Mario Kart 8’s new DLC tracks are more (or less) of a good thing

theverge.com:

Nintendo is now a third of the way through its ambitious DLC plans for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the ultra-popular kart racer that was released for the then-new Nintendo Switch over five years ago. Back in March, it announced it would be releasing a total of 48 new tracks for the game over the course of six “waves,” consisting of eight tracks each.

But the first wave, released back in March, felt a little basic compared to the highs of the base game, and often it was all too obvious which courses were based on content from handheld consoles or smartphone games. This wasn’t the case in the original Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, whose courses were so overhauled compared to their source material that you’d be hard pressed to tell the Game Boy Advance tracks from those that originally appeared on a home console like the Wii.

Last week saw the release of the second wave of content, and after spending a weekend playing through the eight new additions, I think they represent a solid step forward for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s DLC. No, I still don’t think any of the new content reaches the highs of what was available in the original Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but at a cost of just $25 for all 48 tracks (or as a pack-in with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription), it doesn’t really have to. You’re getting the same amount of courses as a new game at under half a new game’s price. No wonder the level of polish isn’t quite as high.

Five out of the eight courses are based on mainline Mario Kart titles, two are based on the smartphone entry, and one’s an all-new track. There’s Mario Circuit 3, which first appeared on the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES, Kalimari Desert from the Nintendo 64 title, Snow Land from the Game Boy Advance,