With Mario Kart World launching on the Switch 2 in just over 3 weeks, you’d expect Nintendo to be done with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. After all, the game’s old news now. It’s a past generation title that’s set to be replaced by its sequel, with said sequel being meant as the big launch game for the new system in question.
So logically, you’d think updates would have stopped by this point.
As it turns out though, that’s not actually the case. Instead, Nintendo has released a surprised update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe earlier today, with said update patching a synchronisation bug on Music Park/Melody Motorway and a coin bug on N64 Rainbow Road. Here’s the full changelog from the official site:
- Fixed issue where, when playing “3DS Music Park” during Time Trials and the player opened and closed the pause menu over and over, the timing of the “notes” jumping lost sync with the background music and ghost data that was registered would start not playing correctly.
- The timing of the “notes” jumping still loses sync with the background music when opening and closing the menu even after applying updated data, but they will jump at correct timing when the ghost data plays.
- Ghost data for “3DS Music Park” that was created in Ver.3.0.3. or earlier cannot be uploaded.
- Ghost data that has this problem occur may be deleted without prior notice from “Online Ghosts.”
- Fixed issue where coins thrown by spectators disappear before they fall onto the course in “N64 Rainbow Road.”
As you can see, it’s a fairly short changelog. You’ve got two glitches being fixed, and that’s about it.
But there is a sort of reason for the former at least. You see, by repeating pausing and unpausing the game, the player could desynchronise the music note enemies from the background music. By doing this, they could get better lines in lap 3, since the enemies wouldn’t block their path like they were meant to at that point.
Shortcat explains it here:
So yeah, it’s basically a minor pause buffer exploit for time trials. Presumably one Nintendo thought was game breaking enough it just had to be fixed as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the other bug is a known issue that’s been around for years now, and led to a bit of frustration among people playing the track. Again, it makes sense why it was patched, even if the timing feels utterly ludicrous.
What doesn’t make sense however, is what seemingly wasn’t patched. Because again, the Ninja Hideaway softlock glitch… seems to remain for the 9th update in a row.
And this just confuses us to all hell and back. Like, it’s not a minor bug here. It flat out softlocks a racing game, and can be done by complete accident on 200cc.
Additionally, it’s also got plenty of press coverage too. It’s been covered on news sites, discussed by YouTubers, referenced on the Mario Wiki pages for the track and unwinnable situations… it’s kinda hard to avoid if you’re into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in any fashion.
So, you’d think it’d be fixed at some point. Nintendo surely can’t have missed it after all this time, right?
Regardless, that’s the new update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It kinda came out of nowhere given the upcoming release of Mario Kart World on Switch 2, and it mostly fixes a bug you’ll never see outside of competitive time trials, but it’s sure something nonetheless.
Wonder what other games Nintendo will update at this point in the Switch’s lifespan?
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