METAMORPHOSIS!

i beat jevil on 2hp kris this is my peak

the main problem i have with this is its linearity, everything else is just pure toby fox perfection. i am SO excited to play chapter 2 after finally replaying this

I DIDNT RELIZE HOW SHORT I WAS UNTIL THE ENDING LMFAO

i have two issues with this DLC: the combat and the level design. the movement is still as buttery smooth as Shovel of Hope; i love the fact that Plague Knight's jump is shorter than Shovel Knight's so he has a double jump and chargup ability to balance it. the combat though isnt that fun, i mean its alright, but quite a downgrade from Shovel of Hope. also the level design is kinda boring, sure it was cool traversing pretty much the same levels but with a different character who has a different set of moves but they didnt change enough to really warrant it.

i love the art direction a ton more than Shovel of Hope in this one though; the goth aesthetic is right up my alley. some of the artwork of this one, for example the final boss, is just BEAUTIFUL

Plague Knight and Mona by beloved

Rome Avanti - a good start but nothing that really wowed me. good layout, good visuals, just all around GOOD

DK Mountain - YEAHH!! another beautiful remake for all the DK lovers out there. mm mmm mm these DK remakes are fuckin GREAT!!!! YEAAAHH!!!!!!!

Daisy Circuit - the music on this one is so good!!!!!!! another cult classic returns which is always a great thing :3

Piranha Plant Cove - the new track of the bunch and probably the weakest new track of the DLC? not saying it’s bad, not at all, but the track layout just feels kinda…boring? i dunno. something about it feels off. i love the changing paths, and the visuals are gorgeous, but it doesn’t feel as actually there as other courses. the background is stale and it just kinda feels more like a track slammed into the middle of nowhere instead of fitting in with its environment

Madrid Drive - a neat little tour track with some BANGING music. not much to say beyond that, but i love the touch of the more “fancy” music when in the museum

Rosalina’s Ice World - as it is known, i am a sucker for snow levels. and this one? god damn is it fucking good. everything about it is so icy and i can just feel the cold coming off of this course. so fucking good.

Bowser’s Castle 3 - now THIS is how you remake a track. using the anti-gravity mechanic’s potential and reconstructing a forgettable track from the SNES into an unforgettable one. i have a similar problem with this as i do with Piranha Plant Cove, but i feel like it’s more acceptable on a retro track compared to a brand new one :p

Rainbow Road - oh man when that music came in the nostalgia just started flooding. such a beautiful remake of one of the most nostalgic tracks for me. they removed a lot of the bullshit from the original, while still keeping a decent amount of challenge.

OH AND FUNKY KONG FUCK YEAH!!!!

i’ll review the whole package once i have time :)

Athens Dash - one of the coolest Tour tracks just due to its location compared to the usual city-theming Tour tracks go for. quite good! :3

Daisy Cruiser - another cult classic returns! i haven’t actually played the original so I can’t really compare the remake here to that version, but from what i can tell this is a great remake :D it is a little bit odd that the tables slow down as the laps progress instead of speed up, but it’s whatever

Moonview Highway - ANOTHER classic returns, but this one i have played! the location is absolutely beautiful on this track, i’m such a sucker for anything night-themed with big fuckin atmospheric ass moons. probably why i love castlevania so much. but goddamn this is a good remake with even better music! such an upbeat synth groove that adapts to a more laid-back jazzy tone when under the bridges. amazing.

Squeaky Clean Sprint - the new track of the wave and goddamn is it good! i love the setting of this one and all the little detail put into it. another one of the new tracks that almost feels criminal to be in a DLC. the music is really great, albeit not really fitting for this track imo… still bops tho so i can’t complain toooo much

Los Angeles Laps - probably the weakest track of the wave but it’s still alright. i love Arlo’s review of this one when he was really loopy and pretty much sums up how i feel about it. those poor guys are so brave for visiting LA.

Sunset Wilds - a great, beautiful remake. it’s kind of unfortunate most of these GBA/SNES remakes have the multi-colored borders from the original, but at least it’s faithful :p

Koopa Cape - another classic returns! not as stunning as some of the other ones (mostly due to MKWii still holding up well visually), but quite good nonetheless.

Vancouver Velocity - a great closer for this wave, as per usual. as you may know i’m a complete sucker for snowy levels so the first lap of this one had me awestruck. a beautiful track and, while i feel like i say this a lot, one of the better ones from Tour!

another great round of DLC with some fantastic remakes and an incredible new track! the inclusion of Kamek was a great surprise as well, welcome back(kinda lol) buddy!!

Amsterdam Drift - banger Tour track; is it me or are these looking a lot better compared to the first wave? the track layout and set pieces were great on this one, i absolutely loved blasting into the flower fields :3

Riverside Park - that funky little instrument Nintendo likes to occasionally use is back and it works perfectly for this track! such a beautiful and well done remake, especially for a GBA track

DK Summit - the return of another cult classic ! it would’ve been cool to see this remade in the style of Wario Summit (i forget it’s name lol), but it’s probably for the best that it’s remade faithfully here :p it probably would be quite boring to have two snowy summit courses, both without repeating laps lol

Yoshi’s Island - now this is fucking GOOD. like fucking AMAZING. it almost feels criminal for this to be part of a DLC and not in a main Mario Kart lmao. the changed music, coins, little fucking cloud thing at the end, this track is absolutely amazing and charming from every little aspect of it. this is a REALLY fuckinf good track like holy ahit i’m actually blown away

Bangkok Rush - another great Tour track; it honestly kind of sucks these are named after real world locations since it kind of takes the umph out of them in my opinion. still really fun with really great set pieces either way.

Mario Circuit - probably the most lackluster of this entire wave, which is a real shame. it’s still good though! it would’ve been cool to see them give it some antigravity sections like they did in the base game, but oh well.

Waluigi Stadium - is it me or does the dirt texture look off in this one? it looks like me fucking around with free textures i downloaded online while messing with my Blender scene and just going “fuck it that’s good enough.” besides that the track itself is fine, i just prefer Wario Stadium personally.

Singapore Speedway - another banger tour track with some boppin music. nothing really to say about this one, just great all around

wow this one was even fucking better than the last! this is absolutely so close to a 4, but i can’t quite give a DLC that’s just adding tracks a 4. i absolutely love Nintendo when they display Yoshi’s Island level of creativity and fun. a great booster wave all around :)

London Loop - your typical Tour track. pretty decent, and i love the inclusion of the chain chomps. of course the gimmick of the changing track is cool, but even that can’t save this mediocre track

Boo Lake - now this is good. i love that they took the water being hazard and just threw you straight into it. and ofc the atmosphere will always be perfect on these types of levels

Rock Rock Mountain - decent course, nothing really to talk about here other than the ending which was fun. not abhorrent but nothing to write home about

Maple Treeway - absolute classic remade beautifully for MK8. have always loved the atmosphere in this track and while it is sad they removed jerk off bridge, this remake is still great

Berlin Byways - definitely one of the better Tour tracks, but at the end of the day, it’s still a Tour track. the music is CRAZY on this one tho, those snare rolls are insane coming from Mario Kart lmfao

Peach Gardens - another classic remade beautifully. not much added new for MK8 other than near the end from what i can tell, but this is still a great addition

Merry Mountain - while i do understand the complaints with the course design people have with this, i personally don’t think it’s that bad. the visuals are absolutely stunning and due to me being such a sucker for snowy/winter-themed anything, this is a definite highlight for me


Rainbow Road - absolutely stunning both visually and sonically. the sound design and music is rly great in this one, all culminating to create an icy, magical trip through space. seriously, i can imagine what the road tastes like. a great closer for the best wave thus far.

that being said, none of these waves have been quite “great” yet. i’m still waiting for one to absolutely knock it out of the park

finally getting around to sitting down and playing these DLCs now that its finished! i played the first one when it came out but was still fatigued from playing so much MK8D that i didnt really wanna play the waves after that one as they were coming out.

this one is definitely better than wave 1 but not by much. Snow Land, Waluigi Pinball, Syndey Sprint, and Mushroom Gorge were definitely the best. oh and the music in New York Minute was amazing.

pretty good, but nothing here screams amazing. im very excited to play the rest of these, though