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'Mario Kart 8' DLC Brings New Tracks, Bikes, And Racers To Nintendo's Hit Racing Game

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Two new DLC packs are coming to Mario Kart 8 Nintendo announced today. The downloadable content brings new racers, karts, and tracks to the Wii U hit.

The packs can be purchased separately for $7.99 each or $11.99 for the pair.

New drivers like Link from The Legend of Zelda and Villager from Animal Crossing will take the wheel in two new Cups totaling 16 new tracks, including classic tracks like Wario's Gold Mine and new tracks with Animal Crossing and Zelda themes.

The first of the two DLC packs lands this Fall, while the second comes in Spring 2015. The previously announced Mercedes DLC drops today, which includes three new karts:  the modern Mercedes-Benz GLA, the 1950s 300 SL Roadster and the legendary Silver Arrow of the 1930s.

Here's the breakdown of the two new packs:

Pack 1: The Legend of Zelda Mario Kart 8 (Release Date: November 2014) - $7.99

  • 3 Characters: Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, Link
  • 4 Vehicles
  • 8 Courses

Pack 2: Animal Crossing Mario Kart 8 (Release Date: May 2015) - $7.99

  • 3 Characters: Villager, Isabelle, Dry Bowser
  • 4 Vehicles
  • 8 Courses

Anyone who purchases both packs will get eight new colors of Yoshi and Shy Guy which they can play immediately.

The two new DLC packs fulfill some of what I asked for when I wrote my article, 5 Things Nintendo Needs To Add To Mario Kart 8 Via DLC.

In that piece I opined that Nintendo should add:

  1. More racers
  2. More tracks and karts
  3. A better battle mode
  4. An advanced video editor
  5. 200cc super-fast mode

The first three were the big ones for me. Too many of the vanilla game's racers are duplicates. And while the game has plenty of karts, bikes, and tracks, the game is good enough to justify even more.

Having Link, Isabelle, Villager, and Dry Bowser added is pretty awesome. But I'm a little disappointed that Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach are the other new characters. We already have Mario, Baby Mario, and Metal Mario, as well as Peach, Baby Peach, and Pink Gold Peach. Why not add two of the myriad other Nintendo characters?

The only other disappointment here is no new Battle Mode arenas. The track battles in Mario Kart 8 are really unsatisfying. Adding even just four arenas via free DLC would be a huge improvement.

Still, it's good to see Nintendo adding content to the game, extending its replay value well into the future. Hopefully there will be more to come.

I should also note that the pricing here is pretty terrific. $11.99 for 16 new tracks, 8 new vehicles, and 6 new characters is absolutely terrific. Nintendo is practically giving this stuff away, especially when you compare the pricing to what other publishers are offering DLC for. 16 new tracks alone is hours and hours of gameplay. Kudos to Nintendo for offering a good product at a fair price.

 

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