The penultimate set of tracks dropped in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe earlier today, and thoughts online are largely positive. Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass' eight courses contains another selection of series classics and a brand new course, but the GBA track Sunset Wilds has been dominating the conversation for all the wrong reasons — the sun never sets!
Back in Mario Kart Super Circuit, Sunset Wilds was a lovely desert-themed track where, on each lap, the sun would set more. On lap 1, it's early evening and the sky is a warm orange; lap 2 sees the sky go a little cooler, a blend of reds and purples; on lap 3, the sky is completely blue, and the moon sits high in the sky.
In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Sunset Wilds' sun stays put for all three laps — the sky never changes, and the sun still scorches like it's the early evening for the whole race. Fans aren't happy about it — especially given that the course is present in Mario Kart Tour and the sun does indeed set on the mobile game.
We've raced on this particular course multiple times now, and have even tried changing our internal Switch clock to see if it's tied to the time. But alas, the sun does not set.
This situation is reminiscent of Coconut Mall's introduction back when Wave 1 dropped in May 2022. Originally, the cars towards the end of the course didn't move like they did in the original — and in Tour — but Nintendo later fixed this when Wave 2 dropped.
So maybe — maaaaybe — Nintendo will do the same here. For now, we'll just have to put up with the sun high in the sky. The track itself is otherwise beautiful in our eyes.