Mario Kart 8 Deluxe includes all aspects of the previous Mario Kart games and all the features from the original Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. In this game, you’ll also get to experience the fastest race class, 200cc. Most things are unlocked for you right from the start, except for the parts, so you just need to turn on the engine and keep it moving. As Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a relatively new addition to the franchise, the company also included smart steering that helps new players get the gist of gameplay before they go all out. Mario Kart 8 looks amazing on the Switch, even though it was launched in 2014. With great art, awesome gameplay, and a lot of twists, you’re getting the best Mario Kart experience ever.
Controls
Dual Joycon/Pro Controller/Handheld Mode
Left Control Stick – Steering
L/ZL – Use item
R/ZR – Hop/Drift/Tricking
X – To look behind your kart
+ – To pause the game
B – Brake
A – Acceleration
Single Joy con
Control Stick – Steering
SL – Use item
SR – Hop/Drift/Tricking
Y/Up – to look behind your kart
-/+ – To pause the game
A/Down – Brake
X/Left – Acceleration
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Items
Mushroom: Grants the kart user a small speed boost.
Triple Mushroom: Grants the kart user three speed boosts.
Golden Mushroom: For a limited time, grants the kart user an infinite amount of speed boosts.
Banana Peel: It makes a kart spin around and come to a brief halt.
Triple Banana: It summons 3 Banana Peels onto a racer, allowing you to place them anywhere on the course.
Green Shell: A Green Shell works like a missile; it will spin and stop any kart that it hits.
Triple Green Shell: It forms a protective barrier of three Green Shells around the kart user. The shells can be thrown like a regular Green Shell or used as a shield to protect against enemy items.
Red Shell: A Red Shell works in the same way as a Green Shell, but it will home in on an opponent kart and chase them down until they are hit.
Triple Red Shell: It forms a protective barrier of three Red Shells around the kart user. The shells can be thrown like a regular Red Shell or used as a shield to protect against enemy items.
Spiny Shell: This shell hones in on the kart in first place and targets it in particular.
Star: The Star makes the user’s kart completely invulnerable to all damage, while also providing a small speed boost.
Lightning: Except for the user kart, this item shrinks all racers. It will make the other racers vulnerable to getting run over.
Bob-omb: Blows up a race car anywhere on the track. It has the same effect as a Spiny Shell, but can be lobbed backwards instead of only forward.
Bullet Bill: This item transforms the user into a Bullet Bill. Increasing speed and making them slam through every opponent on the track for a short period.
Blooper: This item sprays ink on all the players ahead of the user, reducing their visibility for a short period of time.
Fire Flower: This item will allow the user to throw fireballs that bounce off walls, these can cause other players to spin out of control if they hit them.
Boomerang Flower: Can be thrown up to three times to spin enemies off and make them lose control.
Super Horn: Shockwave distracts all racers and destroys obstacles.
Crazy Eight: Generates eight items for players to use. These items are Coin, Bob-omb, Mushroom, Star, Blooper, Green Shell, Red Shell, and a Banana.
Coin: Boosts the player’s overall speed.
Boo: Allows the player to become invisible and steal an item from another player.
Feather: Allows the player to hop over items in battle mode.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Courses & Cups
1. Mushroom Cup
Mario Kart Stadium
Water Park
Sweet Sweet Canyon
Thwomp Ruins
2. Flower Cup
Mario Circuit
Toad Harbor
Twisted Mansion
Shy Guy Falls
3. Star Cup
Sunshine Airport
Dolphin Shoals
Electrodrome
Mount Wario
4. Special Cup
Cloudtop Cruise
Bone-Dry Dunes
Bowser’s Castle
Rainbow Road
Retro Courses
1. Shell Cup
Moo Moo Meadows
GBA Mario Circuit
Cheep Cheep Beach
Toad’s Turnpike
2. Banana Cup
Dry Dry Desert
Donut Plains 3
Royal Raceway
DK Jungle
3. Leaf Cup
Wario Stadium
Sherbet Land
Music Park
Yoshi Valley
4. Lightning Cup
Tick Tock Clock
Piranha Plant Slide
Grumble Volcano
N64 Rainbow Road
Other Courses
1. Egg Cup
Yoshi Circuit
Excitebike Arena
Dragon Driftway
Mute City
2. Triforce Cup
Wario’s Gold Mine
SNES Rainbow Road
Ice Ice Outpost
Hyrule Circuit
3. Crossing Cup
Baby Park
Cheese Land
Wild Woods
Animal Crossing
4. Bell Cup
Neo Bowser City
Ribbon Road
Super Bell Subway
Big Blue
Booster Course Pass – Releases in 6 Waves until the end of 2023 (Announced 2/9/2022 via Nintendo Direct)
Wave 1
5. Golden Dash Cup
Paris Promenade (Mario Kart Tour)
Toad Circuit (Mario Kart 3DS)
Choco Mountain (Mario Kart 64)
Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)
6. Lucky Cat Cup
Tokyo Blur (Mario Kart Tour)
Shroom Ridge (Mario Kart DS)
Sky Garden (Mario Kart Advance)
Ninja Hideaway (Mario Kart Tour)
Wave 2
7. Turnip Cup
Tour New York Minute – (Mario Kart Tour)
SNES Mario Circuit 3 – (Super Mario Kart)
N64 Kalimari Desert – (Mario Kart 64)
DS Waluigi Pinball – (Mario Kart DS)
8. Propeller Cup
Tour Sydney Sprint – (Mario Kart Tour)
GBA Snow Land – (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
Wii Mushroom Gorge – (Mario Kart Wii)
Sky-High Sundae – (New)
Confirmed Wave 3 Courses (Coming December 7, 2022)
9 . Rock Cup
Tour London Loop (Mario Kart Tour)
GBA Boo Lake (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
3DS Rock Rock Mountain (Mario Kart 7)
Wii Maple Treeway (Mario Kart Wii)
10. Moon Cup
Tour Berlin Byways (Mario Kart Tour)
DS Peach Gardens (Mario Kart DS)
Tour Merry Mountain (Mario Kart Tour)
3DS Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 7)
Confirmed Wave 4 Courses (Coming March 9, 2023)
9 . Fruit Cup
Tour Amsterdam Drift (Mario Kart Tour)
GBA Riverside Park (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
Wii DK Summit (Mario Kart Wii)
Yoshi’s Island (New)
10. Boomerang Cup
Tour Bangkok Rush (Mario Kart Tour)
DS Mario Circuit (Mario Kart DS)
GCN Waluigi Stadium (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
Tour Singapore Speedway (Mario Kart Tour)
Confirmed Wave 5 Courses (Coming July 12, 2023)
11. Feather Cup
Athens Dash – (Mario Kart Tour)
Daisy Cruiser – (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
Moonview Highway – (Mario Kart Wii)
Squeaky Clean Sprint (New)
12. Cherry Cup
Los Angeles Laps – (Mario Kart Tour)
Sunset Wilds – (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
Koopa Cape – (Mario Kart Wii)
Vancouver Velocity – (Mario Kart Tour)
Confirmed Wave 6 Courses (Coming November 9th, 2023)
11. Acorn Cup
Rome Avanti – (Mario Kart Tour)
DK Mountain – (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
Daisy Circuit – (Mario Kart Wii)
Piranha Plant Cove – (Mario Kart Tour)
12. Spiny Cup
Madrid Drive – (Mario Kart Tour)
Rosalina’s Ice World – (Mario Kart 7)
Bowser Castle 3 – (Super Mario Kart)
Rainbow Road – (Mario Kart Wii)
Battle Courses
Luigi’s Mansion
Battle Course 1
Urchin Underpass
Battle Stadium
Sweet Sweet Kingdom
Dragon Palace
Lunar Colony
Wuhu Town
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Characters
The following characters/drivers are playable in Mario Kart 8:
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Yoshi
Toad
Koopa Troopa
Shy Guy
Baby Mario
Baby Luigi
Baby Peach
Baby Daisy
Bowser
Donkey Kong
Wario
Waluigi
Rosalina
Metal Mario
Lakitu
Toadette
Baby Rosalina
Pink Gold Peach
Iggy
Roy
Lemmy
Larry
Wendy
Ludwig
Morton
Mii
Birdo
Kamek
Wiggler
Petey Piranha
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Karts
The following karts are available in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:
Standard Kart
Pipe Frame
Mach 8
Steel Driver
Cat Cruiser
Circuit Special
Tri-Speeder
Badwagon
Prancer
Buggybud
Landship
Sneeker
Sports Coupé
Gold Kart
GLA*
W 25 Silver Arrow
300 SL Roadster
Blue Falcon
Tanooki Kart
B Dasher
Streetle
P-Wing
Koopa Clown
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bikes
Standard Bike
The Duke
Flame Rider
Varmint
Mr. Scooty
City Tripper
Comet
Sport Bike
Jet Bike
Yoshi Bike
Master Cycle
Master Cycle Zero
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ATVs
Standard ATV
Wild Wiggler
Teddy Buggy
Bone Rattler
Splat Buggy
Inkstriker
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Unlockables
Alternate Ending Credits
An ending credit sequence with different music unlocks when you beat gold on all Mirror Mode and 150cc races.
Gold Kart
Complete every cup on both 150cc and Mirror Mode in Grand Prix with one star.
Gold Tires
Complete every staff ghost on 150cc.
Gold Glider
Get 5,000 coins total in the game. It is 10,000 in Mario Kart 8 for Wii U.
Gold Mario
Come in first in all cups on 200cc in all cups.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tips
Use Shortcuts to Win Quickly
Each Mario track has a shortcut for people who want to win in a smarter way. You can find these shortcuts by looking at the map, and you’ll save some time, putting you ahead of the competition.
Master Drifting
If you don’t master drifting, you’ll eventually have a hard time winning as other players will catch up quickly. There are three different types of mini turbos on the Switch version that you can benefit from. For 200cc, check out our brake drifting guide.
If You’re Ahead, Keep Your Items
If you’ve got items to use but you’re ahead of other racers, you should definitely save them for the hard times. For example, if your enemy is catching up to you, you can use bananas or shells to slow them down.
Starting Boost or Rocket Start
At the beginning of a race, wait for the “2” when Lakitu does the countdown and accelerate. This will give you a starting boost.
