The Nintendo Switch has had a small collection of games to play since its release, and Nintendo has brought the newest game in the long running Mario Kart series to start building the library of games. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there is plentiful content to experience including new additions that were not present in the original Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. The game is able to be played on the go and keep the quality of a Mario Kart on a home console. The game can even be played with friends without needing to purchase additional accessories because of the Switch’s Joycon controllers that are able to be pulled off the side of the console.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe includes all content that could be purchased separately for the original and some more additions that weren’t present in the original. With the extra content, the game comes with an additional sixteen courses to race on and new characters from some of Nintendo’s other games. One new addition that adds to the hectic races is that players can hold two items instead of just one which was included in the popular Mario Kart Double Dash for Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo also vamped up the battle mode with different kinds of battles and a new arena based on Nintendo’s past game Splatoon.

The vehicles that players drive in are customizable with different parts that are unlocked after collecting coins from races. Some of the vehicle parts are unlocked through more challenging tasks that are not directly told to the player, but these secret parts can be very useful once they are equipped. Players can even race using their own Mii and get different racing outfits for them using Amiibo figures.

All the different racetracks have their own theme and some are even updated versions of tracks from older installments of the series. Some tracks are made up of three laps or one long racetrack that has a distinct start and finish line. The races also have music that fits perfectly into the setting of each track and once on the last lap, the music plays faster until the end. So that the races don’t become stale after one or two laps the tracks include different paths, shortcuts, and different parts of the tracks changing as the race gets closer to its conclusion. There are also time trials to see what players can get their fastest time to on a certain track once they have mastered the different tricks and shortcuts the tracks offer.

The new battle mode now includes five different modes that can be teams or free-for-alls. Some of the new battles give each team a different objective to try and complete before the timer is done. There are also some controls that are exclusive to battle mode like a U-turn and a new item called the feather that lets players fly up in the air for a short duration and then launch back down onto opponents. Battle mode allows fast paced fun and whichever team has the upper hand could change in a snap.