Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass Reviews
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
Mario Kart fans have been waiting too long for new console content. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is constantly in the top ten games sold in Japan each week, showing it still has plenty of life. A large install base also explains why DLC was the way to go, rather than an all-new Mario Kart 9. The first wave of the Booster Course Pass is a fun reminder of why this series is so popular.
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass is an electric, experimental, and effortlessly fun set of tracks to race on, with plenty of content to keep players busy! Plenty of nods to fan favourites of old and a lot of fresh ideas to invigorate the series going forward. With additional characters, costumes, and quality of life changes, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe becomes one of the best entries in the series to date.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the gift that keeps on giving. Who knows what the future holds for the franchise? For now, this latest wave provides more fun and excitement to tide us over until the final round of tracks heads away later this year.
Wave 4 delivers more of that sweet racing goodness to this near-perfect game. It's hard to criticize something so fun and fresh; in fact, the only obvious negative is that we're now down to the final two waves. Let's see what's next!
Wave two of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC hits the spot in every way. Every track brings a smile and feels like it truly belongs. It's a fun yet challenging collection that will have you laughing, even while occasionally losing in frustration.
When analysed individually, the six waves included in the Booster Course Pass have sometimes been a mixed bag, and it's easy for thoughts to linger on the past tracks that weren't revisited. However, the overall package is a generous and exciting one that's absolutely worth the asking price - we have zero qualms in recommending the Booster Course expansion to fans and newcomers alike. It doubles the number of tracks already available in the base game and adds in some excellent new racers, making it a near-essential purchase for all who own Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
All in all, Wave 4 features quite comfortably the best set of tracks so far from the Booster Course Pass, with only one proving to be a bit underwhelming. We’re loving the Tour additions, and Yoshi’s Island is destined to be an all-time great. If Nintendo keeps this up, then we’ll be in a great position for Waves 5 and 6.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was already a brilliant title, but now that the Booster Course Pass is over, it should go down as one of the Switch's all-time greats.
Mario Kart has been the king of kart racing for a long time. These latest additions only serve to further cement this title, with stunning visuals and engaging gameplay that bring a smile every time; it's just that good.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still the best kart racer out there, and with double the tracks thanks to the Expansion Pass it's now better than ever.
Surpassing the graphic aspect that, at times, blatantly betrays the mobile nature of some tracks, this additional content is absolutely a green light.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Actually, for all those who regularly play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Because the route pass significantly complements the already extensive course selection once again, the quality of the eight routes available so far is consistently good to very good.
Review in German | Read full review
As you play more, I’m sure it’s a tonal difference that will fade as you get used to it, but it does slightly undercut what Nintendo are selling and makes it feel like these were intended for another game – Mario Kart Tour, if this suspicion holds true. Then again, it’s hard to complain when there is such a huge wealth of circuits coming to the game through the Booster Pass’ six waves. It’s the gameplay that matters most, and the sheer variety of circuits that Nintendo are throwing into the mix is huge. They’re doubling the amount of tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it means that I and millions of others are sure to come back to the game and enjoy what it offers all over again.
Feather Cup is one of the best selections in the whole of the DLC line-up, while Cherry Cup is one of the worst. That term is always relative when it comes to Mario Kart, though, and even the most boring course is still fun if you’re playing with other people.
Whether Nintendo intendeds to reuse it for the inevitable Mario Kart 9 is impossible to say, but perhaps there might be some hint as to their future plans once the Booster Pass finally ends. Knowing Nintendo, they’ll more likely keep their secrets to the last moment but it really doesn’t matter because combined with all this DLC it’s difficult to imagine how anything could better Mario Kart 8.
There’s not a dud here and while it’s still odd that none of these courses really have anything to do with Mario Kart 8, they’re still just as fun to play and represent great value for money. Given the DLC schedule is only now at its halfway point there’s at least a year to go before we get any sign of Mario Kart 9 but these, and the other courses to come, should keep you happily entertained until then.
If the course pass was more expensive it’d be easier to take umbrage with that, but at less than 50p a track it’s very hard to see this as anything other than another welcome excuse to replay Mario Kart 8 and some of the series’ best courses.
If it wasn’t for the change in graphics this would get an unequivocal recommendation and even with that issue, we can’t imagine anyone that already enjoys Mario Kart 8 not thinking this isn’t worth getting as well.