Sydney Gets Its Time On The Small Screen In New ‘Mario Kart’ Track
The only time I’ll feel comfortable driving on the Harbour Bridge.
Step aside Rainbow Road, a hot new track has dropped on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that focuses on lil ‘ol Sydney.
Sydney Sprint is one of the fancy tidbits included in the recently released Booster Course Pass Wave 2, which came out on Switch last Friday.
The downloadable content (DLC) pack expands on the OG 2017 game, as the second of six ‘waves’, or staggered drops. It includes 48 remastered courses from the Mario Kart series, and new adventures like the Sky-High Sundae, also featured in the Propeller Cup alongside Sydney Sprint.
Sydney Sprint is so cool, I wish Australia was real #MK8D #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/WqNosLepOs
— CJ | CW: One Piece (@CEOofGanyu) August 4, 2022
The map loops around Sydney’s CBD, whirling around the harbour on an uncharacteristically sunny day (thanks, La Niña!), with eyes on the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay, Milsons Point, Luna Park, and Barangaroo. It’s also soundtracked by a jazzy song in the background filled with brain tickling saxophone solos.
Sydney Sprint was originally debuted in mobile game Mario Kart Tour in two different variations last year, which also introduced a koala version of the Baby Mario playable character, as well as a kangaroo version of Yoshi, a jet cruiser car, and a surf master glider option.
The kids introduced me to the new Mario Kart Sydney – the tolls hurt more than getting blue shelled. pic.twitter.com/g99NlLLt2P
— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) August 8, 2022
It’s not the first city course in the popular video game franchise; Mario Kart has also released the Tokyo Blur, New York Minute, and Paris Promenade have all featured in recent waves, and as part of Tour series.
And you know what? Sydney usually gets a bad rap — it’s hard to make friends, buy a house, or have a good night out on the town in this godforsaken city — so it’s nice to finally see some good representation through lush water views and its iconic yellow trains trundling past.
The third wave is set for release in December 2022.