Mario Kart 8’s second wave of tracks and content will be released this week.

The update, known by the community as ‘wave 2’, brings eight new tracks to the game as part of Nintendo’s commitment to add 48 additional courses to the game.

Here’s the full list of eight tracks, which arrive on August 4th:

The tracks seemed to go live at midnight in Japan when the first wave hit.

  • NEW YORK MINUTE – A twisting course set at night, that sees you race around a sprawling metropolis. Certainly looks like a lot of fun
  • SNES MARIO CIRCUIT 3 – Ahh memories. So many of my younger years was spent racing around this course – it’s great to see it back
  • KALIMARI DESERT – another cracker, this time from the N64. I remember being absolutely blown away by the visuals and vastness of the course when Mario Kart 64 was first released
  • TOUR SYDNEY SPRINT – Taken from the mobile game, this sun-soaked course sees you race around some of Australian city’s famous landmarks
  • DS WALUIGI PINBALL – A hectic DS classic that sees you, unsurprisingly, racing around a pinball-themed track
  • GBA SNOW LAND – A decent track taken from the Game Boy Advance
  • WII MUSHROOM GORGE – a colourful, countryside-esque dash, which as you’d expect features a lot of mushrooms
  • SKY-HIGH SUNDAE – This future Mario Tour addition is exactly what you’d expect – twists and turns amidst a backdrop of sickly deserts. What’s not to like?

The courses are free if you have a paid Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership.

If you don’t have that yet, the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass* from Nintendo eShop is available for $24.99 USD / $32.99 CAD.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 2 release time prediction

Nintendo has now confirmed via Twitter that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 2 will launch at 16:00 CEST today, that’s 3PM UK time.

There were reports with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 1, that the Booster content went live at midnight CET – that’s 11pm UK.

There are already predictions coming in about when Mario Kart 8 Wave 3 will be released – which we think could sneak in towards the end of the year.

Time will tell.