Why Nintendo Changed Mario Kart 8's Graphics For New DLC

[@isaacrogers4174]

I prefer the MK8 look because it looks nicer on the eyes imo. And the tour art style makes the new courses look like mods.

[@LilacMonarch]

My thoughts exactly. It reminds me of playing CTGP (Mario Kart Wii mod) where the added courses do work but they look kinda out of place

[@prestonandtom9337]

Lack of details too.

[@MarioFan-mar10]

I agree, Tour's assets are meant to be supportive for mobile devices, which is why the resolution is low, but it does feel odd it being on console which can support better textures

[@bryandavila5215]

I said the exact same thing when they showed a tease on NintendoDirect, it looked so modded and not something that was published by Nintendo themselves

[@drktomy8945]

The new tracks may not look bad, but in the context of MK8 they are odd, it's like they are made of plastic or something compared to the rest of the tracks

[@adoringfan1226]

I would have preferred that they stuck with the MK8 textures for the sake of consistency. IMO, the tour style is unappealing in contrast and does come off as a lazy approach regardless of being technically proven otherwise. I think the DLC would feel more premium if it was given a proper MK8 makeover

[@JordiumZ]

I agree I feel like it will make mario kart 8 deluxe feel like a lesser product cause we have half the game looking good and the other half looking bad once the dlc is over

[@_shadiness]

I pretty much agree regarding that Nintendo doesn't really have an actual excuse on handing us a downgraded DLC version on termns of effort when they've clearly got a fuck ton of time to simply port these new tracks over from tour, and considering they don't have to do things over. This DLC overall made me feel like if I was playing a rushed version of what MK9 could've been and I sincerely hope that they don't start to strand away from the quality content that people want from now on because they simply don't give a shit. I may or may not sound like I'm overreacting but my genuine opinion is that there was regardless a lot to improve... Also, I hope that they sorta try to atleast bring back anti-gravity and underwater stuff for the next tracks, like, considering we haven't actually seen anti-gravity stuff too much and this change of art-style makes me think that they're just trying to distance themselves om what MK8 originally was supposed to be.

What I don't get is why they reworked some textures yet kept the tour grass. Adding much more detail to the grass woudlln't have altered the tour artstyle a single bit. It would only have made it more beautiful.

[@shaneens1547]

Maybe after a bit, they'll patch the game so the graphics look a bit more realistic.

[@krdjmtc]

@@shaneens1547 but, has anything like that ever happened in a game? Where a patch adds a texture overhaul?

[@TheLonelyGoomba]

I don't think it's that deep. All of the courses are from Tour. Coconut Mall and Mushroom Ridge were datamined to be in Tour and were likely completed for that game. And I'd argue every single DLC course will be from Tour afterwards. So it isn't a art style change in an attempt to move into something new, it's just, this DLC IS just a Tour port. I would imagine it's easier keeping the art style of the grass the same to keep it consistent with everything else. No point having high res looking grass and nothing else. Since the workload will then balloon to make everything match

[@mehdigeek]

finally someone making sense

[@JordiumZ]

I'm worried about the dlc tainting mario kart 8 deluxe overall quality since at the end of 2023 we counld end up with a game with 50% amazing looking tracks and 50% bland mobile game looking tracks, people will say that I'm overreacting but if this was smash DLC and the characters looked lower quality than the main game everyone would be mad, I just want the game to have a consistent quality and style

[@Kyngs_art]

totally agree

[@MadMaxxed1224]

That may be the case for most of the tracks, but sky garden and Paris promenade had completely different ground textures than they did in tour. They obviously had some things changed to look better

[@mariobroultimate1808]

Thank you Lonely Goomba. Totally agree.

[@Dracoward]

IMO, I prefer the realistic look. The change in texture and design makes it feel…off to me. The courses run great, yes, but part of me likes consistency in presentation. It feels like act 1 of a upscale stage play had props made by experts while act 2 had them replaced with noticeably downgraded objects painted and crafted by middle schoolers.

[@SuperNickid]

@DrakeSilver: you forgot that the relistic view is from Mario kart 8 WiiU not Mario kart 8 Deluxe, some people mistaken the WiiU DLC as the new track added to Mario kart 8 deluxe they are not so that is why does one keep the the relistic art style. Let's just say in an alternated universe the WiiU did not fail in makeing Nintendo Money, and when it came time to switch to the Nintendo switch way later in that alternated universe, then they would not have made a port of Mario kart 8 WiiU to Mario kart 8 Deluxe, the Nintendo switch would have Mario kart 9 in that alternated universe and brand new Nitro, and Retro grandprix with all the more cartoon style in order to have diffrent graphic between game.

[@krdjmtc]

@@SuperNickid but that didn't happen, so the cartoon art style makes me sad.

[@avavs]

@@SuperNickid you forgot about the battle tracks that were added in mk8 deluxe, they were realistic

[@mariobroultimate1808]

@@SuperNickid What about the battle tracks? They're new to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and they're just as polished as the main race tracks.

[@macemaster5295]

@@SuperNickid As a programmer no. This was way easier to just use mariokart tour textures it would be way harder to build textures that fit 8 than stick with tour MS paint textures. 8s textures have so many layers and lines of code, so with the fact people will buy anything from this company I don't blame them. His whole thing that it would have been easy to use 8s textures is wrong because repeating textures look weird so they would have to make more which is way harder than basic textures like this. Again I am a programmer I know what I am talking about here.

[@alex_montoya]

Mario kart wii looks were more in line with the og mario kart 8. I don't think that's a new direction in the series. It's just laziness, because to match the aesthetic of the og tracks is not merely a thing of changing a texture. There's also a lot of work in design and lighting. It was far easier to keep the simplicity in everything than to do the work.

[@DsaherGuy]

It’s lazy and like always Nintendo fan freaks are going to defend them. This is why Nintendo gets away with doing this type of stuff because they let them get away with it. PS4 and Xbox owners would never let this slide

[@ketaminemeltdown]

Nobody cares what a bunch of FPS neckbeards think

[@isitheyyallorheyall7717]

@@DsaherGuy PS4 and Xbox owners also bought battlefield 2077 and Horizon forbidden west, so I'm not sure that argument holds up.

[@thevioletbee5879]

I would agree, but MK8 Deluxe has been out for four years. There would normally be a new game by now. They had plenty of time to doctor the lighting and textures.

[@pian-0g445]

@@thevioletbee5879 but like he said, that actually requires work, which means more money, and unfortunately they aren’t doing that

[@KeyanCarlile]

I don’t think Tour has a bad art style at all but I do prefer the look of MK8. I’d have strongly preferred a console port of Tour rather than dropping the Tour art style into MK8.

[@GlitchanBlack]

This. This right here.

[@fishpond2894]

i think nintendo in general is in the habit of tagging on dlc to their mainline games instead of making a whole new game, like how the newest happy home designer was added into acnh. I don't personally see much of an issue with that, I think it's probably more efficient.

[@macemaster5295]

Also his whole thing about how they could have used 8s textures easily as a programmer is BS. Using repeat textures looks really weird because scaling would be way off and all the textures are so diverse in 8. Moo Moo Meadows grass isn't scaled properly to work with toads circuitnot to mention rough grass doesn't fit with a circuit.

[@moister3727]

It is not. Reminds me of MK7 artstyle, but at that time they were targeting the 3DS. Tour is targeting phones and they needed to make it as light as possible to try to fit in every time of modern phone. MK8 for the other hand is different, it's a port from the Wii U era which looks amazing to even be in that system. And they made the artstyle as detailed as possible, a realistic approach probably just to flex the system GPU, back in 2014. The Switch has none of this limitations, and they were capable of porting everything from 8 too. So unless the new DLC maps are technically more simpliflied to for example, put less stress in the system which means more battery life, I don't know what is the real reason to change styles all of sudden.

[@armin7321]

@@moister3727 or they are lazy

[@mariobroultimate1808]

I honestly prefer the base MK8 graphics. You're looking into this way too deeply. The main team is obviously busy making the next Mario Kart while a different team is simply porting Tour tracks to hold us over. They can't just have one game look realistic, only for the next game to be a graphical downgrade for no reason.

[@Iwannabeamafiaboss2001]

Me too I agree with you like especially since when Nintendo was developing Mario kart 8 on the Wii U, they wanted Mario kart to have the full HD graphics into the game.

[@lunerg775]

Well hopefully that’s true, but what if you’re thinking too deeply about this

[@Iwannabeamafiaboss2001]

@@lunerg775 yeah because I remember in one of the Mario kart 8 videos back in 2013, Miyamoto stated that he wanted to try to put new types of graphics into mario kart 8

[@Iwannabeamafiaboss2001]

@@lunerg775 search Wii U developer direct Mario Kart 8 E3 2013 abd around the 3:58 of the video

[@ElectroBlastLuigi]

@@lunerg775 Let these Mario Kart 10 believers believers what they want. Nothing will satisfy them.

[@miles3256]

My feelings are that I still think the courses should look like they fit with the rest of the game’s realistic style. I think courses like Paris Promenade and Choco mountain actually look pretty good. It would be neat to get an option to implement the realistic graphics in the future. Overall I do like this new art style, I just think it doesn’t work with the game. But they are making 40 more courses for us so really I’ll just get over it. Very happy to see this game sort of become a Mario Kart Ultimate

[@emaboxe15]

I 100% agree, i have the same feeling.

[@tmpmisterix1479]

Quantity over quality it seems

[@GradianDarion300]

@@tmpmisterix1479 It still doesn't make sense since it's literally been almost 5 years since Mario Kart 8 was ported from the Wii U. You'd think they've been spending lots of time on modeling these new retro tracks.

[@mehdigeek]

I mean... what would it have cost to use the flowers from the base game and give the grass the same texture as the one in the base game? it's an artstyle difference that is sometimes distracting

[@mehdigeek]

also if this is the new look of Mario Kart, then I am sad, because when you compare Royal Raceway in Tour and Royal Raceway in MK8 there truly is no competition imo

[@mariobroultimate1808]

@@mehdigeek Couldn't agree more.

[@romulofigueroadiaz480]

It would have cost them a lot, that’s why they didn’t do it

[@comunidadegamer7547]

@@romulofigueroadiaz480 ah yes, because nintendo is a really small company with limited funds

[@comunidadegamer7547]

@@romulofigueroadiaz480 they just did that as a way to make a quick buck without putting much effort (like mario 3D all stars)

[@goldensyrupgamingshow2978]

I think it looks worse, but it's not that bad.

[@leolui8464]

It's not that bad, but it's still bad

[@Woozyfo]

Honestly, I think the graphical downgrade is a big deal, and I don't like that people are just accepting it. "Oh well I'm glad I just get more gameplay and besides graphics matter more anyway". Mario Kart 8 was somehow, despite being built on hardware heavily dated even back then, one of the most breathtaking games of the generation. It is especially discouraging considering that 4 cups, of which including the F-Zero maps and even Ribbon Road, were originally DLC. Some of the new tracks are fun - I think Paris Prominade and the Ninja map look pretty great, and are a reasonable pitch for the new art style. However, the other tracks look extremely underbaked. I'm not just talking about grass textures, I'm talking about geometry, like you mentioned in the video. Take for example, the biggest disappointment by far: Coconut Mall. It is visually barren even compared to the Wii version. The final third of the track, where you take a boost panel out of the mall and into the car park, simply looks horrendous. All you are greeted with is flat asphalt and a distinct lack of cars. Comparing Sky Garden with Cloudtop Cruise is also mind boggling, and really encapsulates how little effort was put into this DLC. Every time I go through the glider section, it's painfully obvious what's missing. In Cloudtop Cruise, it felt like I was truly in the Mario World, racing through airships and dodging lighting bolts at a blazing pace. In Sky Garden though, I only feel disappointment, lamenting over what could have been, given the limitless possibilities the setting offers. The undeniable porting of Tour tracks, for reasons beyond "bad grass," is troubling in the sense of gameplay. Going back to Coconut Mall, something is glaringly missing on the last stretch of it. Yes, the moving cars. Seriously, the track just feels underwhelming because of this. Furthermore, since Retro Tracks are mostly being ported, let's consider the ramifications for those. Sky Garden, while admittedly fun, pales in comparison to the efforts made on other GBA courses in Mario Kart 8. Ribbon Road, Cheeseland (although I hate this map), and even the base Mario Circuit GBA tracks are thoroughly detailed, and have had significant gameplay overhauls. I cannot say the same about the ports in the DLC, and I fear I won't be able to for future content either. Finally, I'd like to touch on the point you made about the graphics being a deliberate choice. Also, while the Switch is based off of the Tegra, a mobile chip, what most people tend to ignore is the advantageous cooling the Switch provides, allowing the console to ignore constraints applicable to mobile phones. Additionally, when the Switch is docked, battery life is not really a concern. These factors thus lead me to reason that Nintendo could not in fact create a Mario Kart game with "Mario Kart 8 graphics." This becomes increasingly true when we consider that not all phone users are equipped with the latest chipsets.

[@joshiwoshi5369]

This! This right here I absolutely stand by. Regardless if you like the new art style or not, which I personally don't, knowing that Nintendo could have absolutely done more and that they didn't is infuriating

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

Yeah ribbon road and cheeseland got some awesome ass upgrades in MK8DX/og MK8DLC. The Sky Garden level in booster pass is alright but a dissapointing effort compared to the other GBA tracks. And I especially agree with you on coconut mall. there was something that felt oddly empty about it compared to the Wii version. The cars at the end of the track in booster pass is also extremely disappointing. It was very lively in MKWii and was always risky and hype to get through because its the last stretch of the race and you can easily screw up your placement if you get hit. In booster pass, its just 2 low polygon cars standing in the middle of the road that you can easily avoid.

[@DrMonkey1224]

I don’t care about any of these things

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

@@DrMonkey1224 then why are you here lol.

[@DrMonkey1224]

@@gamerprince-tl5hg cuz I’m everywhere :)

[@bctalicorn809]

Tour's artstyle gives me major "player-made" track design vibes. Everything is so flat and makes it look unfinished and the depth of field is destroyed. Makes it less immersive, imo. It's one of those things where if you're racing and it wasn't pointed out to you, you might not be sure why it feels off, you just know something feels off.

[@SyrupFan]

I agree, the new tracks look like a custom Mario Kart Wii track

[@NineTeraByte]

These new tracks don't even look much better than the graphics of tour lol

[@vanilla8956]

@@SyrupFan A lot of those look really good though and fit with Wii's artstyle. I love Twin peaks

[@tammid8423]

Exactly, it's basically CTGP but paid

[@zanehannan5306]

@@SyrupFan to me it feels like an early Mario Kart Wii track, similar to mushroom peaks. I doubt it'll improve, though with the backlash from not reusing assets they may change that.

[@allanmhanson]

I’m pretty sure Coconut Mall and Shroom Bridge were also made for MK Tour. They just ported them and made the release first on the DLC. But we will get them on Tour when the seasons come. It’s better for them to make courses that can be released in both games, so if they made tracks specially for MK8 those couldn’t be released on Tour. By the way I rather the OG MK8 artstyle. The new one is so lackluster… why to keep moving on a direction that left half of the fandom disappointed if they can do something that was considered one of the best looking games back in the day and still holds as pure beauty. I think the look is just because it’s a remastered version of tour, and they made the best they could. But I really hope MK9 looks like an evolution, not like a mobile game.

[@stijngryp2589]

assuming MK9 isn't going to be a mobile title it will at least look better than Tour because from a technical stand point, you have no reason to have graphics like that if you want the game to look appealing on the (likely) new system

[@woshee_real]

MK9 is tour, cope.

[@JonnySpec]

@@woshee_real Yeah, if the Mario Kart X leak is real, then it does sound like Mario Kart Tour or Home Circuit are MK9. It also means we'll get Mario Kart X on the next Nintendo console, not the Switch.

[@stijngryp2589]

@@woshee_real you know damm well what i meant

[@benjaminbourgeois7584]

@@woshee_real mario kart tour will never be a mainline mario kart game, and it never has been

[@metaltornado3457]

I prefer Mario Kart 8's art style. It's the perfect mix of realistically detailed and cartoony enough to suit Mario. Tour's art style makes the new tracks look like fan mods. That said, I don't have a problem with them porting the Tour tracks over to MK8 with minimal change to tide fans over while most of the budget goes into making a brand-new Mario Kart sometime by next year.

[@sukaritas6350]

New mario kart next year? Lol no

[@BlaketheBlock]

I know this is an opinion but I REALLY wish the dlc courses looked liked how Mario kart 8 courses normally look, because I just enjoy having a realistic feel to it sometimes. If everything looks like reflective plastic it just feels less appealing to me.

[@BaltaBueno]

If they really went out of their way to make it look like Tour on purpose over the OG look, then I dislike it more because why make look like a mobile game? To push the mobile game to people more saying that it looks like the console version and monetize even further?

[@macemaster5295]

Also his whole thing that using MK8 textures is easy is just BS as a programmer. First of all the scaling of the textures would not work with the new tracks otherwise it looks blocky (Just look back at games in the 2000s) Second MK8 is so diverse in colors and gradients so repeat textures would look weird, imagine a circuit track with Moo Moo Meadows grass.

[@PrincessFelicie]

@@macemaster5295 Yup, and on top of that the cheapness-- I mean simplicity of the booster pass artstyle is also in the lighting. Compare the lighting work on MK8 courses vs the booster pass and it's night and day. You have so much variation on even a single track, meanwhile the lightbox on coconut mall feels like they just grabbed a uniform yellow square and called it a day. Seriously this track is so yellow

[@Tenjooo]

Actually courses like shroom ridge and coconut mall were found in the files of tour

[@macemaster5295]

@@Tenjooo yep😞

[@dollphunh2097]

I think you are missing the point MK8 is the odd one out compared to the rest of the series.

[@XDLugia]

It's obviously laziness/budget, which is also why none of the DLC tracks have anti-gravity features. Making like 60 tracks is a ton of work, so they found the most (cost) effective way to make them all work, which I totally understand.

[@Magicwaterz]

By that logic, it also means that the upcoming tracks will most likely have no anti-gravity mechanics since they want to port it in Tour, which has no anti-gravity mechanic. So, if they decide to port Cheese Land and Toad's Turnpike, they're gonna remove it and alter the course layout.

[@Enlightenment0172]

No... Not my DS Rainbow Road... Not by beloved anti-gravity rainbow loops, the Mario Kart 8 of Mario Kart 5... I love that track, if you can't tell. It's a shame, since the complexity of said track likely means they won't port it.

[@DylPicklewithaspace]

One, in wave 3 they have released rock rock mountain which has anti-gravity. And two, Toads turnpike and cheese land are already in the game and were in OG mk8

[@Magicwaterz]

@@DylPicklewithaspace Referring to porting Cheese Land and Toad's Turnpike to Tour, not porting to MK8 since those exist already. Months have passed and it proved my point when they ported GCN Baby Park, they used MK8 assets and flattened the track instead of being in an incline. Additionally, they ported SNES Donut Plains 3, and is flattened instead of having slight variation on the terrain and removed the underwater section, and this is to match the existing Donut Plains in that game. They only slap in anti-gravity mechanics that they see fit like the steep uphill in 3DS Rock Rock Mountain and the moon on 3DS Rainbow Road.

[@DylPicklewithaspace]

@@Magicwaterz Ohh i understand now

[@nolanjthesupergoanimator2909]

@@Magicwaterz Lakeside Park in Mario Kart Tour is in line with Cheese Land steeply incline-wise, so I doubt they would change the layout of that track compared to its MK8/MK8DX rendition if it comes to MKT, but if Toad's Turnpike comes to MKT, then they'll DEFINITELY remove the side anti-gravity sectioned walls and make them into real ordinary ones

[@train_go_boom2065]

One thing I noticed for choco mountain was that the dirt dont stay on your tires

[@arkethel]

Yep, also the color of the grass that gets kicked up from driving on shroom ridge is white for whatever reason. It's no doubt that there was less effort put into this DLC.

[@stijngryp2589]

that is such a small detail tho do you sereusly think that matters? that is what i call "bonus content" its content you should only ad when youre game is complete which this DLC clearly isn't heck that is code that is part of the main game and as far as i know the game doesn't do that their either (feel free to correct me)

[@train_go_boom2065]

@@stijngryp2589 lot of times small details matter, like left 4 dead 2, red dead redemption 2, and hell gta san andreas have them.

[@stijngryp2589]

@@train_go_boom2065 well those games are finished so having those small details makes the game even better. And when i'm talking about small details i mean something like doing something very specific (like Snake Eater) and someone commenting on it or in this case wheels being dirty on dirty ground

[@raichuian]

it's such a painfully bold deviation that it makes me want mario kart 9 more than ever.

[@tgreg9542]

@@aimismyname01 but if it was 9 then we would better understand the direction. Now it’s just weird

[@raichuian]

@@aimismyname01 exactly, they might as well just make a new game with this style rather than have them conflict so much

[@mariobroultimate1808]

@@aimismyname01 Then it's graphically inferior.

[@tsogud]

@@aimismyname01 every MK has had a different art style and look, MK9's art style won't be like either

[@mariobroultimate1808]

@@aimismyname01 Why not a mix of both?

[@PeachSSGSS]

I believe that one of the reasons MK8D is so good to me and others is because of the visuals that the base game holds. The realism of the tracks is what makes me prefer 8 rather than Tour on a visual aspect. While they do work the same technically speaking, a lot of people overlook that when it comes to visuals. It just seems weird to have one half of the game be filled with all these realistic details and the other filled with solid textures and noise added to them. Even if it might be the new look for Mario Kart, why apply that to a game whose art style is different? It’s like giving BOTW DLC with an rpg fighting style when the base game is nothing like that. I do agree that some of these tracks do look really pretty such as Sky Gardens and Paris Promenade but I would’ve loved to see them in their full MK8D potential.

[@Alpha-oo8]

For the most part, I like how it looks. The fact that the grass is just a flat colour… I don’t like that. Slap a texture on it, doesn’t have to be a particularly interesting one, just give it some depth. As for the dlc itself mainly if not entirely being tour ports, I’m okay with it. They are effectively doubling the games content at quite a bit less than the full retail price. I’m especially keen on getting all the tour unique tracks ported, because it’s a mobile game, which means it won’t be playable forever, so I’m all for them being preserved elsewhere. And finally, yes, they aren’t putting full development power into the dlc. That’s okay, because I’m hoping it means the main team a working on MK9, getting it ready for whatever the switch’s successor will be. But because it’s still a few years away, and MK8 refuses to stop selling well, they’re giving us a bunch of content to keep us tided over until the next system is released.

[@stanzacosmi]

exactly. just because theres not much dev power here doesn't mean it's not going elsewhere, whether thats into a new mario, mario kart 10, zelda, whatever. And especially as someone whos phone isn't compatible with tour anymore since the switch to arm64, I love being able to play tour stuff again.

[@Alxium]

This is a good point! As someone who grew up with mobiles games, I can vouch for having the tour tracks in MK8DX. Think of games like the Jelly Car series... Removed and no way to play them anymore.

[@josephdecasper7670]

In Kalimari Desert for wave 2 dlc, around the second railroad crossing there is a ramp that only appears during the second lap to steer racers on to the train tracks and continue the race. However, if you stop at that railroad crossing during your first lap and wait for the second lap racers to lap you they will drive up an invisible ramp that only they can see and interact with, final lap racers will also phase through the ramp if you are present at the ramp's location during your second lap.

[@TopherCadence]

I disagree full heartedly that “tour” is the “modern look of Mario kart”… “the series has somewhat moved on”. Or, ya know, it’s a mobile game that can’t have graphics a console game can have… the dlc literally just an upped, rip of the courses. Not saying it’s wrong. But it’s def not the “new modern look” of Mario kart

[@xashxd8509]

So what do you expect, rtx mariokart? It's a nintendo switch.

[@blackdot105]

@@xashxd8509 Nobody's expecting that. People are expecting the quality to be better than something from 2014.

[@lor8262]

Reusing the more detailed grass would lead to having to make the rest of the tracks textures look equally as detailed to avoid asset clash so I don't really feel this method of flat colored textures would have been less effort.

[@cincoln2829]

I think that the new art style is fine but at times it seems t like the lighting could be better, especially toad circuit.

[@GunGun-cf3ss]

Do you have eyes? What part of this is fine?

[@cincoln2829]

@@GunGun-cf3ss I think most of the tracks look fine. The lighting looks good, with the only major difference being the textures. As someone who has the dlc I think it’s perfectly fine, but just kinda different next to 8.

[@Splash029]

@@cincoln2829 dude. The geometry is WAY different. Also all damn textures are using the same DAMN normal map. That means if you look closely the grass, the stone, AND EVERYTHING ELSE has the same normal map. So the same roughness. In MK8 there were normal maps for wood,metal,grass and so much more. In the new tracks every object has the same normal map.

[@SirFuecoco]

I think keeping the artstyle consistent with the rest of the game would have been a much better approach. Just looks like everything is made out of clay which doesn’t look bad at all just too different from this game. Tours artstyle can stay in tour as i think that looks fantastic for the game but 8should have had the more realistic textures for consistency sake.

[@macemaster5295]

As a programmer. This was way easier to just use mariokart tour textures it would be way harder to build textures that fit 8 than stick with tour MS paint textures. 8s textures have so many layers and lines of code, so with the fact people will buy anything from this company I don't blame them. His whole thing that it would have been easy to use 8s textures is wrong because repeating textures look weird so they would have to make more which is way harder than basic textures like this. Again I am a programmer I know what I am talking about here. All of his garbage about how easy it would have been to port textures is BS.

[@armin7321]

@@macemaster5295 it would have been easy its nintendo a multi billion dollar company

[@macemaster5295]

@@armin7321 Yes but the option they made was easier yet I agree it was laziness. But this option was even easier than redesigning textures.

[@theceptorperson9570]

"Mario Kart 8 is almost a decade old, its artstyle isn't relevant anymore" Literally one sentence before "Mario Kart Tour's art design is more in line with MK7 and Wii, it makes more sense" So, is being a decade old bad or good?

[@RRM693]

Yeah i can't believe he just said the artstyle isn't revelant anymore

[@adamalarcon4973]

I'm not really that bothered honestly. What's important to me is how fun the courses are to drive through. As long as they're well-designed it's fine for me. However it is still totally valid to criticize them, I'm not too bothered but that doesn't mean other people can't be.

[@JsYTA]

It's so you could green screen your own textures

[@quelseydilla]

I really enjoy your outlook on the reason why these changes were made, and the potential future of the series. To me, graphics come second to fun tracks, so it's nowhere near a dealbreaker for me. I think the OG tracks will always have a style I prefer, but at the end of the day, I'm just happy to have new Mario Kart. :)

[@allanmhanson]

I rather to race in beauty than race in bland environments 😅

[@mtj8870]

But only like 3 of these tracks are fun to play

[@quelseydilla]

@@allanmhanson And that's valid, I'm just excited to have new environments in the first place!

[@quelseydilla]

@@mtj8870 I hear you, not everyone is going to enjoy all the tracks. I definitely have ones I'm less fond of in wave 1, but that's okay. There are still 40 more tracks coming, and I know there are going to be amazing ones in the future, even if there are some that aren't quite as exciting.

[@mtj8870]

@@quelseydilla yeah but we gotta wait 20 months for all remaining 40 which is an average 4 months per wave. Plus that wait could just be for them to ruin our favorite tracks like sky garden and coconut mall.

[@unnamedtoaster]

It's not that I think the new tracks look bad, it's just that I don't think that the game should have two different artstyles. I loved the older, more detailed artstyle, and find it jarring switching between the old and new styles. If MK9 adopted this new artstyle, then that would be ok because it would at least maintain internal consistency. But if MK8DX is going to have two different artstyles within itself, that is just going to bug me to no end. I still am happy with the DLC as a whole, I just wish that it was more visually in line with the rest of the game. If anything, it makes me more upset to learn that the devs could have made it look as detailed as the original game without much effort and chose not to.

[@silvskill5358]

I think it looks okay but I would prefer the base mk8 dx graphics. But I don’t mind the tour style and I think people are overreacting

[@allanmhanson]

I don’t think people are over reacting. We are paying for it and we are their costumers, so we deserve to keep getting the same quality in the product. What do you think people would do if a restaurant lowers the quality of the ingredients they use for their dishes. Or if a hotel change the blankets and the towels for cheaper ones? Costumers will have the same reaction, no matter the service they are getting. Services have to keep improving.

[@JRBowling1997]

@@allanmhanson so true

[@RizzerixLP]

@@allanmhanson But we are paying LESS for it. There has to be a downgrade somewhere if we are getting THAT many tracks for THAT price.

[@agentclank8183]

@@allanmhanson To a degree yes. The reaction is a bit overblown taking everything into account. But it makes sense for the consumer to expect a consistent quality in their products, if not improvements. What we have been promised is new tracks, the graphics to add to the enjoyment. Ultimately though how fun the tracks are to play should be the main concern.

[@dragonflyo5078]

@@allanmhanson While I get the quality isn't like the other courses, we're also getting 48 new Retro tracks for $25 altogether, which is basically All of MK8 + its own dlc combined but for way less. It isn't like it's polygons and n64 graphics, there are upgraded parts to each course and New music for each. Only a few courses got odd textures but we also only got 8/48 courses so they can easily update the other 40.

[@studioarentain3960]

The one thing I hate about the tour tracks especially is how BIG furniture, bushes, and npcs are

[@noel_roldan]

The courses are so much fun but they feel off not gonna lie. I would prefer the MK8 textures and style to have a more consistent game, I whish they fix this with an update but I don't think they will :/

[@james_nolan]

I don't mind the different art style, I like both but I'm just glad Nintendo is adding tracks from Mario Kart Tour in a more traditional Mario Kart format.

[@bryantalvarado8839]

BTW i sent a request to the Nintendo Support and Developers so they can update the graphics of these courses and improve them more, here's what they said. Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your feedback regarding the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. We want you to know how much we appreciate you sending this in. We'll see to it that your comments will be added to our records for Mario Kart 8 Deluze and will be made available for other departments at the company to review and thoughtfully consider.

[@ElectroBlastLuigi]

You know they won't reply back, right? If you sent them mail, they'll send it back in reply stating along the lines of "we love your ideas but it's better to keep it to yourself". That doesn't mean they don't care, they just know you have some ideas to share but they want you to bring that creativity to their team in person so you won't feel left out. Nintendo cares that much.

[@HighlandHellboy]

I really like the more man made structures such as the roads and buildings, I’m less keen on the grass and cliff faces, so I’d love to see an option that allows both the the old and the new to match either MK8 og or booster pass. I have less issue with the look as I do the inconsistency.

[@xxeddieanatorxx6516]

I think these are just half assed (ports) with it's basic textures, which makes sense since it's a smaller team working on the DLC while the rest are 99.9% working on the next Mario kart.

[@recht_voor_zijn_raap5506]

Tbh... I don't mind the new look and both looks have something awesome about them. I don't understand all the complaints because imo the DLC looks (and more importantly) plays great.

[@malimaui2802]

I’d like them to port the characters from tour into deluxe. They have some important and great characters on their, and the characters already have the animations they need for 8

[@callmerei]

I highly doubt that since the Tour characters don’t have bike animations (cuz there are no bikes to begin with), item holding animation and losing animations.

[@westform22]

@@callmerei I mean they added characters for dlc during its wii U era, like Link, and Villagers, but then again the dlc isn't advertising characters, it's the courses, still wish Hammer Bro could be playable though

[@GottaBGlitches]

I mean personally I'd like a new kart combo, character and new menu themes for beating the booster course pass in 150cc and mirror mode, a new coin goal of 10000 like in the og wii u version, a reason to beat the new time trial ghosts and beat every difficulty Then it'd be worth the money since the tracks are just upscaled tour ports

[@Music2Anime]

I'm fine with it overall, I just hate the grass. The highly saturated green is extremely irritating. The tracks without much green look fine though.

[@angusrobson384]

The fact that the time between the announcement of a new dlc and the release was so small shows that they just ported because it was easy

[@will.gallegos]

I also like the new look of the DLC tracks, but another thing is that Coconut Mall and Shroom Ridge are in the code of MarioKart tour, so... They probably imported all of them from Tour.

[@tvuserjt]

I've been checking all the MKT datamines and they only mention having found Coconut Mall, they didn't mention Shroom Ridge at all.

[@NoNameStudios]

They could’ve changed the geometry in some places, made the textures the old ones and replaced the plants and trees and it would look much more similar to MK8.

[@detracor7343]

It doesn’t look bad. But It doesn’t even look as good as on the WiiU. Why were so many people mad with the 3D Mario collection upscaled textures but no one for this? However (Most of) these tracks are still pretty fun tbh. I feel like Nintendo chose quantity over quality, is that bad ? I don’t think so, I don’t think it’s a big problem at all. Mario kart doesn’t need crazy graphics to be fun and we really need new tracks. However, that was a lazy move , they could have done better so I’m a bit disappointed + there’s no 0 gravity moments in these tracks.

[@Samantha-vlly]

Totally agree

[@FaezGhani]

The maps and race track are fine. But what boggles me is that the NPC and audience the background in the DLC Courses are GIGANTICALY OUT OF PROPORTION compared to the racers

[@RafzCampz]

I like the new look but the problem is the characters and the kart have a realistic design and the rest of the course doesn’t, it makes the characters look out of place. I would really like it if the kart and characters also had the same tour art style so it would look like they actually belong there.

[@KamyAnai03]

Mario characters are not realiatic lol xD Maybe in Smash they kinda looks realistic but not at all .

[@RafzCampz]

@@KamyAnai03 realistic shadows and glare. Just take a look and see for yourself.

[@UtenSwitch]

All I know is that we should let the Modders do their work

[@williamsanborn9195]

Don't get me wrong. I like the more realistic art direction for the new tracks in base Mario Kart 8. However, as someone who grew up playing Double Dash, Wii, and 7, I kinda prefer the simplistic art style. In my opinion, not only is it the defining art style for Mario Kart, it's the defining art style for Mario as a whole. Especially considering the look of the "New" Super Mario Bros series of games.

[@AD_RC]

Mario kart is closer in art direction to odyssey and 3dworld than to the new games. Hell, even 3d world is kinda cartooney and it looks beautiful regardless, compared with the dlc

[@RedParatroopa112]

_“This grass is better! it still costs the same amount of effort to produce and looks terrible! it’s the worst of both worlds!”_ Just something to note, I found it funny how he used the “it only looks bad cause you stopped to look at it” argument but then stops later in the video to point out the minuscule dots on the grass

[@PauLtus_B]

I really disagree. I think MK8's original tracks look way better. I always found Mario Kart 8 to be a way better looking than it needed to be but I never found it to be particularly realistic looking either. I generally really reject just adding more detail and more advanced lighting but when used properly, it can add a sense of depth and tangibility to objects which is still valuable within a more cartoony style. I don't think you're wrong in saying that the new textures are technically speaking as detailed but what does that actually lead to? They often may as well be one colour textures and you could barely tell. It overall does look more flat and because of it a lot more cheap.

[@JordiumZ]

If tour style is the future of mario kart then I don't want a mario kart 9 lol

[@StrawberryBnnuy]

If graphical Fidelity is so important to you that you would pass on a game even if said game was a 10/10 I'm gonna have to question your taste

[@JordiumZ]

@@StrawberryBnnuy Nah I just like Mario Kart 8 style better it balances realism and cartoonish art style perfectly just like Mario odyssey I simply like that style much more than the basic new super mario broish style we got with tour

[@wesleydamaschino8047]

@@JordiumZ I agree. I think Odyssey's look should be the new standard for Mario games. I'm guessing it's just a deviation, like Mario Galaxy's lighting, which makes me sad.

[@CanadianChick811]

I didn't even notice. It's a racing game; I'm not spending my time with a stopped vehicle looking at assets.

[@RZA36]

Shit, I didn't even notice the change.

[@benjamin-jn2nd]

same. realistic≠good graphics. i don’t understand why some people are complaining

[@GmShyGuy]

*Literally explains how laziness is not the answer* Everyone in the comments: still lazy 💀

[@JRBowling1997]

I hope in the next mario kart game. The course changes on the last lap like the tour DLC ones do!!!

[@LezardDesu]

Nintendo World Report? More like Nintendo Damage Control.

[@jjayala]

I play this and love it because it's mario kart racing and I'm a switch guy. But yes the grass for me is a turn off. I love mario golf much because yes it's a mario game but the grass the shrubbery it's just all so perfect!

[@hurricanecyt]

Though I prefer the original Mario Kart 8 style, I won’t complain as any new content is great!

[@mythoughtsexactly2145]

Another thing I really wished they implemented is the anti-gravity mechanic. Not all of these would need it but a handful would really benefit with that gimmick. I mean Choco Mountain certainly looks like it wants anti-gravity

[@arkethel]

The video doesn't even answer the title, you literally said it wasn't rushed but also said that it's all from tour in the same video. It's clear as daylight it's just a money grab so they can make money from both tour and 8 with minimal effort. If this isn't lazy then idk what is.

[@credit0880]

They should have kept the Original 8 look. But that doesn't mean the Tour Style looks bad. Its just out of place

[@ryanturner8922]

I think the majority of the comments speak for itself. If the base game released with the textures we got for the New DLC then I am not sure it would’ve been good. Those textures really showed what the Wii U could do. And I love Nintendo and their games, and I can definitely see why you would want to make a point like this. However imagine what these DLC tracks could’ve looked liked with the base game graphics.

[@MrAzul184]

it would look better tbh

[@thedragon12]

They would have charged more for the tracks tho

[@RedParatroopa112]

1:36 this gives me “big stop complaining you got dlc” vibes. They at least could’ve lifted assets from the base game but they decide to waist their time on neutering coconut mall.

[@tgwaw]

"Average Nintendo Fanboy trying to explain why Nintendo is lazy.."

[@kennycarter5682]

When the dlc is complete u can kinda sort of say Mario kart 8 dx, is 2 Mario kart games in one.... and think of it.... it will also look like 2 games

[@lordnautilus6519]

3:39 About that: While the old tracks use different specific normal map textures for all the different surfaces like roads, trees, rocks etc. the new ones just have like 3 different normal map textures that they literally use for everything. I think that alone is an indicator for lazy work. I don't even think most things on the new tracks have any texture at all. It's just a color with a normal map slapped onto it. It all seems like they use these tracks in order to advertise MK Tour and at the same time use the "new artstyle" as an excuse for not wanting to even reuse old textures. I mean they easily could have used old textures (grass textures for example, I'm sure they have tons of those) so the game at least fits _it's own_ artstyle but not even that was done.

[@llorenstorrespr4409]

I believe this new look fits more with the animation characters look. (cartoonish)

[@SUCHMISH]

Well, I would have to say that it was laziness on Nintendo's part since there could have been more done to remix these tracks to make it work with MK8 (like with some of the legacy stages that were already there). Thre is a sloped curve in toad circuit that would have worked with antigrav (even if it wouldn't bet the best example). Some walls could of been driven on in Choco Mountain. And a few tracks from tour where they could have had some really fantastic moments of antigrav (for example, sneaking on the ceiling in Ninja Highway or driving up the Eiffel tower). The biggest offender here is what they did to coconut mall though. While it's great to see this track back, most of the visual detail that was there in Wii (and even the 3DS version) is missing here. It's really embarrassing for the Switch hardware considering that they removed the bouncy steps, the archways that said "Thank You" on them, and the cars just sit still and don't do anything anymore making them easier to doge removing the difficulty and fun of the overall track. They could have done better, they could have done better...

[@Alxium]

I honestly don't care too much. I see a green color and then know that is grass which is offroad. When you are in the heat of a race, you tend to to focus more on the pavement and what is flying at you rather than if the grass has a different texture. (Also, Choco Mountain is the best look course yet in this DLC, the texture work really makes I look like a MK8 track) I understand the art style argument, but I think people forget how retro tracks were done in the past. They were recreated to look almost identical to their original versions. Just look at SNES Donut Plains 1 on the DS vs SNES Donut Plains 3 on the Switch. For me, as long as the road has a good texture, I am fine (because that is where my eyes are 90% of the time).

[@tommivirtanen3135]

I dont find myself having paid any care for the graphics, but i understand others noticing it. However, i dont see why would anyone actually care enough to whine about grass textures in a fast paced game like MK8.

[@zoozbuh]

It sounds like the courses are just an upscaled port of Tour, or done to match that style. That’s probably all it is. You can’t say the series has “moved on” since Mario Kart 8’s art style when the new courses look so basic and simplified. They’re just not as visually appealing. When grass or textures look like one block colour (from a distance), it just doesn’t look as good or detailed.

[@GherkinGarboi]

The Tour art style is a lot more a akin to the world of Super Mario in my point of view.

[@pacapprovedsomecrabmeat]

Exactly! Someone at least gets it.

[@mehdigeek]

that's not even true, Mario games these days have an incredible level of detail, maybe a Mario game from 2007, sure

[@penguinlol3786]

I personally really like the cartoony artstyle and it’s probably what future mk games will look like

[@simplyluke1584]

@@mehdigeek EVEN THAT CAN'T BE SAID BECAUSE SUPER MARIO GALAXY WAS FROM 2007 AND LOOK AT THE DETAIL IN THAT

[@SuperKoopBrosOfficial]

That's something people tend to forget about. A game doesn't have to look or be realistic to be enjoyable or S tier, as long as it has a story and is fun to play. I think people are just overreacting. And yes, giving realistic textures to the Mario universe makes it look jarring to the cartoonish characters

[@marshallhorton7154]

I just noticed the item box on the top left corner is from the Wii U version of Mario kart 8

[@glink9641]

It feels like nintendo is stepping in the wrong direction and we're going backwards.

[@JJsmalls15]

I was in 8th grade when the original mk8 came out. I am 21 years old now. If I am going to get more of this fucking mario kart game at least make the new tracks good. I hardly have fun playing these tracks they really don’t add anything to the game other than more options. It is like going to the gym and getting a bunch of garbage volume in instead of quality sets and reps. This dlc is just garbage volume for the nintendrones to eat up. I’ve always loved nintendo and their products but lately their decision making and lack of a connection with their gaming communities makes my connection with the company more distant. And if they are just gonna use tour for this then at least add some of the cool characters and karts they have in that game there is like a fuck ton of them. I’m tired of going online and playing against 11 Waluigi’s on the Wiggler kart

[@DatAtDawn]

I'm kinda curious as to how the tracks would look if the grass textures were swapped

[@Gnome-nf7ev]

I wish it was a mixture of both I wish the grass looked better on the tour tracks but I love the brightness on the tour tracks so I like them both also I don’t agree that tour tracks are more aligned with double dash and wii, mk8 tracks are more aligned

[@akulakaboom]

It’s not an artistic shift. It’s a quality drop.

[@Mindcraftjoe]

I honestly don't think this amount of art style change/discussion happened in development. It's just that all these tracks are ported straight from Tour. I'm sure Shroom Ridge and Coconut Mall and perhaps the rest of the DLC courses have already been completed with the mobile art style for Tour. Unfortunately, that seems to be what they're using here also. It's this mobile art style clashing with the original game that's the core problem. Even if you like the art direction of the DLC tracks, I think we can all agree that they really should match the graphical detail of base Mario Kart 8 for consistency's sake. Keep the mobile graphics in the mobile game, and make the console game actually look like a console game. Hopefully Nintendo is hearing the general consensus of all this, which seems to be that most aren't very satisfied with the visuals. Best case scenario would be them at least reusing 8's textures and assets and patching them in later on.

[@WRaLxW]

This video is the perfect example why people say that nintendo fans will do anything to justify their laziness. Your arguments make no sense whatsoever.

Correct me if I am wrong but hasn't it been confirmed form multiple places hat the courses that are currently in the booster pass yet not in tour are just tour tracks that haven't been released yet? I thought they weren't specifically made for MK8 but in a way that they work for tour. They are already made but not released tour tracks.

[@PGrayOfficial]

I think part of it has to do with nostalgia. They might've wanted to try to capture that classic Mario Kart look that we knew before Mario Kart 8 arrived.

[@pmdmakesmecri2]

There could be a toggle that is able to switch between the realistic and cartoon styles for all tracks. Though that would mean they would have to create new stuff for each track, particularly trees.

[@tsogud]

Whole lotta copium in this video. Every Mario Kart has had a different art style and specific way of utilizing their respective hardware. To say Tour's art style is like that of previous entries is a lie. Tour's art style isn't the future art style of Mario Kart just like MK7's, Wii's or MK8's wasn't/won't be. The geometry, sparse background population and textures in Tour are simplistic and cartoony due to it's need to keep the file size small and work on an array of devices without looking bad and stay running smoothly. Switch is free of those constraints and is a more capable machine than Wii U (from which MK8 was ported.) It can handle more geometry than Tour or even the base game provides. The art style isn't the issue the problem, especially in Toad's Circuit, is that they left some areas very sparse with no depth and geometry untouched when the Switch can absolutely handle so much more. Most, if not all, the booster course DLC tracks will be ported from Tour bc it's just easier. Not a bad thing, especially at the price, but it's definitely not going to be at the same scope and detail of the base game and first four DLC cups.

[@wihatmi5510]

As long as they go back to the more realistic style in the next Mario Kart everything is fine.

[@SimeonJester]

"Nintendo consciously made the decision to make half of mk8 look 20 years older and less detailed" Awesome but that still doesn't make it ok... Mk8 was extremely detailed, both in assets in the background, and textures for all those assets. the new booster course is a MASSIVE downgrade in quality and I'm tired of people defending it... we know Nintendo can do better but they, for whatever reason, have chosen not to

[@andrewmcgarry6752]

pov you are being paid by nintendo

[@krdjmtc]

Don't forget that the Switch runs Super Mario Odyssey. More realistic textures are just fun to look at, and the switch could definitely handle it, so it's a bit disappointing that the courses weren't remastered.

[@VoxelMusic]

Even Mario kart 7 had more texture detail in it than this tour port. The textures may not have been as high resolution, but they were certainly more descriptive of the object they were representing, while not being visually noisy. As TheLonelyGoomba points out, this is just a straight MKTour port, as the other DLC tracks were datamined in Tour itself. The reason tour's textures are so bland and undetailed is because its easier on a mobile processor. High resolution textures need to be bigger in order to not look tiled. The bright green patches grass in the DLC may only need a single pixel to be tiled across the whole surface with a tiny noise map on top of it to fake a bit of detail that wasn't present in MKTour. Its way easier to render one tiny texture over and over than render a large more detailed texture over a larger space. Thats why i think this was just a quick job. You pointed out that it would be easier for the development team to use existing assets, but it actually wouldnt. A lot of the courses in the Booster Pass have lots of unique assets that dont already exist in MK8 already, and would need to be remade to match all the other existing assets. Its much easier to just port all the MKTour assets over with their respective courses, than remake all the assets to match the existing MK8 artstyle.

[@user-ko8kp6mz2u]

It makes a lot of sense when you consider that by the time they decided to make the DLC, all the staff from the original game were already involved in other AAA titles, and only a few inexperienced staff were available to work on the DLC.

[@RaxonXVI]

I personally prefer the base 8s look also I’m not a fan of games with such conflicting styles visually myself

[@XX___]

I always preferred cartoonish graphics over realistic ones in mario games so im fine with this Basically i rather play a mario game with mario 3d world graphics over mario odyssey graphics same thing with mk, I rather have mk double dash graphics over mk8 graphics

[@team_cartooney6559]

I AGREE 100 percent with this. Im loving the Up to date Cartoony look. Realism was the most distracting part of MK8 to me just throws off what I grew up with. The skys look to gloomy, not colorful enough for me. . .i hope all the new tracks look cartoony. .

[@greyowl3787]

It’s not laziness it’s *outsourcing* : pretty sure behind the scene these tracks are being ported from Tour to mk8dx by Bandai Namco, while Nintendo’s MK team focuses on the next instalment.

[@SammEater]

So basically downgrading the visuals of the OG Mario Kart 8 because Nintendo doesn't care about using all this time since the release and money that they syphon every year to pay the devs to make all the tracks fit the current artstyle.

[@OmegaFalcon]

I really would not call the Tour artstyle a new or modern Mario Kart look.

[@pengo2418]

This DLC made me realize that I actually didn't like the MK8 artstyle that much. It tends go too far into pseudo-realism imo (Piranha Plantslide, Sherbert Land) and it loses the cartoony charm I loved in the previous game. Some tracks feel way to dark and muddied. I doesn't really feel like a "Mario" environment If that makes sense. But I'm still curious to see how the DLC tracks could look like with that realistic artstyle.

[@gavinisback]

Doesn’t really make sense how they would go out of their way to make the cars in Coconut Mall move again when wave 2 released, but didn’t bother to re-texture the tracks that looked the ugliest.

[@bro4ever771]

It's not just the grass though, they would have to create tons of new textures for the Tour courses that they can't just rip from MK8