DLC Packs Coming to ‘Mario Kart 8’

It looks like the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom will be racing against the Hero of Time and everyone’s favorite secretary.

Doing more than offering free downloadable content in the form of three Mercedes-Benz karts arriving on the eShop tomorrow, Nintendo has announced two new Mario Kart 8 DLC packs. The first pack will not only include four new tracks, but three new characters as well–Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, and Link(!). This will mark the first time anyone outside the Super Mario Universe (outside the Namco-Bandai characters in the arcade versions of Mario Kart) will be available as a playable racer in any of the console or handheld versions of Nintendo’s karting franchise. If that wasn’t enough, Isabelle and the Villager will be join the cast, as well as Dry Bowser.

Each DLC pack will contain three characters, four karts, and two new cups–each with four courses. One of the confirmed tracks will be Wario’s Gold Mine from Mario Kart Wii, as well as courses based from the Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing franchises.

Additionally, Nintendo confirmed that one of the new carts will be modeled after the Blue Falcon from F-Zero.

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Here’s a breakdown of the DLC Packages:

Pack 1: The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 (Release Date: November 2014) – $7.99

– 3 Charcters: Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, Link

– 4 Vehicles

– 8 Courses

 

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Pack 2: Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8 (Release Date: May 2015) – $7.99

– 3 Characters: Villager, Isabelle, Dry Bowser

– 4 Vehicles

– 8 Courses

Pack 1 + Pack 2 Bundle – $11.99

– 6 Characters: Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, Link, Villager, Isabelle, and Dry Bowser

– 8 Vehicles

– 16 Courses

– As a bonus for purchasing both bundles (as a pack or separately), buyers will immediately receive eight new colors for Yoshi and Shy Guy for Mario Kart 8.

The DLC packages will be available for purchase Wednesday, August 27.