I recently purchased the Mario Kart 8: Deluxe DLC and I know a lot of people won’t agree with me, but it really bothers me how much lower quality the new tracks are than the original Wii U tracks.
https://imgur.com/a/CJ8Lbp6
Why is this? Shouldn’t the new tracks be better since they’re made for the Switch without the Wii U hardware to limit them?
by JadedUse2940
45 Comments
The lower quality comes from the fact that they were made for Mario Kart Tour, a cell phone game, and were ported to switch with a bit of a touch-up and resolution bump
But overall I think they did an amazing job, especially since it’s only 25$ for litterally DOUBLING the number of available courses, and they are super fun to play
I think the general consensus is they are porting these courses from the mobile phone game and giving them a makeover, with a few original tracks as well (the new ‘bathroom’ course is all new, for instance), but that the majority of the Kart development team is probably working on Mario Kart 9 which I assume would be a holiday title next year
I agree fully. Look at Athens Dash, compare the background to ANY of the base or original dlc MK8 courses. It looks genuinely hideous on a big screen.
100% agree, it took a whole year and a half for there to be a cup which has all fantastic tracks, which is the feather cup imo.
I agree. The original 48 tracks look nicer, especially after a resolution bump.
first of all im a playstation fan, always will be and always have- since the ps1.
but mario kart 8 deluxe was a 10/10 and I cant remember when I freeze my game to check the tracks, im driving in full speed.
People aren’t gonna like what I’m about to say, but the project is mainly a cash grab. They provide a large quantity for that price point, but the quality is not at a level that’s appropriate for the game. The original DLC provided sixteen courses at a $12 price point, but the courses were on par with the rest of the game. I think Nintendo should have gone with that level of quality, even though the price would be higher.
Edited to add: huh, apparently people like what I said.
Everyone keeps saying how amazing it is that they doubled the number of tracks in the game, but honestly I don’t *want* 48 new tracks if they’re going to be this half-hearted. If given a choice between quality and quantity, quality is the better way to go. Every time.
And it’s not like I gave up on it after the first wave either. Everybody keeps saying the more recent waves have been a huge step up visually and I just don’t see it. The textures still border on nonexistent, and the color palette is so bright that it’s literally hurt my eyes before. I mean, yeah they look better than Wave 1 did, but that’s… not saying much, to use the kindest possible terms. The only improvement I’ve noticed is the lighting, and even that’s way more obvious on nighttime tracks compared to daytime ones.
And the thing is, this would be forgivable if the tracks were improvements over their original versions gameplay-wise, but they just aren’t. Kalamari Desert making you drive on the train track for awhile is admittedly cool, but that’s honestly about it. The rest are either changed for the worse, or just the exact same tracks I’ve already played a thousand times. The Tour tracks in particular, barring Singapore Speedway, I don’t find fun because the constantly changing laps are incredibly disorienting.
Credit where it’s due: I really like Merry Mountain, Yoshi’s Island, and the aforementioned Singapore Speedway. But barring those tracks, this whole DLC has been a huge letdown imo.
Wife and I are having a blast with them!
I mean…. pretty much none of the Booster DLC compares with the actual MK8 tracks or the Wii U DLC.
They clearly are a different team, just sprucing up the Tour versions of these tracks, which means anti-grav is a rarity, tight turns don’t work because mobile requires these tracks be wide and in general they didn’t put nearly as much thought into reimagining the pre-existing tracks. I really hate what they did to Choco Mountain for example.
That said, I do think Athens, Singapore, Sydney, Boo Lake, Daisy Cruiser, Merry Mountain, Squeaky Clean Sprint, Peach Gardens and Rainbow Road 3DS are a lot of fun and I hope those tracks return again in whatever form the next Mario Kart takes.
They’ve been hanging out with Game Freak too much.
I remember when the DLC first came out, and you could not say anything like this without getting berated from all corners of people saying, “You don’t play racing games for the scenery!!!!!” This still happens even now, just to a smaller degree. But you don’t even have to stop and look at the track to see the massive visual difference.
And it’s not just the visuals I have issues with. Some of the tracks are also just not super fun, like most of the tour tracks. A few of the “remasters” of tracks have weird jank that just makes it more annoying to play, such as the turns in coconut mall not letting you ramp up them anymore; instead you just lose almost all of your speed. And the underwater tube in Koopa cape randomly deciding when you can jump off the half pipe, or when you just hit it and stop moving up.
A lot of people argue it’s worth the price, and I agree, it’s a lot of content for that price, but it’s just a massive dose of quantity over quality. I would have been much happier and more satisfied if we got dlc more in line with the ones on the WiiU version of Mario Kart 8.
The graphics are a bit worse, they seem to have cut some corners there, though they’ve gotten better wave by wave. But there’s more to the quality than just graphics, the courses are overall very fun and, to me, are at least on par with the regular courses of the game
I like the new tracks than what came with the base game. I don’t like 8 for some reason.
While the quality for MOST of the tracks aren’t up to OG MK8 standards HOWEVER there are some that look great. Squeaky Clean Sprint, Waluigi Stadium, 3DS Rainbow Road, Boo Lake, Maple Treeway, Peach Gardens, Yoshi’s Island. Are great examples.
Then there’s others like all the Tour City tracks, Sky High Sundae, Toad Circuit, Coconut Mall, Daisy Cruiser..just look bad..
I like them
Generally they do look worse, mainly because they are ported from Tour, a mobile game. However, some (not many but a few) are definitely close to or on par with the base game. The ones that come to mind are definitely GBA Snow Land, 3DS Rainbow Road, and GBA Riverside Park. Most people were incredibly disappointed with the first wave, however the quality is somewhat better in some of Tracks. I think my issue is that it’s kind of inconsistent.
Im pretty sure they released this dlc to make easy money and also delay releasing Mario Kart 9 for whatever reason
The only tracks that are visually appealing are the non-tour tracks and the brand new tracks. Yoshi’s Island is pure eye candy
Ya daisy cruise seems off from the og GameCube one (less colourful)
I don’t like any of the tour courses but for the price, it’s a good deal
It’s quantity over quality.
Quick dirty mobile ports to get some cash in and keep interest in the game high.
It is good value, that can’t be argued.
But personally I would have paid twice as much for half as many tracks that matched the quality of the originals.
I’ll take it to save 25 dollars on the purchase
I 100% agree. I got downvoted into oblivion on another post for saying the Tour tracks were garbage. its definitely quantity over quality.
lol no, the tracks are great overall since wave 2
The tour tracks are underwhelming since they’re from a shitty mobile game
Need more classic double dash / DS / 64 tracks
Mk7 graphics
I mean, sure they don’t look as good but they’re still fun to race on so I don’t really care.
Even if it looks terrible, 3DS Toad Circuit is still fun even on 200cc. I also love the Tour City tracks because they’re basically brand new tracks since I’ve never played Tour and they have the unique gimmick of changing routes on each lap which is something I haven’t seen in a racing game since Sonic Transformed.
Plus, there’s a lot of visual variety now what with Athens, Los Angeles, and Vancouver in the mix. It’s not just “driving through cities” when Athens has actual Greek ruins, LA has beaches, and Vancouver has the suspension bridge.
I won’t moan as I’m not paying, but yes it would be much nicer if they were on par with the original tracks, and yes you REALLY can tell.
I don’t think I’ve played a new track that I don’t like. And I think they look fine. I also haven’t played the newest wave yet but I’m sure it’ll hold up.
It’s also worth noting that this DLC is sort of free. If you hop online you don’t need to have purchased the booster pass or have the premium online tier to access them. Which is awesome.
I’m personally bothered by Wiggler’s model. His nose has obvious polygon edges and he’s so rough all-around. It reminds me of a scaled up version of his MK7 model.
I hate that they are just straight up ports from a mobile game. Like really Nintendo? They are such a downgrade from the beautiful remastered courses from Mario Kart 8 like Moo Moo Meadows and Cheap Cheap Beach.
You can tell they took their time with those courses. The new ones in the DLC are so lazy with no detail and care put into them.
Oh, god, I never realized how bad it was until I looked at your album. That is…yikes.
Also I feel like I’m the only one that really doesn’t like any of the tour city tracks. Way too much “lol now you have to turn the other way/go backwards this lap” just for the sake of it.
The musics fantastic though
Unfortunately they went with the “easier” route and ported majority of the DLC tracks from Mario Kart Tour. I agree they don’t look polished. I’m really not a big fan of the city tracks. They seem harder to navigate than the other tracks, and those red arrows do not help.
I’m sorry but the excuses people in the comments are giving like:
“They came from MK tour, that’s why they’re like that”
and
“We’re getting 48 new courses, it’s fine that the Tour courses don’t look good”
Are just not good enough for a company like Nintendo. The Tour tracks SHOULD been on par visually with the rest of the tracks in the game. It’s just Nintendo cutting corners.
I always said the tour tracks are not as good, and keep getting downvoted for having an opinion lol. But yeah I agree with you
Is it me, or does Kamek’s model look off too? Can’t quite nail down what it is, but he looks lower quality in comparison to other characters.
I am not sure how anyone is impressed with Nintendo. I have a switch OLED, while it is cool. It is like 7 years old tech at this point. Software is meh and games are just regurgitation from when I was 10 years old. They need to step it up.
Different Hot Take: the city/country themed courses are completely out of theme and clash with the rest of the game. They should never have been added.
Every tour track is a wasted opportunity to put in a track that isn’t trash.
Listen…. I agree. Lots of Nintendo titles are fun, but many as of late have been bad. We still buy. Mario soccer was a scam. Look at Pokémon for example, those games are borderline trash.
They don’t look that great but they are fun. It’s almost too much though. Like I was so used to what is available and I fell off. Now there are so many tracks and when I start playing I’m like these are fun but it feels weird. Like when suddenly there were more Futurama episodes and arrested development episodes. Like I got what I wanted but I was so accustomed to and familiar with what was available.
Let be clear would people pay $60 bucks if the tracks were higher quality? Knowing you can get them for $25 with lower quality?
Shroom Ridge has to be the ugliest track in the game