Mario Kart 8 Booster Pass

I adore Mario Kart. I first played Double Dash at a friend’s house in elementary school. Soon after, my older sister was gifted a Nintendo DS and I would ask to borrow it as often as I could to play Mario Kart on it.¹Also, Guitar Hero DS; we bought the fancy button attachment and “pick” stylus. As a young kid, I never got the hang of five buttons, so that version of Guitar Hero really worked for me. Once I moved to San Diego, I gifted myself a Nintendo Switch and have put hundreds of hours into Mario Kart 8. The first set of Booster Pass courses came out a couple of weeks ago, and I really want to talk about them.

Bits of Nostalgia
Some folks seem put out that the Booster Pass only has remastered versions of courses from other iterations of Mario Kart. While some amount of frustration is understandable, particularly given the number of recycled courses in Mario Kart 8 proper, I think it’s a non-issue. These courses have been reworked to include some new features of modern Mario Kart (e.g. gliders on Choco Mountain), and getting to replay courses I’ve seen elsewhere in the context of modern Mario Kart physics is exciting to me.

It helps that I’ve only played two other versions of Mario Kart, and the DS version is the only one I spent enough time with to clearly recognize its courses. But, I enjoy seeing the different themes and how the game evolved over time. And, I get to play some courses from Mario Kart Tour, which I would never bother playing on my phone.

Testing My Skills
I’m confident in my Mario Kart skills. I rarely lose against “hard” level computers on 200cc, and the few times I bother going online to race with strangers I typically come out on top. However, these accomplishments come on courses I have entirely memorized. I was most excited by the Booster Pass so I could determine if any abilities I developed were generalized to the point that I could pick up a new course without much fuss.

I can.

It helps that I’ve long developed the habit of looking at course maps while racing. I can anticipate turns, and don’t get flustered while playing. I went through each of the 8 courses currently launched on their 150cc Grand Prix, and swept them. I ended up losing²Getting second place. a race once on a 200cc Grand Prix, but otherwise swept those as well. It took about 3 races on each course before I could say I had essentially memorized them, but that’s all it took. It’s fun to have inconsequential achievements to be proud of.

Value Proposition
The Booster Pass cost $25, compared to the entire game that cost $60. Considering the Booster Pass is going to double the number of available courses over the next two years, the value is certainly there. If you even moderately enjoy Mario Kart 8, it’s worth getting.

Do understand my bias: I’ve received more than 10 hours of entertainment for every dollar I spent on Mario Kart 8 at this point. Do the math yourself: I play a lot of Mario Kart. I was incredibly excited when I heard about this release, so for others the judgement could be different. I do recommend checking it out though; one hack to test courses is to play online, where new Booster Pass courses are available to play.

• 1
  Also, Guitar Hero DS; we bought the fancy button attachment and “pick” stylus. As a young kid, I never got the hang of five buttons, so that version of Guitar Hero really worked for me.
• 2
  Getting second place.