Heartwarming / Mario Kart 8

• In the section right before the cave on GCN Sherbet Land, there are two Shy Guys skating together and doing tricks. It's a small, but sweet sight to behold.
• The characters' laughter/cheers when performing tricks and such can be this, depending on the character. For example, it's nice to hear Rosalina sound so upbeat after all her years of loneliness in space. In fact, even LINK seems excited to be in the race, and it's nice to see him having some fun for once. Of course, that's an understatement, because he's clearly having the time of his life. The look of glee on his face when he wins, for example, is simply adorable.
  • Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you realise that the fastest thing he's ever ridden is a horse — riding a kart or bike must be incredible to him.
• If you win a race while playing as the Shy Guy, it'll sometimes yell out "Yahoo!!!" as it does its little victory dance (while standing up in its seat even though the car's still definitely moving forward and being steered). For a Shy Guy to say something that you can understand is very rare indeed. You sure must have made him happy by winning that race!
• The sight of some of these retro tracks not only being imported into a new Mario Kart game, but getting an unprecedented graphics overhaul to the point where they look totally brand new when paired up at their less graphically advanced original designs. Some veteran fans may have imagined these tracks with better visuals, but to take it the extra mile and throw in Scenery Porn that was not even in the original shows the game designers truly pulled out the stops on this one.
• Koopa Troopas are guiding the trolleys in Toad Harbor. It's really cute seeing the normally antagonistic Koopas giving cheerful Toads a ride around the bay.
• Koopa Troopas and Shy Guys dancing together in Electrodrome, with Larry as the disc-jockey.
• The general sense of togetherness and happiness that the game portrays with the cooperative and pack mentality friendly collision boost mechanics of the zero gravity sections and the celebratory and party atmosphere that's prevalent in a lot of the tracks is very heartwarming indeed. It's as if the game is a gigantic party celebrating Mario Kart's history and future in-universe.
• In multiple courses, the crowd will go absolutely wild when you pull off tricks. It's bound to make anyone smile.
• The love that Nintendo has been giving to third-parties in Super Smash Bros. has spilled over into Mario Kart, where racing suits of Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-Man are accessible.
• The revamped design of the DLC course Ribbon Road. It's set in a child/adolescent's room littered with toys, particularly model karts and their packages, sure to bring back fond childhood memories for any old-school nerd.
• The Mario Kart Tour tracks getting a more permanent home in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe counts as well for the simple fact that Tour rotates around their available tracks every two weeks, meaning stages like Tokyo Blur, Paris Promenade, Ninja Hideaway, New York Minute, & Sydney Sprint could potentially never be played on again if you missed out on your chance of playing those tracks earlier on. Even more so for the fact that each of the Tour tracks included thus far have gotten positive reception for their inclusion in Deluxe, especially Ninja Hideaway.
• The credits scene unlocked upon clearing all the cups in the Booster Course Pass is a very emotional trip down memory lane which shows many of the racetracks added to the game thanks to the expansion. It is accompanied by a montage of lovely music tracks, including some of the more popular ones like those of Ninja Hideaway, Berlin Byways, Singapore Speedway, and Vancouver Velocity. The beginning and end parts of the credits theme is a remix of the ending theme from Super Mario Kart and the end image shows all the characters cheerful in the background with a "THANK YOU!" plastered on the photo, which is also a callback to how the first game's characters thanked you. For veteran players who played since the very beginning of the franchise, it's bound to bring some tears and nostalgia.

---