Welcome to Soapbox, a column from the team at Kakariko Herald wherein we get on our little podium and discuss whatever comes to mind and share our individual opinions. That individual bit is important: the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the publication.
When Nintendo announced the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I was a little disappointed. Not for the new courses, mind you, but instead for the distinct lack of “Mario Kart 9” on the Switch. Every new major console has had its own entry, except for the Switch. It was a new direction for Nintendo — one that I still don’t quite understand.
Since the Booster Course Pass released, Nintendo has mainly adapted courses made for Mario Kart Tour, their mobile-only take on the iconic Mario Kart experience. I’m not a fan of this decision. I understand that it reduces development overhead, only needing to “port over” the tracks, but there’s way too many as is. We really need some more courses from series past now, not more reused stuff from Tour.
Not to mention, these courses were meant for mobile and it shows. There are one or two that are “diamonds in the rough” so-to-speak, but most are meh or not great in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And fellow outlets like Nintendo Life seem to agree, with reviewer Ollie Reynolds concluding “Wave 5 is another good wave, though not a great one.”
In order for Nintendo to wind this Booster Course Pass down with a bang, I feel it is important that they focus more on the “flashback” courses (and maybe even a little on brand-new ones, too.) With a large backlog of Mario Kart entries to choose from, I’m sure there are quite a few special courses they could pull from the vault.
