master Chief, Doom Guy has a surprising history with Nintendo. Not only was Doom 64 a Nintendo 64 exclusive in 1997, but last year saw a bizarre yet strangely wholesome internet-inspired team-up with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In short, Doom Eternal shared a release date with New Horizons, and because of the polar opposite nature of the games, fans began ironically pairing up Doom Guy with Animal Crossing characters – notably Isabelle.

Nintendo could take advantage of the memes and jokes by bringing Doom Guy into Mario Kart 9. On the surface, maybe he isn’t a great fit for the series. But there’s nothing offensive about his character design, and if last year’s fan art showed us one thing, it’s that Doom Guy can be made to look adorable and cartoonified!

Number 6: Two Point Hospital Doctor or Nurse (Sega)

Two Point Hospital is a spiritual successor to 1997’s Theme Hospital, a classic of the “tycoon” genre. It was ported to the Nintendo Switch last year after releasing for PC in 2018, and has gone on to be a surprising success on the platform. As with many tycoon games there isn’t really one principal character to pick out, but a generic doctor and/or nurse could be a fun addition to Mario Kart 9.

One of the great things about Two Point Hospital is its cartoon aesthetic; a deliberate choice that mimics the title’s origins in tycoon games of the 1990s. That look just happens to be perfect for the Mario Kart series, which means a Two Point Hospital character would be a natural fit.

Number 7: A Palico (Capcom)

A Palico as seen in the trailer for *Monster Hunter Rise*.

I’ll let you in on a secret: the Monster Hunter series has never seemed like my thing. The latest title in the series, Monster Hunter Rise, is available for Nintendo Switch, but despite loving the visual style, the core gameplay of hunting and killing so-called “monsters” – which seem to be docile animals living their own lives not troubling anybody – holds absolutely no appeal to me!

Regardless, the latest title is a big hit on Switch, and Palicoes are cute little felines or cat-like characters that accompany the player character during the game. It seems like this kind of cute critter would be a perfect fit for Mario Kart 9 – even if I don’t personally care for the game they originate from!

Number 8: Zagreus (Supergiant Games)

Promotional art for *Hades* featuring Zagreus.

Hades has to be one of the best indie games I’ve played in recent years, and was recently featured in a Nintendo Direct presentation as the game is getting a full physical release (i.e. on a game cartridge) for Switch. It’s an absolute blast, and if you haven’t tried it I can’t recommend it enough – if you’re okay with a game in which you die over and over again!

Zagreus, son of Hades, is the game’s protagonist, adapted from the character present in Ancient Greek mythology. His anime-inspired style is… well let’s just say I’m not an anime fan. But as a character he’s interesting and fun to root for in Hades, and with some minor adaptations I’m sure he could fit in with the rest of the racers!

Number 9: Ori and Sein (Microsoft/Moon Studios)

Ori and Sein in *Ori and the Blind Forest*.

I’d almost forgotten that both Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps had been ported to the Nintendo Switch, but both games were a good fit for Nintendo’s platform and seem to have sold reasonably well. This entry is technically two characters, but they could be rolled into a single racer as Sein’s design might not lend itself to being an independent driver!

The Ori games are surprisingly sweet but also challenging in places, and Ori would certainly fit right in with the Mario Kart series from an aesthetic point of view. It would be great to see the Ori series, which already has a Switch presence, join up with Nintendo for an additional collaboration!

Number 10: Geralt of Rivia (CD Projekt Red)

Geralt as he appears on the box art of *The Witcher 3*.

Though I still haven’t played The Witcher 3 – or the prior two entries in the series, come to that – it’s held up as one of the best games of the last ten years, and protagonist Geralt of Rivia has since cropped up in a couple of unexpected places! Perhaps his next adventure could be joining Mario and friends for a go-kart race?

The Witcher 3 was one of the most ambitious titles to bring to the Nintendo Switch, considering the size and complexity of the game, but by all accounts it’s a solid port. A lot of folks have been enjoying taking Geralt with them to play on the go, and his recent appearance in Soul Calibur VI shows that CD Projekt Red are clearly amenable to collaborating with other companies. He would be a strange choice, perhaps, but a lot of fun nevertheless!

Bonus: Battle-Cars (Epic Games)

Promotional art for *Rocket League* showing two Battle-Cars.

One of the most surprising things in Mario Kart 8 was the inclusion of Mercedes-Benz car parts, as part of a deal Nintendo struck with the famous car manufacturer! We could absolutely consider other manufacturers or vehicles that would be cute to see in the next Mario Kart game, but for now I thought it could be fun if Nintendo could team up with one of the other top car games out there – Rocket League!

I’m atrocious at Rocket League and have been since the first time I played, but the game is a lot of fun. A buyout by Epic Games saw the title move to a free-to-play model, which has been good in some ways. There are a number of different vehicle styles, and any could be adapted to make a fun kart in Mario Kart 9. Perhaps three or four different styles would be enough so as not to overwhelm the title!

So that’s it. Ten characters – and one bonus set of vehicles – that Mario Kart 9 should – but most likely won’t – include!

If I’m right that Nintendo plans to do something next year to mark the series’ 30th anniversary, a new game would be top of the list. And in the spirit of celebration, bringing a whole roster of characters from across gaming to join one big Mario Kart party would be a great thing for Nintendo to do. Some characters that Nintendo has worked with in the past, like Sonic the Hedgehog, seem far more likely than others, but it would benefit practically every company involved in the games industry to allow Nintendo to license one or two of their characters. After all, it’s a fantastic advertisement for the game they’re originally from!

I’ve been a huge Mario Kart fan since I first sat down to play Super Mario Kart in 1993 or 1994, back when I owned a SNES. That title only had eight racers to choose from, and the series has come a long way since then – while managing to retain the fun. As games got better and I played the likes of Shenmue and Knights of the Old Republic I began to favour titles with a strong focus on story; there are few titles I considered fun for their gameplay alone. The Mario Kart series has always been one of them! Whatever happens next year, and whenever Mario Kart 9 may come, I hope Nintendo try to bring in some new and different faces.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now for Nintendo Switch, and is the copyright of Nintendo. All characters mentioned above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Some screenshots and promo art courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Fifteen games worthy of a second look in Spring 2021

Sun 28.02.21Mon 06.02.23Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Though there are no major spoilers, minor spoilers may still be present for a few of the titles on this list.

Anthem is gone, Cyberpunk 2077 is still a stinking mess, and there are delays aplenty across the games industry as the pandemic rolls on. What’s a gamer to do? Well, I might have the answer for you! Tomorrow will be the first day of March, and to me March has always meant the beginning of Spring. There are small snowdrops beginning to bloom in my garden, and the nights are getting shorter. A few times this past week I’ve even managed without the heating on in my house – much to the dismay of the cats!

There are still plenty of great games that – all being well – will be released this year. If you missed it, I put together a list just after New Year of ten of the most interesting titles! But considering the delays and that this time of year is typically fairly quiet in terms of releases, I thought it would be a great moment to consider a few games that deserve a second look. I’ve limited the list to titles that are readily available to buy on current-gen platforms and PC, so no out-of-print games this time.

Without any further ado, let’s jump into the list, which is in no particular order.

Number 1: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch, 2017)

Nintendo’s most recent karting game is a ton of fun. It’s the kind of arcade racer that has a very low bar for entry – anyone can pick up and play this fun title. But mastering Mario Kart 8 – especially if you choose to head online – is no small task, and there’s a surprising amount of skill involved to be truly competitive with the best players! I’ve adored the Mario Kart series since its inception on the SNES, and this version is the definitive Mario Kart experience… at least until they make Mario Kart 9!

Number 2: Fall Guys (PC and PlayStation 4, 2020, coming to Xbox and Nintendo Switch this summer)

Among Us gained a lot of attention not long after Fall Guys was released last summer and stole at least some of the cute game’s attention! The fact that Fall Guys isn’t on mobile probably counts against it as far as finding a broader audience goes, but despite what some have claimed, the game is by no means dead. Season 4 – which promises to bring a new set of futuristic rounds – is being released soon, and for less than £15 (at least on PC) I honestly can’t fault Fall Guys. It’s an adorable, wholly unique experience in which your cute little jelly bean character runs a series of obstacle courses in a video game homage to the likes of Total Wipeout. Each round lasts only a couple of minutes, and it really is way more fun than words can do justice to! I’ve recently got back into playing after taking a break, and there’s plenty of fun still to be had.

Number 3: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC and Xbox, 2002)

You can find Morrowind on PC, and despite being an older title it’s compatible with Windows 10. There has been an active modding scene for almost twenty years at this point, so even if you’ve already played the base game it may still be worth going back for more. In my subjective opinion, Morrowind is the high-water mark of the Elder Scrolls series. It certainly offers players more to do than its predecessors or sequels – more NPCs to interact with, more factions to join, more types of weapons to wield and spells to cast, and so on. Especially if you hit Morrowind with some of the visual/graphics mods that are available, it can feel almost like a new game!

Number 4: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, 2002)

Another older title that you can find on PC, as well as on iOS and Android, Vice City was one of three Grand Theft Auto titles released between 2001 and 2005. Remember when Rockstar was able to put out more than one game per decade?! If you’ve had your fill of Grand Theft Auto V by now – and it’s been out for eight years, so I wouldn’t blame you if you were ready to play something else – maybe going back to one of the older games will be a nostalgic blast. Many fans of the series consider Vice City to be the best entry, and while I don’t think I’d go quite that far, I had a ton of fun with it back on the original Xbox.

Number 5: Banished (PC, 2014)

There are some great city-builders out there, but one of my favourites from the last few years is Banished. The game was built entirely by one person, which never fails to amaze me! It would still be a fantastic title if it had been made by a full studio, but the fact that the game and all its complex systems were programmed by a single developer is an astonishing achievement. Banished isn’t easy, even on lower difficulty settings, and it will take a little time to get into the swing of how to plan your town and manage your resources. But if you’re up for a challenge it’s a wonderful way to lose track of time!

Number 6: Skully (PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One, 2020)

Skully is a game that I’ve been meaning to write a proper review of since I picked it up last year, but it keeps slipping down my writing pile. From the moment I saw the trailer and heard the game’s premise – a 3D platformer in which you play as a disembodied skull – I was in love, and the game did not disappoint! The environments are beautiful and the game is plenty of fun. It manages to feel at points like an old-school 3D platformer of the Nintendo 64 era, and at others like a wholly modern experience. It’s also an indie title, and it’s great to be able to support indie developers wherever we can!

Number 7: Jade Empire (PC and Xbox, 2005)

If the demise of Anthem has got you missing the “golden age” of BioWare’s role-playing games, make sure you didn’t skip Jade Empire. The Xbox exclusive was overlooked by players in the mid-2000s, and while other BioWare games from that decade, like Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age Origins are all held in high esteem, the Chinese-inspired Jade Empire is all but forgotten. When Steam has it on sale you can pick up Jade Empire for less than the price of a coffee, and for that you’ll get what is honestly one of the best and most interesting role-playing games of all time.

Number 8: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (PC, 1997)

Starfleet Academy is unique among Star Trek games because it features the cast of The Original Series in video clips recorded especially for the game. These aren’t scenes from films or episodes of the show; you literally will not see them anywhere else. Starfleet Academy is a starship simulator, and while its visuals obviously don’t look as good in 2021 when compared to other titles, the overall experience is fantastic. You won’t find another game quite like it – especially because ViacomCBS has all but given up on making Star Trek games since the release of Star Trek Online!

Number 9: Forza Horizon 4 (PC and Xbox One, 2018)

I signed up for Game Pass in order to be able to play racing game Forza Horizon 4 – and it was totally worth it! The Forza Horizon series attempts to find a middle ground between true racing sims and arcade-style titles, and generally manages to do so quite well. Forza Horizon 4 has a map which represents parts of Great Britain, and that’s something unusual! I didn’t see my house, but it’s always nice when a game uses a familiar setting. There are plenty of fun cars to race in, and different kinds of races too, including going off-road.

Number 10: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Multiplatform, 2013)

Is it just me, or has every subsequent game in the Assassin’s Creed series struggled to hit the highs of Black Flag? Origins and Odyssey were decent, but even in 2021, I think that Black Flag is the definitive title in the franchise! There’s something about its pirate setting and the wonderful crop of NPCs that make Black Flag a truly enjoyable experience from start to finish. For a game that’s approaching its eighth birthday it still looks fantastic, too!

Number 11: The Last Of Us (PlayStation 3, 2013)

Despite its severely disappointing sequel, The Last Of Us is fantastic. If you’re looking for a game with amazing characters and a deep, engaging story, it simply can’t be bettered. I put The Last Of Us on my list of games of the decade as the 2010s drew to a close, and for good reason. Joel and Ellie’s trek across a hauntingly beautiful post-apocalyptic United States was absolutely one of the gaming highlights of the last few years. The characters are so well-crafted that they feel real, and every twist and turn in the intense storyline carries emotional weight. The game is being adapted for television, and I’m interested – cautiously so in the wake of The Last Of Us Part II – to see what will happen when it makes the leap to the small screen.

Number 12: Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (PC, 2018)

Though I know Age of Empires II is the title most folks prefer, I’ve always appreciated what the original Age of Empires did for the real-time strategy genre. If you’ve been enjoying the recent remake of the second game, it could be a great time to give the original a try as well. Age of Empires didn’t invent real-time strategy, but it was one of the first such titles I played after its 1998 release – and I sunk hours and hours into it in the late ’90s! There’s something about building up an army of Bronze Age warriors to smash an opponent’s town that’s just… satisfying!

Number 13: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, 2019)

I played through Jedi: Fallen Order last summer and documented my time with the game here on the website. Suffice to say I had a blast; the linear, story-focused title is exactly what the Star Wars franchise needed after the Battlefront II debacle! Having just seen the dire Rise of Skywalker I was also longing for a Star Wars story that I could actually enjoy for a change, and Jedi: Fallen Order did not let me down! I had a great time swinging my lightsaber across a galaxy far, far away… and I think you will too.

Number 14: No Man’s Sky (PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, 2016)

No Man’s Sky was incredibly controversial at launch. The pre-release hype bubble got wildly out of control, egged on by a marketing push that oversold the game. Remind you of any recent titles? But despite the backlash in 2016, Hello Games has since put in a lot of hard graft, and five years on No Man’s Sky genuinely lives up to its potential. Had it been released in this state I think it would have been hailed as one of the best games of the decade – if not of all time. I understand not wanting to reward a game that was dishonestly sold, and that the “release now, fix later” business model is not one we should support. But there’s no denying that No Man’s Sky is a great game in 2021, and if you haven’t picked it up since its 2016 launch, it could be worth a second look.

Number 15: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, 2020)

A full remake of the definitive skateboarding game is hard to pass up! In the Dreamcast era, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater launched an entire genre of skating games, and its amazing soundtrack is a nostalgic hit of late ’90s/early ’00s punk rock. The remade version, which you can pick up on Switch and the two new consoles later this year, is great fun, and has managed to do something rare for a remake: genuinely recapture the look and feel of the original title. Obviously the visuals are brought up-to-date, but the feel of the game and the way tricks are performed are fantastic. I was able to slip right back into playing as if I’d never put the Dreamcast controller down!

So that’s it. Fifteen games that I think are worth your time this Spring.

There are plenty of fun titles on the horizon, but some of the ones I was most looking forward to – like Kena: Bridge of Spirits – have recently been delayed, prompting me to look at my library and put together this list.

I hope this has inspired you to find something to play over the next few weeks! If not, stay tuned because there will be plenty more gaming-related articles here on the website. Happy gaming!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Some screenshots and promo artwork courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Games of the Generation

Tue 10.11.20Tue 17.10.23Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for the titles on this list.

The launch of the Xbox Series X earlier today marked the beginning of a new console generation – and thus the end of one too. That generation began in November 2012 with the release of the Wii U, and saw both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 arrive a year later. I’ve been incredibly fortunate over the last eight years to have played a number of different games across all four major consoles, and while I need to say for the record that there are still plenty of big titles I haven’t got my hands on, there’s certainly enough to put together a list like this.

As we say goodbye to the current generation of consoles and jump headfirst into next-gen, let’s take a few minutes to look back at some of the best gaming experiences of the generation… in my subjective opinion!

But before we dive into the list, here’s a short recap of each of the major consoles. The Wii U came first, but was blighted by horrible marketing (even months after release, many gamers were confused as to what the Wii U even was, with many believing its clunky plastic controller to be nothing more than an accessory for the Wii). Nintendo began making losses during this period, and even laid off a number of staff. The console saw some very fun games, but I was one of less than fifteen million people who bought the machine – which in 2012 was clearly not good enough to cover Nintendo’s costs – making the console an expensive failure. For the sake of comparison, the original Wii sold over 100 million consoles, and the Switch is currently sitting at over 60 million a mere three years after release.

The Wii U kicked off this generation in November 2012, but was unsuccessful overall.

Next came the PlayStation 4. Only a few months earlier I’d bought a PlayStation 3, the first Sony machine I’d ever owned. I’d done so solely to play The Last Of Us, and I wasn’t disappointed! After the Xbox One suffered a rocky run-up to launch (we’ll come to that in a moment) PlayStation seized the chance to convert gamers to their platform after running behind for the entirety of the previous generation. And many folks who had previously been invested in Xbox made the switch – PlayStation 4 has almost certainly sold twice as many units as Xbox One, and that couldn’t have happened without Xbox 360 players jumping ship. PlayStation 4 has also had by far the better crop of exclusive games, and that’s another huge factor in its success this generation.

The PlayStation 4 arrived in November 2013 and has been the generation’s best-seller by far.

Xbox One arrived only a week after the launch of the PlayStation 4, but it was not a smooth road for Microsoft’s console. From the moment the console was announced it attracted the ire of gamers. First was its complicated always-online nature, which Microsoft had to backtrack on. Next was the issue of trading in games or sharing them with friends, with Xbox initially seeming to “lock” each disc to a specific user account. This was also something Microsoft U-turned on. Those fiascos were bad enough, but next came Kinect. Bundled with the system – and with no way to opt out – Kinect bumped up the price of the Xbox One at launch, making it $100 more than PlayStation 4. Looking back over several console generations, the cheaper machine usually sells better, and so it proved again. Xbox One also struggled with a lack of decent exclusive games to compete with those available on the PlayStation 4. Despite all of that, however, Xbox Game Pass (a paid subscription service which gives players access to over a hundred titles) definitely found a foothold as the generation drew to a close.

The Xbox One launched a week after the PlayStation 4 – for $100 more.

Finally, 2017 saw the launch of the Nintendo Switch. Where the Wii U had been Nintendo’s attempt to recapture the “hardcore gamer” market, the Switch saw Nintendo realise that its success with consoles like the Wii and the handheld DS and 3DS lineup was due to their appeal to casual players. A console deliberately less powerful than its two competitors, the Switch retained the motion controls that had proven popular on the Wii alongside a new gimmick: the console is a hybrid that can either be played as a handheld device or connected to a screen. After the disappointment of the Wii U, the Switch proved a success from day one, and eclipsed the Wii U’s total lifetime sales in a matter of months.

The Nintendo Switch is the newest major console, having been released in 2017.

So those were this generation’s consoles. Now let’s look at some games!

This list is in three parts. The first part consists of titles that I consider to be incredibly important to the overall gaming landscape of the generation, even if they weren’t “my thing” and/or I don’t have much personal experience with them. The second part of the list contains a handful of titles that failed hard, and whose failures had an impact on gaming in some way. And finally the third part of the list is what you’re all here for – my personal top ten games of the generation.

Without any further ado, let’s get started!

Honourable Mentions

As stated above, this section of the list consists of a few titles that, for whatever reason, weren’t necessarily something I enjoyed or bought into, yet were landmarks in gaming this generation. No “games of the generation” list would be complete without their inclusion.

Number 1: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (2017)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – or “Pub-G” as some insist on calling it – was the first truly successful battle royale game. There’s debate over the origins of battle royale, and at one point PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds attempted to patent the format, but there can be no denying that this is the game that brought it to mainstream attention. By doing so it revolutionised online multiplayer gaming, and for a while was the most-played game in the world.

Considering how big battle royale titles still are, no end-of-the-generation list would be complete without PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Though the game is still being played, it has arguably been eclipsed by some other titles in the genre it spawned – most notably Fortnite. In that sense it’s one of the most influential games of the generation… even if it isn’t one that’s enjoyed as much ongoing success.

Number 2: Fortnite (2018)

If PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds kicked off the battle royale craze, Fortnite took it to the next level. This title became a powerhouse in the gaming world; a phenomenon the industry hadn’t seen since Minecraft. And it’s a free-to-play game. Many of Fortnite’s biggest fans have never paid a penny despite spending hours and hours playing it, yet it’s managed to become one of the biggest and most financially successful titles in gaming. Ever.

Fortnite isn’t innovative with its gameplay, nor is it innovative in being free; mobile games in particular have used a free-to-play model for years. But Fortnite has taken the world by storm by refining those things and putting them with a fun, cartoony aesthetic that has widespread appeal, especially to younger players. For many kids, Fortnite has been their ticket into a brand-new hobby, and the importance of expanding gaming beyond where it was even a few years ago is immeasurable.

As with any successful title, other games have tried to imitate Fortnite’s success, and in some ways we can assign some degree of blame to Fortnite for making lootboxes and microtransactions more acceptable. However, it isn’t only this game’s fault that companies continue to pursue in-game monetisation!

Number 3: The Witcher 3 (2015)

With so much focus on multiplayer this generation, The Witcher 3 really stands out as a comparative rarity. It demonstrated clearly and unequivocally that there is a market for well-made, expansive single-player games at a time when many companies seemed to be abandoning them. It’s widely considered one of the best games of all-time, not just of the generation, and the success of The Witcher 3 did much to demonstrate to the industry that single-player games could still be critically and financially successful.

As I mentioned when I took a look at a few great games that I haven’t played, The Witcher 3 is on my list and I hope to eventually get to it. Single-player fantasy role-playing games are exactly my kind of thing, but I haven’t got around to this one yet! As a standout title that really boosted the medium, though, I can appreciate The Witcher 3′s success from afar.

Number 4: Grand Theft Auto V – online mode (2013)

Grand Theft Auto V has been a juggernaut this generation, having initially been released on the previous generation’s Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For the last seven years it has seldom dropped out of the top ten bestselling games, which is an incredible achievement. The success is largely due to its online mode, which has made developers Rockstar an insane amount of money.

Competitive online gaming really isn’t my thing, but no list appreciating the generation’s finest should ignore Grand Theft Auto V’s multiplayer mode. Taking the beautifully-crafted world of Los Santos and opening it up to players for jobs and heists together has been a masterstroke on Rockstar’s part.

I was, however, a little disappointed to see that Rockstar simply plan on porting the game to the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. I get that it’s been a phenomenally successful title this generation – but I had hoped for a new entry in the series (or a new title altogether) as the gaming world moves on. They see things differently, however, and given Grand Theft Auto V’s success and bustling online scene, maybe they’re right.

Number 5: Undertale (2015) and the whole indie scene

I chose Undertale as an example because it has been widely praised, but this entry also stands to represent titles like Dead Cells, Cuphead, Untitled Goose Game, Donut County, Shovel Knight, and many more indie titles that have wowed audiences this generation. Making a game as an independent developer is a difficult and often expensive undertaking, yet many of these titles – including Undertale – have been fantastic and received critical acclaim.

There’s a perception that all indie games are pixel-art 2D platformers, and while there certainly are titles which fit that description there’s also much more going on in the indie scene. Some of these games go on to inspire whole sub-genres, and as we go into the new generation its a great thing that there are so many independent, smaller developers out there. It keeps the games scene interesting!

Disappointments and Disasters

This section looks at a handful of controversial, disappointing, or outright bad games which nevertheless impacted the games industry this generation. Not every innovation or change to the way games are made comes from success, and some titles may be better-remembered for serving as bad examples than good games.

Number 1: Star Citizen (Unreleased)

How can a game that hasn’t even been released be one of the biggest disasters of the generation? Simple: it’s become the textbook example of how crowdfunding can go wrong in the gaming realm. Star Citizen’s troubled development began way back in 2012, before any of the current-gen systems launched. And it raked in millions of dollars in crowdfunding from eager gamers – only to miss release window after release window, while continuing to beg and scrounge money out of its remaining loyal fans.

At this point, in late 2020, the team behind Star Citizen have raised – and mostly spent – over $300 million. That’s an utterly insane amount of money for any video game, and if reports and rumours are to be believed, it’s still nowhere near complete. What happened with Star Citizen is basically this: a developer had a decent idea for a game, put together a small team, and began work. But as the crowdfunding campaign took off the developers began to promise more and more features, leading to more development time. More development time in turn meant they needed more money, which meant more crowdfunding, which meant more features were promised, and the whole thing has spiralled out of control to the point where the game is an overhyped undeliverable mess.

Star Citizen isn’t a “scam,” because I firmly believe there were good intentions behind it. But the developers needed someone competent to manage the project before it got unwieldy, and someone in charge to prevent it from ever getting so out of control. The idea of selling in-game content for an unreleased game is already pretty shady, but when some of that content can cost thousands of dollars I think someone has to step in and say that it isn’t acceptable. It’s still possible the game will see a release – one day – but even if it does it’s hard to imagine it will be anything less than underwhelming in the extreme for fans who’ve waited years and hyped it to oblivion.

Number 2: Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)

Battlefront II saw the bubbling lootbox controversy boil over. Though it’s been over three years since its 2017 launch, the ramifications of that are still being felt as jurisdictions across the world move to regulate or ban in-game gambling. Electronic Arts has, for years, pushed the envelope for what gamers will tolerate in terms of in-game monetisation. And with Battlefront II they finally pushed too hard and too far.

The game itself is perfectly playable today, but only because EA ripped out as much of the gambling as they could before it hit shelves. Battlefront II also had poor timing, causing controversy in the Star Wars fandom at a time when The Last Jedi was already proving hugely divisive. The combination of the poorly-received game and film meant that Star Wars was in a dark place going into 2018.

Number 3: Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017) and Anthem (2019)

Oh, Bioware. How heroes fall! For a number of reasons that boil down to project mismanagement, both Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem were rush jobs, put together in months instead of years. And it showed. Andromeda was memed to death, and even though the worst of its bugs and visual glitches were fixed within days of launch by patches, the damage was done and the game’s reputation never recovered.

Anthem overpromised based on a trailer at E3 that was entirely fake. Players who did buy into the game found a half-finished and underwhelming live service experience, and promises of updates and more content weren’t enough to convince more than a few to stick around. As of late 2020, Anthem’s “roadmap” for further updates has been cancelled, and the game is essentially dead.

For a studio like Bioware, these failures feel so much worse because we know that they’re capable of producing some incredible games. Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and the first two parts of the Mass Effect trilogy are among my favourite role-playing games of all time, so to see the buggy overblown side-mission that was Andromeda and the live service failure that was Anthem is nothing less than a colossal disappointment. There may be light at the end of the tunnel for this once-great developer, however, with a Mass Effect trilogy remaster having been announced a couple of days ago.

Number 4: Fallout 76 (2018)

As above, a developer once revered for its amazing experiences churned out a buggy, underwhelming online multiplayer title. Fallout 76 came after years of declining quality of Bethesda’s own titles, which included port after port of Skyrim and little else. I could never get past the fact that this was a Fallout game with absolutely no non-player characters. The heart of any game like this is its story, and a story needs characters. Fallout 76 thus contained little more than a moderately pretty environment – one built on an ageing engine meaning even the game’s visuals were hardly spectacular.

After walking around, checking out the scenery, and battling a few monsters, there was literally nothing to do. The gunplay was also mediocre to poor, something the Fallout series’ VATS system had masked in previous titles built on the same engine. But with multiplayer there was no way to implement VATS properly, meaning the game’s shooting had to stand on its own… and it fell down.

The first of these points – the missing NPCs – was eventually addressed in an update. But Fallout 76 has been own goal after own goal from Bethesda, including crappy product tie-ins that got recalled, a $100 premium membership, and more besides. The game was a bug-riddled disappointment.

Number 5: Shenmue III (2019)

Shenmue III is one of the biggest disappointments to me personally. Other titles in this section have their problems, but when it comes to my most-anticipated games ever, Shenmue III had been at the top of the list since 2001. After a dedicated group of hardcore fans raised an incredible $7 million through a crowdfunding campaign, the only thing I expected from Shenmue III was that it would finally finish Ryo Hazuki’s story.

In 2001, Shenmue II ended on a cliffhanger, with Ryo’s quest for revenge incomplete – and having just taken an interesting turn. But the failure of the Dreamcast – and the game’s lacklustre sales – meant no sequel was forthcoming. Yu Suzuki, the game’s creator, had always said that the Shenmue saga was an ambitious project, and that’s to be commended, but while I can’t claim to speak for every Shenmue fan, really my only expectation going into Shenmue III was that it would bring the story to a conclusion. If there was too much story to tell in a project this size, then someone had to come in and make cuts to all of the unnecessary fluff to make it fit. For some inexplicable reason, that didn’t happen. Fans raised millions of dollars to end on another cliffhanger. Does Yu Suzuki seriously think he’ll raise millions more to make Shenmue IV and Shenmue V to keep telling this story?

And that’s why it’s such a disappointment. It had one objective as far as I was concerned: finish the story. Fans donated their own money to make that dream a reality, but the developers blew it. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a dead, failed series to come back to life and finish its ambitious story. I can’t get over the truly awful decision-making that meant it didn’t happen.

Games of the Generation

Now we come to my personal top ten. I played and loved all of these games this generation, and while there are many more that could have made the list, when I whittled it down these are the titles which made the final cut. These titles are not in any particular order, so this isn’t a ranked list. All ten titles are very different, and thus they’re all my Games of the Generation!

Number 1: Mario Kart 8 (2014)

Originally released for the Wii U in 2014, Mario Kart 8 has since reappeared – in “deluxe” form – on the Nintendo Switch. It isn’t particularly ground-breaking, simply refining and polishing the Mario Kart experience for the high-definition screens that became commonplace over the last decade. But that’s absolutely fine, because Mario Kart doesn’t need a radical overhaul; what keeps players coming back for race after race is that it’s pick-up-and-play fun.

The Switch version bundles the original game with its two DLC packs and adds a few new characters to the roster too. And that’s the way most players have experienced Mario Kart 8, since so few people owned a Wii U! It’s a shame that Nintendo chose to paywall its originally-free online multiplayer, and that decision deserves criticism as it’s awful to implement paid online features to a game that once enjoyed those same features for free.

Regardless, Mario Kart 8 is a lot of fun. Some will argue that the fun is best shared with friends, and though you could certainly make that claim I still find myself picking up the game for a quick race or two against the AI.

Number 2: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)

I played through Jedi: Fallen Order earlier this year, and I had a wonderful time. In fact, I’d go so far as to call the game the best Star Wars experience I’ve had in a long time, far surpassing some recent film and television attempts from that franchise! Cal’s journey from the shipbreaking yards of Bracca to, well, spoilers, was truly exciting.

This kind of linear, story-focused game has fallen out of favour with many of the bigger games publishers this generation. The rush to make every game an online experience (with recurring monetisation) has unfortunately seen less of a focus on titles like Jedi: Fallen Order; the Star Wars brand saw only the two Battlefront games in the years before its release. However, the success of this title both critically and commercially has already led to a sequel being developed – and hopefully demonstrated once again that there’s life in these kind of games!

Though I did encounter a few bugs and other issues during my playthrough nothing spoilt the experience. There were some great voice acting performances, interesting and varied planets to visit, a couple of neat cameos by characters from the films, and truly beautiful visuals that really brought the setting to life and truly immersed me in a galaxy far, far away.

Number 3: South Park: The Stick of Truth (2014)

I’m not the world’s biggest fan of South Park. Its social commentary can be biting and funny, but sometimes it goes over-the-top to say the least! However, while I haven’t been a regular viewer of the series since I lived in the United States in the mid-2000s, the game South Park: The Stick of Truth managed to catch my attention early in the generation. I gave it a shot, and I’m glad I did!

The game’s visual style is practically identical to the television series, and that alone makes it interesting. Animated shows have been adapted as games many times, but rarely is the appearance so remarkably similar. I think that’s what first captured my attention, but what I found when I played the game for myself was a surprisingly fun role-playing experience.

Not every joke landed, and a few moments in The Stick of Truth were just plain silly. But as an authentic South Park experience that really feels like playing through an extended episode of the television series it’s something unique – or it was until a sequel, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, was released in 2017.

Number 4: Ori and the Blind Forest (2015)

Ori and the Blind Forest never pretends to be a AAA blockbuster. It’s relatively short, with an average playthough lasting around eight hours, but those hours are spent in a beautiful, artistic world. The levels are diverse, and are interesting and challenging in equal measure as protagonists Ori and Sein bid to save their forest home.

Words like “masterpiece” and “beautiful” are thrown around all too easily these days, but I genuinely feel that both apply to Ori and the Blind Forest. For a game about spirits and sprites it’s surprisingly emotional too.

In a generation where Microsoft and Xbox lagged well behind Sony in terms of the quality of their exclusive games, Ori and the Blind Forest was a rare win. It’s since been followed up by Ori and the Will of the Wisps, a sequel which builds on everything the first game got right. Both titles are available on Xbox Game Pass, and are well worth a play for anyone who likes 2D platformers.

Number 5: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016)

As with Jedi: Fallen Order above, Uncharted 4 is a linear, story-focused game. This generation has been dominated by sequels, and Uncharted 4 brings to a close the tale of Nathan Drake which began on the PlayStation 3 in 2007. What I love about the series is that it feels like a combination of Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones, setting up a mythical-historical mystery for Drake and his comrades to uncover.

The first three games in the series were fantastic, but Uncharted 4 was a step up. Truly stunning visuals that pushed the PlayStation 4 to its limit really helped with immersion, and the swashbuckling story was perfectly-paced and well executed. Naughty Dog is a fine studio, and they refined this style of gameplay to perfection by the time of Uncharted 4‘s release.

The PlayStation 4 has had some amazing exclusive games this generation. Whether Uncharted 4 is the best of them will always be a matter of debate, but for me it has to be at or near the top of any such list.

Number 6: Minecraft (2011)

This one is a total cheat since Minecraft was released a full two years before any of the current-gen consoles. But it isn’t unfair to say that the game has enjoyed continued success this generation, which culminated in parent company Mojang being acquired by Microsoft in a deal reportedly worth $2.5 billion. That’s a lot of money for a game I initially dismissed as a scruffy-looking pixel graphics mud hut-builder!

Minecraft became the best-selling game of all-time, and a phenomenon that took the world by storm. It introduced the gaming hobby to millions of new players, including many children, and its ubiquity on practically every platform helped that immeasurably. Even nine years after its initial release the game is still being played and replayed over and over. The Minecraft brand has also been expanded upon, with titles like Minecraft: Story Mode and Minecraft Dungeons set in the same fictional world.

Where I had the most fun with Minecraft is in multiplayer with friends, starting from scratch and building whatever we wanted. I wouldn’t like to guess how many hours were lost digging tunnels, mining resources, and planning how to build a castle with a lava moat or a city in the sky.

Number 7: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014)

The world of Middle-Earth has been ripe for video game adaptations ever since The Lord of the Rings trilogy hit cinemas in the early 2000s, and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor follows some truly outstanding games from years past. It took a step back from the books’ familiar characters, introducing players to Talion, an Aragorn-esque Ranger, as he takes the fight to Sauron.

What made Shadow of Mordor stand out mechanically as a video game was its revolutionary “nemesis” system. The game’s AI would track which Uruk commanders that Talion battled – and there were many! Those Uruk could not only become more powerful by killing the player, but defeating them was a key part of the gameplay experience. Orcs and Uruk could be promoted within Sauron’s army, and the aim of the game was to encounter and defeat them. Even now this gameplay mechanic is innovative, and it makes Shadow of Mordor a game with plenty of replay value.

Unfortunately the series was tainted somewhat by the in-game monetisation forced into its sequel, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. While most of that has since been removed, the reputation of both games suffered. It’s a shame, because Shadow of Mordor is one of the best and most immersive experiences set in Tolkien’s world, and is still worth playing today.

Number 8: Super Mario Odyssey (2017)

Super Mario Odyssey took everything that had been great about 3D Mario games and condensed it into one phenomenal title. It dropped gimmicks from Mario Sunshine and Mario Galaxy and returned the series to a style much closer to the beloved Super Mario 64, which remains to this day one of my favourite games of all-time.

The level design was brilliant and incredibly varied, with water levels, desert levels, and even a voyage to the moon all on Mario’s agenda as he races to – once again – save Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. Hardly an innovative premise, you may say, but the fun of Super Mario Odyssey is in the gameplay rather than the story. There are very, very few titles about which I’d say something like that – so that should show you just how outstanding this game really is.

Despite being brand-new, Super Mario Odyssey gave me a hit of nostalgia and took me back to the mid-1990s when I played Super Mario 64 for the first time. It really does feel like an updated version of that classic game.

Number 9: Fall Guys (2020)

Fall Guys came out of nowhere this summer and surprised me! From the moment I heard the concept – jelly bean-like characters running obstacle courses in a video game homage to the likes of Total Wipeout – I knew I had to give it a try. And despite my general dislike of online multiplayer titles, what I found was a truly fun experience.

Fall Guys makes it easy to jump into game after game, and because each round is so short, even losing doesn’t feel that bad. The different ways in which people play makes every round unique, and while it certainly has its frustrating moments the core gameplay is plenty of fun. A cheating problem plagued the PC version for a while, but an update brought in anti-cheat software and that issue has now all but died out, restoring the fun!

If you’d asked me at the start of the year – or even in June – what my top ten games of the generation were likely to be, Fall Guys wouldn’t have even been on my radar. And when I was putting this list together I was wondering if including it would seem like recency bias; ignoring older games in favour of one I picked up just a few weeks ago. But looking at it on merit, I had a lot of fun with Fall Guys, and I’m happy to include this fun, casual title as one of my top games of this generation.

Number 10: Subnautica (2018)

In the wake of Minecraft’s success many games attempted to recreate its survival and building/crafting features. Many of these so-called “Minecraft clones” were crap, but one survival game that took the genre to wholly new places was Subnautica. The game has an interesting story as players find themselves crash-landing on a watery planet and must explore, collect resources, and build their way to freedom.

Subnautica is one of the few games even in modern times to really get its underwater world feeling right. Many games are notorious for bad underwater sections or levels, and when the whole game is based around swimming and moving underwater, this was something Subnautica couldn’t afford to screw up! The skill and attention to detail that went into this aspect of the game really is incredible.

The underwater setting also made the game feel like something genuinely different in a survival genre that was full of samey titles. Subnautica managed to be something unique as well as plenty of fun, and that combination is greatly appreciated.

So that’s it. A few of the best games of the generation – in my opinion, at least. There are many, many titles that could have made this list, including games I’ve played but forgotten all about, and games that I didn’t get around to yet.

This generation has offered up some truly amazing experiences, and even as we begin the transition to new consoles, there will be more to come. Cyberpunk 2077 and Halo Infinite are both due in the next few months, and there will be a number of other titles released before production fully shifts to the new machines over the next couple of years.

On a personal note, this has been a generation where, for a number of reasons, I found myself playing fewer games than I had in the past. A combination of health, ageing, work, and other factors are to blame – if indeed blame needs to be assigned. Despite that, I had fun with all four of this generation’s major home consoles, something I can say for the first time as a generation comes to a close!

I have no immediate plans to purchase an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, so there won’t be new console reviews coming on the website any time soon. But I can save you the trouble: both machines will be iterative improvements on their predecessors, offering things like faster load times, better controller battery life, and so on. It will be several years before we see any significant improvement in game design or graphics, simply because most upcoming titles are cross-generation and will continue to be limited by the requirements of this generation’s hardware.

Hopefully this has been a fun and interesting look back at some of the highs (and lows) of this generation on the day we mark the official beginning of the next one.

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studios, developers, and/or publishers. Some screenshots and promotional artwork courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.