As you all have seen from the Nintendo Direct of February 9th of 2022, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting more new content via DLC.

The DLC, which will cost $24.99 unless you have a Nintendo Online Membership & Online expansion pass, with feature 48 new tracks & 12 new cups, which will be updated in waves.

As of July 11th / 12th of 2023, the DLC has released 5 waves and 40 tracks. That's 8 tracks, 4 in each of 2 cups released with each wave; and 10 DLC cups, each with 4 tracks, released so far.

With us now having 5 Waves of the Booster Course Pass done, 1 one last final wave for 8 more DLC tracks & 2 more DLC cups remains to be released; and of course, it'll comes around the end of the 2023.

In my personal opinion, I highly recommended that you buy the DLC from the Nintendo eShop, because once you buy the DLC, it's yours to keep forever (whereas unlocking the DLC via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion pack only let's you use the DLC as long as your Nintendo Switch Online Membership with the Expansion Pass is active until it expires, which could be a problem if Online services eventually discontinue for the Nintendo Switch).

The DLC tracks can be accessed by pressing either the L or R buttons, by pressing the Up button or tilting the left control stick up while any of the 6 uppermost cups from the base game (Mushroom, Flower, Star, Special, Egg, & Crossing Cups) is highlighted, or (as of Wave 5) touching the L Button or R Button prompts shown in the Class Selection Screen in "Grand Prix", as well as the Cup / Track Select Screen. The same actions can be performed to return back to the base game cups.

However, there have been ongoing criticisms with the DLC.

For example, people criticize the early waves the DLC (especially Wave 1) for its major graphical difference, deeming the DLC tracks as inferior compared to the base game's tracks & their graphics. Though, this improved as more waves came (particularly Wave 3).

People have also criticized the DLC for not implementing any Anti-Gravity mechanics to any of the DLC tracks. That was later resolved when Wave 2 released the full-antigravity track Sky-High Sundae, and especially when Wave 3 began implementing Anti-Gravity into even more tracks (Boo Lake, Rock Rock Mountain, Mape Treeway's Half-Pipes, Merry Mountain including it's Half-Pipes, & 3DS Rainbow Road - that's 5, count 'em, FIVE TRACKS with Anti-Gravity mechanics, counting the half-pipe's usage of Anti-Gravity like in Maple Treeway & Merry Mountain, implemented in 1 wave)..

But in my case, the biggest problem with the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC is that THERE ARE NO NEW CHARACTERS, VEHICLES, WHEELS, GLIDERS, & OTHER CONTENT GOING ALONG WITH THE TRACKS OF THE DLC. But so far, this issue of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass that has been MOSTLY resolved (will explain why as you read through).

To see this is such a brake slammer & heartbreaker to Mario Kart fans like me. Yes, it's nice to have 48 more tracks by the end of 2023, which will increase the track total to 96. But to have new tracks but have NO NEW CHARACTERS, VEHICLES, WHEELS, GLIDERS, & OTHER CONTENT TO GO ALONG WITH THEM is like eating sandwich without ingredients.

What do I mean by a sandwich? It's an analogy I came up with for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, its DLC, & its lack of additional characters, vehicles, wheels, gliders, & other content.

You see, the Booster Course & its 48 tracks included are like the bread for the sandwich - it needs ingredients, case in point: more characters, more vehicles, more parts like tires / wheels & gliders, & other additional content.

Without ingredients, all you will taste of the sandwich is just the bread, which most people find it to be filling, but bland. Therefore, while having 96 tracks in total by the end of 2023 is awesome... being stuck with the same characters, vehicles, wheels, gliders, power-ups, & other content since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Breath of the Wild update with NO NEW ADDITIONS to them is NOT.

Now thankfully, we have seen some additional features added into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. 

In the Wave 2 update, Coconut Mall was updated so that the Shy Guy car obstacles near the Start / Finish can move (though, they perform donuts instead of moving horizontally from one side of the track to the other like in Mario Karts Wii, 7, & Tour).

And in the Wave 3 update, a new "Custom Items" feature has been implemented into Versus & Battle Modes. And surprisingly, when you look at the Custom Items menu for both Versus & Battle Modes, there are blank / free spaces.

But even with these new additions, as I've been stating since the very beginning of the Booster Course Pass, I strongly & immensely feel that Nintendo needs to add new characters, karts, & possibly even power ups & new features like these...

Racers:
1). From Mario Kart Tour & other Mario Karts:
- HAMMER BRO (WITH FIRE BRO, BOOMERANG BRO, & ICE BRO AS ALTS.)
- NABBIT
- KING BOB-OMB
- CHARGIN' CHUCK
- MONTY MOLE
- KOOPA PARATROOPA (AS AN ALT. FOR KOOPA TROOPA)
- HONEY QUEEN
- DIXIE KONG

2.) Possible Newcomers:
- BOOM BOOM
- POM POM
- TINY KONG
- CRANKY KONG
- CANDY KONG
- KING K. ROOL
- KRITTER
- NINJA (MARIO HOOPS & SPORTS MIX)
- BLACK MAGE (MARIO HOOPS & SPORTS MIX)
- WHITE MAGE (MARIO HOOPS & SPORTS MIX)
- ETC.

 

Karts:
- WILD WING (WII)
- B-DASHER MK. II / SPRINTER (WII)
- FLAME FLYER (WII)
- JETSETTER (WII)
- RED FIRE (DOUBLE DASH)
- TURBO YOSHI (DOUBLE DASH)
- WARIO CAR (DOUBLE DASH)
- KOOPA KING (DOUBLE DASH)
- BARREL TRAIN (DOUBLE DASH)
- STREAMLINER (DS)
- POLTERGUST 4000 (DS)
- ROYALE (DS)
- RAMBI RIDER (DS)
- EGG 1 (DS)
- BLUE 7 (MK7)
- BIRTHDAY GIRL (MK7)
- BRUISER (MK7)
- BOLT BUGGY (MK7)
- PIPE BUGGY (TOUR)
- YELLOW TAXI (TOUR)
- CRAWLY KART (TOUR)
- TRICKSTER (TOUR)
- SNOW SKIMMER (TOUR)
- JINGLE BELLS (TOUR)
- COMET TAIL (TOUR)
- BANANA MASTER (TOUR)
- CARROT KART (TOUR)
- GOLD PIPE FRAME (TOUR)
- ROARING RACER (TOUR)
- SUPER PIPE FRAME / PIPE FRAME MK. II / PIPE FRAME TYPE-N64 / CUBICAL ENGINE DUAL-EXHAUST PIPE FRAME (MARIO KART 64, SUPER CIRCUIT, & 7)
- ETC.

TIRES / WHEELS:
- RAINBOW (DREAMY EGG & GLAM BRUISER; TOUR)
- SPORTY (WILD WING; WII)
- RACING (B-DASHER MK. II; WII / TOUR)
- SPIKED WHEELS (KOOPA KING; DOUBLE DASH / TOUR)
- CLASSIC WHEELS (PIPE FRAME; TOUR)
- GOLD CLASSIC (GOLD PIPE FRAME; TOUR)
- ETC.

GLIDERS:
- FARE FLYER
- EGGSHELL GLIDER
- BUTTERFLY PRISM
- CALICO PARAFOIL
- SWOOPER
- WICKED WINGS
- GLITTER GLIDER
- HOLLY BELLS
- RAINBOW STARCHUTE
- WINGTIP
- RECORD SETTER
- ETC.

POWER UPS:
- MEGA MUSHROOM
- ICE FLOWER
- HAMMER
- FAKE ITEM BOX
- CHARACTER / SPECIAL ITEMS (EX: HEART, BOWSER SHELL, YOSHI EGG, BIRDO EGG, GIGA BOB-BOMB, GIANT BANANA, DASH RING, ETC.)
- TANOOKI LEAF
- ETC.

NEW FEATURES:
- CHARACTER OUTFITS / SKINS (EX: STRIKERS, TENNIS, TOUR, ODDYSEY, OLYMPICS, SPORTS, RACING; ETC.)
- VEHICLE PAINT CUSTOMIZATION (Change the color of the vehicles manually. You can even make a custom paint job. TIP!: Mario Kart Wii has the most paintjobs for karts & bikes)
- POWER UP RULES (Normal - Uses Mario Kart 8 Power Ups; 30th Anniversary - Uses Mario Kart 8 Power Ups AND additional ones like the Mega Mushroom; Special - Same as the Expanded Power Ups Rule, except each character uses a special item)
- MIRRORED 200CC
- ETC.

Visit here for potential Mario Kart 8 Deluxe content: https://www.mariowiki.com/Gallery:Mario_Kart_Tour_sprites_and_models

And if you're wondering what the Super Pipe Frame / Pipe Frame Mk. II / Pipe Frame Type-N64 looks like, the image of it is right here. As you'll see from the image, this Pipe Frame has a cubical engine with dual exhaust pipes, making this Pipe Frame symmetrical (I prefer karts & other vehicles that are symmetrical.): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/3/33/PipeFramePrototypeMK8.png

Examples of Outfits:

- Swimwear (Peach - Odyssey): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/e/e7/SMO_Concept_Art_Peach_%28Swimwear%29.png

- Strikers (Peach): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/7/77/Peach_SoccerOutfit.jpg

- Olympics 1 (Peach): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/d/d2/M%26SATLOG_Peach_Rhythmic_Ribbon_artwork.png

- Olympics 2 (Rosalina): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/f/f2/Rosalina-Rio2016-NoBGround.png

- Sports (Peach & Daisy): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/0/09/MSMart2.png

- Tennis 1 (Peach): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/5/55/Peach_-_Aces_Artwork.png

- Tennis 2 (Pauline): https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/9/92/MTA_Models_Pauline.png

- Purple Yoshi: https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/c/cc/SMR_Purple_Yoshi.jpg

It is important to note that NOT all of the aforementioned above may be able to be implemented, with the additional power ups & other features like Outfits & Paint being the least likely; but the majority of it, mainly the additional characters, vehicles, & parts, could.

Needless to say, the aforementioned content above could be implemented in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in one of a few ways, either by...

1.) Being implemented in an entirely separate & new 2nd DLC pass that mainly focuses on additional characters, vehicles, power-ups, & features.

2.) Being implemented as DLC along with all the tracks in the Booster Course Pass.

3.) Being implemented in a Free Update, but require Unlock Methods to unlock them, such as a new "Mission Mode" (Beating missions to unlock wheels, gliders, vehicles, power-ups, & other content; and each set of mission is hosted by an Unlockable Character to unlock by winning a One-on-One race against them), a shop to spend in-game currency received from winning races & so on for said content, or so on.

4.) Some other method or so to implement said content into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Between the methods listed above, I think either the 1st and/or 3rd methods would the most likely (emphasis on the 1st; but the 3rd could happen instead).

That way, Mario Kart Fans will be happy to not only have additional tracks, but also have other additional content, especially characters, vehicles, & parts.

HOWEVER, not all hope for such content for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is lost. In fact, hope for such content for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has just been emboldened.

In a Nintendo Direct on February 8th of 2023, it was announced that from Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass and onwards, characters WILL be added into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, starting with Birdo.

In fact, it is stated from a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Press Release for the Nintendo Direct that we will get more characters than just Birdo. And I quote...

"Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass Wave 4: Yoshi’s Island, a new course, is zooming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass DLC. Birdo, who originally hit the track in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, is also being added. Returning characters from the Mario Kart series will be added in future waves. Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass DLC races onto the Nintendo Switch system this spring. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass includes six separate waves, with eight courses each, which will all be released by the end of 2023. Buy the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass separately in Nintendo eShop or enjoy it for no additional cost as part of a paid Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack*** membership."

This announcement has opened the door of possibility, and now characters have a bigger chance of getting into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe along with the new tracks of the Booster Course Pass. And maybe the same will go for vehicles, wheels, gliders, power ups, and other content as well.

Once Wave 4 came along on March 8th / 9th of 2023, we got an idea to how more characters will be implemented after Birdo has been updated.

The character roster is now updated from a 7 by 6 layout to an 8 by 6 layout - the former numbers being the number of characters per row, and the latter numbers being how many rows there are.

And under Birdo in her column, there are currently 5 question marks for 5 mystery characters. We don't know if this number of mystery characters may be subject to chamge, as in we may get more than that; but for now, 5 is the number to focus on for how many characters will coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe after Birdo.

More charactsrs news came on June 21st of 2023, when 3 of those 5 mystery characters have been revealed in that day's Nintendo Direct regarding Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass and the reveal of the "new" track: Sqeuaky Clean Sprint. Those characters being Petey Pirahna, Wiggler, and Kamek.

These 3 characters, Squeaky Clean Sprint, & other additional Wave 5 content announced on July 6th were later updated to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on July 11th / 12th of 2023.

Kamek, in particular, opens the door that any Mario Kart Tour characters can be added into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. That means Mario Kart Tour IS being counted as a "past Mario Kart games; and any characters from Mario Kart Tour ARE "returning characters from the Mario Kart series" AND "characters from past Mario Kart games" like the promos, adverts, and other forms of Mario Kart news and details from Wave 4 & onward had stated.

After the reveal of Kamek, Petey Pirahna, & Wiggler, we're left with only 2 characters waiting to be revealed.

Or was it two characters?

(ME IMITATING A LONG & LOUD WRONG ANSWER BUZZER SOUND)

Wrong...

Wave 6's Teaser during the Nintendo Direct of September 14th of 2023 threw cold water on that.

Instead of getting 2 characters, we're actually getting FOUR characters, in the form of Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, Peachette, and, drumroll & fanfare please...

THE 1UP GIRL, THE MAYOR OF NEW DONK CITY IN THE MARIO GAMES, AND THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY IN THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIES!

PAULINE!

You all can understand how immensely happy I was to see Pauline as the 4 upcoming racers coming via Wave 6 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, so this news immensely made up for the let downs I had with the Booster Course Pass when the first three waves only gave us courses (and some minor touches like updates to Coconut Mall & the Custom Items menu) & nothing else. Once Wave 6 comes to the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, Mario Karters will be able to play as Pauline the 1up Girl, along with Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, and Peachette. And in my opinion, Wave 6 news on 4 characters is the reveal of Pauline & Diddy Kong in Mario Strikers Battle League times two (Get it? Because 2 times 2 equals 4; I love mathematics. ^v^).

As awesome as such news we got so far regarding the new characters is, though, we still need to be proactive & vigilant, meaning we should continue spreading the word to everyone that Nintendo should & needs to add more characters, vehicles, power ups, & other content into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, just like what they've done with Birdo, Petey Pirahna, Wiggler, & Kamek, and what they're about to do with Pauline, Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, & Peachette.

So hopefully, Nintendo will continue to address our concerns, and (like with what they're doing for Birdo, Petey Pirahna, Wiggler, & Kamek) add more characters, vehicles, parts, & possibly more power ups & other features into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

After all, if tracks from Mario Kart Tour are being updated over to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, then the same NEEDS to also be applied to everything else from Tour, such as its characters like Pauline, Diddy Kong, etc.; vehicles like Wild Wing, B-Dasher Mk. II, Streamliner, etc.; parts (wheels & gliders) like the Rainbow Tires; and maybe even its Power Ups like the Mega Mushroom & other features like Characters having different outfits & skins.

And with the Tour track, Bangkok Rush, showing advertisements for karts such as the Flame Flyer & Royale, it'd be very weird and very upsetting to see that kart but not be able to use them (same goes for other karts like Wild Wing) if Bangkok gets added into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Most of all, with Mario Kart Tour being an Internet-reliant / Server-Based game (as opposed to mobile games that could be play offline / without an internet connection), Mario Kart Tour will eventually discontinue; and when that happens, all of Mario Kart Tour's characters & alts., vehicles, wheels, gliders, power-ups, & other content will be gone forever...

UNLESS Nintendo preserves them all in either a future Mario Kart installment on either the Switch or the next Nintendo Console or, most preferably & what needs to be, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (on account of it & Mario Kart Tour basically sharing the same assets, such as models for the characters, vehicles, wheels, & gliders, as well as voice clips for the characters & sound effects for the vehicles, power-ups, etc.).

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