Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Predictions

I’ve already been working on a list of predictions, much of it based on what’s available in Tour. Firstly, here’s what I anticipate won’t be included:

• SNES Donut Plains 1
  
• SNES Donut Plains 2
  
• N64 Luigi Raceway
  
• N64 Moo Moo Farm
  
• N64 Mario Raceway
  
• N64 Sherbet Land
  
• GBA Peach Circuit
  
• GBA Shy Guy Beach
  
• GCN Luigi Circuit
  
• GCN Mario Circuit
  
• GCN DK Mountain
  
• 3DS Mario Circuit
  

Next, a bunch of course variants, in which I personally anticipate only one of each, if any, is included:

• SNES Mario Circuit 1/2/3/4
  
• SNES Ghost Valley 1/2/3
  
• SNES Choco Island 1/2
  
• SNES Koopa Beach 1/2
  
• GBA Bowser Castle 1/2/3/4
  
• GBA Boo Lake/Broken Pier
  
• GCN Peach Beach/Daisy Cruiser
  
• GCN Mushroom Bridge/Mushroom City
  
• GCN Waluigi Stadium/Wario Colosseum
  
• DS Figure-8 Circuit/Mario Circuit
  
• Wii Luigi Circuit/Mario Circuit
  
• 3DS Wuhu Loop/Maka Wuhu
  

And now for the ones I feel are shoe-ins (other than those announced during the reveal):

• SNES Vanilla Lake 2
  
• N64 Kalimari Desert
  
• N64 Frappe Snowland
  
• GBA Cheep-Cheep Island
  
• GBA Sunset Wilds
  
• DS Waluigi Pinball
  
• DS Airship Fortress
  
• Wii DK Summit
  
• 3DS Rosalina’s Ice World
  
• 3DS Rainbow Road
  
• Tour Berlin Byways
  
• Tour London Loop
  
• Tour Los Angeles Laps
  
• Tour New York Minute
  
• Tour Singapore Speedway
  
• Tour Sydney Sprint
  
• Tour Vancouver Velocity
  
• Tour Merry Mountain
  

As for what else I’d personally like to be in the game… hm, let’s see:

• SNES Koopa Beach 2 (I like the music)
  
• N64 Bowser’s Castle (Imagine this with antigrav)
  
• N64 Banshee Boardwalk (Needs a decent overhaul)
  
• GBA Yoshi Desert (Been waiting since 2005)
  
• GCN Mushroom City (Imagine this in MK8’s engine)
  
• GCN Wario Colosseum (Perfect for this DLC)
  
• DS Delfino Square (Not yet tropical enough)
  
• Wii Toad’s Factory (This one has untapped potential)
  
• Wii Maple Treeway (Antigrav, this was made for)
  
• 3DS Shy Guy Bazaar (A personal favourite)
  
• 3DS Rock Rock Mountain (Obvious one, yes?)
  

@Towafan7 It does, at least based on the announcement trailer.

In fact, I’d say many of the Tour courses were made with antigrav in mind, which is especially true in the case of GBA Sky Garden; also, DS Shroom Ridge and Wii Coconut Mall aren’t in Tour, so it’s likely there’ll be more than a few surprises.

@Anime_Gurl There was definitely a noticeable amount of polish and visual flair in Paris Promenade, so it’s likely close to a finished version, and I honestly don’t expect the new courses in Tour to be drastically different in many ways.

Honestly, I’m more interested in whether or not the variants will be selectable, in a similar way to Animal Crossing, and not just because Berlin Byways 1 was never officially released.

@Grumblevolcano It’ll certainly have a Rainbow Road, though I’m sure the rest will vary; my guess is it’ll have a Bowser’s Castle and a real world-inspired course, or maybe even 3DS Maka Wuhu.

@Grumblevolcano Both Ninja Hideaway and Merry Mountain were always intended for this DLC, making them essentially sneak previews/test runs; the fact that Tour can barely handle Ninja Hideaway is almost certainly proof of this.

Also, having the real-world courses prefixed with “Tour” makes sense, since each lap follows a unique path through the city, and all three base variants are fully playable in a single race. That’s pretty much the epitome of a “tour,” wouldn’t you say?

Also, I’ve been thinking about how the Booster Course Pass could bring the number of Retro courses from the first seven instalments to eight each, with the pattern following something like this:

Super Mario Kart
SNES Mario Circuit 1/2/3/4
SNES Donut Plains 3
SNES Ghost Valley 1/2/3
SNES Bowser Castle 1/2/3
SNES Choco Island 1/2
SNES Koopa Beach 1/2
SNES Vanilla Lake 1/2
*SNES Rainbow Road*

Mario Kart 64
*N64 Kalimari Desert*
N64 Toad’s Turnpike
*N64 Frappe Snowland*
*N64 Choco Mountain*
N64 Royal Raceway
*N64 Bowser’s Castle*
N64 Yoshi Valley
N64 Rainbow Road

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
GBA Bowser Castle 1/2/3/4
GBA Mario Circuit
GBA Cheese Land
*GBA Sky Garden*
GBA Cheep-Cheep Island
GBA Sunset Wilds
GBA Ribbon Road
GBA Yoshi Desert

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
*GCN Baby Park*
GCN Dry Dry Desert
*GCN Daisy Cruiser*
GCN Waluigi Stadium
GCN Sherbet Land
GCN Mushroom City
*GCN Yoshi Circuit*
GCN Rainbow Road

Mario Kart DS
DS Cheep-Cheep Beach
*DS Luigi’s Mansion*
*DS Waluigi Pinball*
DS Shroom Ridge
*DS DK Pass*
DS Tick-Tock Clock
*DS Airship Fortress*
DS Wario Stadium

Mario Kart Wii
Wii Moo Moo Meadows
Wii Toad’s Factory
*Wii Coconut Mall*
Wii DK Summit
Wii Wario’s Gold Mine
*Wii Maple Treeway*
Wii Grumble Volcano
Wii Bowser’s Castle

Mario Kart 7
3DS Shy Guy Bazaar
3DS Music Park
3DS Rock Rock Mountain
3DS Piranha Plant Slide
3DS Wario Shipyard
3DS Neo Bowser City
3DS DK Jungle
3DS Rainbow Road

That’s a whopping 33 Retro courses added from the first seven installments alone! If we speculate that the other 15 courses are a mix of real-world inspired locations, of which there are currently nine (perhaps the only nine such courses in Tour as a whole), and newly introduced courses in the same vein as Ninja Hideaway and Merry Mountain, then it’s easy to calculate the course variance in each wave::

WAVES 1, 3, & 5
- Two Tour Courses
- Five Retro Courses
- One Nitro Course

WAVES 2, 4, & 6
- One Tour Course
- Six Retro Courses
- One Nitro Course

Phew… that’s over half an hour’s worth of speculation, calculation, and Fronklation… or something.

@Amufungal I definitely agree with you on that one, though it would seem the remaining courses have already been semi-leaked ahead of time, at least in terms of how many come from each game.

More info to be shared via spoiler tag soon.

Spoilers, surprises, and speculation… NOW!

WARNING: While much of this information is tentative at best, please avoid if you don’t want to be spoiled in any way!

***

Total Numbers:

Courses (DLC Only):

Courses (Full Game):

Confirmed (Promo Art):

Semi-Confirmed (Tour):

Known Courses by Game:

Hypothetical Cups:

@Towafan7 Perhaps a few (New York Minute almost certainly), though some of them don’t align with the leaked prefixes of the Wave 2 cups, so a handful are probably going to be added in future waves.

Mario Kart Wii-wise, I think Maple Treeway is a Wave 6 inclusion, most likely in the Acorn Cup (along with Rainbow Road to round out the Spiny Cup), with Koopa Cape in Wave 2’s Propeller Cup; I also anticipate DK Summit/DK’s Snowboard Cross at some point.

According to the updated promo art, the two returning courses from Super Mario Kart are of the Mario Circuit and Vanilla Lake themes, possibly Mario Circuit 1 in the Turnip Cup and Vanilla Lake 2 in the Cherry Cup.

It could be the other way ‘round, though I anticipate Frappe Snowland from Mario Kart 64 is also in the Turnip Cup, and having two back-to-back snow courses in the same cup detracts a little from the diversity that would keep things fresh and exciting every couple of months or so, especially if the winter-themed Merry Mountain rounds out the Propeller Cup.

Those are my two Coins for now.

@Towafan7 28th-29th June, same time as the rumoured (read:pretty much confirmed) Nintendo Direct this month, and as an "available after this presentation" reveal of most - if not all - eight courses. I'll be a Kong's uncle if New York Minute isn't one of 'em, though.

@Megatron2000 Really? I don't think Dino Dino Jungle is that difficult, to be honest... I mean, compared with the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time and pretty much the entirety of The Adventure of Link, it's totes cake!

@Amufungal Any courses in particular you'd like to see other than the reveals and leaks?

@Towafan7 I think adding four fresh arenas, one each from the N64, GBA, DS, and Wii installments, is a good idea, making this not just the Mario Kart game with the largest roster and selection of courses to date, but also the one with the most Battle Stages, a whopping twelve! If we’re lucky, N64 Block Fort will be one of ‘em.

@Splatuna I’m a sucker for Vancouver Velocity.

@KokorOtaku How are you liking Ninja Hideaway? 
@Staroceancrazy Not necessarily, since I was mainly going by the leaked template files.

@Towafan7 "Booster Course Pass."

@Towafan7 It’s possible…

Aight, time to update my speculation post a tiny bit.

@Towafan7 Yes, it should…

…well? Is there anything you’d like to tell us, @SquigleysAutocorrect? Hm? Hm? 🤨

#AutocorrectFail

@SuperVash Nah, the “Tour” theme works well in 8, with the route changing at key points during a race. It’s actually a fun gimmick IMHO.

@Towafan7 Aw…

@RWBY_Red Nintendo likes to surprise players out-of-the-blue, and given the expected pacing of the BCP, I’d say it’s a simple matter of Wave 2 dropping at some point this month, with an announcement video on social media at roughly the same interval, followed by Wave 3 sometime in November-ish, quite possibly with Merry Mountain in the Moon Cup to coincide with the Holidays (and 3DS Rainbow Road to round out the first year of new content ).

By the way, it’s worth mentioning that Mario Kart 8 is the first installment in the series to include at least one Rainbow Road in its Retro course selection, but not a single Bowser’s Castle from any prior entry to be found; Mario Kart 7 has GBA Bowser Castle 1, Mario Kart Wii has GBA Bowser Castle 3 and N64 Bowser’s Castle, Mario Kart DS has GBA Bowser Castle 2, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit has (a stripped down, Thwomp-less version of) every single SNES Bowser Castle.

Based on inclusions in Mario Kart Tour, I’d say it’s fair to expect at least one returning Bowser’s Castle for the first time in approximately eleven years, most likely (and ironically) the one from said game, Mario Kart 7, though I wouldn’t say no to perhaps a couple of others, especially since we’re getting at least one Mario Circuit and two Rainbow Roads… I mean even tyrannical turtle-oxen deserve a (dry) bone thrown in their face given to them every once in a while, right?

Zatchbell wrote: @TheRealSquigley There's a rumor that a mini direct focusing on first party announcements will be broadcast either this upcoming week or the next.

ToughGamer wrote: @TheRealSquigley @ZatchBell We can only hope this is true.

Agreed.

POTENTIAL SPOILER TIME!!!1!

This may very well be the lineup for Wave 3…

Are you ready? 3… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… Ni-

(Sigh… just do it. )

Wave 3:

And here’s what may be in next year’s waves!

Waves 4-6 (2023):

KeAfan7 wrote:I was just being silly, sorry if I sounded rude.

Sorry, busy day yesterday (in 38°C/100.4°F heat, because Aussie summer 🥵), hence the minimal interaction on WiiWareWave.

Apologies for the concern…

Aight, that’s one long overdue update done (thanks for the reminder, @KeAfan7 ), with Wave 4’s Yoshi’s Island added to the Fruit Cup as a confirmed Nitro course.

Also, despite the initial speculation suggesting a GCN course in Wave 3, this didn’t actually come to pass, with the Rock Cup’s DS course revealed as GBA Boo Lake, the GBA course as 3DS Rock Rock Mountain, and the 3DS course as… Wii Maple Treeway.

So no DS course in Wave 3, then…? Well, not quite, because the GCN course in the Moon Cup is… DS Peach Gardens! This is a total defronking as far as leaks and speculation go, but it also means that the entire first half of the BCP has precisely zero GCN courses among all six of its cups! This is somewhat balanced by the second half having no N64 courses (unless or until defronked), but still worth noting.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, it means GCN Waluigi Stadium has been pushed back to a later wave! Poor Waluigi is given the shaft again (pun not intended)… I swear, the only thing that’d make it even more of a kick-in-the-freakishly-long-shins is if the leaked course turns out to be GCN Waluigi Colosseum! Which given MK8’s antigrav feature is far from an impossibility!

Waluigi: ”WAAAAAAAA!”

@KeAfan7 Hm… you’re right.

Okay then, my speculation character-wise is…

Wave 4: Birdo (alongside Yoshi’s Island)

Wave 5: Pauline, Donkey Kong Jr., Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Funky Kong (alongside Wii DK Summit and New Donk City)

Wave 6: Nabbit, Monty Mole, King Bob-omb, Petey Piranha, Kamek, Hammer Bro, Boomerang Bro, Fire Bro, Ice Bro, palette swaps of Toad and Koopa Troopa, and alternate forms/costumes of multiple characters like 16-Bit Mario, Penguin Luigi, Captain Toad, Peachette, and Octoling Girl/Boy (alongside GCN Bowser’s Castle, Mario Party, Wii Rainbow Road, and eight Battle Stages including N64 Block Fort, GBA Battle Course 2, DS Palm Shore, Wii Funky Stadium, and a Splatfest-themed version of Splatsville with a live performance of Deep Cut’s "Anarchy Rainbow").

Updated the speculation based on Wave 4’s Cups.