While DLC and how game companies approach pricing and releasing it has become a hot topic in recent years, Nintendo has received a great amount of praise for their approach to these DLC packs. The reason behind the praise comes from the critical reception for Mario Kart 8 on its own and the timing of the DLC announcement.
First, Mario Kart 8 received universal praise from fans and critics alike. Both thought the game was packed with great amount of content to begin with and many were craving for more content for the game. Instead of feeling like Nintendo was adding content that should have already been in Mario Kart 8, the announcement of the DLC felt like a natural extension of the game and an evolutionary step for the whole franchise.
Second, most DLC announcements come well before a game hits store shelves. This practice can alienate consumers as it can be interpreted as game companies holding back content in order to extort money out of their loyal customers at a later date. Nintendo waited a good three months after the release of Mario Kart 8 to announce DLC for the game. Although Nintendo may have been working on the content at the same time as the game, the timing of the announcement, coupled with the affordable price, makes consumers feel that they are getting more bang for their buck and that the DLC content is in addition to the content already in the game.
Aside from dissecting the wide acceptance of the Mario Kart 8 DLC, the content provided in these packs are superb. Playing through each pack gave me a greater appreciation for Mario Kart 8 as a whole. Certain aspects that I overlooked upon my initial playthrough, such as graphics, audio and track design, are brought to the forefront in unique ways.
Seeing the rain-soaked neon landscape of Neo Bowser City hits home how wonderful it is to see Nintendo properties in full HD glory. Hearing the unique audio cues from Animal Crossing and Legend of Zelda on their respective tracks along with the electric fences and healing pads in the F-Zero tracks shows Mario Kart 8's incredible attention to detail and the reverence Nintendo has to their properties. Pulling together old and new Mario Kart tracks, in addition to re-imagining tracks from both F-Zero and Excitebike, spruces up the tried-and-true formula of cups having all new tracks or all old tracks and injects a ton of variety into the track designs. Speaking of the track designs, the changing seasons of the Animal Crossing track, the randomized layout of mud spots and ramps on the Excitebike and even slightly tilting Baby Park on its side for the track to be raced entirely in anti-gravity are wonderful tweaks that make the tracks a lot more engaging and exciting to play.
Although the inclusion of Link, Villager and Isabelle open Mario Kart up to the possibility of becoming Nintendo Kart, the three other "new" characters are nothing more than new costumes for existing characters. They don't bring anything new to the game other than a cosmetic change. Nintendo could of easily added these new costumes by having the a separate menu pop-up when selecting either Mario, Peach or Bowser much like they did with the boy and girl Villager and the colour variants for Yoshi and Shy Guy. Adding these unnecessary characters brings more attention to Mario Kart 8's overinflated roster problem. Also including these variants on existing characters over brand new characters from either the Mario universe or Nintendo as a whole feels like a missed opportunity in my opinion.
At 12 dollars for both of packs, the DLC for Mario Kart 8 is must own. The amount of content packed into it is astonishing. You are literally getting another half-game of content for the price of movie admission. Hopefully, the success of these DLC packs leads for more content for Mario Kart 8 in the years to come.
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