The nine-year-old game that keeps giving.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Nintendo had already squeezed every remaining drop of juice out of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. After starting its life as a Wii U title in 2014, the already expanded Switch version of Mario Kart 8 that arrived three years later went on to receive even more new tracks and features, keeping it in the US sales charts for almost the entirety of the console’s lifespan.
The Switch 2 launched last year with Mario Kart World, which looked like the end of the (Rainbow) road for its staggeringly successful predecessor, but Nintendo apparently isn’t done just yet. Completely out of the blue (shell — OK I promise to stop now), the company has just rolled out a meaty new free update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe specifically aimed at Switch 2 players.
You can now play with up to eight players in split-screen in local multiplayer, provided you have enough controllers to go around (original Switch controllers are also supported). Nintendo has also added CameraPlay support, so if you have an official Switch 2 camera or compatible USB-C camera connected to your console, you can see your friends’ very own Luigi death stares when you overtake them. You can also use CameraPlay online via GameChat, just like in Mario Kart World.
Loading times are also now shorter, and you’ll be getting “enhanced visuals” when playing in docked mode. Obviously this assumes you have a 4K TV that can take advantage of the Switch 2’s improved output. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe could already output at 1080p in handheld mode via ‘Handheld Mode Boost’ but can presumably now do so natively thanks to the new update.
Exactly why Nintendo is adding all these features to an old game instead of pushing even more people towards Mario Kart World is anyone’s guess. The company has also been gradually improving the Switch 2-exclusive entry through updates, but by now a lot of people were hoping to have heard about DLC plans, given how many new tracks we got over the years in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Mario Kart World is still included in one of the recently revamped Switch 2 bundles, which costs $50 more than the same bundle did at launch but now also comes with a three-month Nintendo Switch Online membership.
