I Guess This One's Less Of A Review. Just Being Consistent - Tumblr Posts

and my VERY favorite game that i played in 2023 is...!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass

i'm still in shock that they made more courses for this game. i genuinely never thought this day would come! when the game first released on switch, i figured the Deluxe moniker meant it was a one-and-done "GOTY Edition" complete package that would never get major updates, and each year that passed cemented my suspicions further. but then, out of the blue, they announced new courses! for my favorite mario kart game ever!!

"sky why is this on the list—"

god i'm really happy with the course selection they brought in from previous games. lots of love for the wii, and it hits all the right notes of my nostalgia. plus i love the way they brought in courses from Tour with all the routes mixed in as one long course! i never played Tour so it's an excellent way for me to sample the course design, and some of them are surprisingly great.

"come on sky, seriously—"

and the characters?? i know they didn't originally plan to add new characters but it just feels so complete with them there. plus they added 8 new characters when i thought there was only room for 6 and—

"SKY this game's been out for almost TEN YEARS and you've been playing it nonstop ever since it came out. how does this count???"

…listen.

when i look back at any given year, the games i play are some of the fondest memories i have. so when i sent an ask to all my friends, asking them what their favorite game they played this year is… that's my way of asking them to reflect on the good times! because that's how it works for me too. it helps me look past the bad shit that happened and toward the memories i made, the fun i had.

and you know what the most fun i had all year was? it was playing Mario Kart with my friends.

each time a new wave came out, i would first play it with my partner. just me and her playing together on local wireless, touring the new courses and gushing about how well updated the old ones are and how cool the new ones are. a chance for me and her to explore a digital space together and share in that delight.

then i would stream it! and as most of y'all know, streaming each wave of DLC made for some of the best streams of the year. not for content, not for competition, but just because we could sit down and play together. a game we could all bond over!

and the dlc was the reason we kept coming back. would this have happened if there weren't new courses? maybe, maybe not! it doesn't matter. the dlc was the perfect excuse, and the quality of both the game and the courses made the return trip feel worth it.

it doesn't have to end there, either! they've effectively doubled the size of this game now. do you know how many times i'm gonna get to jump into other friends' game nights and play with them? it's already happened several times! not only do i have all these new memories, but i have even more to look forward to.

i could endlessly pore over the quality of the courses, but really, none of that matters in the long run. what matters is that they extended one of my favorite multiplayer games of all time. what matters is that i got to share it with my friends! when i think back to this period of my life, these will be some of the first memories i turn to.

so fuck the rules! fuck the idea that a game had to come out in 2023, or even that i had to first experience it in 2023. the Mario Kart DLC was the highlight of my year, and no amount of "it doesn't count" will change that.