‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ Drifts To The Nintendo Switch, Includes New Battle Mode

Mario’s a pretty busy guy. His latest mainline adventure is on the horizon and, unsurprisingly, he’s getting his friends together for another round of races. We knew it was coming, but the Wii U’s Mario Kart 8 is coming to the Nintendo Switch as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

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Mario Kart 8 was already an extremely refined entry in its series, but there was always a glaring flaw with it: its Battle Mode. Nintendo heard these complaints, and the Deluxe version will include standard arenas. Plus, to further enrich Battle Mode, Balloon Battle and Bob-omb Blast are back.

Longtime Mario Kart fans will reunite with three series veterans: King Boo, Bowser Jr. and Dry Bones. Furthermore, Splatoon’s Inklings are joining the competition! The two squid kids even have an arena in their honor. New vehicles and a few returning items will change up the game, too.

Akin to the GameCube’s Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, players can now carry two items at once. Additionally, a Smart Steering option has been added to aid newcomers to the series.

Of course, all of the content from Mario Kart 8’s Wii U iteration, including the base game and its DLC, will be retained for Deluxe.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will drift into stores on April 28. Personally, I adore Mario Kart 8. However, while these additions are appreciated, I’m not completely sold on Deluxe yet. I’m hoping for a few additional tracks to tempt me.