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Nintendo Releases ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ Patch: Online Tweaks And New Content

By Josh Moorcroft
Published on: 21:01 PST, Jun 28, 2017

Mario Kart 8 may have been a Wii U game, but it’s arguably brought more success to the console’s successor, the Nintendo Switch than it ever did for the Wii U. Nintendo released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch not long after the console’s launch in April, and today it has patched the game to Version 1.2, bringing online tweaks and some new content too.

According to Nintendo Life, the standout feature of Nintendo’s second major patch for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the addition of a new Pikmin amiibo suit for Mii drivers. This means that players can use Pikmin-themed amiibo to unlock a Pikmin Suit for the Mii driver, much like is already possible with a number of Nintendo’s other amiibo figures.

That said, the main chunk of Nintendo’s Version 1.2 update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is geared towards balancing online matches. Since the game’s launch, players have complained of several issues with the game’s online modes and that’s clearly something Nintendo sought to address with this update, where players who are behind in online matches will receive items geared toward catching up more frequently, and in online matches, no more than two Piranha Plants will be granted as items at the same time.

At the same time, when the Super Horn is used by players in an online match, it will also remain available for other players, which Nintendo hopes will balance online play further. What’s more, it’s also no longer possible to use an item after it has been used to block an attack, which will prevent players from blocking an attack with a shell before using that shell for an attack.

According to Gamespot, the update is similarly geared towards fixing a few technical issues that have arisen since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s initial release. For example, when the timer runs out when choosing a Mii racing suit for online matches, the game’s controls will no longer become suddenly unresponsive. At the same time, players should find that a glitch causing the item wheel to spin continuously in online matches doesn’t happen anymore, and online matches now end 30 seconds after the first place player finishes, as intended.

Nintendo also says that the update means communication errors no longer occur frequently while spectating or after spectating online matches.

Whilst this update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe does introduce some new content, it’s clearly largely geared towards stabilizing online play. If Nintendo does choose to add more tracks and characters to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the future, it’ll likely come in the form of paid DLC, as was the case with its Wii U predecessor.

[Featured Image by Nintendo]

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