The DEFINITIVE Mario Kart 8 DLC Tier List | Wave 3

Episode 3 of the DEFINITIVE Mario Kart 8 DLC Tier List series is here! Join me as I share my thoughts about new races such as Rock Rock Mountain, Merry Mountain, Maple Mountain, and Rainbow Mountain. Let me know in the comments below what you think of my rankings, and how you would have changed them!
Happy holidays everyone!
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[@GameGuy53]

I know I'm a tad bit late to the punch on this one, but I've been pretty busy and wanted to make sure this was perfect for you all! Thank you to everyone who helped me cross the 1,000 subscriber mark, you're a huge reason this channel has been so fun to work on. Much love to you all and have a happy holiday season!

[@coutamaxplayer538]

I can confirm that you are not the only one that had chain-chomp-in-London situation. In may of 2017, I called a taxi in London. I went just passed the Big Ben, but then the driver looked terrified. I did not know why, me not knowing anything about the city at the time. Then, I saw it. a big, big black ball with a pair of eyes and a mouth with sharp teeth in front of us, barking, and racing to hit us. I was terrified, and did not know what to do. Then, it hit. As of today, the driver lost a leg and an ear, but he is doing just fine now, but I am since in the hospital bed. Sometimes I see from the window of the hospital some people getting the same tragic treatment as me and the driver. London honestly NEED to do something about this.

[@AK_804]

Ik right? I was at london going to a restaurant so i got in a taxi with a driver named 35 yuG emaG (no spaces in his name tho) and he told me about the chain chomps, and when I heard about them I got terrified so I went straight to the airport instead, thankfully i didnt encounter any but boy was that an experience of a lifetime PS: 35 yuG emaG started talking to me about Mario Kart and he said he believed Toad Circuit was S Tier and 3DS Rainbow Road was F Tier...now that I think about it he seems like a total opposite version of GameGuy53, hmmmmmmm.....

[@GameGuy53]

I am so glad I’m not the only one who has experienced these terrors. It might be time to start some sort of support group, it always helps to talk about these things with people who can relate. Maybe one day…. But I truly hope you can become whole again, I’m rooting for you. We all are.

[@AK_804]

@@GameGuy53 👍we need this

[@Adam.L02]

A big black ball 😳

[@crispbongo26]

I completely agree about the Maple Treeway thing. The curved branch roads really added a lot of challenge and thrill to the course. It also annoys me how they kept the hole in the big tree after the cannon, but the racers actually enter through the leaves below the hole. Still an S Tier track though.

[@GameGuy53]

I’m glad someone else feels the same way about that little detail! And that’s such a great observation with the hole in the tree, I didn’t even realize that that’s so funny.

[@peterweiland7537]

I showed my parents this video and they called off the divorce

[@GameGuy53]

This is why I create content

[@MrTCLawesome]

That red guy should ask for a law textbook for Christmas (because he could definitely be a lawyer)

[@mmarrone]

They're both wearing red. Who are you talking about????

[@MrTCLawesome]

@@mmarrone Happy Holidays to you too!

[@Swiftjar]

Another amazing video GameGuy! Passion shining through once again.

[@GameGuy53]

Thank you good sir, glad you enjoyed it!

[@leviathancreator]

Your editing shows you have true passion for these videos! I look forward to each new video you put out, keep working, but not too hard. Stay healthy, and here’s to our future community! Thanks for the videos GameGuy!

[@GameGuy53]

Thank you! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the videos - and I hope you have a relaxing holiday!

[@cyberbitterdragon]

Was waiting for this!

[@GameGuy53]

Me too! Then I realized I can’t really wait for it since I have to make it.

[@blakethesimms]

Bro I was astounded after you said you have 1k subs, this content is million subscriber worthy

[@GameGuy53]

I’m glad you feel that way, we’re on our way! Welcome aboard!

[@mmarrone]

To be truthfuly radically honest, i don't know how Santa stuck around even after the first ranking. Are you kidding me? Rock Rock Mountain is a D? And you have Boo Lake above it? For that alone you should get a lump of coal! He is right,YOU do sit on a throne of LIES! Hope you have a nice holiday and share pleasant moments with your loved ones tho.

[@GameGuy53]

I’m a little worried about what I’m going to wake up to on Christmas morning after this

[@langdonledwig3734]

Also London Loop above Berlin Byways is objectively wrong

[@kp6903]

Super underrated channel you make videos with 1million subscriber quality

[@GameGuy53]

Thanks for the kind words, happy to have you here!

[@lemonking3851]

Your gamer room is really cool

[@imaginationsquare]

Merry Mountain is my current favorite track of the game, the lay-out doesn't feel boring to me at all and HAS a lot of shortcuts (3 corner cuts, from which 1 is really impactfull and somewhat challenging and another one which is really hard to not fall off the cliff), for the rest I do NOT at all agree with this entire list?! I mean I don't agree at all with your entire tierlist of previous waves too, but this just baffles me

[@GameGuy53]

The team has officially received your Merry Mountain feedback and will look further into these corner cuts. Upon completion of our investigation, your feedback and our findings will be considered as we make future amendments to this list. Thank you for your participation in this democratic process.

[@RyansChannel0203]

Couldn’t disagree with you more on Rock Rock Mountain. It’s one of those few Mario Kart tracks IMO that takes full advantage of its simplicity. It has a lot of amazing set pieces with the amount of gliding there is and the paths you can take from it, it has some of the most satisfying area skips in any Mario Kart track, and the simply journey of going down and up the mountain (especially when you’re boosting your way to the top avoiding falling boulders) is endlessly fun. Rock Rock Mountain has always been one of my favorite tracks from Mario Kart 7 for all those reasons, and aside from the one small ramp that’s sadly missing, the Booster Course Pass version of Rock Rock Mountain in brilliantly faithful in all the best ways.

[@YoshWilbur]

The city tracks are by far some of my Favourite tracks. I just have so much fun with all of them in Deluxe and they all have really good sound tracks (Except for tokyo Blur that is just mid). To me they all hsve a different theme, style, obsitcles and layout to each other to make them unique. They are all so good and I replay them alot and all would place in Top 25 tracks of all time. Can't wait for Wave 4 - 6 city tracks!

[@GameGuy53]

Ah a city enjoyer I see! Even though I may not come across as an enthusiast in the videos, I do truly look forward to exploring each new city track when they come out, especially since I haven’t really played them all in tour. It’s a nice touch knowing that we’re gonna get a few with each new wave.

[@YoshWilbur]

@@GameGuy53 Trust me when I say, they only get better from here! (Well for me atleast)

[@JAWNDOEmusic]

how hype are you with wave 4, i swear all 3 city tracks are 3 of the best only sydney is as good, each one totally unique laps for each not just diff routes like nyc/tokyo - id say amsterdams a mid A tier, bangkock is a low A tier and Singapore is a mid to high S tier, one of the best tracks in the whole game imo

[@jwil4286]

I’m glad Nintendo showed us that Nikita Khrushchev had access to the Whomps!

[@GameGuy53]

It’s a little known part of history, the DLC is fun and educational for everyone!

[@JAWNDOEmusic]

question - if sky high sundae's biggest issue for you is that its 'just a loop' then do you feel the same about excitebike arena? that one only has the gimmick of randomly moving the ramps but thats not much diff but atleast sky hig hsunday has antigrave the whole way giving it cool/diff physics and it has a glider section thrown in and some split paths etc plus a dope theme, im just wondering ifur consistent with ur ratings if u were to add excitebike (or baby park for that matter) to the ranks cuz the more simple layout courses can be fun if theyre more about using weapons smart etc

[@bluejay21.]

5:38 @GameGuy53 Sky-High Sundae was designed for Mario Kart Tour, with it coming a few days later. They held onto releasing that for marketing purposes. Merry Mountain is from Tour, dating back to 2020. All of these tracks are either half-assed ports from Tour (Toad Circuit) or taking the Tour layout and throwing 8's stuff on it (Boo Lake).

[@GameGuy53]

Makes sense - the discrepancy in quality is so obvious to me. No wonder I keep ranking those ones a bit lower!

[@bluejay21.]

One thing I still want to understand is why Nintendo won't give the Tour non-city courses the retro marking. Why are they trying to pass them off as new tracks in-game?

[@imaginationsquare]

Don't worry about the city tracks, not at all surprisingly Nintendo threw all the generic ones in our face first, the upcoming ones will get really cool at times ;)

[@GameGuy53]

I have heard that we have much to look forward to in the cities - and as someone who hasn't played all of them on Tour, I am really looking forward to seeing what's to come!

[@JAWNDOEmusic]

this aged well cuz wave 4 is FIRE with all THREE city tracks having unique laps but not just diff routes, totally diff sscenery like amsterdam going thru farm, then underwater, then through the flowers etc - and bangkok is similarly dope but for me singapore is one of the best tracks in the game period, s tier for me i wonder if the fact i never played tour makes me like them more (or makes the OP like them less if he plays tour etc)

[@Magicwaterz]

The thing about sectioned tracks is that they have to keep the average total time in all races, especially in online play, in which in 150cc is about 1and half to 2 minutes. However, some traditional tracks have an average race time higher than that. What I would like for the sectioned tracks do is to use this one's average instead of the majority's average.

[@JAWNDOEmusic]

just a heads up, you should prob do what all tier vids do and actually order each tier from best to worst so we know the exact order ya know? so like the top of A tier and the bottom of A tier is the diff between an A+ track thats almost S and an A- track thats almost B

[@GameGuy53]

Yes this is actually on my to-do list for next time!

[@Moonboy65]

you forgot to mention that on the steep section for Rock Rock Mountain, they added the anti-gravity section, since you are literally driving at a 90 degree angle. same deal with the Moon section on 3DS Rainbow Road.

[@GameGuy53]

Good point, I didn't even think to point it out! It is a very dramatic, noticeably impossible climb too. I kinda like that aspect of it.

[@TeknoThom]

Ok, I’m gonna be honest with ya and say you goofed with the placement of Berlin. You didn’t like that New York Minute’s cars don’t move, yet Berlin Byways has that and yet you ranked it lower? I think Berlin should go up to A as it has much more going for it than New York, in my opinion. I’d say the same for Shroom Ridge but you’ve already moved it once so I doubt you’d be willing to move it again. I also believe that if you were to focusing more on how each one plays, instead of the crux of your ranking be that they all look similar, others like London and Sydney should be higher than B

[@GameGuy53]

You make some valid points here. As we get more and more tracks I think it also becomes clearer where everything belongs, so it’s definitely not impossible that I’ll move things twice and possibly even bump those cities up higher. Thank you for submitting your thoughtful analysis - your response will be saved and sent to the committee for review as we consider the amendments for next episode.

[@JAWNDOEmusic]

i get what u mean about maple treeway just putting u in a good mood, between the aesthetic and music for sweet sweet canyon its easily a top 5 track for me even if its prob be mid level if the theming was totally diff thought i do like the split/under syrup part, the glider sections are always good and it has antigrav too so its still decent but the aesthetic adds like two tier levels for me lol

[@bigboysketchparty]

Maple Treeway is a classic ❤

[@GameGuy53]

Absolutely agree!

[@georgekhoury9410]

Let’s go counting expert

[@GameGuy53]

I think we need to hire him back - this new guy couldn’t quite to handle the stresses of the job

[@georgekhoury9410]

I agree

[@imaginationsquare]

Toad circuit does not deserve F tier at all, it's a genuenly good track for a circuit track, it sounds awesome and it drives extremely well, and even has some amazing shortcut strats!

[@RealOrangeThunder]

Maple is my favourite the on,t thing I don’t like about it is they didn’t add that bridge, other than that it’s a phenomenal track with an amazing soundtrack

[@GameGuy53]

Yes I completely agree. I found it weird that they left the bridge out too, I really like that segment in the Wii version.

[@RealOrangeThunder]

@@GameGuy53 yeah, but the bridge wasn’t in 7 either which probably was because of hardware limitations

[@giygas_9577]

I looooooove Rock Rock Mountain personally.

[@acmiguens]

I see most people agreeing that the selection of tracks is improving with each wave... And that explains the lack of Double Dash tracks, they're gonna be in the last and best waves :D

[@GameGuy53]

I’ve run through all the possible scenarios in my head and that’s really the only logical conclusion.

[@DE23]

My issue with this wave is that Merry Mountain is where a Bowser's castle should be

[@GameGuy53]

I feel that, pre-rainbow road is the best spot for it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they eventually give us in the Bowser’s Castle department.

[@MarioandJulius]

Why does the better tracks like rainbow road or maple Treeway has to be in a tier if it was me it would be a tier no questions asked

[@imaginationsquare]

Merry Mountain has 3 corner cuts from which one is pretty damn huge WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

[@Fizzsama]

You have way too few subscribers for the quality of these videos man.

[@GameGuy53]

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words. Happy new year!

[@patrickschornstaedt5913]

That is a very very long mushroom in Rainbow Road; wow this is exactly why I have the bell on! That being said, I'm still very upset with you for your Toad Circuit ranking... Let's get some #JusticeForToadCircuit GameGuy!

[@GameGuy53]

I have spent a lot of time pondering the length of that mushroom.

[@Adam.L02]

The game that you compared RRM’s boulder section to probably took inspiration from RRM because that game looks too good for 2011

[@GameGuy53]

The footage I showed was from Mario Party Superstars (2021), but that game is a remaster of the N64 Mario Parties. Boulder Ball specifically is originally from Mario Party 3 (2000)! I probably should have shown original N64 footage to make it clearer for people who haven’t played it.

[@Adam.L02]

@@GameGuy53 ah ok

[@Adam.L02]

3:40 ain’t no way you called ghost valley boo boardwalk 💀💀💀💀💀

[@GameGuy53]

Lol that’s what I get for going off script on that part

[@Taktaagic]

1:29 Hold up, you listed Nintendo 64 games, and that just made me realise You subtracted 1 from both 6 and 4 to get 5 and 3, and that's how you're GameGuy53-- Or maybe not

[@GameGuy53]

This guy’s onto me👀 That may or may not be one of the two reasons.

[@JAWNDOEmusic]

snow land S tier is the most ridiuclous thing ive ever heard...looks nice, simple layout, no gimicks, like antigrav/underwater/gliders - fun enough but mid C tier for me...S tier is madness

[@ZankokuVal]

I’m not happy with sky high sundae being over alpine pass!!

[@GameGuy53]

Your concerns have been noted and will be submitted to the team to be officially considered for a future amendment to the list.

[@ZankokuVal]

@@GameGuy53 😂😂just my opinion 🥹

[@mailpaper7754]

Hmmm I think I'm a little bit late..... Anyway, I still wanna give my opinion on this wave :> I don't like it and it's fighting with wave 1 to be the worst wave. The greats tracks are Peach Gardens and Boo Lake, the good tracks are Berlin Byways and 3DS Rainbow Road, Maple Treeway is just middle for me I don't love it but don't hate it, then London Loop and Rock Rock Mountain are just horrible. Rock Rock Mountain's only good thing in 7 was the nice view, and that's gone, London Loop is just so boring and bland, 3DS RR and Berlin Byways are still good but haven't aged well to me, and I just don't feel anything for Maple Treeway. (I am biased for Merry Mountain cause of Christmas, but without that it's a C at best.)

[@Kacimblazer27]

How Rock Rock Mountain is in D Tier? IMO Rock Rock Mountain is in S Tier

[@GameGuy53]

Interesting take! Perhaps I will take your high regard for the track into account when I make future amendments to the list.

[@Kacimblazer27]

@@GameGuy53 Ok

[@dg_777player5]

Pretty good list even though I heavily disagree with 3DS Rock Rock Mountain not being that good, I find it amazing. Here's my personal ranking at the moment: 24 - GBA Sky Garden: This may be 24th on this list but for me it's by far the worst course ever made in its new form. They butchered the original layout of the course, removed shortcuts and replaced the original road with an orange colour. It's a disgrace of a remake that tainted the original's legacy, I couldn't despise it more; 23 - Tour Tokyo Blur: This city just doesn't do it for me, it's a bit too bland and boring to drive through. This course is still fun but quite meh compared to others; 22 - 3DS Toad Circuit: I know this course gets a lot of hate but I actually quite enjoy it a lot. Sure, it's a boring choice but it's still a fun course; 21 - GBA Boo Lake: An amazing remake of the GBA course but unfortunately I don't find it as engaging as the others and I miss the Boos holding candles. Still, it is an amazing course which deserves a ton of praise; 20 - N64 Choco Mountain: I love this course in its original form and also really like the remake but for some reason I don't feel it is as good as the other courses offered in the DLC; 19 - SNES Mario Circuit 3: Such a great course, I love how flat and simplistic it is while being really hard to go through. This game desperately needed a flat course and this absolutely delivered even though SNES Mario Circuit 4 would've been a better choice; 18 - Tour London Loop: I absolutely adore this course for the Chain Chomps, atmosphere and maze-like structure but unfortunately it has a lot of empty areas which really hinder its quality. I found this course bad in Tour but they made it great here so that's an accomplishment on its own anyways; 17 - GBA Snow Land: I loved this course the first time I played it but the more I played the more I started to not like it as much. It's still a really fun course but I wish there were more obstacles in it; 16 - Tour/BCP Merry Mountain: An amazing course all-around (especially for its theming) but I feel like it could be better on the layout department. It's great but just not the best unfortunately; 15 - Wii Mushroom Gorge: A lovely course all around which is a ton of fun. I love to bounce around on this course, it's so great; 14 - 3DS Rock Rock Mountain/3DS Alpine Pass: An amazing underrated masterpiece of a course. It is such a blast to just glide over a beautiful scenery and I'm glad this course made it in for that reason; 13 - BCP/Tour Sky-High Sundae: By far the most underrated course in the DLC, it feels so alien compared to other courses and is so floaty and fun. That combined with its weird theme makes it perfect for me; 12 - N64 Kalimari Desert: I always loved this course in its original form and this remake somehow improved it even more. I love avoiding the train, going through the tunnel and driving through an empty desert road, such a great course; 11- Tour Paris Promenade: A simple yet amazing course for its theme and layout. I have nothing to say about this one besides the fact that it's really immersive; 10 - Tour New York Minute: An amazing course which I think is underrated. I find it so fun cruising through the streets of New York and I think that it works well with the stationary cars, perfect course; 09 - Wii Maple Treeway: I love the comforting autumn setting of this course along with its really creative design, it's just a blast to play every time; 08 - Wii Coconut Mall: Even though they butchered the end of this course it is still a blast racing through a giant mall, this course deserves the praise it receives and more; 07 - Tour Sydney Sprint: This course was pretty meh in Tour but here they somehow made it amazing. I just love it all-around; 06 - DS Waluigi Pinball: I always found this course pretty overrated in the past but here they somehow made me finally really enjoy it. It's just a really fun course all-around; 05 - DS Peach Gardens: If they kept the main maze-like design unchanged from the original version (with 5 rows of bushes rather than 3), the item boxes behind the chain chomps and the tricky flowers to avoid this would easily be number 1 on the list as it is on its original form my second favourite racing course ever. Fortunately the path change on the last lap kind of makes it a lot more redeemable and the course is still so gorgeous that it's hard to make it bad. It's worse than the original layout-wise but still amazing; 04 - 3DS Rainbow Road: Simply a masterpiece. You go through space on a beautiful Rainbow Road in an unforgettable journey, it's highly regarded for a reason; 03 - Tour Berlin Byways: I didn't enjoy this course in Mario Kart Tour that much but somehow combining the three variants made it a masterpiece. This course simply has everything: you go through a train station, several parks, the Berlin wall, arches, etc. (it's the whole package) while having a part of the road dedicated to just avoiding cars and tree roundabouts reminiscent of N64 Toad's Turnpike or DS Shroom Ridge. Unlike those two courses though, this one tries to do more than just being another car course and only uses the cars to enhance the course itself. For me this is already an underrated classic; 02 - DS Shroom Ridge: They somehow made an ok course into a masterpiece without changing it too much, I just adore this new version of the course and I don't know why; 01 - Tour/BCP Ninja Hideaway: I love courses with branching paths you can choose and this one delivers that perfectly. On top of that it's a really challenging course which makes it perfect. Bias for DS Airship Fortress aside it might be the best course ever. As a side note, I find BCP Sky-High Sundae a really underrated course. I personally couldn't disagree more with that take. Also, GBA Sky Garden's new remake is the worst course of all time to me so I can't agree with its high placement either.

[@GameGuy53]

I like your list! I can understand the Sky Garden take, that race is much better in GBA and DS. I find it interesting that you weren’t a huge Waluigi Pinball fan until this version of it! It’s a very pretty remaster and the course seems to mix well with the MK8 physics. I appreciate that you enjoy New York Minute. It always feels like I’m one of the few who really likes that course! And good point about the little Boos with the candles in Boo Lake, that was a neat detail on GBA.

[@dg_777player5]

@@GameGuy53 Thank you. I'm really not jumping on a bandwaggon when it comes to GBA Sky Garden as I wanted it back for years and really tried to learn to love it but the new version just doesn't respect the original at all. I grew up with Mario Kart DS and liked DS Waluigi Pinball there but compared to DS Airship Fortress, DS Peach Gardens, DS Luigi's Mansion, DS Delfino Square, DS Bowser's Castle, DS Tick-Tock Clock and DS Delfino Square I always found it the weakest of the bunch. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe I gave the course a 3rd chance (3rd for I gave it a second chance on Tour but I mean, Tour doesn't do justice to that course) and finally found it great there. It's still not one of my favourites Mario Kart DS-wise but I'm learning to love it. Tour New York Minute is just a blast to play every time, I really don't get the hate it receives. Those missing boos are mostly a nitpick but they added to the atmosphere in my opinion.

[@MarioandJulius]

I agree with you about rock rock mountain I liked this track so much as a kid but it doesn’t show the love that other people show it 😡

[@trashducky5958]

Toad Circuit S+ tier tbh 🥱

[@GameGuy53]

Look all I’m saying is I do make amendments at the end of every video - my mind could very well change.

[@imaginationsquare]

This tierlist, this entire tierlist really feels bias to what the "general popular stances" are to be very honest

[@GameGuy53]

It's interesting to me that it has been playing out this way since I don't actually watch anyone else's opinions before I make these. Maybe a factor is that some of these (Waluigi Pinball and Maple Treeway are good examples) are just so ingrained in our nostalgic minds that as soon as we see them they automatically rise to the top. We'll see if it continues to play out this way on my list!

[@JT_Trickshots]

Your mum lives in there

[@bastianhackett9102]

This is my ranking 8. 3DS Alpine Pass 7. Tour Merry Mountain 6. GBA Boo Lake 5. Tour London Loop 4. Wii Maple Treeway 3. Tour Berlin Byways 2. DS Peach Gardens 1 3DS Rainbow Road

[@AK_804]

Why is Boo Lake so low lol, imo its #2 only behind Rainbow Road

[@GameGuy53]

Interesting choice for Boo Lake! Higher than Maple Treeway? Honestly I do like the track, and really like the visuals (that lake water looks crisp!) It does hurt to rank certain things low in these videos when I do like them.

[@AK_804]

@@GameGuy53 yeah i understand lol, even tho I love New York minute it ranks #6 in my tierlist for wave 2, and btw I think that Toad Circuit is better than Tokyo Blur and is number 21 on my list of tracks for the DLC #ToadCircuitDTier #ToadCircuitNotFTier #JusticeForToadCircuit

[@AK_804]

@@GameGuy53 oh and btw, u still never acknowledged the coconut mall cars lol

[@GameGuy53]

@@AK_804 DAMN! I knew I was forgetting something here… it’ll happen one day I swear