Talking Point: Which Old Track Do You Wish Had Made It Into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? 1
Image: Nintendo

The contents of the sixth and final DLC wave for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass brings an end to an impressive run of new track releases for the Switch title. Come November 9th, 2023, a total of 48 additional courses will be available to owners of the Booster Course Pack, either via an individual DLC purchase or Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. That's a lot, right?

Naturally, this means that many a wish will have likely been granted over the course of nearly two years, but on the flip side, we're certain that there will be a few courses missing that many of us were hoping would be added — and some that were previously updated for Mario Kart Tour which many assumed would make the cut.

Which ones, exactly? Well, Team Nintendo Life has included our picks below and we'd love to hear from you, too. Is there an extra-special course from your childhood that's conspicuously missing from the Booster Course Pass? How about one you've largely forgotten and would have liked to get reacquainted with? Let us know in the poll at the bottom of the page.

Jim Norman, staff writer

Overall, I am rather pleased with the selection that we got across the six waves of DLC, and most of my wishlist was crossed off in the end (shoutout to Wii Rainbow Road for coming in clutch there at the end). That being said, I really would have liked to have seen Yoshi Falls from Mario Kart DS make the final cut.

Okay, it's hardly the most inventive circuit out there (let's admit it, it's basically just an oval), but some of my favourite tracks have kept things simple — Baby Park, Excitebike Arena, etc. — and it has worked in their favour. It wouldn't match up to Shy Guy Falls' size, but I can see a race around the central pit, splashing through the two on-track waterfalls really slapping with an MK8D makeover.

Alana Hagues, deputy editor

I think I share a lot of people's sentiments, but having seen all 48 courses in the Booster Course Pass, I'm finding it hard to be disappointed. There are two courses I'm a little surprised didn't make the cut — and I hope to see them come back in a later game.

First up, Wario Colosseum. I know we got Waluigi Stadium from Double Dash!!, but Wario's GCN course was a marathon of a circuit that was so fun to race around in Anti-gravity sections would be so easy to implement and there are so many ways you can twist the course to fit 8's style.

The other surprising omission to me is Airship Fortress from Mario Kart DS — a fan-favourite, and rightly so. I wrongly assumed this was a shoo-in for the Switch version, but alas, we're left to beg for it to return in a sequel.

Ollie Reynolds, staff writer

It really says something that when I look back on which Mario Kart courses are missing from the Booster Course Pass, I'm actually struggling to think of anything glaringly absent. Evaluating each wave highlights some shortcomings here and there, but good lord, when you look at the expansion as a whole, it's a remarkable package from Nintendo.

That said, I'm 100% with Alana on this one. Where the heck is Wario Colosseum? That course was incredible! I have fond memories of Double Dash!! since it was really my first home console Mario Kart (I started with Super Circuit on the GBA), so Wario Colosseum was a true highlight for me during my teenage years. To see it spruced up for Mario Kart 8 would've been a delight, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Gavin Lane, editor

I honestly thought there would be only a few bits of flotsam left once these DLC waves stopped rolling in, so looking over the sizeable list of old MK tracks that haven't made it into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a little surprising. Very happy to see Double Dash's DK track get in there, though.

Mario Kart 64 was my first and I know every circuit from that one like the back of my hand. I would have loved to see Koopa Troopa Beach, DK's Jungle Pathway, and Mario Raceway given the Switch treatment, even if the Mushroom-boost shortcut on the latter wouldn't be possible anymore. I've got great memories of Peach Beach from Double Dash, too, and I would have liked to see a Mushroom City revamp — a Double Dash circuit that has never been revisited.

I've always been baffled by the affection all the Rainbow Road courses get — they're invariably the longest, least visually interesting, dare-I-say-it dullest tracks in the games! (Complaints to the usual address.) Personally, I would have knocked a couple of those off to squeeze in some of the above.

But hey, plenty of fodder left for Mario Kart 9, right?

Talking Point: Which Old Track Do You Wish Had Made It Into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? 6
Image: Nintendo

All in all, we knew that the Booster Course Pass wouldn't include absolutely everything from previous titles in the franchise (this isn't Smash Bros., after all), and we're mostly ecstatic with what's been added since the first wave launched in March 2022. Still, that won't stop us lamenting what didn't make the cut!

Let us know in the poll below and the comments which courses you would have liked to have seen in the Booster Course Pass, and also which ones from Wave 6 you're most looking forward to trying out.

Which legacy track do you wish had made it into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?

(You can select up to 2 answers)