List of Mario Kart 8 pre-release and unused content

This is a list of beta elements for the game Mario Kart 8.

Early ideas
The players were originally going to have a drill attached to their karts to tunnel through parts of the track to reach new areas and possibly for shortcuts, but Nintendo scrapped this idea in favor of the Anti-Gravity mechanic they have in the final build of the game.

Early builds
Twisted Mansion was originally called Boo House. The E3 build of Mario Kart 8 featured slightly different Mario Circuit music. Kart noises in the E3 build are recycled from Mario Kart Wii while in the final version they are replaced by new engine noises. The course intro music in the E3 build was from Mario Kart 7, while the 1st victory music was from Mario Kart Wii. Character voices are recycled from previous games in the E3 build and newer builds provide newer voices. Players are unable to slipstream in the E3 demo. Characters did not hold items in their hands in the E3 demo. Donkey Kong's Standard Bike color was brown, but in the final version it was yellow. The Galaxy Air advertisement in Toad Harbor at the starting line was replaced by a Flower Cup logo. In early builds, the buttons "a" and "b" were replaced by "A" and "B". Thwomp Ruins in the E3 trailer lacked flowers and the finish line where it was in the final version and the anti gravity section before it was a normal section. The Goomba Towers found in Mario Circuit (Wii U) were both taller and harder to avoid unlike the final build of the game.

Triple Bananas originally were in a line of 3 like in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 instead of circling around the kart. The same applies to Triple Mushrooms in that they also didn't circle the kart. If the players played as a character with facial hair in the E3 demo, their mustaches would not blow in the wind unlike the final game. Players were also able to grab a second item while dragging one behind the kart in the demo, which cannot be done in the final game. The noise that the item cycle makes is different in the E3 demo whenever it's going through the items as seen here at 1:00. The noise when the player collects a coin is also different in the demo.

In the E3 demo, some (if not, most) of the items were missing or either unobtainable due to it being only a demo and added to the final game, some notable examples of the missing/unobtainable items were the Bullet Bill, the Spiny Shell, the Super Star, and the Thunderbolt (item). The HUD also looked different in the demo, having solid numbers instead of the digital ones in the final game; the same also applies to Lakitu's lap counter. The kart customization was also absent from the demo; players would instead choose a character and race with a kart or bike premade for that character.

Birdo was scheduled playable, but was replaced by Pink Gold Peach for reasons of time. (It is displayed on the banner "Women Racing Generations" of the Royal Raceway.)

Lots of the music was changed between the trailers and final release. If one is to listen to the Sunshine Airport music between the trailer it was revealed in and the final version, they may notice a difference in the instruments chosen for the music. It can also be pointed out that not all the songs were orchestrated by the time of the Koopalings trailer, as the music for Electrodrome in that trailer is different from the final release as well.