It was hard not to be disappointed when Mario Kart 9 wasn’t shown at last week’s Nintendo Direct Show. Instead, Nintendo announced a Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that will add 48 new tracks over the next two years. These tracks will be split into six waves, with each wave containing eight remastered tracks from classic Mario Kart games.
Only eight of the 48 tracks have been announced so far. That leaves 40 tracks still to be announced – and the Mario Kart Tour mobile game could offer some clues.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 1 tracks
Available on 18 March for £22.49 or free for Switch Online Expansion Pack owners, the Booster Course Pass will include the following tracks in Wave 1:
- Paris Promenade (Tour)
- Toad Circuit (3DS)
- Choco Mountain (N64)
- Tokyo Blur (Tour)
- Ninja Hideaway (Tour)
- Sky Garden (GBA)
- Coconut Mall (Wii)
- Shroom Ridge (DS)
As noted by Video Games Chronicle, Shroom Ridge is the only track that doesn't feature in the free-to-play mobile game. Three of the tracks in Wave 1 are also original circuits that first appeared in MK Tour.
This suggests that a lot of tracks in the MK8 Deluxe Booster Course Pack will likely come from MK Tour. Sky Garden, which is included in Wave 1, is also coming to MK Tour in an update on 23 February.
Since it launched in 2019, many classic tracks have been remade in MK Tour. VGC has compiled a handy list of tracks in MK Tour that are not available in MK8 Deluxe.
Nothing is confirmed yet, but there's a high chance that the Booster Course Pass will add these tracks to MK8 Deluxe from MK Tour:
- Mario Circuit SNES
- Donut Plains SNES
- Ghost Valley SNES
- Choco Island SNES
- Vanilla Lake SNES
- Koopa Beach SNES
- Koopa Troopa Beach N64
- Kalimari Desert N64
- Frappe Snowland N64
- Bowser’s Castle GBA
- Cheep Cheep Island GBA
- Sunset Wilds GBA
- Dino Dino Jungle GC
- Luigi’s Mansion DS
- Waluigi Pinball DS
- DK Pass DS
- Airship Fortress DS
- DK Summit DS
- Maple Treeway Wii
- Daisy Hills 3DS
- Cheep Cheep Lagoon 3DS
- Shy Guy Bazaar 3DS
- Mario Circuit 3DS
- Rock Rock Mountain 3DS
- Wario Shipyard 3DS
- Rosalina’s Ice World 3DS
- Bowser’s Castle 3DS
Downgraded graphics
Some fans have also noticed that the tracks in Wave 1 appear to use assets from MK Tour that look downgraded compared to MK8 Deluxe’s visuals.
While the tracks shown in screenshots look more detailed than those in Tour, they do appear to have the same cartoony art style as the mobile game. We’ll have to reserve judgement until Wave 1 is released next month.
With all six waves in the Booster Course Pass, MK8 Deluxe will have 96 tracks in total to keep us busy for the next two years while we wait for MK9. That's the highest number of tracks in a Mario Kart game to date by a significant margin.
We’ve also compiled our own list of fan-favourite tracks we want to see in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. Which classic tracks are you hoping to revisit in MK8 Deluxe?