The time is here. It's Wave 6, the last batch of new tracks to the truly awesome Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017). The new courses have been most welcome over the last year, but this final set does also signal the beginning of the end for Mario Kart 8.
With rumours of a new Nintendo console for 2024 or 2025, the Japanese developer is highly likely to have Mario Kart 9 in the works as we type this.
THUS! We have the swansong to this most excellent game here, with eight new tracks to enjoy across the Super Mario universe.
More Racing Madness in Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass Wave 6
A new wave! Eight new tracks! This lot are all updated from older Mario Kart titles (no new ones, as with other wavers). This time we have:
- Piranha Plant Cove (Mario Kart Tour)
- Daisy Circuit (Wii)
- DK Mountain (GameCube)
- Rome Avanti (Mario Kart Tour)
- Madrid Drive (Mario Kart Tour)
- Rosalina's Ice World (3DS)
- Bowser Castle 3 (Super Nintendo)
- Rainbow Road (Wii)
Thanks to this final batch, there are now an incredible 96 tracks on this game! The most in any Mario Kart (by far).
There's no denying Mario Kart 8's Wave 4 was the best of the bunch, especially with its utterly fantastic Yoshi's Island SNES track.
But Wave 6 has some big highlights. The reworking of Bowser Castle 3 from Super Mario Kart (1992) is just glorious. Look at it go!
Nintendo put maximum effort into that one, totally reimagining what the flat SNES original would be like in the Mario Kart 8 gravity-defying format. And it's a triumph!
But as has been the case throughout these waves, the additions of Mario Kart Tour (smartphone) tracks remains muted.
We get three more of them this time out. They do feel like filler, added in to bump up the track total. Whereas the 48 new tracks in these waves would have been fine as 38 (minus the Mario Kart Tour lot).
They're just not very interesting as race circuits, were designed for the smartphone game, and are all pretty samey. We've not shown one before in these reviews of ours, but here's an example.
The Tour tracks are too safe. "Forgettable" as Nintendo Life called them in its review, which was spot on.
And they stick out like a sore thumb when you compare them to the reworking of fan favourite DK Mountain (originally from 2003's Mario Kart Double Dash on the GameCube), which is bloody spectacular.
Viewed as a whole, Wave 6 completes the 48 new track run for this epic game.
It's not the best of the Waves, but there are some fantastic new circuits then to race around... alongside the middling Tour ones.
And it's worth owning a Nintendo Switch just to have this one game alone, frankly, as you could easily wrack up 500 hours on this one alone over months and years.
The online play against people from around the world is riveting. The new new tracks adding extra longevity, too.
It caps off a stellar year for Nintendo, providing fans of this game (which has shifted over 50 million units worldwide) with more racing fun. Can't argue with that one bit.
Awaiting Mario Kart 9
We must note, the end is now in sight. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as glorious as it is, has started its final lap and we should imagine something even more magnificent is on the horizon.
There are rumours abounding Nintendo is working on its next console. The Switch will be eight years old (!!!) in March 2024. That's a very long lifespan for a modern games console.
Next year also marks the 10th anniversary for the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8, which received a considerable overhaul for the Switch.
That's what's turned it into one of the all-time bestselling video games.
However, we do think it's time for a new Mario Kart. The news tracks were more than welcome, but a new concept would shake up a near decade old format.
And one that matches Nintendo's vision for its next console will be very exciting indeed! It rarely disappoints and we're totally stoked for more of this ridiculous racing.
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