“Mario Kart 8”, one of Nintendo’s most popular titles, has received its first round of DLC content. The packs were announced a while back, and fans already knew what they were about to get a few days in advance – but this hasn’t stopped most from being quite excited about the new release. The new content packs bring a variety of new goodies to the table, and there’s something for everyone who wishes to upgrade their gameplay experience with the latest “Mario Kart”.
Players can now customize their appearance with three new characters, picked from Nintendo’s other games – it’s now possible to play as Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach and Link (from “Legend of Zelda”). Link has never been featured in a “Mario Kart” game before, which has further added to fans’ excitement. Peach and Mario, on the other hand, are closer to reskins than actual new characters, since they have already been present in the game before the release of the DLC packs.
New customization options are now available for vehicles as well, with the Master Cycle, B Dasher and the Blue Falcon being some of the new options players can choose from. However, not all parts of the DLC are cosmetic – some have actual gameplay effects, namely the sets of new tracks that players can now purchase. Still, Nintendo have been quite reasonable with their pricing for the new content, so players won’t feel excluded from the fun. It should not be too difficult to get your hands on the new tracks if they grab your attention – and they definitely do look like they’ve been crafted with a lot of love.
There are a total of eight tracks that players can explore in the new DLC packages, split across two new cups (Egg and Triforce). It should be noted that not all of the tracks are new for the series as a whole, as some have already been featured in previous “Mario Kart” games, although their current reincarnations have been significantly improved. Most of the updates have been strictly visual, although there are some cases where maps have been changed in terms of gameplay, compared to their counterparts from previous versions of the game. Whether the changes are actually improvements remains to be seen.
Nintendo have expressed great interest in providing ongoing support for “Mario Kart 8”, and it’s good to see that they actually meant that. The company states that they have further content planned for the game, although it’s not yet known when that is planned to be released, or what it would contain. New cosmetic DLC is practically guaranteed to be released at some point, but it’s not so clear about new tracks or other potential gameplay DLC packs.