Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an upcoming racing game for the Nintendo Switch. It is the first enhanced 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 2016, the game was formally announced as part of the Nintendo Switch presentation on January 13, 2017. The game will be released worldwide on April 28th, 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, Time Trials in the 200cc engine class have been added, and there is an additional level of Mini-Turbo, called Ultra Mini-Turbo, denoted by pink 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. Also, the game introduces a 200cc Mirror Grand Prix class, and unlike the original Mario Kart 8, mirror mode is selected by pressing when selecting the 150cc or 200cc class. The game also has reduced loading times when compared to the Wii U game.

The game will feature all of the base and DLC content of Mario Kart 8 (excluding the battle mode in the Wii U game), with the same 48 courses.

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. 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.

There will be 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 is now closer to 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.
 * 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. Different from the original version, this mode is now also combined with Balloon Battle, with the same five balloons.
 * Shine Thief: Another returning mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, players must retrieve a Shine Sprite and keep hold of it until the time runs out, while other shineless players use items against whoever has the Shine to force them to drop it.
 * 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.
 * Renegade Roundup: A new mode in which there are two teams on the battle course. One team has to use Piranha Plants in order to capture players from the other team. The other team tries to stay away until the time runs out, and can free eliminated members of their team.

Battle courses
Eight battle courses will be present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, replacing the repurposed racetracks used for Battle Mode in the Wii U version. New Battle Courses include Urchin Underpass (a Splatoon-themed Battle Course), Battle Stadium, Sweet Sweet Kingdom, Dragon Palace, and Lunar Colony. Returning Battle Courses include SNES Battle Course 1,  GCN Luigi's Mansion, and  3DS Wuhu Town.

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 Boy or Inkling Girl, 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 currently confirmed for 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.

Unlocking criteria
The only unlockable playable character in this game is the Gold Mario variant for Metal Mario.

New vehicles
Three new vehicle body parts are confirmed. One of which is the Koopa Clown, returning from Mario Kart 7. The other two new vehicles which are Splatoon-themed ATVs are the Splat Buggy and Inkstriker. . Computer characters now also choose from a wider variety of kart parts than the vanilla version, such as the Flame Rider and the Sports Coupe. However, they are still restricted to a set amount of body parts, like in Mario Kart 7.

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.


 * Feather (only in Battle Mode)
 * Boo

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, such as all Animal Crossing related amiibo being compatible and unlocking the Animal Crossing Mii Racing Suit and any of Link's amiibo from either the Smash Bros. or Legend of Zelda lines will unlock the Hylian 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 on 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 when Smart Steering is active.
 * The course map is white instead of blue, including the maps of the Rainbow Roads and GCN Baby Park, which have multiple colors in the Wii U version.

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: 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 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. All included content and DLC is included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
 * 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.

Trivia

 * This is the only game to feature characters on a Rainbow Road track instead of a regular circuit on the box art, as well as any retro track in general.