You heard it hear, folks. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's penultimate wave of the Booster Course Pass, Wave 5, has been announced in the Nintendo Direct of June 21st of 2023.
And despite only being a teaser once again and only giving us a release window for Wave 5 during the Summer of 2023... BOY, is it a humdinger of an announcement.
Not only did we look at our first look at another new track: Squeaky Clean Sprint, making it the first time multiple "New" tracks in a row have debuted in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe first with each BCP Wave (case in point: Yoshi's Island in Wave 4, and now Squeaky Clean Sprint in Wave 5)...
But we also got a glimpse of not one... not two... BUT THREE new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe racers. They are...
- Petey Pirahna, representing Mario Kart Double Dash.
- Wiggler, representing Mario Kart 7 (much to my shock & surprise), and still having the ill-temper and rage issues it is infamous & notorious for (retaining its temper tantrums when hit with items or losing).
- And Kamek, representing Mario Kart Tour (much to most likely every Mario Kart Fan's delight after Kamek not being in a mainline Mario Kart game, NOT COUNTING Tour, for over 30 years; especially with Kamek originally planned to be in Mario Kart 64 AND the original Mario Kart 8; not to mention his big role in The Super Mario Bros. Movie during the same year).
While I am bummed to see that Pauline has not ended up being one of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's next characters for Wave 5, meaning we'll have to wait until the announcement of Wave 6 to see whether or not Pauline will come to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Kamek coming into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has opened a door so wide open that it's just plain enlightening.
As a matter of fact, this just goes to show that my assumptions (and possibly the assumptions of others) were right all along.
Mario Kart Tour IS a "past Mario Kart game"; and therefore, Kamek and all Mario Kart racers who've debuted in Mario Kart Tour ARE "characters from past Mario Kart games" / "returning characters from the Mario Kart series" like the advertistments & promos for the BCP since Wave 4 have stated.
This means that despite us only having two more characters left to reveal for Wave 6 before the Booster Course Pass ends by the end of 2023 (UNLESS we somehow get more Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC), ANY character from Mario Kart Tour, ESPECIALLY Pauline, has a shot at being added into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
With Petey Pirahna, Wiggler, and Kamek debuting in the next BCP wave in Summer 2023, we're left we the following characters who have one last chance to be in Wave 6 of the Booster Course Pass before the DLC ends.
Are in Tour: Pauline, Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, Dixie Kong, Nabbit, Monty Mole, King Bob-Omb, Hammer Bro, Charging Chuck, Peachette, Captain Toad, 8-Bit Mario, 8-Bit Donkey Kong Junior, and Poochy
Yet to be in Tour: Koopa Paratroopa, R.O.B / Robot, and Honey Queen.
If I had to make predictions or desires on who should be the last 2 characters to be added into Wave 6 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, then I'm gonna go with Pauline (like always) and one of the kongs (most likely Diddy Kong).
Considering that what we've seen in the Wave 5 announcement is still a teaser, that means that we've yet to see what will be the other 7 tracks in Wave 5.
And we've yet to see any other surprise feature additions (Coconut Mall updates, Custom Items, characters coming to MK8DX since Wave 4, etc.), like if we're getting additional vehicles, other content, and/or so on.
But as always, we ultimately have to wait and see what happens.
And always, I will still be hoping that Pauline and possibly a track in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in South America make it into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
That's all for today. Keep on burning that rubber, my fellow Mario Karters.