Over the last few months, the Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass has added a wealth of classic tracks from past games in the series. In the last three DLC Waves, we’ve revisited fan-favourite circuits from Maple Treeway to Wario Pinball.
Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass arrives today and includes Yoshi’s Island, a brand new circuit inspired by the Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island SNES game.
Wave 4 also adds Birdo as a new playable character along with the new tracks. But it looks like more characters will join the roster in future waves.
Five new characters coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass
With the launch of Wave 4, players have noticed there are five empty slots on the character screen, seemingly confirming that at least five more characters will be added in future DLC waves.
So which characters could be coming? Characters from other Nintendo franchises including Splatoon, Legend of Zelda, and Animal Crossing have appeared as bonus playable characters in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
According to a Nintendo press release about Wave 4, the next DLC waves will feature “returning courses and characters from across the Mario Kart series," ruling out characters from other Nintendo franchises.
However, Nintendo still has plenty of characters from the Mario universe to choose from.
As Eurogamer reports, the only characters from the Mario franchise that aren’t in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are Pauline, Funky Kong, Petey Piranha, Wiggler, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong Jr (who has only appeared in the original Super Mario Kart, Honey Queen, Koopra Paratroopa, and R.O.B.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 4 DLC out now
As well as Birdie, the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 4 DLC introduces eight tracks split into two cups: the Fruit Cup and the Boomerang Cup.
The Fruit Cup includes Amsterdam Drift (Mario Kart Tour), Riverside Park (Mario Kart Super Circuit), DK Summit (Mario Kart Wii), and the new Yoshi's Island course.
The Boomerang Cup includes Bangkok Rush (Mario Kart Tour), Mario Circuit (Mario Kart DS), Waluigi Stadium (Mario Kart Double Dash), and Singapore Speedway (Mario Kart Tour).
Two more DLC waves will arrive by the end of 2023, bringing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s track roster to nearly 100 circuits.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update v2.3.0 patch notes
Coinciding with Booster Course Pass Wave 4 is a new patch update containing numerous bug fixes.
Here are the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update v2.3.0 patch notes:
Support for DLC
- Now supports paid DLC: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, Wave 4 (two cups, eight courses, and one character, Birdo).
General
- Improved the performance of some characters and vehicle customizations.
- Made it so that the player can see the rear view mirror when spinning, crashing, or changed into Bullet Bill.
- Made it so, if the player uses a Super Star or Boo at the same time that they are hit by Lightning, their kart will not crash or become small.
- Made it so, when jumping from a Whomp in Tour Berlin Byways, karts can leap over the fence.
- Added Golden Mushroom to Custom Items in Renegade Roundup.
- Added “Booster Course Pass” button to main menu. If a player does not have the Booster Course Pass, a link to the Nintendo eShop will be displayed.
Fixed Issues
- Fixed an issue where, when the player’s kart became small after being hit by lightning, it would slip into the ground.
- Fixed an issue where, when the player’s kart ran into a wall, they would be carried over by Lakitu even though they had not left the course.
- Fixed an issue where the player character would not be able to hit an opponent with a red shell when that opponent was jumping on a half-pipe.
- Fixed an issue where the player character could not drift after jumping and landing in a half pipe.
- Fixed an issue so that the player can use another item other than Boo right after using Boo.
- Fixed an issue where the player could not throw a Boomerang after catching it and it entered the second item slot.
- Fixed an issue where, when a player character hit the Blooper in an opponent’s Crazy 8, they would have ink squirted on them even though they are using the Super Star.
- Fixed an issue where, when the player stops looking at the rear view mirror, the ink would disappear momentarily even though they had Blooper ink on them.
- Fixed an issue where, when player is hit with a red shell at the same time as changing into Bullet Bill, they would go off the course.
- Fixed an issue where, at the escalator in Wii Coconut Mall, there would be a communication error when a character could not move forward.
- Fixed an issue when changed into Bullet Bill in Dry Dry Desert, where the character would slip into the ground.
- Fixed an issue where the character would get stuck on the bridge posts right before and after the starting line in Tour London Loop.
- Fixed an issue where, on wavy floors in 3DS Rainbow Road, the character could be pushed way off the course.