Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has finally received its big Switch 2 upgrade, and the biggest surprise is a new eight-player split-screen mode. Anyone who was getting a bit bored with Mario Kart World now has the perfect excuse to return to the OG Switch’s best-selling game ever.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe version 4.0.0 is now free to download on Switch 2 and includes a suite of improvements that take advantage of the more powerful hardware. Arriving over a year since the console’s launch, the biggest new feature is the chaotic expansion of local multiplayer. Considering the performance load of just four players on screen at once, eight-player races is really impressive. I guess you can even do it while in handheld mode? RIP my eyes.
Aside from the new mode, there’s the usual Switch 2 enhancements, including crisper visuals and quicker load times before races. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will also now support CameraPlay for online races for players who have a compatible webcam. Nintendo also made a few slight adjustments to the base game. Those include the Boo item animation no longer slowing players down and increased player speed during races “by the equivalent of one coin.”
The latest update will give Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a fresh claim to remaining the best Mario Kart game even after the launch of Mario Kart World last year. While superior in a number of ways, with sprawling courses that take advantage of the new hardware and more complex racing mechanics, it still feels content-light compared to the Switch game. Fans have been waiting for a big DLC push around World but it hasn’t yet arrived. In the meantime, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is back on the menu.
