Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 1 Review

By Lex Morris on 29/04/2024 21:51 UTC

I've been playing the first batch of Mario Kart 8 DLC 'The Legend of Zelda × Mario Kart 8', since it's launch a month ago, so I have decided to review each element of the DLC pack in hopes that this will be useful to anyone who already owns a copy of Mario Kart 8 but would like to breathe a new lease of life into their Wii-U and start playing again.

Characters:

Tanooki Mario - This is the form that Mario takes in Super Mario Bros.3 when you consume a Tanooki suit. The best thing about this character is that he is middleweight, but has higher acceleration and lower weight than other middle weight characters. He also has a unique set of animations and voices which makes him feel like less of a costume for mario, posing as stand alone character.

Cat Peach - This is Princess Peach's cat form from Super Mario 3D world. She is the lightest middleweight character but heavier than the all other lightweight characters. I personally don't find her that useful but the cat suit and the cat cruiser is a cute combo.

Link – This is the character everyone was looking forward to. Link is pretty fast in comparison to other middleweight characters. This marks the first non-Mario character to be included in a Mario Kart game which is really exciting.

In addition to these 3 characters, if you have also pre-purchased the second DLC pack, you will also get your hands on 8 Yoshi skins, and 8 Shy Guy skins, which is always a nice addition.

I feel as though we could have had a more diverse set of characters. Most of the additional characters should have been skins for the other characters so that we could have had space for characters on the roster that have only appeared in a select few Mario Kart games. I miss Diddy Kong.

Car Parts:

Blue Falcon (F-Zero) - Captain Falcon's vehicle from F-Zero. I love this kart, it has unique boost animations which is a nice change.

B-Dasher (Mariokart DS) - Apparently veterans of the series love this kart as an addition. I personally disliked Mario Kart DS so I don't really care for this vehicle. More vehicle options is never a bad thing though.

Tanooki Kart -A kart loosely based on Tanooki Mario. I've personally never used the jeep as I don't really see the appeal but it is a nice addition nontheless.

Master Cycle (Ocarina Of Time) - This is by far the most unique vehicle in the DLC. The motorbike is based on Link's horse 'Epona', from 'The Ocarina of Time'. Also included in the DLC are Triforce wheels and a Hylian shield print kite which look incredible mixed with the cycle and using Link as your racer.

I like that the vehicles we received with this DLC are quite diverse. I was finding how the motorbikes turn and drift to be difficult to get to grips with, but I desperately wanted to use the Master Cycle, so with all that practice I can now use motorbikes just as well as I use the karts.

Tracks:

Yoshi Circuit – This remastered version of the GCN track is quite challenging. It appears to be the only course shaped like a character in the series and it is filled with sharp turns and pirahna plants. I personally would enjoy this course a lot more if I could use the waterfall shortcut correctly. I find that whenever I manage to store a mushroom to boost up the ramp, I always fly straight into the ocean. This is probably just me being terrible at the game though. This map is perfect to use your Yoshi skins on.

Excitebike Arena – This map is obviously based on excitebike. It is quite a simplistic level but it is littered with wide ramps which makes for a really entertaining race. I love doing tricks on every single ramp to gain boost. This track is quite basic but I love the aesthetic of the map.

Dragon Driftway - This is a ancient Chinese themed course where the dragon is based on Gobblegut from Super Mario Galaxy 2. Most of this track is played on antigravity which makes for an interesting race. I love this course.

Mute City – This course is based on the Mute City map from F-Zero X on the N64. A cool addition to this map is that the energy recharge pads that would typically boost your shield on F-Zero, increases your coins. This course is so much fun and I am so glad that It was included in the DLC pack.

Wario's Goldmine - This is such a difficult track. The majority of the track is littered with obstacles, and the sides of the road have no cover so you can fall off easily if you're not careful. I would even argue that this track is more difficult than all the rainbow roads combined. The track may be frustrating but it is incredibly fun.

Rainbow Road – Another rainbow road? If I am completely honest, for a rainbow road course, it is one of the easiest tracks in the entire game. I was really disappointed with this one however it is based on a track from an older Mario Kart game so I guess it is a nice addition.

Ice Ice Outpost – This track contains two roads that intertwine with each other at set points on the track. This is one of the more challenging tracks where the shortcuts don't give you a huge advantage but there are plenty of them.

Hyrule Circuit – This track is incredible. I love the small things that they changed for this stage. Pirahna plants are now Deku Baba, and coins have suitably been changed to rupees. I would have hoped that considering the DLC is advertised as Zelda x MK8, that we would have been given more than one track based on the Zelda series.

8.5

“Breathes a new lease of life into a game that you are probably bored of.”

I feel as though you are getting a lot of the content for the money you are spending on this DLC pack. 8 courses is more than enough and the 3 characters, skins and car parts are a nice bonus, However I do feel as though if you are going to market a DLC pack as a Zelda/Mario Kart crossover, It should have contained more than one Zelda themed course. 
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