The dudes at the Big N have announced that they will be giving Mario Kart 8 an injection of turbo charge DLC in the coming six months, so it’s time to dust of the racing gloves and get back into action. Bringing the brilliant Link to the race track is easily the most exiting individual aspect to the downloadable content, but it also includes Tanooki Mario and Animal Crossing playable characters, along with a number of new courses and vehicles to thramp around in.
The first of the Mario Kart 8 DLC packs that have been announced will be available to play from November 2014 onwards, making it a pretty cool pre-Christmas high-octane rush, while the second has been confirmed for a release date in May 2015. Both of the downloadable content packs are already available to pre-buy from the Nintendo eShop, as well as the in-game MK8 shop that was recently added, and if you order both packs in advance you get eight different coloured Yoshis and eight different coloured Shy Guys that can be played straight away.
Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 1:
Pack 1 will set you back £7.00 and has a release date on the 13th November 2014. It includes a very cool looking Link crossover character, bringing The Legend Of Zelda hero to the Mario Kart race track for the first time in its history. If that isn’t enough all by itself, the add-on content will also bring Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach along for the ride, as the two suited editions of the characters also make their debut in the game.
The pack also contains four new karts to tear around in, including the introduction of the brilliantly old school Blue Falcon kart from F-Zero, which was one of the break out titles for the launch of the Super Nintendo, along with the B Dasher, the Master Cycle and the off-road Tanooki Kart.
Two new cups are bolted into the first of the DLC packs too, bringing eight new tracks to the game, including a return for the Wario’s Gold Mine from the Nintendo Wii edition of the game. There’s also Yoshi’s Circuit, which is shaped like the green machine himself, Ice Ice Outpost, Dragon Driftway, Excite Bike Arena, the classic Rainbow Road, an F-Zero inspired track called Mute City and The Legend Of Zelda crossover Hyrule Circuit to test your skills on. Check out the pic below to see some of the action in more detail, plus the DLC pack 1 video trailer underneath.
Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 1 video:
Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 2:
The second of the two add-on content packs isn’t going to be released until May 2015, so you’ve got a fair old wait until you can get your mitts on it. Again it’ll set you back £7 for either of the shop options and this DLC is mostly focused on an Animal Crossing crossover, bringing Villager and Isabelle as playable characters. Added to that is a return for Dry Bowser, who hasn’t been seen since his introduction on the Wii.
The second AOC adds yet another two cups to Mario Kart 8, equating to eight more tracks, with a number of them inspired by the Animal Crossing games that have been released over the years. Four more vehicles will be added into the mix also, but details are still a little thin on the ground about what they’ll be.
The two DLC packs have been bundled up together so that you can buy both of them in one go for the reduced price of £11.00, giving you all six characters, eight karts and sixteen new tracks when they’re released in November 2014 and May 2015. The discount is only available if you buy both packs together, so if you buy one now and the second later they will be £7.00 each, £14.00 in total. There’s the added treat of eight different colour Yoshis and eight different colour Shy Guys to play straight away if you get the two pack bundle.
The DLC comes hot on the wheels of the recent free addition of three Mercedes-Benz cars to the Mario Kart 8 roster. Added back in August, the free download brought the modern day Mercedes GLA, the 300 SL Roadster from the 1950s and the Silver Arrow from the 1930s.
If you haven’t played the game yet, read our Mario Kart 8 review to find out what you’re missing out on.
