20 classic tracks we’d like to see in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass

Well, my Mario Kart 9 wishlist video that was in production found its way to the bin pretty darn quickly after the most recent Nintendo Direct was broadcast…

After the news dropped regarding downloadable content finally coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – even if it does feel a few years too late – the prospect of Mario Kart 9 arriving any time soon have been completely quashed.

48 new tracks across six waves will be released up until the end of 2023 via the Booster Course Pass, and as much as I wanted a new game instead, I’m still very excited for more Mario Kart.

So I picked the brains of everyone in the Traxion.GG team (and threw in a few suggestions myself of course), and compiled a list, in no particular order, of tracks we’d like to see in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course DLC.

Green shells at the ready, let’s get to it. 

Mushroom Gorge – Mario Kart Wii 

Let’s kick things off with a classic.

The third course of the Mushroom Cup in Mario Kart Wii was the charming Mushroom Gorge. While simple in the grand scheme of things, this was the first track you’d get to in Wii that featured chasms to yeet yourself down, so it’s got enough of a challenge to not be overly bland.

Plus, the music rocks and the port to Mario Kart 7 added a blue mushroom to enable gliding, which is something Mario Kart 8 did with its track updates anyway, so they’re halfway there already. 

Toad’s Factory – Mario Kart Wii 

Sticking with the Mushroom Cup on Wii, we’re going from one track with a theme that slaps to another track with a theme that slaps.

Taking things one step further in the difficulty space within the inaugural Wii cup, Toad’s Factory featured a more diverse track layout, with more obstacles to overcome, conveyor belts to traverse, oh, and that brilliant theme song.

Rainbow Road (3DS) – Mario Kart 7 

Switching things up from the perceptibly easy to the usually rather difficult, we’ve got a few Rainbow Roads present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe already, including those from Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64.

But if I had to pick another contender to throw in the ring, it would be the offering from Mario Kart 7 on 3DS. It’s definitely the most diverse iteration of the track, featuring the titular glassy road, but also multiple sections racing on planet rings, the surface of a moon, and quite a few more places to fall off.

Giving it that graphical bump on the Switch over the 3DS would also look spectacular. 

Yoshi Falls – Mario Kart DS 

From one handheld to the other and going back to a slightly more straightforward and fun vibe, look no further than Yoshi Falls.

For what is a glorified oval, it’s a lot of hectic fun once racing is underway. Similar to Baby Park’s revamp in 8 Deluxe, this could be another track simply put on a slant and made to be zero-g the whole way round, with a few of the ramps on the split routes enabling gliding to make every lap feel different.

This track was cracking on both the DS and Wii and we’d love to see it again. 

Wario Stadium – Mario Kart 64

Mario gets all the attention in these games, so let’s give the villains a few circuits to shine on. First up is Wario Stadium from Mario Kart 64.

The second-longest track in the game featuring a myriad of jumps and tight corners, we’re yet to see it again in a modern Mario Kart game, so why not now?

Adding in the usual gliding, underwater, and zero-g sections would make this track that little more interesting, but since it’s such a long track in and of itself, it’d be great for that final round of a versus tournament. 

Waluigi Stadium – Mario Kart Double-Dash!! 

Going for the same motocross in a stadium vibe, Waluigi Stadium debuted back in Double-Dash!! and did find itself ported over to Wii.

Though unlike its pseudo-predecessor, this track doesn’t need as much work to modernise it, since it’s got a far more interesting layout and more diverse obstacles to overcome, such as avoiding being nuked by Yoshi lobbing a Bob-omb. 

Waluigi Pinball – Mario Kart DS 

Fans are still clamouring for Waluigi in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so we’ll give him more screen time in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe instead.

Waluigi Pinball is quite simply a banging track. Arguably one of the most whimsical settings in Mario Kart, the main question begs, are the cars small or is the pinball machine large?

Taking this circuit online will definitely lead to some interesting racing, and being flattened by a pinball from behind with no chance of dodging does make this a track to remember. 

Wario Colosseum – Mario Kart Double-Dash!! 

Wrapping up our quadrilogy of questionable character quirks is this ridiculous masterpiece from Mario Kart Double-Dash!!

As per in Wario tracks, Wario Colosseum is a long layout, requiring only two laps to complete a ‘full’ race. This thing is mental, and it deserves a remake simply because of how ridiculous it is, and it’s actually a travesty that it’s not been revisited yet. 

Delfino Square – Mario Kart DS 

 From the hectic to the quaint, Delfino Square is one of the most picturesque tracks grounded in normality – at least from a Mario Kart standpoint.

As much as the architecture of Isle Delfino doesn’t scream Need for Speed or Fast and Furious vibes, racing through the narrow, winding streets of the town and throwing yourself off a bridge definitely do. 

Mushroom Bridge – Mario Kart Double-Dash!! 

Speaking of bridges, this time with more traffic, Mushroom Bridge from Double-Dash!! is quite the simple track layout, but has cars, buses, mushroom vehicles and bloody bombs on wheels.

With some dope shortcuts to add glide ramps on, and rewarding those with balls big enough to drive up the sides of the bridge, we need more tracks with traffic that isn’t the dull as anything Toad’s Turnpike. Probably an unpopular opinion, I know. 

Mushroom City – Mario Kart Double-Dash!! 

More traffic you say? Well, Mushroom City has it in spades.

Think of Moonview Highway from Mario Kart Wii but with a more interesting setting and layout. Split routes aplenty here make for some interesting racing, and as said, traffic on-track always makes things more fun. Plus, night tracks are just awesome. 

Koopa Cape – Mario Kart Wii 

Throwing this one in here simply because it’s one of my personal favourite tracks in all of Mario Kart, I need my Koopa Cape fix again!

While going underwater was introduced properly in Mario Kart 7, Koopa Cape stuck you underwater through a warp pipe, and that’s after jumping over gaps in a cliff, rushing through a winding stream of water, and throwing yourself over a waterfall. Just let me do it again, pretty please? 

Mario Raceway – Mario Kart 64 

All in all, though, you don’t need to have a track with ridiculous gimmicks to make it a fun track. Sometimes the most straightforward circuits can prove to have amazing item-based kart racing.

N64 Royal Raceway, anyone? One of the most straightforward in the suggestions today, I’ve definitely had a fair few great races on this track, and I’d love to see it again.

Don’t remove the big pipe at the end though. Not like they would, really. 

DK Summit – Mario Kart Wii

Donkey Kong has had some pretty dope tracks in Mario Kart in the past, and we’ve got three to talk about today. The first is the excellent DK Summit (or DK’s Snowboard Cross) from Mario Kart Wii.

Pretty much the precursor to the final stage of the also incredible Mount Wario, you know things are going to be good when the lap starts with you being fired from a cannon.

The obstacles on the way down keep things interesting, though it would be even more so if they took a leaf out of Excitebike Arena’s book and randomise their order on each race. Speaking of being shot out of a cannon… 

DK Mountain – Mario Kart Double-Dash!! 

This Double-Dash!! classic did make a return in Mario Kart Wii, but it’s absolutely criminal that it hasn’t returned since. Cannon to start the lap, always good, but the journey down the side of this grumpy-faced guy is a blast.

The sheer number of trick ramps, pitfalls, and hairpin turns makes this a challenging track, and the rage-inducing moment of being biffed off the rickety bridge to close the lap is going to make those online tourneys even more interesting. This should be in every Mario Kart game.

There, I said it. 

D.K.’s Jungle Parkway – Mario Kart 64 

The final in our primate trilogy today is D.K.’s Jungle Parkway from Mario Kart 64. Racing through winding paths in the jungle is nothing new on this large lad’s tracks, and while we don’t have a cannon blasting us on our way at the start of the lap, we do have an abnormally large boost pad here.

DK’s tracks are always a great addition to the roster, and since we have a whole ONE track in the base version of MK8DX, we’re in dire need of more. 

Maple Treeway – Mario Kart Wii 

Think of Rainbow Road difficulty without the glitter, but with a cannon. It’s a DK track in essence, but with more wigglers than monkeys.

Maple Treeway is a track that’s quite simply a delight from start to finish. Lots of places to fall off are juxtaposed by its lush, serene setting. Even the music brings energetic yet tranquil vibes. It’s so peculiar and so lovely.

That 8 Deluxe lighting engine would make this track sparkle, let me tell you. 

Luigi’s Mansion – Mario Kart DS 

Things are getting spooky now as we head to Luigi’s Mansion from Mario Kart DS.

Yes, we’ve seen it as a battle stage on numerous occasions, but there aren’t many tracks that feature trees that walk around, are there? It’s basically the closest thing to the Haunted Mansion track from Disney Magical Racing Tour, so of course I’m going to want it here.

Rivers of blood, spooky hoose, Boos everywhere, what’s not to love? Give it some HD love. 

Daisy Circuit – Mario Kart Wii 

Night tracks are great, but sunset tracks? Hoo boy, the aforementioned lighting engine in 8 Deluxe would have a field day with this one.

Daisy Circuit from Wii is a pretty inoffensive track, all in all. Nice scenery, positively exotic location, double roundabouts with complete mayhem in the middle on the first lap?Blind corner tunnels with bananas littered all over? Long straight into a hairpin?

Makes for some hectic racing and close finishes. Bring it back. 

Wuhu Loop – Mario Kart 7 

Finally, let’s put a big one in. 8 Deluxe features a few point-to-point checkpoint tracks, so we’ll throw yet another into the mix.

Set on Wuhu Island as seen in Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort, this is the track where you genuinely feel like you’re just getting in the way of civilian life, lobbing bombs at poor Miis just out for a coffee.

While they have just added a bunch of ramps and obstacles to the track to give it a bit more flavour than just being a road course, as I said earlier, sometimes the most straightforward tracks still have great racing to offer. Plus, a trip back to Wuhu Island wouldn’t go amiss, would it? 

So those are our picks for tracks we’d like to see in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. Are there any picks we’ve missed that you’d like to see? Or is there one here you’d push straight to the top of the priority list? Let us know in the comments section below.