The Good:
- Great gameplay
- A true wealth of content
- Rock-solid presentation
The Ok:
- Perhaps should have just been a new game
The Bad:
- Not much
Conclusion:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sorta speaks for itself at this point; there’s a reason it’s the default game you play with people who don’t play games often. The controls feel amazing, the visuals are great, and most of the courses range from good to spectacular. Plus, the addition of the (very worth it) Booster Pass DLC means that there’s frankly a staggering number of courses to go through now. Some courses are better than others, and frankly the battle modes don’t interest me, but on the whole this is great stuff. Honestly, my only real complaint is that at this point, I almost wish that 8 Deluxe was just 9 instead; we’ve spent a decade now with the mechanics introduced on the Wii U, and it’s time for something new. Still, it’s hard to complain when the end result is this polished. This is the definitive Mario Kart game.
- Great gameplay
- A true wealth of content
- Rock-solid presentation
The Ok:
- Perhaps should have just been a new game
The Bad:
- Not much
Conclusion:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sorta speaks for itself at this point; there’s a reason it’s the default game you play with people who don’t play games often. The controls feel amazing, the visuals are great, and most of the courses range from good to spectacular. Plus, the addition of the (very worth it) Booster Pass DLC means that there’s frankly a staggering number of courses to go through now. Some courses are better than others, and frankly the battle modes don’t interest me, but on the whole this is great stuff. Honestly, my only real complaint is that at this point, I almost wish that 8 Deluxe was just 9 instead; we’ve spent a decade now with the mechanics introduced on the Wii U, and it’s time for something new. Still, it’s hard to complain when the end result is this polished. This is the definitive Mario Kart game.
My thoughts on this are largely the same as on the vanilla version, which you can read here.
Deluxe adds, changes, and removes a few things, and overall it's the very slightly better version. The Smash Bros.-style custom item options for vs. races is something I'd been wanting in the series for many years.
New characters and vehicle parts have been added, and there are more distinct stat classes for all of them which is an appreciated touch.
Battle Mode has proper arenas now, but most of them seem a tad too large for 12-player matches. Balloon Battle is still missing a traditional elimination-style, no-timer option in offline play, but the addition of the excellent Renegade Roundup mode makes up for that for me anyway.
Fire-hopping has been removed, but it was such a lame and inconsequential technique compared to the crazy stuff you can pull off in Double Dash or Wii, so 8DX doesn't really suffer much from it's removal.
Standard Online matches now cycle between 150cc, 150cc Mirror, and 200cc, which is more irritating than anything, but I suppose it's not a big deal.
I didn't touch on it in my Mario Kart 8 review, but Time Trials still has coins and I wish they removed that. Time Trials should be about finding the fastest lines through a track, not routing for coins.
The DLC is underwhelming and lazy, but I'll write my complete thoughts later in a dedicated DLC review.
Deluxe adds, changes, and removes a few things, and overall it's the very slightly better version. The Smash Bros.-style custom item options for vs. races is something I'd been wanting in the series for many years.
New characters and vehicle parts have been added, and there are more distinct stat classes for all of them which is an appreciated touch.
Battle Mode has proper arenas now, but most of them seem a tad too large for 12-player matches. Balloon Battle is still missing a traditional elimination-style, no-timer option in offline play, but the addition of the excellent Renegade Roundup mode makes up for that for me anyway.
Fire-hopping has been removed, but it was such a lame and inconsequential technique compared to the crazy stuff you can pull off in Double Dash or Wii, so 8DX doesn't really suffer much from it's removal.
Standard Online matches now cycle between 150cc, 150cc Mirror, and 200cc, which is more irritating than anything, but I suppose it's not a big deal.
I didn't touch on it in my Mario Kart 8 review, but Time Trials still has coins and I wish they removed that. Time Trials should be about finding the fastest lines through a track, not routing for coins.
The DLC is underwhelming and lazy, but I'll write my complete thoughts later in a dedicated DLC review.
Basically the definitive Mario Kart experience. The controls are very smooth and there are some phenominal tracks like Mount Wario and Electrodrome. I do have some nitpicks, however. The Booster Course Pass has bangers, but it also brought us some bad tracks as well. Also, gliding in this game doesn't feel as good as in Mario Kart 7. Finally, while Battle Mode is amazing, there really should have been an option to make Balloon Battle elimination based.