Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is back with wave 4 (of six) of Booster Course Pass tracks, this time covering the Fruit Cup and Boomerang Cup. Now that we’re halfway there, it really looks like Nintendo is starting to step things up with not only a stellar set of new and returning tracks, but also an additional character in the form of Birdo. It all adds up to what is easily the strongest DLC release to date.
Start with the Fruit Cup first, let’s go Drift of Amsterdam mario kart tour, waterfront park from GBA, DK snowboard cross Wii, and the new yoshi’s island course. Amsterdam Drift is arguably the toughest track on the Tour, soaring through the air against a backdrop of farmland and windmills before descending the Amstel riverbed. It seems Next Lindo.
The GBA’s Riverside Park is probably the only course that could reasonably be called a “miss” in this latest version of the DLC. It’s pretty enough, sure, but just because it’s a GBA track, it’s a little simplistic, less manic, and gets pretty boring as a result. The DK Snowboard Cross is excellent and displays a nice verticality with some very tight turns. This is definitely one for the speed freaks; 200cc is an absolute blast.
The star of Fruit Cup, and indeed of the entire DLC offering, is Yoshi’s Island. Like Sky-High Sundae before it, this one makes its MK8D debut (although we suspect it’ll appear on Tour soon) and you can certainly appreciate the great effort that has gone into visuals, design and customization. nods to its eponymous SNES game. It’s not the most complex we’ve seen, but you’ll soar through the sky, running through the clouds, before dropping into the water below. It seems Magnificentperfectly invoking the visual style of Yoshi’s Island with, unsurprisingly, great music to boot.
Let’s move on to the Boomerang Cup, this one offers bangkok fever there singapore highway on tour, course at sea from DS, and Waluigi Stadium from GameCube. Both tour offers are surprisingly attractive and almost rival Amsterdam Drift; Singapore Speedway in particular is truly stunning, with neon lights providing a nice contrast to the night sky.
Mario Circuit is the only other track that veers towards mediocrity, but unlike Riverside Park, there’s enough here to keep you on your toes, including roaming Goombas and Piranha plants spitting fireballs across the track. Finally, the Waluigi Stadium is as good as ever, with dangerous terrain and deadly obstacles, including fireball circles and giant wooden piranhas. This is a good thing.
Greetings also to Birdo. We’re sure there will be legions of fans excited to see her join the roster. Like Yoshi, she’s a middleweight runner with a choice of nine different color variations (including a rather sickly green that we don’t like too much). With five locations more recently revealed on the character select screen, we can’t wait to see what other Nintendo controllers bring to the table.
Overall, Wave 4 quite comfortably offers the best set of tracks to date since the Booster Course Pass, with only one proving to be a little underwhelming. We love the additions to the Tour, and Yoshi’s Island is destined to be an absolute hit. If Nintendo continues like this, we will be in a great position for Waves 5 and 6.