The best music in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is on its final legs after an epic run that’s lasted over a decade from its initial release. The Nintendo Switch 2 big reveal presentation is tomorrow, and it likely will be a grand unveiling of the long-awaited successor in the Mario Kart series. So today's the last possible day to focus on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe before the sequel hype cycle takes over.
It’s a game that released with 32 tracks, added 16 as DLC back in the Wii U era, and then somehow doubled its track roster to 96 in the past few years with additional Switch DLC. Much like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this is the culmination of everything Mario Kart has been over the past 30+ years, a true celebration of the history of the franchise.
My favorite thing about the game is easily its soundtrack. It’s a mix of original tracks, remixes of old Mario Kart music, and remixes of non-Mario music that was added as DLC. Most of these have live instrumental arrangements that give them a freshness that maintains to this day.
So it’s time to count down my 30 favorite music tracks in the game!
30. Sunshine Airport
I’m the kind of person who gets to the airport hours early so it’s chill instead of frantic. This music is the vibe I try to strike.
29. GBA Sky Garden
If I’m being honest, I think the original sounds a little bit better. But this is still a series classic and it earns its spot on this list.
28. Bowser’s Castle
Is Bowser himself shredding on the guitar? I hope so.
27. Ninja Hideaway
This one really creatively blends classic and synth instruments, and its driving pace is fast even for Mario Kart. The bass going crazy towards the end sets it over the top.
I never really played the real-world city tracks that much in the game, but I do appreciate how “New York” this one sounds.
Like Sky Garden, I feel like the instrumentation in this one is a bit nerfed compared to the original, especially during the big synth chorus. Still an all time classic though.
These levels used to be so terrifying as a child. Bright red lava everywhere, deliberately broken routes, Thwomps blocking your path. This remastered track captures that feeling.
23. Wild Woods
5/4 time! Never thought it’d work well with a racing game, but it somehow does. What an ethereal vibe.
One of those classic Nintendo tracks in a minor key that still sounds uncannily happy.
Back on the N64, I didn’t actually find this track to be anything special, but the punchier drums and more aggressive brass give it new life.
It’s a hoe-down! Another track that live instrumentation really breathed new life into.
19. Wii Coconut Mall
I wish they played this at the mall when I’d go there as a bored suburban teenager.
18. 3DS Rainbow Road
This was the emotional climax of Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS, and I’m glad it makes an appearance in this game too. Of course, it has a nod to another Rainbow Road music theme that’s higher up on this list.
Dat fiddle!
16. Mario Kart Stadium
15. GBA Mario Circuit
14. N64 Royal Raceway
13. GCN Yoshi Circuit
Four straight “first level” bangers. I can’t really differentiate them, but they all do their job really well! I particularly like how the remixed tracks have a feel like a band that hasn’t played together in years that is coming back together to play their classics.
12. Mount Wario
This is probably my favorite actual level in the game, and I love how the music evolves as you make it further down the mountain.
11. Bone-Dry Dunes
Easily my favorite desert theme in all of Mario Kart.
10. Water Park
I love roller coasters and water parks, so this theme is for me.
The pace on this one is perfect for when you’re literally driving up and down a waterfall.
This was mind-blowing when it first released. The original NES game from 1984 had like 20 seconds of music total, and they somehow blew out both the title theme and the “winning a race” theme into a full music track. Bravo.
7. Mute City
Yeah, this one deserves an embed. As a promo for the DLC tracks, this video quite literally sold me on the upgrade:
Never saw this coming, a 2023 remix of a track from a 1995 Super NES game. The whole level is a spectacular tribute to that all-time classic game, too.
It’s the 2nd-half of the N64 hoe-down duology! That banjo never stops, and it sustains all of us.
4. Hyrule Circuit
Another one that deserves an embed. Maybe it’s something we’re used to at this point, but Link in freaking Mario Kart was life-changing news in 2014. The pace is juuust a bit faster than you’d expect, and that makes it a perfect fit for racing.
Easily the best Rainbow Road music ever.
That sax solo sustains all of us. Perhaps most notably, it gave us the famous Mario Kart lick. I have no choice but to embed one of my favorite analyses from 8-Bit Music Theory here:
1. Big Blue
I was quite literally speechless the first time I heard this remix in yet another trailer for the upcoming DLC:
The driving pace. How the sax and guitar form a tense alliance as they outline the main melody together. How they break that alliance and have an epic duel. How the bass pulls everyone back together for the loop. This was already one of my all-time favorite Nintendo tracks back on the Super Nintendo. The F-Zero X version on N64 took it to new heights. The F-Zero GX cover was yet another glow-up. And then a decade later, we had this. Perhaps the best music track in Nintendo’s legendary history.