Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Reveals Returning Racers and Track

During today's Nintendo Direct, new information was revealed for the sixth and final wave of DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass. Nintendo announced four returning racers spanning the series: Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, Pauline, and Peachette. Diddy Kong first appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, while Funky Kong debuted in Mario Kart Wii. Meanwhile, Pauline and Peachette both first appeared in Mario Kart Tour. Nintendo has also revealed a returning track from the series: Daisy Circuit, which first appeared in Mario Kart Wii. Unfortunately, a release date for the content has not been revealed.

The End of Mario Kart Tour

While Nintendo has not announced any tracks from Mario Kart Tour for Wave 6 of the Booster Course Pass, it's a safe bet that we'll see the rest of the game's original tracks appear, including the recently released Madrid Drive. Over the last few years, a number of tracks made their debut in Mario Kart Tour, most of which centered on real-world locations. Those tracks initially made a lot of Switch users jealous, but Nintendo eventually started to add them to Mario Kart Deluxe through the Booster Course Pass.

Unfortunately, Nintendo recently revealed that new content in Mario Kart Tour will be coming to an end next month. The game will remain playable, but will not see any new tracks or characters in the future. Given the fact that the Booster Course Pass is also coming to an end this year, it does make sense. In fact, it's very possible that Nintendo is starting to shift focus to Mario Kart 9. Plans have not been revealed yet, but with a new Nintendo Switch system reportedly releasing in the second half of 2024, a new Mario Kart game is an extremely safe bet. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is both the best-selling game on Nintendo Switch, as well as one of the overall best-selling games of all-time. As such, we can likely expect a new Mario Kart for the system within its first year.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass

While it's sad to see the Booster Course Pass coming to an end, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe players have gotten a lot of extra content to enjoy as a result. When everything is said and done, the DLC will have added 48 additional tracks to the same, as well as several new playable characters. It's an incredible amount of extra content, and it helped extend the life of the game. There have been a lot of great games in the Mario Kart series, and the Booster Course Pass has made some of the best content from the franchise available again, while also adding several brand-new tracks. We don't know what else to expect from Wave 6 beyond Daisy Circuit and the new playable characters, but hopefully Nintendo ends things on a high-note!

Have you been enjoying Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's DLC? Are you excited about this new content? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!