Bringing Mario Kart to the Switch feels like an easy win for Nintendo’s fledgling machine. It isn’t exactly a new game – it’s Mario Kart 8, with a few extras – but that doesn’t really matter, for three main reasons: the ability to play in portable mode opens up whole new contexts, not that many people owned a Wii U anyway, and Mario Kart 8 is still an absolutely fantastic racing game.

For those who skipped the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 introduced bigger tracks to accommodate 12 racers and vehicles that defy gravity to drive up walls and along ceilings, and sprout gliders to soar through the air. Those tracks all still look great on this new console, especially in portable mode. And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also includes what was DLC for the Wii U version, like the wonderful Animal Crossing track that comes in four seasonal flavours, so there are 48 tracks in total.

Players can choose from 42 Nintendo-themed characters, including a few new ones like Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy from Splatoon, another game Nintendo will shortly bring across from the Wii U to the Switch. Unlike in Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U, all tracks and characters are available from the start; the only unlockable content is the various kart and bike parts – bodies, wheels, and gliders – that along with your chosen character’s weight class determine your stats: speed, acceleration, weight, handling and grip. Experienced players will need to spend some time with the game to earn the coins needed to unlock their preferred combinations for the perfect lap times.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest There are 42 Nintendo themed characters in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, including the gang from Splatoon. Photograph: Nintendo

Veteran drivers will also enjoy those features new to Deluxe, like the added third level on the turbo boost you get for skidding around corners, which is best saved for a few select parts of certain tracks. The 200cc time trials will give those who did own the Wii U version something new to master, and the ability to hold two items at once will encourage a more tactical use of items. Where before a player in first place might have habitually dragged a banana to defend against attacks from behind, now they might find themselves dropping it in a hurry to use their spare super horn on an approaching blue shell.

But the wonderful thing about Mario Kart games is their accessibility, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has a couple of new optional features aimed specifically at inexperienced players: smart steering, which will automatically redirect a racer headed for the edge of the track, and auto-accelerate. While Mario Kart games have always been balanced to allow those players performing less well a chance to catch up, most notably by rewarding them with better items like the speed-boosting invincibility star or the opponent-munching piranha plant, these new features narrow the gap further.

Mario Kart is a game meant to be instantly playable by any group of people, and the Switch only improves on that. Here, as with other multiplayer games, the Joy-Con controllers prove themselves a wonderful invention, allowing you to play with a friend instantly. A single Joy-Con on its side might not be the most comfortable way to play, even in a wheel (and especially if you’ve got big hands), but it’s a rare and welcome treat to be able to bring in a buddy without having to buy extra equipment.

Of course, if your friend has a Switch then they’ll probably also have a copy of the game, so you won’t even need to play in split-screen. When apart you can play online, and when together you can make use of wireless play to face off in portable mode. You can even have two players per console in each case, though leaning in with someone to peer at the console propped up on its little kickstand is the least comfortable way to play, even if it’s someone you really like being physically close to.

The ideal setup is that which the adverts sold us: a large group of friends, each with their own console, making use of portable mode to hang out in the same physical space. And that’s perhaps best demonstrated, surprisingly, in the game’s battle mode, which has often felt like an afterthought in these games and especially did so in the Wii U version. While Mario Kart 8 offered only one kind of battle, in which you hit each other with items until you run out of balloons, and only on eight of the tracks already used for races, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features five modes and eight (five new) battle-only maps.

Most modes will feel familiar to those who’ve played previous games in the series. Balloon Battle gives each player five balloons, which they lose when attacked, rewarding the aggressor with points; that your points are halved if you lose all your balloons introduces a risk-reward angle that discourages driving right into the fray. Bob-omb Blast is Balloon Battle but all items are bombs, and you can collect several to let loose all at once.

Coin Runners has players collect coins from around the course and from other players. In Shine Thief, which appeared originally in Double Dash on the GameCube, players fight over an item called the Shine Sprite, attempting to hold on to it for long enough for a timer to count down from 20 to zero. Though all four of these modes can be played in teams, they’re perhaps most entertaining when everyone is out for themselves and the player in the lead is mercilessly targeted by the rest.

The one mode that can only be played in teams is the new Renegade Roundup, which uses the Piranha Plant – a new addition to Mario Kart 8 – to introduce a cops and robbers theme. Members of one team use the plants attached to their vehicles to catch the others and transfer them to a prison somewhere on the map; if they manage to imprison them all the round ends early. Renegades must avoid capture while winning points by driving over switches to free their teammates. Even more so than the others, this mode is particularly fun when you’re all in the same room, as someone yells, “I’m in jail! Come and let me out!”

It’s those kinds of moments that make a Mario Kart game. While some players will spend hours perfecting time trials and improving their standing online, that’s not really what these games are for. Mario Kart is a vehicle for fun with all your friends and family, no matter their individual skill, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best, most versatile version of that yet.



Nintendo; Switch; £45; Pegi rating: 3+