Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a racing game for the Nintendo Switch. Excluding Virtual Console (as Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Mario Kart DS were previously ported to newer consoles through this service), it is the first port of the Mario Kart series, being a port of Mario Kart 8 from the Wii U. It has additional features such as several new characters and features more options for Battle Mode. First hinted in the Switch's announcement video in October 20, 2016, the game was formally announced as part of the Nintendo Switch presentation on January 13, 2017. The game was released worldwide on April 28, 2017.

Differences from the original
Characters can now carry up to two items at once, even if they don't drag the first item, and the game features the return of the Double Item Box from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The game also introduces smart-steering and auto-accelerate for beginners; the former makes driving and staying on the track easier, the latter makes the vehicle automatically accelerate.

The statistics of the vehicle parts and drivers have also been changed, 200cc engine class for Time Trials has been added, and there is an additional level of Mini-Turbo, called Ultra Mini-Turbo, denoted by purple sparks that appear after the orange sparks. This new level of Mini-Turbo can only be obtained if Smart Steering is off.

The game also features a different in-game guide, directly accessible from the game's menu. There is also an option to change character and vehicle combinations during an online lobby without having to leave; this is done by pressing the "Y" button during the course selection screen of an online lobby. The game also has reduced loading times when compared to the Wii U game.

The controversial exploit of "Fire Hopping", in which a player could hop repeatedly from left to right to get extra speed from a boost, has been removed from the game.

Some of the vehicle parts that are exclusive to downloadable content in Mario Kart 8 (i.e. parts included within the Mercedes-Benz × Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda × Mario Kart 8, and the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 add-on packs) are now randomly unlocked by collecting coins during gameplay.

There are more character weight classes when compared to the Wii U game, with several returning characters having different statistics. Also, the statistics of some vehicle parts have been altered.

The game features all of the base and DLC content of Mario Kart 8 (excluding the battle mode in the Wii U game, Miiverse compatibility, stamps, and the ability to share highlights on YouTube), with the same 48 courses.

Red Shells and Spiny Shells are now slower when they lock onto their target, meaning players are able to outrun them in 200cc when they have any kind of speed boost. The pathing and drifting patterns for the CPU racers have been adjusted to accommodate for the 200cc engine class.

CPU racers now have a chance to pull Triple Red Shells from item boxes.

Online lobbies are also changed. Players playing Worldwide or Regional VS Race between 1000 VR and 3000 VR will be randomized either a 100cc or 150cc race, and starting at over 3000 VR, players will now be randomized a 150cc, Mirror, or even 200cc race.

Battle Mode
One of the biggest changes made between the port and the original release of Mario Kart 8 is the revamped Battle Mode. Unlike Mario Kart games before this, each player starts with 5 balloons, as opposed to the normal amount of 3. Another addition to Battle Mode is that the character in the lead now wears a crown, unlike Mario Kart 8 where the crown is displayed only on the HUD map. Additionally, players now start out with 0 points instead of Mario Kart 8 ' s default 3 points, and their balloons do not serve as the remainder 3 points. Returning from Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 is the ability to respawn after all balloons are popped; this causes the player's total score to halve and respawns with 3 balloons instead of 5. A new addition to this mode is the feature to tell exactly which character hit whom, which appears on the bottom of the screen. Furthermore, after getting hit, players now have about 1.5 seconds of invincibility frames, unlike in Mario Kart 8. The item options also appear to have been updated; alongside the "Frantic Items" option, a "Skilled Items" option is also available for selection; it is currently unknown what items appear during this selection.

There are five different Battle Mode types:
 * Balloon Battle: The classic mode where players use items to pop opponents' balloons or steal them in order to score points. This mode now uses the point-based set-up seen in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, rather than the last man standing set-up of Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 8.


 * Renegade Roundup: A new mode in the vein of "cops and robbers", with the racers being divided into two teams. One team, known as "The Authorities", has to use Potted Piranha Plants (which are permanently attached to the front of their vehicle and only serve to capture the opposing team; they do not operate like the regular item) in order to attack and capture players from the other team, known as "The Renegades". Captured Renegades are placed into one of several jail cells floating above various points on the stage. Remaining Renegades can free their teammates by driving over a key switch placed below the jail cells. The Renegades win if at least one member is still running free when time runs out, and the Authorities win if all of the Renegades get captured. All Authority team members also temporarily lose their ability to capture after being hit by an item and Renegades receive a speed boost when they are freed from the cells.


 * Bob-omb Blast: A returning mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, in which players attack one another using Bob-ombs to score points and can carry up to 10 Bob-ombs. This version follows all of the same rules as Balloon Battle, the difference being that every Item Box gives the player one Bob-omb, and Double Item Boxes yield 2 Bob-ombs.


 * Coin Runners: Originating in Mario Kart Wii, this mode was last seen in Mario Kart 7. Players must collect Coins scattered across the course in order to have the most by the end of the match. Plays more akin to the Mario Kart Wii version of the mode, with players having no limit to the amount of coins they can collect, as opposed to the 10 coin limit in the Mario Kart 7 version.


 * Shine Thief: Another returning mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, players must retrieve a Shine Sprite and keep hold of it for about 20 seconds, while other shineless players use items against whoever has the Shine to force them to drop it. The driver holding the shine sprite has a slightly reduced top speed.

There is also the option to randomly select one of the five available modes by choosing "Random Battle".

Battle courses
Eight battle courses are present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe; five new and three retro, replacing the repurposed racetracks used for Battle Mode in the Wii U version.

Similar to regular races, a course introduction scene is now added at the start.

Characters
All base and DLC characters from Mario Kart 8 are present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Additionally, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features 6 new characters not present in Mario Kart 8, 4 of whom are returning from past games in the series. New characters include additional non-Mario characters with the inclusion of Inklings from Splatoon. Players can choose either the Inkling Girl or Inkling Boy, and they include three selectable colors each; similarly, the two Villagers have also been separated, after being present in the same character slot (with the female villager being considered a variant of the male one) in Mario Kart 8. Excluding character variants, there are a total of 42 playable characters in this game, the largest number of playable characters thus far in the series.

Characters playable in this game that are not playable in the original Mario Kart 8 are listed below.

Rival order
Like in Mario Kart 8, characters have set rivals that consistently appear when racing in Grand Prix races. They are once again restricted to Grand Prix only, not appearing in single player versus or battle mode. Unlike the previous game, more characters have rivals: the twelve characters from the previous game who had rivals retain their rivals in this game, while other characters range from having one to two rivals each, or even none at all.

New vehicles
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features three additional vehicle body parts. One is the Koopa Clown, returning from Mario Kart 7. The other two new vehicles are Splatoon-based ATVs Splat Buggy and Inkstriker. All three change their colors for certain characters: the former for the Koopalings, and the latter two for all Inkling variations.

Computer characters now also choose from a wider variety of kart parts than the original version, such as the Flame Rider and the Sports Coupe. However, they are still restricted to a set amount of body parts per character. A computer Baby Daisy has the tendency to choose a Wild Wiggler with Wood wheels, for example.

Renewed statistics
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features different statistics with respect to Mario Kart 8. Stats range from 0.75 to 5.75 in the vehicle customization menu, indicating that the stats have 21 levels instead of the 20 featured in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8.

Below, the statistics of the drivers and parts are shown; statistics not currently featured in the vehicle customization menu are derived from the official game guide. Those featured in the game's menu are the following:


 * (Ground) Speed: The top speed of the vehicle on land with normal gravity.
 * Acceleration: how fast the speed increases when holding the acceleration button until top speed has been reached.
 * Weight: The weight of the vehicle. Vehicles with higher weight knock away vehicles with lower weight.
 * (Ground) Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle on land with normal gravity. A higher stat means vehicles turn sharper.
 * Traction (Grip in PAL version): The grasp of the vehicle. Vehicles with higher traction slip less on certain terrain and are faster on sand and ice. Not to be confused with handling.

The statistics not featured in the menu are the following:


 * Water Speed: the top speed of the vehicle underwater.
 * Air Speed: the top speed of the vehicle while gliding
 * Anti-Gravity Speed: the top speed of the vehicle on Anti-Gravity sections of the course
 * Water Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle underwater.
 * Air Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle while gliding.
 * Anti-Gravity Handling: The turning ability of the vehicle on Anti-Gravity sections of the course.
 * Mini-Turbo: the duration of the Mini-Turbo boosts.

Drivers' statistics
Drivers are still grouped into small groups of characters sharing the same statistics, the number of groups has been increased with respect to Mario Kart 8.

The statistics shown are the ones obtained when using standard parts (Standard Kart, Standard Tires, Super Glider).

Parts' statistics
The number of groups of vehicle parts sharing the same statistics has increased as well when compared with Mario Kart 8.

The statistics are reported as difference with respect to standard parts (Standard Kart, Standard Tires, Super Glider).

Characters
The only unlockable playable character in this game is Gold Mario, who is unlocked by winning all Grand Prix cups at 200cc. Once unlocked, he appears on the 'main' character select screen instead of Metal Mario. Metal Mario can still be selected, but he is from then on considered a variant of Gold Mario. Aside from the different color scheme, Gold Mario is otherwise identical to Metal Mario, as they share the same voice clips, horn sound, animations, and statistics.

Vehicle Parts
A vehicle part is randomly unlocked every 30 coins. Once reaching 450 coins this changes to every 50, and once reaching 1500 coins this changes to every 100.

Special parts
Special gold parts are unlocked with the following criteria:
 * Gold Standard: Unlocked by achieving at least 1 star ranking on all Mirror Cups.
 * Gold Tires: Unlocked by defeating all 48 staff ghosts in 150cc Time Trials.
 * Gold Glider: Unlocked by collecting 5,000 coins.

New items
The Feather and Boo items make a return in this game, functioning as they had previously. All other items from the Wii U version return as well. Also, the item distributions have been altered beside the addition of the new items.

New amiibo compatibility
In addition to all of the compatible amiibo in Mario Kart 8 with their respective Mii Racing Suits, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe adds compatibility with amiibo from the Splatoon line, which unlock a Mii Racing Suit based on Splatoon. Additionally, more amiibo can be used to unlock the returning Mii Racing Suits, as all Animal Crossing related amiibo being compatible and unlocking the Animal Crossing Mii Racing Suit.

The new Super Mario series amiibo characters (Daisy, Waluigi, and Boo) plus Bowser Jr., do not unlock any Mii suit at the time of the game's release.

Graphical differences

 * Motion blur when boosting is present in LAN and online mode. In earlier builds, it was also present in splitscreen.
 * The game now renders in native 1080p when docked in TV mode, instead of the 720p in the original Wii U version—however, it will still render in 720p on Tabletop or Handheld mode.
 * The shadows present are of higher quality in multiplayer.
 * If a Blooper is about to ink the player as they cross the finish line, the player will still get inked. This is unlike the Wii U version, where the Blooper disappears instead.
 * If the Smart Steering mode is on, the player's vehicle will have an antenna sticking out its rear end. The antenna blinks and will tilt and bend when Smart Steering is activated.
 * The course map color on the race tracks is now white instead of blue, including the maps of all three Rainbow Roads and GCN Baby Park, which originally had multiple colors. Some of the Battle stages have colored lines on their maps.
 * The character icons on the course map are now slightly larger, more detailed, and are of a higher resolution.
 * Several courses that feature confetti flying around the start/finish line, such as Mount Wario, now have confetti on the ground of the course near the finish line.
 * When using the rearview mirror, the characters will move their eyes a little to the left to look back, like how they do in Mario Kart Wii; however, their eyes will stay looking to the left as long as the rearview is active, rather than switching back after a second like in Mario Kart Wii.
 * Inkling Girl, Isabelle, and Link now appear on the loading screen.
 * When a Bob-omb or Spiny Shell explodes, its explosion is now shown on the course map.
 * When playing as Team VS. Races or Battles, the flags of the corresponding colors are added behind the vehicle.
 * When in an online lobby, the Miis now wear the racing suits that they wear during a race.
 * During online race lobbies, the engine class for the upcoming race is shown as the course is selected, via "100", "150", a mirrored "150" (for Mirror) or "200" icons in the bottom right of the selected course icon. This extends to online battle lobbies, as it will display a yellow balloon (Balloon Battle), a potted Piranha Plant (Renegade Roundup), a Coin (Coin Runners), a Shine Sprite (Shine Thief), or a Bob-omb (Bob-omb Blast) to denote which battle mode is about to be played.
 * Players can now see the lap count or timer when spectating an online race or battle.
 * Players can no longer see the lap count when crossing the finish line and full results in multiplayer (including online lobbies) at the end of the race while watching replay videos via Mario Kart TV.

Updates
Note that in order to play it online, players must have downloaded the most recent software update.

Ver. 1.1.0
On May 17, 2017, an update was released. The following changes were made:
 * Opponents’ names are displayed in the rear view mirror view in online matches.
 * Invincibility period after a spin-out or crash is longer in online matches.
 * Up to two players can spectate a friend group while they wait to join.
 * “Worldwide” and “Regional” modes add players to Mirror and 200cc matches less often.
 * Players can now properly create a friend lobby when having 100 or more friends.
 * The starting positions in online races now properly reflect the order in which the players join (just like the original).
 * Driver Miis now properly show facial expressions.
 * The Tournament clock now properly reflects real-world time.
 * Inkling Girl's animation has been adjusted.
 * The original animation resembled an "Up Yours" gesture, which is considered offensive in Western countries.

This update is required to play online.

Critical reception
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been received with universal acclaim, garnering higher aggregate scores than the original Mario Kart 8. The game has been praised for being well-suited to the Switch's portability, the increased performance, and particularly the redesigned Battle Mode, although several reviews noted Deluxe would not be as appealing of a proposition to players who already own Mario Kart 8 and its downloadable content.

Sales
In the United Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe debuted at No. 1 on the sales chart, making it the first Nintendo game to be No. 1 in the UK since 2011's Pokémon White Version, and the first Mario game to place such since Mario Kart Wii.

The game sold 459,000 copies for its US launch day, making it the fastest-selling Mario Kart game in the US and meaning 45% of US Switch owners purchased the game.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Kart: The Feather item returns from this game, with the same function. Battle Course 1 reappears as a retro battle stage; a billboard in the course background is modeled after the player select screen from this game.
 * Mario Kart 64: Similar to this game, all courses in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are unlocked from the start.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Luigi's Mansion reappears as a retro battle stage. The Double Item Boxes and the two Battle sub-modes, Bob-omb Blast and Shine Thief, return.
 * Mario Kart DS: An arrangement of the theme song of Luigi's Mansion is used in GCN Luigi's Mansion.
 * Mario Kart Wii: Dry Bones's voice clips are reused from this game.
 * Mario Kart 7: The Koopa Clown kart body returns from this game. Wuhu Town reappears as a retro battle stage. Lunar Colony has a moon section with low gravity just like Rainbow Road from this game.
 * Mario Kart 8: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a port of this game. Most original and all DLC content is included, alongside the new features.
 * Super Mario 3D World: The crown mechanic in Battle Mode is similar to the mechanic in this game's multi-player, where the player with the highest score from one stage will be wearing a crown in the next stage.
 * Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U: The Koopa Clown's propellers in anti-gravity sections emerge from circular panels on the side of the vehicle, much like the Junior Clown Car's weapons. Also, the Koopalings' Koopa Clowns match the Clown Car colors they use in this game.