Awesome Music / Mario Kart 8

The music in this game is so good, it became an actual track!

Mario Kart 8 is the biggest Mario Kart game to date and the first in which nearly every track has a live recorded theme.^note The exceptions are 3DS DK Jungle, Wii Grumble Volcano, 3DS Neo Bowser City, Wii Mushroom Gorge, and the museum and stadium variants of Tour Madrid Drive's theme, all of which were simply upgraded to high-quality audio for 8 with adjusted mixing (Neo Bowser City also has added electric guitar). As such, it's no surprise that it gets an Awesome Music page all to itself.

To listen to great music from the rest of the Mario Kart series, click here.

---

Mario Kart 8 + DLC

• First impressions are everything, and when even the title screen has some of the most awesome and fitting music in the series, you know your ears are in for a good time. The benefits of having a real band performing the music are apparent from the moment you hear that first note. There's a section of one Nintendo Direct where you can actually see parts of the aforementioned title screen, Dolphin Shoals, and Moo Moo Meadows being performed live, and it is awesome.
• As the first course in the game, Mario Kart Stadium establishes the level of quality you can expect out of Mario Kart 8's soundtrack. Its music is majestic and sports-like, and the melody is shared with this game's Mario Circuit.
• Water Park introduces the underwater mechanics in an aquatic amusement park, and it has a fittingly playful and upbeat tune.
• Sweet Sweet Canyon's music is 100% Sweet Dreams Fuel.
• The music for Thwomp Ruins, based on the sounds and instruments of Bali, fits the track perfectly. Eventually, a hauntingly adventurous flute melody kicks in, which gets more and more intense until hitting one last high note, at which point the music immediately loops back to the start and becomes calm again. But the best part of the track emerges if you hold first place, in which case a sensational bass drum accompaniment joins the mix.
• While good in the first Mario Kart 8 trailer, the Mario Circuit theme sounds even better orchestrated for the final game, complete with a jazzy saxophone. While its melody is the same as Mario Kart Stadium's, it's much faster-paced and more energetic here, perfectly befitting a wacky race around a Möbius strip.
• Toad Harbor's music really captures the feel of a casual drive through a beautiful seaside town, and almost makes you forget the chaos that you and up to eleven other racers are driving through.
• Twisted Mansion has an awesome — and genuinely eerie — theme that takes its cues from Double Dash!!'s version of Bowser's Castle. It sounds nearly as good as the track it's used on looks.
• The music for Shy Guy Falls is so awesome, even the Shy Guys in the stage hum to its infectious melody!
• Sunshine Airport has a muzak-like theme that really gives the string instruments a chance to shine.
• The music for each lap of Dolphin Shoals starts off calm and calypso-like, gets more ambient as you go deeper underwater, and ends with pure saxophone magic as you exit through the giant whirlpool and glide to the finish, especially on the final lap, where the sax completely takes over. But if you really want to jam out, take a listen to this extended version of the above-water theme. It only plays during highlight reels, meaning you won't be hearing it much in-game, but it contains a killer sax solo you won't find anywhere else.
• A rave is probably not what comes to mind when you think Mario Kart music, and yet Electrodrome has everything in a track you'd expect to hear at an electronic music club, and it's excellent. Just like with Music Park in 7, the music can be re-arranged during the race by driving on certain surfaces, particularly the anti-gravity sections.
• Mount Wario's BGM probably has more effort put into it than any other track in the game. Much like the course itself, it doesn't repeat until the very end, meaning that almost two minutes of music, which gradually gets more focused and intense as the race gets closer to the end, only plays once during any given race. The repeating bit, by the way, is probably the shortest music loop in the series tied with N64 DK's Jungle Parkway, clocking in at about 15 seconds.
• Cloudtop Cruise's level design is not only very reminiscent of Super Mario Galaxy, but its music also includes part of the Gusty Garden Galaxy and Sky Station Galaxy themes, and goes from symphony to electric guitar in the thunderstorm section. Try combining both versions for pure Galaxy epicness.
• Bone-Dry Dunes is a lush, gorgeous piece with Arab folk instruments, providing the perfect contrast against one of the toughest tracks in the game.
• The new Bowser's Castle theme starts off with a heavy-metal riff, and just gets better from there. It also has Musical Nods to Bowser's Highway Showdown from Super Mario 3D World and the final boss theme of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
• In keeping with Mario Kart series tradition, the new Rainbow Road's music is excellent. This time, the Musical Nod comes from DS's version.
• Wii Moo Moo Meadows is a perfect fit for the course it plays on. It's beautifully relaxing at first, but towards the end of the second music loop, the violinist just goes crazy.
• GBA Mario Circuit alters the main melody in a way that really makes the song pop, especially with those saxophones and trumpets.^note Fun fact: the revamped melody is actually taken from this beta version of the theme.
• GCN Dry Dry Desert receives an orchestrated remix that sounds more realistic and lively than ever before. It's so great, you'd swear it couldn't get any better... until you listen to the even better, funkier frontrunning version.
• SNES Donut Plains 3 has been made much less difficult than it was in Super Mario Kart, and its calm, relaxing, and catchy music reflects this.
• The energetic "circuit" theme from Mario Kart 64 was already a classic, but the remix used here for N64 Royal Raceway puts the original to shame. It cannot be stressed enough how much the live instruments add to this game's soundtrack.
• DS Wario Stadium (which would later be reused for DS Waluigi Pinball in the Booster Course Pass for 8 Deluxe) sounds absolutely phenomenal. It's as funky and electronic as the original version, if not more so.
• N64 Yoshi Valley is given a complete rerecording, and its wacky tone and live banjo bass line fit the new Yoshi Valley just as well as the original theme fit the original course.
• DS Tick Tock Clock starts off with seven truly epic ticks, followed by a fun electronic and wooden percussion track. Then it gets to the final lap... where the speed increases by 500%. Yes, seriously.
• The new arrangement of 3DS Piranha Plant Slide/Piranha Plant Pipeway no longer changes instrumentation when you go into the water, but the added trumpet section, cool mallet percussion, and various electronic touches more than makes up for it.
• Out of all of the returning retro courses in Mario Kart 8, N64 Rainbow Road was perhaps the most hotly-anticipated, and its music didn't disappoint. It starts with a short snippet sampled directly from the original... and then launches into a glorious remix filled with trumpets and electric guitars. Whereas the original felt ethereal and melancholy, this new rendition is downright triumphant. All in all, an excellent way to cap off the base game's soundtrack.
• The music from the waiting room during online races is pretty upbeat.
• The credits. A jazzed up medley of the title theme, Mario Circuit, Electrodrome, Thwomp Ruins, and Mount Wario? Yes, please! The ending goes frantically majestic, and the flourish with the trumpet and the guitar at the very end finishes off the chaos that you've been through, especially if you manage to get gold trophies on every cup in Grand Prix Mode. Especially if you manage to get perfect three-star rankings in every single one of them.
• From just the first DLC pack, we have a handful of great tracks:
  • With GCN Yoshi Circuit, the "main circuit" theme from Double Dash!! returns for the first time since Wii, and it sounds even jazzier and more vibrant this time!
  • Excitebike Arena is a lovely tribute to the original NES Excitebike, complete with a medley of the game's music.
  • Dragon Driftway is the first original theme in the pack. The guitar is blazing, the bass is slapping, and the traditional Chinese instruments really set the mood in a piece that is highly reminiscent of the Chai Kingdom from Super Mario Land.
  • Mute City comes with an excellent cover of the circuit's theme from F-Zero that combines the original's metal elements with live jazz instrumentation in an excellent way. It only gets better when you notice that the coins are replaced with the refuel strips and that the race results theme is taken straight from the original SNES version!
  • Wii Wario's Gold Mine returns with an updated anti-gravity section, and the music has become much more whimsical and clear-sounding with a blazing-fast banjo.
  • SNES Rainbow Road may be down-to-earth (literally) for its fourth appearance, but the music is out of this world. The bouncy and energetic remix sounds new but still faithful to the original version.
  • Ice Ice Outpost is the second original theme. Those who wanted a more laid-back new ice-themed track compared to the energetic Mount Wario will be more than satisfied, especially when their ears are treated to that sweet-sounding violin!
  • And last but not least is Hyrule Circuit, an absolutely beautiful and groovy medley of several tracks from The Legend of Zelda! Listening to this music while racing through Hyrule Castle, passing through the Master Sword, and collecting Rupees... it's clear that Nintendo really knows how to do tributes right!
• The second DLC pack is chock-full of great tracks as well:
  • The instruments used for GCN Baby Park help give it more of a ska feel, which makes the course feel even more chaotic than before. It also helps that the course is back to its original seven-lap length^note It was cut down to five laps in DS... and that the music now speeds up on each lap instead of just the final one, meaning that by the end of the race, the music will sound like this.
  • GBA Cheese Land's music is upbeat and jazzy, incorporating a bit of techno. It's a treat for the ears, and the saxophonist really goes ham near the end.
  • Wild Woods' theme (the first original one in DLC Pack 2) is suitably wild with a xylophone and flute combo. It's also notable for being in 5/4.
  • The course based on Animal Crossing gives us this. And even better, there's four versions used in the track, depending on which season is played. All four versions start with the beginning of the main theme from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which is followed by a Musical Nod to another iconic song from the Animal Crossing series:
    • For Spring, it's the original GameCube Animal Crossing theme played by a relaxing horn and flute.
    • For Summer, it's the second half of the New Leaf theme and one of the various themes used in New Leaf's Main Street, all played by a happy violin and acoustic guitar.
    • For Fall, it's the main Animal Crossing theme used in Animal Crossing: Wild World and Animal Crossing: City Folk played by a calming acoustic guitar and harmonica.
    • For Winter, it's the Toy Day theme and 7PM theme from New Leaf played by a sensual saxophone and beautiful harmonica.
    • And to top it all off, the race results music (for all seasons) is a beautifully relaxing rendition of the Roost's theme.
  • GBA Ribbon Road has been given a new surf style to its theme, which gives it a really unique feel compared to the rest of the music in the game, which tends to skew towards jazz and rock.
  • Super Bell Subway gives us DLC Pack 2's second original theme: a relaxing muzak-style piece similar to that of Sunshine Airport. That's only when driving through the station, however — entering the tunnels will change the music to a sparser mix backed by a slap bass rendition of the Super Mario Bros. Underground theme.
  • And for the grand finale, Big Blue is well over two minutes of awesome guitar and sax. Just listen to that delicious solo starting midway through! And being such a loving tribute to the F-Zero series, it's only fitting that the final lap version cranks up the awesomeness factor even further.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Pass

• Mario Kart 8's Updated Re-release for the Nintendo Switch not only includes all of the awesome music from the original release, it packs some amazing new beats as well, especially with its battle arena themes:
  • Battle Stadium gets you pumped up for battle with a bombastic, brassy theme that establishes an air of competition and excitement.
  • Sweet Sweet Kingdom takes the Sweet Dreams Fuel from Sweet Sweet Canyon and places it into the battle.
  • Lunar Colony gives off a Science Fiction feeling, with the swelling guitar and hyperactive drums.
  • Dragon Palace provides a new spin on the ancient Chinese feeling from Dragon Driftway. This alternate mix, which plays when you drive through the exterior courtyard, even throws in chants of martial art training.
  • 3DS Wuhu Town's music is a remix of the theme for 7's Wuhu racecourses, and it's very different from the original. That said, this new rendition fits both the frantic nature of Battle Mode and the busy island town setting perfectly, especially with those conga drums.
  • GCN Luigi's Mansion's theme remixes the music for DS Luigi's Mansion rather than its original theme, and it keeps the Luigi's Mansion vibe going in your ears.
  • SNES Battle Course 1 (which would later be used in Mario Kart Tour for its battle courses) takes the funky beat of the original theme and infuses it with newfound action and liveliness.
  • Urchin Underpass is a remix of "Splattack!", the main theme of the original Splatoon, with faster beats and more drums. And much like the original game, when the battle reaches its final minute, the music is replaced with this remix of "Now or Never".
  • The Wireless Play menu theme is a simple, catchy hip-hop tune prominently featuring the sounds of discs scratching on a DJ's turntable. The game actually adds more layers to the music the further you delve into the menu; the final variant in the linked video goes unused in-game but has a memorably quirky EDM vibe to it.
• But of course, the real reason 8 Deluxe gets its own section here is because of the Booster Course Pass. In early 2022, Nintendo announced that 48 courses would be added to the game as DLC, releasing in six waves through the end of 2023. Naturally, this meant plenty of amazing new remixes and even a few new original tunes. And unlike in Tour, all of the music is still recorded live by the Mario Kart Band, creating a more symphonic experience. Wave 1 alone contains these wonderful pieces:
  • Tour Paris Promenade remasters the original track with live instruments, making you feel like you really are racing through the city of love.
  • 3DS Toad Circuit takes the already-solid original track and updates it with real instruments in Mario Kart 8's signature jazzy, big band style.
  • N64 Choco Mountain returns, and somehow it sounds even better than the original. You'll think you've died and gone to bluegrass heaven.
  • Wii Coconut Mall returns yet again, and to no one's surprise, it sounds absolutely amazing.
  • Similarly to Toad Circuit, Tour Tokyo Blur replaces the relatively simple instrumentation of the original with pure jazzy goodness.
  • While few were expecting DS Shroom Ridge to make a comeback, absolutely nobody was expecting it to sound as good as it does here. The new remix masterfully combines electronic, jazz, and a few samples from the original, and it's arguably the highlight of Wave 1's soundtrack.
  • GBA Sky Garden is back again mere weeks after its debut in Tour, and its music, remixed here with soaring saxophones and trumpets, is just as fun and pleasing to listen to as ever.
  • Finally, we have Ninja Hideaway from Tour. Its music in that game was already amazing and didn't need much improvement, but the minor updates made to some of the instruments make it sound even more lively.
• Moving on to Wave 2, while there are only seven new music tracks this time around (since Waluigi Pinball's music already existed in the game), every last one of them is a winner:
  • Tour New York Minute's updated theme might just be the swankiest jazz to ever grace Mario Kart, and that's saying a lot.
  • SNES Mario Circuit 3 is mostly unchanged, but the brand new live drum line fits it perfectly.
  • N64 Kalimari Desert has a beautifully lonely feeling, especially when the pan flute kicks in. Towards the end, there's even a call-and-response between the flute and the newly-added trumpets.
  • Tour Sydney Sprint's theme somehow improves upon the perfection of the original. As amazing as it sounded in Tour, it was just begging to be performed on real instruments, and the Mario Kart Band delivered spectacularly.
  • GBA Snow Land is just so darn happy, perfectly capturing the feeling of playing outside on a snowy day. It even had a new introduction composed for it!
  • Wii Mushroom Gorge hasn't changed much, but the added guitar line and remastered mixing gives it an extra edge over the original.
  • Sky-High Sundae is the first course to debut in the Booster Course Pass, and its theme is both musically complex and really catchy.
• Wave 3 keeps the awesome music coming with these new remixes:
  • Kicking things off is the downright rocking Tour London Loop.
  • GBA Boo Lake combines the eerie, haunting sounds of an organ with some serious jazz drumwork, and manages to deftly straddle the line between "creepy" and "cool".
  • Between London Loop and 3DS Rock Rock Mountain/Alpine Pass, the Rock Cup earns its name in more than just a geological sense. In this case, "Rock Rock" is right — one of the guitar riffs near the end of the Mario Kart 7 original is now done on two electric guitars playing in harmony.
  • Wii Maple Treeway takes one of Mario Kart Wii's best musical themes and rearranges it with a breathtaking combination of soprano saxophones, violins, and flutes.
  • The music for Tour Berlin Byways was already incredible, but the newly-added horns elevate it even further, giving it an almost regal feel.
  • The added violin in DS Peach Gardens makes an already beautiful song even more elegant.
  • Merry Mountain from Tour really benefits from a full live orchestra and will fill you with holiday spirit no matter the time of year.
  • 3DS Rainbow Road sells a feeling of finality with its emotional chords and driving EDM beats — it's the last course of its cup, the last course of 2022, and the last course of the first half of the pass. The version that plays on the moon trades in its pulsing beats for a beautiful serenity.
• Even in Wave 4, the music is still going strong:
  • Tour Amsterdam Drift starts the first wave of 2023 off right, keeping the original song's adventurous tone while adding a bunch of new instrumentation, including whistling, a jaw harp, and a toy piano.
  • GBA Riverside Park is the jazziest it's ever been, and the song's signature flute trills are more amazing than ever.
  • Wii DK Summit/DK's Snowboard Cross sounds even more energetic than it used to thanks to the added electric guitar. It gives the course a fresh new feeling of adrenaline, while maintaining an effortlessly chill vibe. The new synths and breakbeats don't hurt, either. Even the "one, two, three, four" sample at the beginning was updated!
  • Wave 4's signature course, Yoshi's Island, is a loving tribute to the series of the same name, complete with the jazziest arrangement of an Athletic theme to ever grace a Mario game. The final wave variant is even better and wouldn't be out of place in Smash Bros. And, to the surprise and delight of many, the course's results screen features a goofy, happy remix of the Yoshi's Island scoreboard theme.
  • Tour Bangkok Rush really benefits from the live instrumentation — the saxophones, flute, and shehnai all sound downright beautiful.
  • In the same vein as Shroom Ridge, DS Mario Circuit goes all in on the electronic instruments, as a reference to the electronic soundtrack of Mario Kart DS. The added strings section and brass make it even better.
  • GCN Waluigi Stadium is just as fun and exciting as the original, especially with the live brasswork.
  • Tour Singapore Speedway closes out the wave in style, with its brand new synths making the song much more powerful than before. The "Chinatown" variant is also improved thanks to the real instruments and more pronounced countermelodies.
• As good as the Mario Kart Band normally is, Wave 5 might just contain some of their finest work yet:
  • Tour Athens Dash, an adventurous, grand, and whimsical orchestral piece, is a perfect start to the wave.
  • GCN Daisy Cruiser adds an exceptionally beautiful countermelody on the strings, turning an already calm song into a downright emotional one.
  • Wii Moonview Highway's revamped music arguably steals the show for Wave 5:
    • The default variant, which plays on the city's outskirts, has been given a full-on Eurobeat makeover. It's very good, especially for a musical genre that the Mario Kart series has never touched until now.
    • The "city" variant, meanwhile, has been overhauled into an absolutely sublime fusion jazz piece — special notice should go toward its altered chord progression.
  • Squeaky Clean Sprint gives us the second original theme of the Booster Course Pass: a delightfully whimsical orchestral jazz piece that brings to mind vintage fifties commercials.
  • Tour Los Angeles Laps may have lost its vocals, but the new jazz-inspired take on the piece is a worthy alternative, and some might even prefer it.
  • GBA Sunset Wilds is pure Wild West goodness.
  • Wii Koopa Cape is a good time no matter where you are on the track:
    • The default variant is fairly similar to the original, but the improved instrumentation and goofy new sound effects push it over the top.
    • After being cut from 7 and Tour, the unique music variant that plays while driving through the river section makes its triumphant return here, reworked into a charming and fast-paced bluegrass piece.
    • And finally, the underwater variant is more beautifully serene than ever before thanks to its new acoustic guitar line.
  • Tour Vancouver Velocity caps off Wave 5 with a slick, modern-sounding remix of a theme that's already a fan-favorite, combining synths and live strings to great effect.
• Wave 6 is the final wave of the Booster Course Pass, and it ends it with a bang — it's perhaps no wonder that this is the wave that also came with a Sound Test.
  • Tour Rome Avanti is a fun, energetic piece that sounds downright cinematic.
  • The new flutes in GCN DK Mountain make the course feel extra wild and ancient. It's even better in the frontrunning variant, where the added drums make the track feel straight out of the Jungle Japes.
  • Wii Daisy Circuit is reworked into a gorgeous Latin jazz piece.
  • Piranha Plant Cove takes an "if it ain't broke" approach — it's a very faithful arrangement, but the new instruments (such as güiros and tin whistles) suit it well.
  • Tour Madrid Drive is an intense and fast-paced flamenco piece, perfect to hype you up for the final cup. The other variants suffer from being two of the only three songs in the entire DLC not to be noticeably arranged (alongside Wii Mushroom Gorge), but they're serviceable. The museum variant trades in some of its energy for mystery and mysticality, while the chanting and clapping in the stadium variant is the perfect way to cheer you on as you approach the finish line.
  • 3DS Rosalina's Ice World takes on a nu-disco feel, with a pulsing bass, cool breakbeats, and spacey synth pads that feel like they came right out of Super Mario Galaxy.
  • The music for SNES Bowser Castle 3 is made of the same things as the course itself: molten-hot rock and heavy metal.
  • Wii Rainbow Road is a emotionally triumphant piece — fast-paced breakbeats and sparkling synths combined with live strings and saxes from the Mario Kart Band end the courses on a high note.
  • Finally, the DLC's end credits theme serves as a capstone to the whole experience, being a medley of various songs from all six waves bookended by an arrangement of the credits theme for the original Super Mario Kart. It's a perfect goodbye from the Mario Kart Band to the DLC, and the game as a whole.

---