 The article is not to be confused with Mario Kart 8, the original version released for the Wii U. |
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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (abbreviated to MK8DX) is a kart-racing game exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. It is the enhanced port (or reboot) version of Mario Kart 8 and was released worldwide on April 28, 2017.
This game includes the Inklings as new playable characters along with three returning characters from previous games: Dry Bones, King Boo and Bowser Jr. In addition, the Shine Thief and Bob-omb Blast battle games from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! return as playable options in Battle Mode along with Renegade Roundup, a new mode.
Mario Kart 8
A majority, if not all, of the game's concepts, tracks, racers, and vehicle parts come from Mario Kart 8. These have been retained and reused for the port version. However, there are several new features and differences that deviate from the original game. These are listed in the following:
- Racers can now carry up to two items at once, even if they don't drag the first item.
- It features the return of the Double Item Box from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
- Item Spy is removed to prevent other players from cheating.
- The game also introduces smart-steering and auto-accelerate for beginners; smart-steering makes driving and staying on the track easier, and auto-accelerate makes the vehicle automatically accelerate.
- The statistics of the vehicle parts and drivers have also been changed, and 200cc engine class for Time Trials has been added.
- The game also features a different in-game guide, directly accessible from the game's menu.
- The concept of Fire Hopping, in which a player could "hop" repeatedly to get extra speed from a boost, has been removed from the game.
- Some of the vehicle parts that are exclusive to DLC are now randomly unlocked by collecting coins during gameplay.
- Weight classes are now split into 16 weight classes instead of 9 weight classes.
- Red Shells and Spiny Shells are now slower when they lock onto their target, meaning players are able to outrun them in 200cc when they have any kind of speed boost.
- All of Mario Kart 8's battle courses have been scrapped and are replaced.
- Ultra Mini-Turbo (pink sparks) are available after orange sparks. This feature is only enabled when Smart Steering is off.
- Course maps are now white instead of blue.
- If smart steering mode is toggled on, there will be an antenna sticking out the rear of their kart.
- The backbeat that plays when the player is in first place is now absent.
- Stamps are absent due to Miiverse not being in the Nintendo Switch.
- Confetti appears at the starting line of several races like Mount Wario.
Battle Mode
A posse of Inklings on Urchin Underpass
One of the biggest changes of the game is the revamped Battle Mode and the consequential scrapping of Mario Kart 8 battle courses. It returns to the traditional arena-based battle. Unlike previous games, each player starts with five balloons, as opposed to three. Another addition to this mode is the feature to tell exactly which character hit whom, which appears on the bottom of the screen.
Returning from Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 is the ability to respawn after all balloons are popped. This causes a player's total score to halve and the player respawns with three balloons instead of five.
Five different Battle Modes exist in the game and are listed in the following:
- Balloon Battle: The classic mode where players use items to pop opponents' balloons or steal them in order to score points.
- Renegade Roundup: A new mode in the vein of "cops and robbers", with the racers being divided into two teams.
- Bob-omb Blast: A returning mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, in which players attack one another using Bob-ombs to score points and can carry up to 10 Bob-ombs.
- Coin Runners: Originating in Mario Kart Wii, players must collect Coins scattered across the course in order to have the most by the end of the match.
- Shine Thief: Another returning mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, one player must retrieve a Shine Sprite and keep hold of it for about 20 seconds, while the opponents use items against whoever has the Shine to force that player to drop it.
Courses
- Main Article: Mario Kart 8#Courses
All courses from Mario Kart 8, including DLC, are available from the start.
Battle Courses
Replacing the repurposed courses used for Battle Mode in Mario Kart 8, eight battle courses, five new and three retro, are present in the game.
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Racers
- Main Article: Mario Kart 8#Racers
All Mario Kart 8 racers have returned, including the DLC racers, and are available from the start. The only unlockable racer in the game is Gold Mario. Four other racers from previous games have also returned to the game.
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| King Boo | Dry Bones | Bowser Jr. | Inklings* | Gold Mario | |
| * - Mario Kart debut | |||||
Racer Statistics
Similar to Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, racers in a specific class have their own stats. However, there are more divisions in weight classes than in Mario Kart 8.
- Speed: the top speed of the vehicle on land with normal gravity
- Acceleration: the rate of the vehicle it takes to reach its top speed from a standing position
- Weight: the weight of the vehicle.
- Vehicles with higher weight can knock other vehicles more easily with lower weight.
- Handling: the turning ability of the vehicle on land with normal gravity
- Traction: the grasp of the vehicle
- Vehicles with higher traction can stay stable on the road better than vehicles with lower traction.
- Mini-Turbo: the length of the vehicle's mini-turbo speed boosts
| Class | Speed | Acceleration | Weight | Handling | Traction | Mini-Turbo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L |  
| +2.25 | +4 | +2 | +5 | +4.25 | +4 |
 
| +2.25 | +4.25 | +2 | +4.75 | +3.75 | +4 | |
   
| +2.5 | +4.25 | +2.25 | +4.5 | +4 | +3.75 | |
  
| +2.75 | +4 | +2.5 | +4.5 | +4.25 | +3.75 | |
  
| +2.75 | +4.25 | +2.5 | +4.25 | +3.5 | +3.75 | |
  *
| +3 | +4 | +2.75 | +4.25 | +4 | +3.5 | |
| M |   *
| +3.25 | +4 | +2.75 | +4 | +3.75 | +3.5 |
   *
| +3.5 | +3.75 | +3 | +3.75 | +3.75 | +3.5 | |
  *
| +3.5 | +3.75 | +3.25 | +3.75 | +3.25 | +3.5 | |
 
| +3.75 | +3.5 | +3.5 | +3.75 | +3.25 | +3.25 | |
 
| +3.75 | +3.5 | +3.5 | +3.5 | +3.5 | +3.25 | |
| H |   
| +4 | +3.25 | +3.75 | +3.25 | +3.75 | +3.25 |
  
| +4.5 | +3.25 | +4 | +3 | +3 | +3 | |
 
| +4.75 | +3 | +4.25 | +2.75 | +3.25 | +2.75 | |
 *
| +4.25 | +3.25 | +4.5 | +3.25 | +3.25 | +3 | |
 
| +4.75 | +3 | +4.5 | +2.5 | +3 | +2.75 | |
| * - denotes a racer with color alternatives. L - denotes light-weighted racers. M - denotes medium-weighted racers. H - denotes heavy-weighted racers. | |||||||
Vehicle parts
The Koopa Clown returns from Mario Kart 7, while two new Splatoon-based ATVs, the Splat Buggy and Inkstriker, have been added. When compared to Mario Kart 8, the statistics of vehicle parts have been altered.
Karts
| Kart | Speed | Acceleration | Weight | Handling | Traction | Mini-Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard Kart* | 0 | |||||
 Pipe Frame* | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 | +0.5 |
 Mach 8 | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 |
 Steel Driver | +0.25 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.5 |
 Cat Cruiser | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 |
 Circuit Special* | +0.5 | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | -1 | -0.5 |
 Tri-Speeder | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.25 | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.75 |
 Badwagon | +0.5 | -1 | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -1 |
 Prancer | +0.25 | -0.5 | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | -0.25 |
 Biddybuggy* Buggybud | -0.75 | +0.75 | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.25 | +0.75 |
 Landship* | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.5 | +0.25 | +0.75 | +0.5 |
 Sneeker* Bounder | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.75 | -0.25 | |
 Sports Coupe Sports Coupé | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 |
 Gold Standard Gold Kart | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.75 | -0.25 | |
 GLA* | +0.5 | -1 | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -1 |
 W 25 Silver Arrow | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 |
 300 SL Roadster | 0 | |||||
 Blue Falcon | +0.25 | -0.25 | -0.5 | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 |
 Tanooki Kart | -0.25 | -0.5 | +0.25 | +0.25 | +1 | -0.25 |
 B Dasher | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.25 | -0.5 | -0.5 | -0.75 |
 Streetle | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.5 | +0.25 | +0.75 | +0.5 |
 P-Wing | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.25 | -0.5 | -0.5 | -0.75 |
 Koopa Clown* | -0.25 | -0.5 | +0.25 | +0.25 | +1 | -0.25 |
| * - changes color depending on the racer. Bold denotes the part being available from the start. | ||||||
Bikes
| Bike | Speed | Acceleration | Weight | Handling | Traction | Mini-Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard Bike* | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 |
 Comet+ | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 |
 Sport Bike+ * | +0.25 | -0.5 | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | -0.25 |
 The Duke | 0 | |||||
 Flame Rider | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 |
 Varmint | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 | +0.5 |
 Mr. Scooty Mr Scooty | -0.75 | +0.75 | -0.5 | +0.5 | +0.25 | +0.75 |
 Jet Bike+ | +0.25 | -0.5 | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | -0.25 |
 Yoshi Bike+ | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 |
 Master Cycle+ | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.75 | -0.25 | |
 City Tripper* | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 | +0.5 |
| * - changes color depending on the racer. Bold denotes the part being available from the start. + - denotes an ability to perform inside drifts. | ||||||
ATVs
| ATV | Speed | Acceleration | Weight | Handling | Traction | Mini-Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard ATV* Standard Quad | +0.5 | -1 | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -1 |
 Wild Wiggler | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | +0.5 | +0.25 |
 Teddy Buggy | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | +0.25 |
 Bone Rattler | +0.25 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.5 |
 Splat Buggy* | +0.25 | -0.25 | -0.5 | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 |
 Inkstriker* | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 |
| * - changes color depending on the racer. Bold denotes the part being available from the start. | ||||||
Wheels
| Wheel | Speed | Acceleration | Weight | Handling | Traction | Mini-Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard Normal | 0 | |||||
 Monster | 0 | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -0.25 |
 Roller | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.5 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.75 |
 Slim | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | +0.25 | -1 | -0.25 |
 Slick | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.25 | -0.25 | -1.25 | -0.75 |
 Metal | +0.5 | -1 | +0.5 | -0.25 | -0.75 | -0.75 |
 Button | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.5 | +0.5 |
 Off-Road | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.5 | +0.25 | -0.5 |
 Sponge | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | +0.25 |
 Wood Wooden | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | +0.25 | -1 | -0.25 |
 Cushion | -0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | +0.25 |
 Blue Standard Normal Blue | 0 | |||||
 Hot Monster Funky Monster | 0 | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.5 | -0.25 |
 Azure Roller | -0.5 | +0.5 | -0.5 | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.75 |
 Crimson Slim | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | +0.25 | -1 | -0.25 |
 Cyber Slick | +0.5 | -0.75 | +0.25 | -0.25 | -1.25 | -0.75 |
 Retro Off-Road | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.5 | +0.25 | -0.5 |
 Gold Tires Gold Wheels | +0.5 | -1 | +0.5 | -0.25 | -0.75 | -0.75 |
 GLA Tires GLA Wheels | 0 | |||||
 Triforce Tires Triforce Tyres | +0.25 | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.5 | +0.25 | -0.5 |
 Leaf Tires Leaf Tyres | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.5 | 0 | -0.5 | +0.5 |
| Bold denotes the part being available from the start. | ||||||
Gliders
| Glider | Speed | Acceleration | Weight | Handling | Traction | Mini-Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Super Glider* | 0 | |||||
 Cloud Glider | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | |
 Wario Wing | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | 0 | |
 Waddle Wing | 0 | |||||
 Peach Parasol* | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | |
 Parachute | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | |
 Parafoil | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | |
 Flower Glider | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | |
 Bowser Kite | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | |
 Plane Glider | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | 0 | |
 MKTV Parafoil | -0.25 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | +0.25 | |
 Gold Glider | 0 | +0.25 | 0 | -0.25 | 0 | |
 Hylian Kite | 0 | |||||
 Paper Glider | -0.25 | +0.25 | -0.25 | 0 | +0.25 | |
| * - changes color depending on the racer. Bold denotes the part being available from the start. | ||||||
Unlocking criteria
Racers
The only unlockable racer in this game is Gold Mario. Once unlocked, his icon appears on the character select screen instead of Metal Mario. Metal Mario can still be selected but is now considered a variant of Gold Mario instead.
- Gold Mario: One must complete and win all cups in 200cc.
Vehicle parts
A vehicle part is randomly unlocked every 30 coins. When it reaches to 450 coins, this changes to every 50. Once reaching 1500 coins, this changes to every 100.
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Special Parts
- Gold Standard: It is unlocked by achieving at least one star rank on every cup in Mirror Mode.
- Gold Tires: It is unlocked by defeating all 48 staff ghosts in 150cc Time Trials.
- Gold Glider: It is unlocked by collecting 5,000 coins.
Staff Ghosts
- For this game's staff ghosts, see Staff Ghosts.
Items
- Main Article: Mario Kart 8#Items
All items from Mario Kart 8 are reused. Racers can now hold two items, similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. No new items were released within the game, but the latter three items have returned.
Returning items
 Double Item Box | Returning back from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, like normal Item Boxes, Double Item Boxes give items. However, as the name implies, it gives two items instead of one. |
 Feather | Originating from Super Mario Kart, the Cape Feather is used to hop roughly double the height the drivers are normally able to, as well as cause them to spin when they do jump. It is exclusive to Battle Mode. |
 Boo | Unleashes Boo, who turns the holder invisible for a brief time, making the holder impervious to enemy attacks, and steals an opponent's item. It returns from Mario Kart DS. |
amiibo
- Main Article: Mario Kart 8#amiibo
All amiibo compatible with Mario Kart 8 are compatible once again in the game, with some new features. Tapping any Animal Crossing Series amiibo will give the Animal Crossing Mii Racing Suit, and tapping the Boy or Girl Inkling amiibo will give the Boy and Girl Inkling Mii Racing Suits, respectively.
Updates
Ver. 1.1.0
On May 17, 2017, an update was released. Changes listed in the following were made:
- Opponents' names are displayed in the rear view mirror view in online matches.
- Invincibility period after a spin-out or crash is longer in online matches.
- Up to two players can spectate a friend group while they wait to join.
- “Worldwide” and “Regional” modes add players to Mirror and 200cc matches less often.
- Players can now properly create a friend lobby when having 100 or more friends.
- The starting positions in online races now properly reflect the order in which the players join.
- Miis now properly show facial expressions during matches.
- The Tournament clock now properly reflects real-world time.
- Inkling Girl's pose resembling a gesture, is fixed due to its offensiveness.
Ver. 1.2.0
An update was released on June 28, 2017. The following changes were made:
- Players can use Pikmin-themed amiibo to unlock a Pikmin Suit for the Mii driver.
- Race rules and course name are now displayed on loading screens for online and wireless play, as well as Mario Kart TV.
- In online matches, no more than two Piranha Plants will be granted as items at the same time.
- Controls are no longer unresponsive when the timer runs out when choosing a Mii racing suit for online matches.
- The item wheel no longer spins continuously in online matches.
- Online matches now end 30 seconds after the first place racer finishes.
- Items shown in a player’s item slots now display correctly when holding an item behind them.
- It is no longer possible to use an item after it has been used to block an attack.
Reception
The game has been received with universal acclaim, garnering higher aggregate scores than its original version. The game has been praised for being well-suited to the Switch's portability, the increased performance, and particularly the redesigned Battle Mode.
Soundtrack
- For this game's soundtrack, see Soundtrack:Mario Kart 8.
- Main Article: Mario Kart 8 Original Soundtrack
| Mario Kart games | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Titles | Super Mario Kart • Mario Kart 64 • Mario Kart: Super Circuit • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! • Mario Kart DS • Mario Kart Wii • Mario Kart 7 • Mario Kart 8 • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | |||
| Arcade Titles | Mario Kart Arcade GP • Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 • Mario Kart Arcade GP DX | |||
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