
The first wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course DLC was released not long ago, and while most people are happy, some racers aren't quite as impressed with the Switch versions of these tracks.
Apart from the call for moving vehicles in Coconut Mall, the art style and graphics featured in some of the other tracks in the wave one DLC have also come under fire.
Believe it or not, but the grass texture in Toad Circuit (MK8D) has been a major talking point on social media, and it seems the mod community has now got involved. As highlighted by YouTuber and Twitter user @64iOS, texture hacker ZPL has released a Toad Circuit Mario Kart 8 Deluxe mod that makes the entire track look more like the base game.


As explained in a video on ZPL's YouTube channel, the bushes and trees are actually full HD models and the modder has added in some lighting effects - which apparently makes it "way better". It's still work in progress, but these are the results so far.
Many fans also appreciate the effort that's gone into this mod (via GameBanana):
Daniel328 - "Huge props for doing this! Finally someone actually got that ugly grass fixed. I'll definitely be keeping this mod from now on."
You can see a bit more of the grass, as it appears in the Switch version of MK8D, in the video and screenshot below:

What do you think of this mod compared to Nintendo's efforts? Leave a comment down below.
Comments 47
I never noticed. I was too busy fuming over getting red-shelled non-stop.
Fans doing what Nintendon't once again.
If I wasn't afraid of being banned I would absolutely install these kinds of mods on my Switch. (Yes I know cosmetic mods have little to no risk of getting you banned, at least from what I've heard, but I still rather not risk it.)
Kinda pointless when the game is meant to be a fun cartoony racer to begin with. What's the point of making a cartoony racer when in the end you're gonna dump some realistic crap onto it?
Things like this make me think if this whole time in my adulthood have I been looking at Nintendo with rose tinted glasses... I don't think I'm their target audience anymore and someone like me who's nitpicky about models and textures aren't their concern.
I should add, I don't care all that much about the grass, it's a racing game! But shouldn't Nintendo care....?
They've always been fun first, but I really do hate how Nintendo is so uptight sometimes about upcoming game info and all the missed opportunities to bring retro games back to life. No switch themes, besides it's extensive library and many joycon colors, the console itself is lifeless. It's purely meant for kids (who don't care about any of these things) and adults who have no other way to enjoy Nintendo franchises.
@lit_lee thats true but the games are just so fun i cant resist
I feel criticising one of the highest grossing franchises ever from one of the richest companies in Japan for a cheap and lousy DLC effort that has a very clear drop in quality from any outsider's perspective shouldn't be so taboo around here ...but maybe that's just me.
I don’t really care about the graphics, but come on, they should have at least made the grass pop, and not make it look like a giant sat on it Lmao.
More like "Touch-up grass" amirite
Well it doesn't really fit the rest of the track unlike in the actual game but I suppose the mob has spoken.
@Vix Agreed. People are being too accepting and otherwise being too toxic to those who DO criticize.
People are free to enjoy what they want of course but they also should understand that others DO enjoy certain degrees of quality, or at least continuity, with their graphics.
I prefer the original grass. Clearly the level is meant to have a bright and cartoony look to it and the realistic grass looks massively out of place.
@Vix,
Anybody is free to complain about the DLC it's your or their choice at the end of the day, but there is far more nuance and context behind all this, than some would like to admit.
When Nintendo were releasing all these tracks and updates for the mobile game, many on here were questioning why Mario kart 8 was being overlooked, as it was pretty obvious form the games sales the next installment was some way off, so people were suggesting more DLC might be a way of keeping the game fresh.
So when Nintendo announced the 48 booster course pack it looked like an awesome deal, now unlike Nintendo making an older retro course for Mario Kart 8 from the ground up, as you would be remaking a track based on much older tech etc, but with the Tour tracks being designed for more than capable mobile hardware, and we are constantly told can outperform the more modest Switch internals, it only seemed logical to port with some improvements, which they have, as all the tracks so far look better than their tour counterparts.
To the point on the grass on this particular course, not so sure it's down to laziness as the memory used to create either texture would be pretty similar, much more convinced this was a design choice when making these courses for the mobile market, to give a more cartoon like look, which some will prefer.
It seems many wanted these Tour courses, but are now moaning when they finally got them, and as said they have all been upgraded for the Switch, but in essence will always have a similar feel to the original mobile courses... not sure what some were expecting.
I don’t mind the graphics of the added courses at all. I think they look good actually.
But let’s be real here, MK8 is a pretty old game at this point and so I’m not holding up any of the graphics in the game as being stunning by 2022 standards. Touch-upped grass doesn’t change much for this thing. Wait for the next instalment, folks
@Serpenterror you'd have a point if the base game... A wiiu game wasn't realistic already... It was known for how great it looked.
@NinjaNicky,
Awesome point, racing games are indeed different as you are racing round them, and noticing minor details is the last thing on your mind, pretty sure one could find fault with the original tracks if they looked hard enough.
@Lady_rosalina Some of us were never overly keen on the realistic look of many of the Mario Kart 8 tracks in the first place. I find Mario Kart Double Dash to be the most aesthetically appealing Mario Kart. I wouldn't mind if Mario Kart 9 looked more like the DLC tracks, albeit more technically advanced.
@Yosher To raise a counterpoint the DLC tracks don't use the same art style of the main game. But they are cohesive with the characters/items/karts and they are consistent within their cups.
It's fundamentally bad practice to mix and match two different art styles. So putting main game style track assets into a DLC track would be causing a clash of art styles. Which is very obvious at the screens here especially the one at the starting line in this mod.
To me quality is in creating a cohesive, consistent piece of work. It doesn't matter that much that the DLC tracks don't look like the main game because you can't play two different tracks at the same time. You'll only see one or the other and they both fit the character designs.
But when you do start to mix and match two styles within two tracks you do get a clash and that's what I'd associate with lack of care for quality. e.g. They slapped down a fairly detailed grass texture that's surrounded by what is a largely flat undetailed cartoony walls, billboards, mushrooms and diamond pattern arches.
@Serpenterror Tbf the original game featured more realistic textures, as far as I know he even took those textures from MK8DX itself
Also when he prefers it that way, why not? Doesn't hurt anybody
For Mariokart 9, I want diddykong racing. I’d love to see courses based around other vehicles; hovercraft, jet-submarine, wing-suit, jet pack, worm-suit and probably go-karts
Looks kinda worse to be honest.
@asmi8803,
Would love a Mario Kart game set in a Mario themed hub world, just like Diddy Kong racing.
Looks really good. I like it
Hmmmm… it’s nice that it’s textured, but it feels the wrong colour…
That grass might work better for shroom ridge
Nintendo set this level of expectation themselves when they initially released DLC for Mario Kart 8. The tracks released in those packs are some of the best content in the game imo, or at the very least, took full advantage of what was possible in the base game. The retro tracks, especially the GBA ones, were given a tremendous overhaul in scale and presentation. That’s the bar Nintendo set on the Wii U and that’s the bar people expected them to meet on the Switch. We know what DLC content for Mario Kart 8 looks like. Slightly zhuzhing up tracks made for a mobile game is a well below what they’re capable of.
@Dr_Lugae My point is though that it still does have an inconsistent art style within the game itself now, even if it's not on the same track. I find it really weird to go from something like Mario Circuit to Toad Circuit, that really clashes even if you don't ever see them simultaneously in game.
And that's totally fine if it doesn't bother you or anyone else, but there's still people out there, like me, who do care about it, and for whom this kind of thing does take away from the enjoyment, even if only a small bit. And I think it's kind of unfair of people to say we can't complain because "it's the track itself that matters", or whatever other reasons people might have. At that point, just make the tracks look like they came from the Atari or something, you know?
Honestly, after I beat the tracks in offline cups, I haven't even touched them anymore, even online. While previously I've played MK8 for hours on end, especially when new tracks dropped. The new tracks are fun, but I really do not like the clash of art styles within the same game like this. It would be one thing if it was an artistic choice, like Mario Odyssey and Smash Bros do, but this is solely because of laziness from mobile porting.
Nothing against you or anyone who manage to enjoy it regardless, of course.
@DiggleDog Yeah, but they only released 8 tracks and they cost $12.99... this is 48 tracks for $24.99 or free if you have the Switch Online Expansion Pack. You get what you pay for I suppose. I would rather have more tracks with a more simple graphical style over less tracks with more advanced graphics... because gameplay and more of it is more important than graphics.
I haven't taken a look at the comparisons yet. Did they reuse grass textures from the regular tracks?
I am too busy winning to notice grass textures.
@lit_lee,
Not so sure, the detail of items in Animal crossing shows they do indeed care, and the Mario kart 8 game itself still looks great, but this was always going to be a port of the mobile tracks with minor changes, they were never going to be built again from the ground up.
It's a way of giving the fans of the game more options and content, Mario Kart 9 or whatever it ends up being called will be made for new hardware, and will no doubt impress us all over again.
@Yosher,
I do see your points, these coursed do not look as intense as the previous DLC, and existing retro courses, difference is they were all built from the ground up as their original hardware was very poor.
You could argue that the 3DS and Tour tracks were not as bad in the first instance, as for example SNES and DS courses from a tech point of view, hence not the massive upgrades, I am glad we have new content as Nintendo do not really need to do this, the game was selling awesome numbers as it was.
Playing them they all look fine, a different look for sure, but not the car crash some are suggesting, the Paris course looks very good imho.
I just booted up Mario Kart 7 on 3DS (released in 2011!) to check if Toad Circuit really looked as good as I remember. All of the grass and sand has nice looking textures.
Compare this to the Switch version that has NO TEXTURE at all. On a vastly superior piece of hardware, 11 years later.
At this point I can't believe there are still people defending Nintendo over the laziness of these new tracks.
@6thHorizon,
Just had a look and the 3DS looks very dated, may have some texture on the grass but tough to see due to the low power of the 3DS, the Switch version looks very good on my OLED T.V, still not sure weather this is down to a design choice while making the mobile game, as I am positive it would have just been as easy for them to have the Mario Kart 8 style grass, than this new look.
@Yosher don't feat cfw, you can easily split the switch in somewhat dual boot mode. When you turn on you choose if you enter on the unmodded OS or on the custom OS, they are sandboxed, so you will never be banned on your original firmware, never.
There are also layers of protection on the custom firmware, it can't connect to Nintendo servers if you so choose, and you can get a fake serial number, so Nintendo will not know who you are.
If you follow the guide (and today it is not hard at all), the risk is zero, not close to zero but indeed zero.
@Yosher It not only doesn't bother me. I don't even think it's a problem to be tolerated.
New Super Mario Bros U level Painted Swamp Land uses a different art style to other levels in the game. It's not bad that it uses a different art style. But it would become a bit weird if they put the assets like the painted pipes into any other level in the game. Because they'd look out of place. But in practice the Paint Swamp is cohesive and the other levels are too.
You don't like the idea of two different art styles in two different levels...but at the same time you're endorsing a mod smashing both art styles together in one level so they can clash in real time.
Not saying you can't complain. Just that complaining doesn't mean you have higher standards, it just means you're angry.
Sure, it is an improvement, but did it affect the gamepaly?
Of course not. Let's not lose our minds over nitpicks like grass texture and start enjoying games for what they are.
Yeah I mean the grass looks very clearly worse in the basic stage, the track doesn’t feel like a track for 8 it feels like an upscale 3DS track. I think this mod looks fine but I feel like you have to change the dirt texture too to make it fit in
The author’s name is ZPL, not ZDL. He’s very active in the Mario Kart Wii modding community and has made some great looking tracks that I encourage people to check out.
Personally, I don’t like the yellowish tone the grass normally has on Toad Circuit so this is a nice improvement.
@johnvboy Oh sure, it's not as bad as some are making it out to be. But it's still pretty grating, for some tracks more than others. As you say, the Paris one still looks decent, but then you have something like Toad Circuit and it certainly starts to look a lot more divided. It's highly unfortunate. Even if overall you get decent value out of your money.
@Dr_Lugae That's why I'd probably wait until a full-on course rework texture pack would be released (if I were to mod my Switch for it) rather than just the grass, because it does look weird to have different art styles within the same course.
As for the NSMB example you mentioned, that's another case of it being an artistic choice, and it just fit the mood for the stages that used that painting art style. Similar to how all the Odyssey stages worked very well in the same game despite having a variety of art styles in each world. You just can't compare that to different graphics because of a lazy port job. Not to mention some stages within this same DLC look notably worse than others too, so even that isn't very consistent in my eyes.
@abdias I appreciate it, but even if I am guaranteed the risk to be zero, I would still always worry about it because that's just the way I am. I didn't mod my Wii either until I was sure it wouldn't receive any more (official) updates. I'm fine with waiting until that moment the Switch won't be supported anymore if I really want to play MK8D DLC with better graphics.
@Yosher,
You have to take this for what it is, a quick port of the Tour tracks polished up a little for the Switch.
Anything retro built from the ground up will be in the next game in the series, these are just a way of making the game interesting for early adopters and those new to the game, can't complain all that much, pretty much a new game of courses, and I always wanted those Tour tracks, would lobe the Namco arcade stuff too.
I did not know the grass texture was changed, but I gotta admit it was definitely better how it was before. Compared to the original, now it just looks like a green flat surface with no details, kinda boring and really lazy looking if you ask me.
The added stuff doesn’t improve the overall look. The graphics are good the way they are.
Love it! Hope Nintendo will do updates to "older circuits" as well when they release the new ones
@Serpenterror it’s polish and it’s nice to have sometimes. Mk8 is a beautiful game and if someone wants to bring an old track up to par because Nintendo often implements, and is financially rewarded for, “bare minimum” cough cough Switch Sports cough cough practices then that’s cool.
@Serpenterror Not that I don't get your point, but maybe it was to give it more detailed and darker grass? I think I remember the 3ds game being like that, and it not feeling so....neon.
@Serpenterror
-Those new levels look much worse graphic wise than the rest of the game.
-Graphics can still be better even when in a cartoon style.
@Clyde_Radcliffe ......... Ew...... I hope it doesn't.... I normally don't care at all for graphics... But I hope they continue on with Mario kart 8s look in mk9 it was fun seeing the Easter eggs and details every location in mk8 was connected environment details. The fact the gxero level and neo bowsers city had such a huge detailed map was super cool. Bare less populated and empty backgrounds of your did nothing... It was a mobile game so it made sense
Nice, good to see someone doing something about the lackluster textures the in certain places for dlc courses. It's rather odd tbh.
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