Today Nintendo launched the first of two planned DLC packs for Mario Kart 8. This includes:

-3 new characters
-4 new karts
-8 tracks, both returning & brand new (3 retro tracks, 5 brand-new ones)

at cost of $7.99 USD (or $11.99 if you purchase both together at the same time),how does it hold up for the price?

Of the tracks, the 3 returning entries are Yoshi Circuit (Double Dash!!), Rainbow Road (Super Mario Kart), and Wario's Gold Mine (Wii). The rest are all brand new entries into the series, ranging from a race track on a icy tundra, to a track built on a twisting Chinese dragon. They also cover other Nintendo franchises, such as Excitebike, Legend of Zelda, and F-Zero. With Yoshi Circuit being an exception, each track feels unique and offer up a different racing experience.

While Excitebike looks like a very bland oval shaped track, due to the many jumps and hills and obstacles it becomes a very frenzied fight to get out in front. It also alters the track each time you play, so while it can be familiar, it's a little different here and there. F-Zero focuses a lot on speed, and the stage blazes by so fast that you may not be able to take in all the scenery the first or second times around the track. The Legend of Zelda track offers up familiar Hyrule settings, while replacing the usual coins with Rupees on the track.

Yoshi Circuit is the track that most folks are likely to experience first, and it unfortunately falls flat on its' face. Much like the base game's returning track Moo Moo Field, almost nothing was really done to Yoshi Circuit except to spruce it up a bit. It's still a fun and fast track to play on, but if you're really familiar with Double Dash!!, this doesn't offer up any new experiences like many of the others do.

I suppose the same could be said about Wario's Gold Mine, since it's not really altered too much from it's Wii counterpart (and is far more recent), but that track always struck me as kind of a roller coaster ride to start with, and the few times that it does inject some of the anti-gravity features of Kart 8 only helps smooth the track out.

Character choice was also another oddball area of the DLC. Instead of focusing on characters we hadn't seen before in this series, we're given one new character (Link, star of the Legend of the Zelda series) and then 2 reskins of characters we already have 3 sets of: Mario & Peach.

This time around, we get a Tanuki (spelled Tanooki) Mario & Cat Peach. While I wasn't particularly thrilled with either selection (why Captain Falcon wasn't chosen when there's both his car and a F-Zero track in this I can't fathom), I have to admit that both do have their charms. Tanuki Mario makes the 'tail flip' sound when honking his horn, and can even flip his tail or turn into a statue for some of his tricks. Cat Peach has perhaps the most annoying horn in the game, which I couldn't quite tell if it was trying to mimic a purring sound from a cat. But she is quite amusing otherwise, constantly saying meow, mew, myaaah and a few other kitty references.

Link is still the best one of this lot, and it shows. They made excellent use of a variety of Legend of Zelda musical cues and references, from his horn to swinging his sword for a trick. He even gets his own personal bike, the Master Cycle, which comes with its' own set of wheels and a glider to match. We're sure to see a lot of the full LoZ loadouts blazing through the lands of Hyrule.

While I still think the decision to not include Captain Falcon and someone else was the wrong way to go, I do enjoy all of the character choices they made.

The karts range from classic cars, such B-Dasher from Mario Kart DS & the Blue Falcon, to all new ones such as the Master Cycle and the Tanooki Kart, which was clearly designed to match up with Tanuki Mario. There's not much to say here, as these are all just reskins of karts and pieces we've already gotten in Kart 8, but if at least they offer up more visual choices.

Overall, despite some shortcomings in character selection and nothing really done to spice up Yoshi Circuit, it's a very solid pack. A lot of the tracks offer up fun game alterations, offering focus on different styles through the courses it offers. For any long-time fan of the series, this is an excellent purchase for the price. More so if you double down and buy both packs together, which costs less overall and allows you to start using two packs of Shy Guy & Yoshi colors. That may not sound like much, but it really is a thrill to see 3 or 4 yoshis on the same race track played by your friends, each one choosing a different color.

Additional note: the DLC also comes with an update that supports amiibos. What this does, is that from 10 select amiibo figures, you can get new costumes for your Mii to race in!

The suits are: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Samus, Captain Falcon, Link, and Fox.

The costumes unlock permanently once you do so, so it's very user friendly if you and your friends each have one or two. Myself...I'm all alone over here. ;3; Guess I'll have to go get 'em all myself!