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 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, 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. 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 turbo 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 x 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.

The game will feature all of the base and DLC content of Mario Kart 8 (excluding the battle mode in the Wii U game, Miiverse compatibility, and stamps), 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 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 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 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 teammates from the cells by driving over a key switch placed below said jail cells. The Renegades win if at least one member is still running free after the time runs out, and the Authorities win if all 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 cell.
 * 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 is slightly different, as it is now combined with Balloon Battle, with the same five balloons.
 * 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 until the time runs out, while other shineless players use items against whoever has the Shine to force them to drop it. The driver holding the shine sprite drives slightly slower than the other drivers, however.

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, replacing the repurposed racetracks used for Battle Mode in the Wii U version. There are five new battle stages: Urchin Underpass (a Splatoon-themed Battle Course), Battle Stadium, Sweet Sweet Kingdom, Dragon Palace, and Lunar Colony. There are also three retro battle stages: 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, who is unlocked by winning all Grand Prix cups at 200cc. Once unlocked, he seems to appear on the 'main' character select screen instead of 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-based ATVs are the Splat Buggy and Inkstriker. 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, 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 Super 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 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 have multiple colors. Some of the Battle stages have colored lines on their maps.
 * 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.

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.