Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass
| Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass | |
|---|---|
 Key artwork for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass | |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch |
| Pricing |  NZ$41.25[1] ₽2075[2] A$37.50[1] ¥2,500 ₩25,000[3] HK$169[4] €24.99[5] ₪99.00[6] R450.00[7] 625.00 Kč[8] 187.50 kr.[8] 275.00 NKr[8] 100.00 zł[8] 275.00 kr[8] CHF 25.00[9] £22.49[8] R$151.00[10] Arg$35,399.00[11] Can$34.99 CL$28,990[12] Col$133,900.00[13] Mex$569.00[14] S/109.00[15] US$24.99 ¥119 RMB[16] |
| Release date | Wave 1: March 18, 2022[?] September 26, 2022[?]
Wave 2:
August 4, 2022[?] September 26, 2022[?]Wave 3: December 7, 2022[?] December 21, 2022[?]Wave 4: March 9, 2023[?] April 12, 2023[?]Wave 5: July 12, 2023[?] February 5, 2024[?]Wave 6: November 9, 2023[?] February 5, 2024[?] |
| Language(s) | English (United States) English (United Kingdom) Japanese Chinese (Simplified)[A] Chinese (Traditional) Dutch French (Canada) French (Europe) German Italian Korean Portuguese (Europe) Russian Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Europe) |
| Content | Additional courses, characters, and Mii Racing Suits returning from other Mario Kart games |
The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass (alternatively formatted as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass on Nintendo's Oceanian website),[17][18] also known as simply the Booster Course Pass,[19] is a DLC expansion pack for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. First conceived around 2020[20] and announced during the Nintendo Direct on February 9, 2022, the pack includes twelve additional cups, for a total of 48 additional courses (bringing the total number of courses in the game to 96), most of which are remastered versions of courses from other Mario Kart games, including Mario Kart Tour. The courses are based on their designs from Mario Kart Tour, but with significant visual improvements and new music arrangements. The pass was released in six waves, with each wave containing eight total courses (divided into two cups of four courses each). In addition to the courses, the pass also features eight additional playable characters for the game (added in Waves 4 to 6), which also return from other games of the Mario Kart series. The pack marks the longest gap between the original release of a Super Mario game and the release of its DLC, with the first wave releasing nearly five years after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did. The pack also makes Mario Kart 8 Deluxe the first Mario Kart game to feature classic courses from games following the original game's release, with Mario Kart Tour and its reappearing courses debuting after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was initially released. Additionally, the pack marks the first classic course appearances of Mario Kart Tour's courses; the city courses are assigned the "Tour" prefix, marking the first time a classic course prefix is not (an abbreviation of) the game's origin platform.
The Booster Course Pass can be purchased on its own, but it is also included in a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription,[21] as well as in the digital-exclusive Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle (Game + Booster Course Pass).[22] In Hong Kong, activation codes for the Booster Course Pass are additionally distributed in physical Nintendo Switch game cases, though buyers must own a copy of the base game to be able to use a code.[23] If the player has purchased the Booster Course Pass or currently has a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, a small icon of a Super Star can be seen next to the version number on the game's title screen. The first wave of the DLC was made available to pre-load on March 15, 2022, and was released in most regions on March 18, 2022, while the final wave was released on November 9, 2023.
The courses shown in the key artwork use official screenshots and in-game course icons from Mario Kart Tour. Some screenshots of the courses show Paris Promenade and Paris Promenade 3 with barrier fences from that game, as well as an official screenshot of the ninja Shy Guys in Ninja Hideaway, which originated from the 2021 Ninja Tour's in-game preview. Prior to Wave 1's release, the infographic showing all of the known courses across all six waves also used Mario Kart Tour screenshots. However, in the launch trailer for Wave 1 posted following its release, the infographic was updated to use in-game screenshots from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for all courses, which the release trailers for future waves, as well as the version of the infographic added to the game's menu in version 2.3.0 (upon the release of Wave 4), would follow as well.
Several minor adjustments to the courses in Wave 1 were made upon the release of Wave 2, such as their course icons being slightly brighter, and the sand and dirt on some courses now leaving tire marks. Additionally, the final car section in Wii Coconut Mall was adjusted, making the cars serve as hazards and move sporadically in random directions (except in Time Trials, in which they remain stationary as they were originally). With Wave 6, an additional end credits sequence was added, listing the staff members who worked on the pass. As of the discontinuation of Nintendo Switch online services in mainland China on May 15, 2026 at 22:00 (UTC+8), Tencent Nintendo Switch consoles can no longer newly purchase the downloadable content or redownload the purchased content if deleted from the console.
In the September 2023 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced a bundle that includes the base Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game and a download code for the Booster Course Pass in Japan, and a bundle that includes the Booster Course Pass download code and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe pins, cards, and stickers (without the game) in Europe and Oceania, both of which released on October 6, 2023.[24][25][26]
Content[edit]
Courses[edit]
Each of the six waves features two cups, each with four courses, for eight courses per wave.[21] In total, there are two courses each from Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, three courses from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, four courses each from Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7, five courses from Mario Kart: Super Circuit, eight courses from Mario Kart Wii, seventeen courses from Mario Kart Tour, and three new courses. Excluding the Mario Kart Tour courses, DS Shroom Ridge and GBA Snow Land are the only courses to make their first classic course appearances in the Booster Course Pass, and are two of the four classic courses that did not appear in Mario Kart Tour until after they had appeared in the Booster Course Pass (along with Wii Coconut Mall and GCN Waluigi Stadium).
Ninja Hideaway, Merry Mountain, and Piranha Plant Cove lack the "Tour" prefix, despite debuting in Mario Kart Tour. In the Tencent release of the DLC in mainland China, all courses from Mario Kart Tour lack the "Tour" prefix, likely due to Mario Kart Tour's unavailability from app distribution platforms in mainland China. Piranha Plant Pipeline is the only new course introduced in Mario Kart Tour to not be included in the DLC.
In Time Trials, the countries of several of the 150cc staff ghosts for Mario Kart Tour's city courses match the cities' respective countries: Tour Paris Promenade, Tour Tokyo Blur, Tour New York Minute and Tour Los Angeles Laps, Tour London Loop, Tour Berlin Byways, Tour Amsterdam Drift, Tour Rome Avanti, and Tour Madrid Drive's staff ghosts are French, Japanese, American, British, German, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish respectively. The other city courses have Japanese, American, or Spanish staff ghosts, as there are no staff ghosts in the game corresponding to the countries of those cities.
In the British English version of the game, 3DS Rock Rock Mountain and Wii DK Summit are known as 3DS Alpine Pass and Wii DK's Snowboard Cross respectively, as was the case in the British English versions of their original appearances. However, most courses that had different names between European French and Canadian French in previous games instead use their European French names in both versions, with the exceptions of DS Waluigi Pinball, Tour Amsterdam Drift, and 3DS Rosalina's Ice World.
Characters[edit]
Starting in Wave 4, eight additional playable characters were also added in the Booster Course Pass in addition to the courses.[27][28] All of these characters reuse their character models, icons (except for Funky Kong), and some animations from Mario Kart Tour, along with several new animations such as tricks for bikes and ATVs, as well as losing animations. With Birdo's inclusion in Wave 4 and Diddy Kong and Funky Kong's inclusion in Wave 6, all playable characters from Mario Kart Wii are now included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Initially, five question marks were added below Birdo in Wave 4, with three being filled in wave 5. Although only two question marks remained by Wave 6, four characters were added. Inkling Boy and female Villager were consolidated into their counterparts' slots to make room, though they continue to have different stats and animations than their counterparts.
Wave 4[edit]
Birdo - Birdo returns from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart Tour as the sole playable character included in Wave 4. Similarly to Yoshi and Shy Guy, Birdo has nine different colors. She is a mediumweight driver and has identical statistics to Peach, Daisy, and Yoshi. Birdo's alternate colors are named after the Mario Kart Tour variants, taking the form of "Birdo (color)" as opposed to "color Birdo", which Yoshi and Shy Guy's color variations use. Birdo's horn sound resembles the sound she makes when spitting out an egg in Super Mario Bros. 2.
- Alternate colors:
- Alternate colors:
Wave 5[edit]
Petey Piranha - Petey Piranha returns from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart Tour as one of three new drivers in Wave 5. He is a heavyweight driver and has almost the same statistics as Metal Mario / Gold Mario and Pink Gold Peach, except for using the large vehicle size instead of medium, and with an Invincibility statistic additionally increased by a value of 0.75 (3 points).
Wiggler - Wiggler returns from Mario Kart 7 as one of three new drivers in Wave 5. It is a heavyweight driver and has identical statistics to Waluigi, Donkey Kong, and Roy, except for using the medium vehicle size instead of large. Its release in Wave 5 was hours before its introduction to Mario Kart Tour in the Pipe Tour. Its horn sounds like a steam whistle, the same type of sound Wiggler makes when it gets angry.
Kamek - Kamek returns from Mario Kart Tour as one of three new drivers in Wave 5. He is a mediumweight driver and has identical statistics to Luigi and Iggy. His horn sound resembles his speech in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Kamek was originally intended to appear as a racer in the original Mario Kart 8, but was scrapped during development.
Wave 6[edit]
Diddy Kong - Diddy Kong returns from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart Tour as one of four new drivers in Wave 6. He is a mediumweight driver and has identical statistics to Cat Peach, Inkling Girl, and female Villager.[29]
Funky Kong - Funky Kong returns from Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Tour as one of four new drivers in Wave 6. He is a heavyweight driver and has identical statistics to Wario, Dry Bowser, and heavyweight Miis.[29] He is the only Booster Course Pass character who does not reuse his icon from Mario Kart Tour.
Pauline - Pauline returns from Mario Kart Tour as one of four new drivers in Wave 6. She is a heavyweight driver and has identical statistics to Rosalina, King Boo, and Link.[29] She has a unique outfit for when she is using a bike or ATV. Her horn sound is based on the stage clear jingle from Donkey Kong.
Peachette - Peachette returns from Mario Kart Tour as one of four new drivers in Wave 6. She is a mediumweight driver and has identical statistics to Peach, Daisy, Birdo, and Yoshi.[29] She has a unique outfit for when she is using a bike or ATV. Her horn sound is a combination of Toadette's and Peach's horn sounds.
Mii racing suits[edit]
As part of the Wave 6 update, eighteen Mii Racing Suits from Mario Kart Tour were added. Seventeen of these suits are available for players with the Booster Course Pass. The other suit, which is the Daisy Mii Racing Suit, is unlocked by scanning Daisy's amiibo, and is available to be scanned in regardless of whether or not the player owns the Booster Course Pass. The seventeen suits in the Booster Course Pass have unique trick animations while in anti-gravity mode, some of which are taken from Mario Kart Tour, while some are original. Like amiibo suits, these do not affect any statistics. The Wave 6 update also modified the Mii icon on the character select screen to no longer include the amiibo logo, as it looked in the original Mario Kart 8 before the introduction of amiibo support. The seventeen suits available in the Booster Course Pass are listed below:
