Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass: New waves, where to buy, and price
Find out how many Mario Kart courses are included in the bestselling Nintendo Switch game's DLC.
Mario Kart 8 came out on Wii U all the way back in 2014 and re-launched almost five years ago on Nintendo Switch. Where has that time gone? If you've been playing it since the early days, you've probably raced on every track and won just about every cup numerous times over by now. And while you might be thinking it's time to hang up those racing gloves until the next instalment, there's a new good reason why it'll be worth taking Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for another spin...
Nintendo revealed during its February 2022 Direct that Mario Kart 8 will be receiving a huge DLC update with the Booster Course Pass. Some Nintendo fans are probably disappointed that the announcement wasn't Mario Kart 9, but 8 has been one of the bestselling Switch games of all time, so it's not surprising that a new game isn't coming out just yet. Fans should still be excited, however, as the Booster Pass is adding 48 remastered courses from Super Nintendo, GameBoy Advance, Gamecube, N64, DS, Wii, 3DS, and Mario Kart Tour versions of the game. That's more than enough new content to keep fans going until Mario Kart 9 is announced.
Here, you'll be able to find all the information about the Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass release date, price, how it will work, and the best place to buy.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass release date
The third wave of eight courses for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released on the 7th of December 2022, bringing some of the best new courses to the game at the halfway point of the booster course pass. This time the two cups are called Rock Cup and Moon Cup and feature tracks like Peach Gardens, 3DS Rainbow Road, Boo Lake, and Maple Treeway. All players also were given access to customisable item loadouts in ‘VS Race’ modes for both online and offline play.
The second wave of eight courses in the Booster Course Pass was released on Thursday the 4th of August and included courses such as Mushroom Gorge from Mario Kart Wii and Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS. The two cups are called Turnip Cup and Propeller cup.
The first wave of eight courses was released in March 2022 and featured the beloved Choco Mountain course from Mariokart 64, and Coconut Hall from Mario Kart Wii, in two cups called Golden Dash Cup and Lucky Cat Cup. The subsequent waves are expected to launch periodically up until the end of 2023.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass price
The Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass is releasing the 48 courses in 6 waves of 8 and retails for a one-time payment of £22.49. You can currently get it for £16.85 at ShopTo - saving £5.64. You can also buy the Booster Course Pass from the My Nintendo Store , but it's £5.64 more expensive.
- Mario Kart Booster Course Pass SWITCH Download- £16.85 at ShopTo
You can play all of the maps from the Booster Pass in local play, but if you want to play them online you will need a working internet connection and a Nintendo Switch Online Membership. Currently, a year membership is £14.85 on ShopTo - reduced from £17.99.
However, you don't actually need to buy the Booster Pass to play the courses online. If you are playing with a friend who owns the Booster Pass, you can play with them on those courses even if you don't own it, and the same applies to global online play.
The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass is also being included in the Switch Online Expansion Pack making it even better value for money than when it first launched. The expansion pack already includes the Animal Crossing New Horizon: Happy Home Paradise DLC plus the N64 and Sega game collections so you'll be getting even more bang for your buck for the same price as before. If you already have access to the expansion pack, then you'll get access to the Booster Course pack!
If you're not already a NSO member and would prefer to access the Booster Course Pass via the expansion pack, you can buy it bought with a 12-month NSO membership for £34.99 but if you have family and friends to split the cost, the family membership for £59.99 could work out to be better value as it can be used across 8 different Switch accounts - and they don't have to be on the same console. There's also the option to add the expansion pack to an already active NSO membership via your Nintendo Switch account for a subsidised amount.
Although it's not Mario Kart 9, this Booster Pass is a really cool announcement for one of the most popular Switch titles. If you plan on getting the Booster Course Pass, you should check out our best Nintendo Switch Deals page so you can find the best accessories to help you race at the top of your game. Also, be sure to follow the Jelly Deals Twitter account for any other Nintendo Switch Deals when they happen.