Mario Kart 8 Gets Massive, Cheap DLC With More Characters, Courses, And Vehicles
Nintendo has been slowly releasing more DLC in its games, which would normally be reason to be concerned about getting nickel and dimed. Opinions were split on the three free Mercedes cars (well, karts) that just got released in Mario Kart 8; while getting more content for free was a good thing, the sponsorship had many wary. But the latest Mario Kart 8 DLC announcement should put concerns to rest. There will be two upcoming DLC packs, one in November 2014 and one in May 2015. Each pack will come with three new characters (including Link from Zelda and the Villager & Isabelle from Animal Crossing), eight new courses, and four new vehicles. The courses will be partially based on other Nintendo games like Excitebike, F-Zero, and more. As a bonus, if both packs are purchased, you’ll get eight color variations for both Yoshi and Shy Guy — and you can use them right now if you preorder the packs on Nintendo’s eShop.
But the best part is the price. Each pack packs a lot of content in for only $8 each, or $12 as a bundle. (The bonus colors for Yoshi and Shy Guy are available from either option as long as both packs are purchased.) Consider that Mario Kart 8‘s base price of $60 gets you 30 characters, 32 courses, and 26 customizable vehicles. For $12 more, you get 6 more characters, 16 more courses, and 8 more vehicles, an increase of 20%, 50%, and 31% respectively. That is quite respectable in terms of value, especially the courses, which will add a ton of replayability due to more courses to mix in during multiplayer.
And because of how long it’s taking these packs to come out, you can probably deduce that Nintendo only started working on these courses after the game was finished. This is unlike most DLC these days, which enters production before the game even comes out, something that not only seems overconfident of the game’s success, but also raises questions of whether the content was cut from the base game to be sold separately later. (DLC released on day one of the game’s release is the worst offender.)
So for those wondering if Nintendo would succumb to the worst modern practices, this is an encouraging sign. Some people will be against paying any amount for more content, but Nintendo seems to be offering quality content at very reasonable prices. Now if only Nintendo would add a decent battle mode to the game. With the in-game battle mode merely sectioning part of a regular course off for battle instead of creating dedicated maps designed for battle, it’s perhaps the only glaring omission in an excellent game.
And if you only want a specific pack for a certain new piece of content, here’s what Nintendo has confirmed so far. The first pack includes Link, Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, a Blue Falcon (from F-Zero) vehicle, a Triforce Cup (likely with a Zelda course), and a Yoshi Egg course. The second pack includes the Villager, Isabelle, Dry Bowser, an Animal Crossing Cup (likely including an Animal Crossing course), and a Cat Bell Cup. Every other vehicle or course is currently unknown.