The Wide World of Dirt

A modern return to an old classic.

Many people have decried the inclusion of the classic Mario Circuit 3 in this most recent wave of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass.

Despite this, I really enjoy it!

To give some background, I am a big auto racing fan in my personal life, and when I race around the circuit tracks, it feels like I’m racing on a real race track.

While I enjoy the immersion of racing on insane courses like Mount Wario and Waluigi Pinball, there’s something nostalgic and comforting about racing at Toad Circuit and Mario Circuit 3, especially with the added power of 200cc.

The track is pretty bland visually. I do like the added streaks of rubber that are laid down on the track as it relates well to how a track gets rubbered in over the course of a race in the real world.

I find it cool that the background looks like a classic Super Mario Bros 3 level but brought up to 3D. I know much has been made about the DLC’s graphics for NPCs, but I don’t see it here. Less is more when it comes to these SNES tracks.

The track races incredibly, but it can be broken in a way with a golden mushroom. There are massive skips that can be executed with mushrooms or stars, almost too many. With that said, it’s nice to have a track with a bunch of skips when we have several in this wave with little to none.

I love the hairpin corner in the middle of the course, particularly on 200cc where you really have to get on the brakes to make the kart stick. I also find the long sweeping corners broken up by chicanes to be pleasant to drive through.

This track may not look too impressive, but it’s a super fun drive, especially in the higher engine classes. It’s certainly an upgrade over Toad Circuit, and I hope we get a few more circuit courses before the end of 2023.