Game news Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: here is the real problem of Nintendo’s DLC
Decidedly, the paid DLC of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has not finished talking. Once past the disappointment of not seeing a new opus arrive for the Nintendo franchise, players pointed to the DLC itself. After a whole debate on its price and profitability, it is now its quality that is the problem.
Summary
- Circuits not so remastered as that?
- Versions straight out of Mario Kart Tour?
- Lazy to the end?
Circuits not so remastered as that?
If as we have seen in a previous article, quantity level difficult to tackle this DLC, it might well be different for the quality. Because when we look once more at the trailer, a detail has something to catch the eye. When Mario is regarding to pass under the cave of the Coco Mountain or slip under an arch of the Tokyo Crossingwhere he feels that these circuits are not as beautiful as those already present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And it’s even more obvious when you look at the visuals of the different races offered. The textures are not as well worked, the colors have only a few nuances… In short, the whole thing has a plastic effect that is rather reminiscent of games like New Super Mario Bros.… Where Mario Kart Tour (but that we will see later).
Let’s take Coco Supermarket who appeared in Mario Kart Wii in 2008. If what was presented to us during the Nintendo Direct is much more elaborate than the Wii version, it remains below the graphics usually offered in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (here Gloupgloop Park). On the second photo, the colors are much more garish, the sky and the road less detailed and the final rendering is not smoothed. We might even linger a little on the palm trees, which are only compact blocks, a far cry from the bushy trees of Animal Crossing for example (see below). You will understand, even without being picky regarding the graphics, switching from one to another in the middle of a session, it might be quite funny…
A hint of hope is all the same permitted. Indeed, it is only a trailer and some visuals. So we can still hope for a communication hiccup from Nintendo. Perhaps we will discover circuits more in line with the standards of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But the fact that Nintendo did not specify anything on this subject does not bode well. Especially that the first wave will be deployed in a month. There is therefore little chance of being pleasantly surprised on this side. Especially since a silly explanation is gradually emerging for these lagging graphics.
Versions straight out of Mario Kart Tour?
If for many players, the proposed circuits have not resurfaced for quite a while, this is not entirely true. Mario Kart Tour players know it, the mobile game has taken over a good number of old races (41 in all + 11 new ones). And the line-up of the first wave strangely brings together a lot of circuits included in the mobile game… Outraged Walk in Paris, Tokyo Crossing and Ninja dojo (all three from Mario Kart Tour), we also find Circuit Toad (Mario Kart 7), Coco Mountain (Mario Kart 64) and Flying Garden (Mario Kart : Super Circuit). Alone Coco Supermarket and Mushroom cornice are missing. And once more, since rumors have been rife for some time regarding the upcoming arrival of Coco Supermarket in the game…
If we take a look at the images of the different races of this DLC, they have indeed mobile game tunes. And if we play the game of comparisons, we are forced to note that the similarity is disturbing. Above, you can indeed find two visuals of the race Toad Circuit. However, we can quite easily say that the Switch version is the one on the left and the mobile version, less detailed, the one on the right. On the other hand, the bat hurts much more when one leans on the thumbnails displayed during the Nintendo Direct. If we compare them to the racing icons in Mario Kart Tour (right below), we simply realize that they are exactly the same visuals. Communication error or real copy-paste? The question is valid.
Because there are two little things wrong with this story. First, if Nintendo were to just port the circuits to Switch as they are in Mario Kart Tour, how to explain the presence of Coco Supermarket and of Mushroom cornice ? For once, one does not prevent the other, because in any case it’s two birds with one stone for Nintendo. Indeed, circuits such as Mushroom cornice Where Coco Supermarket might very well come later in the mobile game. By aligning with the graphics and possibilities of Mario Kart Tour, it would then suffice for Nintendo to carry out a simple port requiring less work than a true remaster. Here, it is therefore the second point that raises the question.
Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are two extremely different games. In Mario Kart Tour, you can forget regarding looping loops or the idea of sliding underwater. However, it just seems unthinkable that the circuits of the DLC do not integrate these mechanics which made the success of this Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. However, if it is a simple copy-paste, it will probably be the case. Difficult to expect anything then, and as long as Nintendo will not have decided, we will not be able to know on which foot to dance. In any case, such laziness would be very unwelcome, especially since Nintendo has already disappointed some players by only offering one DLC.
Lazy to the end?
Wouldn’t this act be laziness in itself? For Wii U players, it’s been almost eight years since Mario Kart 8 was released. And eight years is a long time, especially on the scale of Mario Kart. Never has an opus taken so long to come out. Especially since with this DLC in waves, we know that we can’t expect a new Mario Kart until 2024. Indeed, the last wave of circuits should be deployed at the end of 2023. Which means that a minimum of ten years will have elapsed between Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 9, twice as long as the previous longest period between two Mario Karts (i.e. Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart : Super Circuit). So certainly Nintendo has not been idle either, by offering alternatives such as the famous Mario Kart Tour or Mario Kart Live : Home Circuit, but that’s not really what players expect. They want a new installment for the Nintendo Switch, which may never happen. Mario Kart 9 may well be reserved for Nintendo’s next console.
So yes, it’s better to have a good DLC (which still remains to be seen) than an average game that doesn’t bring any real innovations. But we have seen it, Nintendo had time to research new mechanics. Admittedly, this Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is very successful, but that has not cooled Nintendo on other licenses. Despite very good opuses, Mario games have continued to multiply and innovate. This was even in the interest of the Japanese firm. Yes but now, concerning Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo doesn’t really have any reason to seek to release a new opus as soon as possible. The game is still selling very well and continues to break records. If we remove Wii Sports out of the equation, he recently dropped the best-selling Nintendo game title in history. Suffice to say that seeing the Japanese company continue to exploit the potential of its golden egg hen is not surprising. And we might even forgive him, but for that the new content proposed should be the result of real work.
Immediately announced, immediately decried. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s paid DLC raises many questions. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get a real idea of what the circuits will look like on D-Day. The images suggest the worst, but we are not immune to a pleasant surprise. Hope is not dead. See you on March 18 to find out if Nintendo has taken its players into consideration to offer them a DLC that is really worth it.