Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a kart-racing game in the Mario Kart series released for the Nintendo Switch on 28 April 2017. It is an enhanced port of Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U (2014), and the very first Super Mario game released for the Nintendo Switch — launching just two months after the console itself.

First teased in the Nintendo Switch announcement video on 20 October 2016 and formally revealed at the Nintendo Switch Presentation on 13 January 2017, the game arrived as the system’s spring 2017 flagship. The Wii U original’s entire roster, all 32 base + 16 DLC tracks, and the Anti-Gravity / Gliding / Underwater mechanics all returned — every previously unlockable racer and track is available from the start, making this the largest starting roster and track selection of any home-console Mario Kart.

What separates the Switch version from a simple port is the wholesale rebuild of Battle Mode (eight all-new arenas across five game modes), the five additional starting newcomers (King Boo, Bowser Jr., Dry Bones, Inkling Boy, Inkling Girl), Gold Mario as a 200cc-completion unlockable, the Inkling and Animal Crossing Mii racing suits via amiibo, reduced loading times, and the new beginner assists Smart Steering and Auto-Accelerate.

Then between March 2022 and November 2023, Nintendo released the Booster Course Pass — six waves of paid DLC adding 48 more tracks (mostly remastered classics from Super Mario Kart through Mario Kart Tour) and eight returning DLC racers. The game ended up with 96 tracks across 24 cups and 50 playable characters, the largest Mario Kart ever made.

While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe builds on the Wii U original, the Switch version makes a long list of meaningful changes — enough to justify a second purchase even for existing MK8 owners.

Roster & Unlock Changes

• All characters, cups and courses that were unlockable or DLC in Mario Kart 8 are now available from the start.
• Gold Mario added as a Metal Mario variant (200cc clear unlock).
• Inkling and Animal Crossing Mii suits added (Inkling/Splatoon-series amiibo and Isabelle/Animal-Crossing-series amiibo).

Gameplay & Driving

• Smart Steering introduced — indicated by a flag-tipped antenna on the kart, it keeps you on the track for beginners.
• Auto-Accelerate introduced — removes the need to hold the accelerator at all.
• CPU difficulty rebalanced — CPUs slow down when close to the player on Normal/Easy, and charge Mini-Turbos / Super Mini-Turbos more slowly.
• The rival system expanded — characters who lacked dedicated rivals in MK8 now have them; existing rivalries shuffled.
• You can now hold two items at once (returning from Double Dash!!, removed in MK7/MK8).
• Motion controls now toggleable from the pause menu instead of requiring a controller-swap.

Performance

• Reduced loading times.
• Steady 60 FPS in single-player and two-player split-screen (vs. drops to 30 FPS in three- and four-player on Wii U).

The core driving model is preserved from Mario Kart 8: Anti-Gravity, Gliding, Underwater driving, drifting Mini-Turbos, and full 200cc. Switch-specific additions reinforce accessibility without diluting depth.

Smart Steering & Auto-Accelerate

Two new beginner assists make the game playable for very young or very new players. Smart Steering projects a sensor antenna from the kart and gently nudges you back on the track when you stray towards walls or pits. Auto-Accelerate removes the need to hold A entirely. Both can be toggled per-player from the pause menu, allowing mixed groups (e.g. parent + small child) to race competitively.

The Four Movement Modes

Three Player Modes

• Grand Prix — race through a cup of 4 tracks at 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, Mirror, or 200cc.
• Time Trials — race against the clock with online leaderboards and Staff Ghosts from Nintendo.
• VS Race — customise team play, item sets, course selection, CC class, race count for local multiplayer.

Local & Online

Up to 4 players on a single Switch via split-screen, 8 players over local wireless across multiple Switches, and 12 players online (via Nintendo Switch Online subscription). Switch is the first Mario Kart with full LAN tournament support out of the box.

The single biggest change between MK8D and the Wii U original is the complete rebuild of Battle Mode. The Wii U version recycled regular race tracks as battle courses, which fans broadly disliked. The Switch version delivers eight brand new arena-based battle courses, each with its own course intro — finally restoring the dedicated battle-arena format that had been missing since Mario Kart 7.

Core Battle Rules

• Each player starts with 5 balloons (up from 3 in older entries).
• Players start with 0 points and balloons no longer double as remaining points.
• The character in the lead now wears a crown on-screen (not just on the HUD map).
• Respawn-after-elimination returns from Mario Kart Wii / MK7 — popped players re-enter at 3 balloons, but their score halves.

The 8 Battle Arenas

• Battle Stadium — the new flagship arena, multi-level with vertical loops.
• Sweet Sweet Kingdom — candy-themed level.
• Dragon Palace — Asian-styled arena with anti-grav walls.
• Lunar Colony — a moon-base arena.
• Wuhu Town (returning from MK7).
• GCN Luigi’s Mansion (returning).
• SNES Battle Course 1 (the oldest returning).
• N64 Block Fort (the four-tower fan favourite).

Five battle modes are playable across all eight arenas — the largest battle-mode selection in any Mario Kart.

Balloon Battle

The classic. Pop opponents’ balloons by hitting them with items. Each player starts with five balloons; lose all five and you respawn at three with score halved.

Renegade Roundup

Brand new to MK8D. Cops-and-robbers gameplay — one team chases the other with Piranha Plants to capture them in jail cells. Robbers free imprisoned teammates with key items.

Bob-omb Blast

Returning from Double Dash!!. The only items available are Bob-ombs and Triple Bob-ombs — hit opponents for points. Pure explosive chaos.

Coin Runners

Returning from Mario Kart Wii. Collect coins scattered around the arena; getting hit makes you drop some. Highest coin count at the end wins.

Shine Thief

Returning from Double Dash!!. A single Shine Sprite appears in the arena; whoever holds it longest wins. Get hit and you drop it for someone else to grab.

Five new starting racers join in MK8D, plus a sixth unlocked at 200cc completion. King Boo, Bowser Jr. and Dry Bones return to the series for the first time since Mario Kart Wii (2008), while the Inklings make their Mario Kart debut.

King Boo

Returning from MK Wii

The Luigi’s Mansion antagonist, last seen in Mario Kart Wii. Heavyweight class with high speed and weight.

Heavyweight

Bowser Jr.

Returning from MK Wii

Last appeared in Mario Kart Wii. Lightweight class — small but agile, paint-brushing pun on his Sunshine origin.

Lightweight

Dry Bones

Returning from MK Wii

Skeletal Koopa Troopa, last seen in Mario Kart Wii. Featherlight class with very high acceleration.

Lightweight

Inkling Girl

Splatoon series

The first non-Mario non-Mario-adjacent newcomer in Mario Kart history. Three selectable colours each.

Middleweight

Inkling Boy

Splatoon series

Inkling Boy joins his counterpart with three selectable colours. Drives the new Splatoon-themed Splat Buggy and Inkstriker karts.

Middleweight

Gold Mario

Metal Mario variant

A glittering alternate costume for Metal Mario, unlocked by winning every cup at 200cc. Replaces the MK7 Metal Mario unlock chain.

Unlock @200cc

The Booster Course Pass DLC added eight returning DLC racers across waves 2, 4 and 6. Wave 6 alone brought four characters at once — the largest single roster addition since launch.

Birdo

Returning from MK DD!!

Last playable in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003). Birdo returns 19 years later with eight selectable colour variants — the largest variant palette in the game.

BCP Wave 2

Petey Piranha

Returning from MK DD!!

The huge Piranha Plant boss from Super Mario Sunshine, last playable in Double Dash!!. Heavyweight class.

BCP Wave 4

Wiggler

Returning from MK 7

The grumpy caterpillar returns from Mario Kart 7. Medium-weight class.

BCP Wave 4

Kamek

MK Tour debut

The Magikoopa joins from Mario Kart Tour. Middleweight class with a magic-themed kart palette.

BCP Wave 5

Pauline

MK Tour debut

The Mayor of New Donk City from Super Mario Odyssey, also a Mario Kart Tour staple. Middleweight class.

BCP Wave 6

Diddy Kong

Returning from MK Wii

Donkey Kong’s nephew. Last playable in Mario Kart Wii (2008). Lightweight class with strong drift.

BCP Wave 6

Funky Kong

Returning from MK Wii

The competitive-scene legend from Mario Kart Wii returns. Heavyweight class. Universally loved.

BCP Wave 6

Peachette

MK Tour debut

Peachette (Toadette + Super Crown). MK Tour newcomer. Middleweight class.

BCP Wave 6

Wave 6 group shot

The final wave’s four-character lineup — the largest single roster expansion in BCP. With these additions, the game ended its life cycle at 50 playable characters (48 selectable slots since Inklings/Villagers share with their counterparts).

All Wii U items return (Mushroom, Triple Mushroom, Bullet Bill, Banana, Triple Banana, Green/Red Shell variants, Blue Shell, Star, Lightning, Boomerang Flower, Piranha Plant, Super Horn, Crazy Eight, Coin, Fire Flower) with slightly altered distribution. Switch adds two notable items:

Returning Items

• Boo — returns from Mario Kart: Super Circuit / Double Dash!!. Turns the player invisible for 10 seconds and immune to items, plus steals an item from a randomly chosen racer ahead. If the target has no item, Boo returns with a default Mushroom.
• Feather — returns from Super Mario Kart (1992). Now exclusive to Battle Mode — lets the player jump over walls, items, and other racers. Impossible to obtain in races.

BCP Course Items

• Cash — a coin variant exclusive to Urchin Underpass (battle course). Replaces coins as both items and pickups.
• Yoshi’s Island Coins — redesigned to match Yoshi’s Island sprite art, both on track and as items.

Items Held

Like Double Dash!! (the only previous Mario Kart with two-item holding), MK8D lets racers hold two items at once — one trailing for defence, one ready to fire. This was removed in MK7 and MK8 Wii U; its return is widely considered one of the smartest tuning changes in Deluxe.

The Booster Course Pass adds 12 new cups on top of the 12 inherited from MK8 Wii U — a total of 24 cups, twice as many as any previous Mario Kart. Below are the 12 BCP cup emblems, each containing 4 tracks (96 BCP tracks total).

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s 96-track lineup pulls from every Mario Kart game ever made — here are 15 of the most iconic, mixing original MK8 designs, F-Zero crossover tracks, and headline BCP additions.

Original Mario Kart 8 Standouts

BCP Headline Tracks

Six waves over 20 months — from 18 March 2022 through 9 November 2023 — added 48 tracks and 8 racers. Each wave brought two new cups (8 tracks) for a fresh injection of content.

Wave 1 · 18 March 2022

Launch wave (8 tracks)

Wave 2 · 4 August 2022

First brand-new track (8 tracks)

Wave 3 · 7 December 2022

City courses double up (8 tracks)

Wave 4 · 9 March 2023

Yoshi’s Island debuts (8 tracks)

Wave 5 · 12 July 2023

Penultimate wave (8 tracks)

Wave 6 · 9 November 2023

THE finale (8 tracks)

Official Nintendo trailers for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — from the Switch launch reveal to the final Booster Course Pass wave.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was a critical and commercial juggernaut — reviewers awarded it scores noticeably higher than the original Wii U release, and the seven-year support cycle through the Booster Course Pass kept it relevant for the entire generation.

Acclaim

• Battle Mode redesign — universally praised. Returning to dedicated arenas after the Wii U misstep (which used regular tracks as battle stages) was the most-cited improvement. The five-mode rotation (Balloon, Bob-omb, Renegade, Shine Thief, Coin Runners) was called the strongest Battle suite in the series.
• Portability — being able to play full-fat Mario Kart 8 anywhere on the Switch was the killer feature. Reviewers regularly highlighted handheld and tabletop play as transformative.
• All characters unlocked from start — eliminating grind-to-unlock was warmly received, especially by families and casual audiences.
• Performance — silky 60fps in single-player and 2-player split-screen, with reduced loading times vs the Wii U original.
• Booster Course Pass — doubling the track count from 48 to 96 across six free-to-Online-subscribers waves was hailed as one of the best post-launch DLC programmes Nintendo has ever run. The introduction of Pauline, Funky Kong, Diddy Kong, and Peachette to the roster was a particular highlight of the final wave.

Mixed Reactions

• Lukewarm proposition for existing MK8 owners — some Wii U owners felt double-dipping for the same base content (plus the limited new characters and rebuilt Battle Mode) was a tough sell at full price.
• BCP track quality variance — some BCP tracks (particularly the earliest waves) shipped with simpler visuals and flat textures compared to the lush base game tracks, drawing criticism. Later waves substantially closed that gap.
• Smart Steering controversy — defaulted to ON, leading to confused new players who assumed they couldn’t drive off the track. Quickly addressed by Nintendo with a more prominent menu toggle.

Awards

• The Game Awards 2017 — nominated for Best Family Game (lost to Super Mario Odyssey) and Best Multiplayer Game (lost to PUBG).
• SXSW Gaming Awards 2018 — Excellence in Multiplayer nominee.
• Multiple Game of the Year shortlist appearances across 2017 publications.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the bestselling Mario Kart game ever made, the bestselling Switch game, and one of the bestselling video games of all time across any platform or generation.

Sales Trajectory

• Launch weekend (28 April 2017) — 459,000 copies sold in the US alone in the first two days, the fastest-selling Mario Kart launch in US history.
• End of 2017 — 9.2 million copies, already approaching the Wii U original’s lifetime sales.
• End of 2019 — surpassed Mario Kart Wii (37 million) to become the bestselling Mario Kart of all time.
• Booster Course Pass announcement (Feb 2022) — triggered a renewed sales surge that lasted through all six waves to November 2023.
• As of early 2025 — over 67 million copies sold globally.

Context

To put 67 million copies in perspective: that’s more than the lifetime sales of Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985), more than the entire Wii Sports family combined excluding the Wii’s built-in pack-in, and roughly the same as the entire Pokémon franchise’s bestselling individual entry (Red/Blue). It is the cornerstone of the Switch’s software library.

• Bestselling game on Nintendo Switch — over 67 million copies as of early 2025, and the bestselling Mario Kart ever made.
• Released 28 April 2017 — just 53 days after the Switch launched (3 March 2017), making it one of the earliest Switch system-sellers.
• Enhanced port of Mario Kart 8 (Wii U, 2014) — not a full remake, but expanded substantially with all DLC, Battle Mode revamp, and new starters.
• Booster Course Pass announced February 2022, first wave released 18 March 2022, sixth and final wave released 9 November 2023 — a 20-month DLC rollout, the longest in Mario Kart history.
• 96 courses across 24 cups — the most ever in a Mario Kart game, more than double the previous record.
• 17 tracks from Mario Kart Tour — the first time tracks from a later-released Mario Kart returned to console. Includes Paris Promenade, New York Minute, Tokyo Blur, Sydney Sprint, London Loop, and many more.
• Three brand-new tracks debuted in BCP: Sky-High Sundae (Wave 2), Yoshi’s Island (Wave 5), and Piranha Plant Cove (Wave 6).
• Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl — the only Splatoon characters to appear in a Mario Kart game, and the first non-Mario newcomers to be starters rather than unlockables.
• Link returns in his Breath of the Wild outfit (added by free update). His original Twilight Princess outfit from MK8 Wii U is also selectable.
• Mute City and Big Blue — two F-Zero crossover tracks return from the Wii U DLC, complete with F-Zero music. These are the only F-Zero references in any Nintendo game between 2003 and 2024’s F-Zero 99.
• Gold Mario is unlocked by clearing every cup in 200cc — replacing Metal Mario’s alternate-skin role from MK8 Wii U.
• BCP added eight characters across waves: Birdo (Wave 2), Petey Piranha (Wave 4), Wiggler (Wave 4), Kamek (Wave 5), and the Wave 6 trio of Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, Pauline, and Peachette.
• Battle Mode’s 8 arenas are a mix of 5 brand-new courses (Battle Stadium, Sweet Sweet Kingdom, Dragon Palace, Lunar Colony, Urchin Underpass) and 3 returning classics (Battle Course 1 from Super Mario Kart, GCN Luigi’s Mansion, 3DS Wuhu Town).
• Smart Steering and Auto-Accelerate — two accessibility features added specifically for the Deluxe release, designed to broaden the audience.

Box art and key visuals for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Related coverage on Super Luigi Bros.

Screenshots, key art, and box art appear throughout the sections above. Nintendo trailers are in the Videos section.