Mario Kart 8 X Animal Crossing DLC Review

I am unashamedly one of the biggest Nintendo fans that write for this site and I hold my hands up to any accusations of fan boy-isms , yes I can be caught up in the hype quite easily from time to time. This is one of these moments. I wrote a gleaming review of the last batch of DLC for Mario Kart 8, this to me is even better!

As I write this, I admit this may not be relevant to anyone, because if you are a Mario Kart 8 fan or Wii U owner you will most likely already be playing this one furiously, if you aren’t a fan, then you will be no doubt be paying attention to something else. Fair enough, but sometimes I need to vent about things I am passionate about and this is one of those!

Let’s just get this straight, Mario Kart 8 was number 2 on my game of the year list, I would have given it a 9/10 if I was reviewing it at the time, the previous DLC only built upon the original, this DLC trumps the lot of them. The mix of new courses and retro courses being revamped is great, the level of detail within each course is just fantastic. Beautiful graphics, the intricately crafted, excellent music, this is the standard for Mario Kart 8, this keeps up the trend with aplomb.

I like the extra characters and vehicles, but to me they aren’t what is exciting to me, I just go Larry or Lemmy Koopa with a pipe kart usually (You might catch me online sometime!). The first thing the excites is of course the new tracks, the Animal Crossing track is a standard affair with touches that will make any Animal Crossing fan smile for weeks.

I myself have put 180 hours into Animal Crossing New Leaf on 3DS and nearly cried tears of joy when I say Filbert the squirrel cheering me on from the side lines, he has been my best buddy for over two years now in Animal Crossing, this is the level of fans service gives with this DLC. Not only random animal villagers cheering you on, but landmarks from a typical Animal Crossing town, Tom Nooks shop, The Museum, even Mr. Resseti is a hazard popping out at you from the ground at one part of the course. The course even changes with seasons like a normal Animal Crossing game, the changes aren’t even just in looks, snow men appear in winter, piles of leaves appear in autumn, each changing the gameplay in their own way.

The next big addition is just jaw droppingly good, even becoming one of the best courses in the whole game, Big Blue is another F-Zero track, a downward decent on water pipes and through various hazards, this just has to be played to be believed, a true experience in gaming! The other courses are of a very high standard, Baby Park bringing the expected chaos its reputation has, Ribbon Road brings to life a child’s room with toys, almost like a cross over with the Code Master classic Micro Machines games. Wild Wood and Bell Subway are excellent new tracks, distinct and very fun to play. Cheese Land is another retro remake, it’s fine, just not as good as the other tracks in the DLC. Bowsers Neon City is a bit better than that, but still is just fine, overall the standard is excellent. The courses just get even better when online too, needless to say, Baby Park is chaotic to the point of unfair sometimes!

The next big addition is 200cc mode, putting the speed up to a F-Zero type level, wow this is a game changer, I have only played this a few times, I must say it takes a bit of getting used to! Having said that, it adds another challenge to the game, instantly giving fans another way to play which is always nice. However no matter what, every fan cannot be pleased, I have heard online rumbles about the battle mode not being fixed and some tracks being missed out is always going to happen, but that is hardly a flaw in the content given, it just gives me hope that they will surprise us with more DLC some day, a Kirby theme one with playable Kirby, King Dedede and Metaknight. Including courses like Banshee Boardwalk, Waluigi Pinball and even Bowser Castle 64, not likely, but hey a guy can dream!

This can’t get more of a recommendation from me, if you have a Wii U and don’t have this, please give yourself a treat with one of the best pieces of DLC ever! Considering the price of both packs together, you probably will never get value like this again. Long may it continue as far as I am concerned!

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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