The February 2022 Nintendo Direct brought many surprises for its viewers. From Shohei Ohtani gracing fans with his charm to the reveal of upcoming titles like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, it was a wild ride. The Italian Plumber also made headlines as Nintendo announced Mario Strikers: Battle League.

The sequel to the GameCube original has a lot of eyes on it as fans await its no-holds-barred soccer gameplay but with their favorite Nintendo characters. Significantly, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would receive a massive DLC that would double the number of tracks in the game. However, fans have noticed a noticeable issue with the upcoming update.

Nintendo: upcoming Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update is actually a downgrade

YouTube channel SwitchForce recently uploaded a video discussing the matter. At the recent Direct, Nintendo announced they would add 48 additional tracks to the game. This would bring the total number of tracks in-game to a whopping 96 courses! These comprise retro courses across the Mario Kart catalog, including fan favorites like Coconut Mall from Mario Kart: Wii.

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Although it isn’t Mario Kart 9, the announcement has fans hyped as they can’t wait to race across courses from throughout the franchise’s history.

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However, as the hype settled, the community started noticing an inconsistency in what they were shown. SwitchForce said:

“After the Direct and the hype sort of winded down a bit, we took a closer look and we see that something is really amiss.”

They are referring to the graphical difference between the upcoming tracks shown in the trailer and what exists in the base game. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released on the Switch in 2017, and despite being an 8-year-old title (initial release), it holds up really well graphically. The game went for a realistic look for the Mushroom Kingdom, which works really well for the title.

But the upcoming first wave of DLC has tracks that look “rubbery” in comparison. The tracks lack detail despite advancements in-game technology across the past 8 years. Even though many courses are from previous entries in the franchise, MK8 Deluxe has ported tracks from earlier entries in the past. But it upgraded them to fit within the newer title’s stylistic choice.

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Shutting down the possibility of Nintendo tweaking the graphics before launch, SwitchForce says:

“The fact that this wave comes out in a couple of weeks tells me: no, this is the style Nintendo opted to go for.”

Although the new tracks look fine on their own, when put one next to an existing track, the difference becomes apparent. But what are your thoughts on the matter? Tell us in the comments below.