Mario Kart 8

	; North American game cover;
	Image gallery
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD (Wii U); Nintendo EPD (Nintendo Switch)
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Kosuke Yabuki (Wii U); Yusuke Shiraiwa (Nintendo Switch)
Platform(s)	Mario Kart 8:; Wii U; Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:; Nintendo Switch; Nintendo Switch 2 (Backwards compatible)
Release date(s)	Wii U:; May 29, 2014; May 30, 2014; May 31, 2014; Nintendo Switch; April 28, 2017; December 15, 2017; March 16, 2020
Genre(s)	Racing
Modes	Single player; Multiplayer
Ratings	ACB: G; CERO: A; ESRB: E; FPB: 10-12 PG; GCAM: 12; GRAC: All; GSRR: 6+; NMC: 7; PEGI: 3; RARS: 0+; USK: 0;

Mario Kart 8 is a racing game for the Wii U released in May 2014. The game received a downloadable content pack on April 23, 2015, titled Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8, which adds Villager and Isabelle as playable characters, various Animal Crossing-themed kart parts, and an Animal Crossing-themed race course.

On April 28, 2017, an expanded version of the game titled Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which features all the Animal Crossing content from the original game, was released for the Nintendo Switch.

Content from the Animal Crossing series[edit]

Playable characters[edit]

Villager[edit]

Artwork of a male Villager

Villager appears with both a male and female variant, based on their appearances in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Both variants are in the medium weight class, with slight variations in stats between the two. Unlike all other characters, Villager does not have vocalizations; instead, emotions are performed along with their respective sounds. Their emblem is the leaf icon from the Animal Crossing series.

The clothing worn by the Villagers are items from New Leaf. The male Villager wears the team NTDO tee, tan dogtooth pants, and basketball shoes. The female Villager wears the red riding dress, black stockings, and shearling boots.

In the original Mario Kart 8, the male and female variants of Villager are combined into a single slot on the character selection screen. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, both variants initially had separate slots, before being merged again following the addition of more characters in Wave 6 of the Booster Course Pass DLC.

Isabelle[edit]

Artwork of Isabelle

Isabelle made her playable debut in Mario Kart 8, being added to the game seven months prior to her playable debut in the Animal Crossing series with Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival. She is in the light weight class, and her emblem is an apple. Like Villager, Isabelle performs emotions during races; she also speaks in Animalese.

Crossing Cup and Animal Crossing course[edit]

Icon for the Crossing Cup

Preview of the Animal Crossing course

Main article: Animal Crossing (course)

The first cup of the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC pack is the Crossing Cup, which features the leaf emblem of the Animal Crossing series. The final course of the cup, Animal Crossing, is themed after a town from Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The course has a variation for each season that is randomly chosen each time it is played.

Kart parts[edit]

There are four kart parts based on the Animal Crossing series:

City Tripper — A bike that features various icons representing Animal Crossing.
Streetle — A kart that is based on the various beetles from the Animal Crossing series. Its wings open when gliding or in anti-gravity mode, revealing the Animal Crossing leaf icon underneath.
Leaf Tires — Wheels that feature the triangle grass pattern from the Animal Crossing series on their treads and the leaf icon in the center.
Paper Glider — A glider that features Animal Crossing icons and the series logo.

The City Tripper was later added to Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo as a furniture item known as the scooter and Isabelle scooter, respectively.

Mii racing suit[edit]

The Animal Crossing Mii racing suit

Beginning in version 4.0.0 of Mario Kart 8, a free update released alongside the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC, a Mii racing suit called the Animal Crossing Suit can be unlocked by scanning the Villager Super Smash Bros. amiibo figure. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the suit can additionally be unlocked by scanning any Animal Crossing series amiibo figure or card, or the Isabelle Super Smash Bros. amiibo figure.

Miiverse stamps[edit]

Three Miiverse stamps based on the Animal Crossing series were added to Mario Kart 8 in version 4.0.0: Isabelle, an apple tree, and a player house. These stamps could be inserted into Miiverse posts and were automatically unlocked upon downloading the update.

Isabelle
Apple tree
Player house

Related media[edit]

European cover of the soundtrack

A two-CD soundtrack collection known as Mario Kart 8: Original Soundtrack was released via Club Nintendo in 2015 in Japan, Europe, and Australia. Among the 68 tracks are five Animal Crossing ones: the four seasonal variants of the Animal Crossing course theme, and the course's result screen theme. These five tracks were later released on Nintendo Music in 2024 as part of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe soundtrack.

Disc	#	Title	Length
2	12	"Animal Crossing (Spring)"	2:02
	13	"Animal Crossing (Summer)"	2:20
	14	"Animal Crossing (Autumn)"	2:17
	15	"Animal Crossing (Winter)"	2:10
	31	"Animal Crossing Result Screen"	1:16