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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gets custom items feature today in free update

Arrives alongside Wave 3 of DLC.

No blue shells? ALL BLUE SHELLS? Beautiful, perpetual chaos can now be yours whenever you desire, thanks to a free new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update enabling players to define exactly which items they want to appear in their games.

As detailed in Nintendo's announcement tweet, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's new custom item feature works with offline VS races, as well as "certain" online modes, and gives players the ability to either randomise items that'll be available in their races or to toggle specific items on or off. And yes, that means competitions can now be entirely item-free.

That's not quite the end of it, either; in Team Races and Battles, it's even possible to allocate items to specific teams, meaning you can really pile on the pressure - perhaps all spiny shells against an increasingly sweaty palmed team armed with nothing but hooters?

Cover image for YouTube videoMario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass - Wave 3 Release Date - Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass - Wave 3 trailer.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's custom items update is out today on Switch and arrives alongside Wave 3 of the game's Booster Course Pass DLC, adding eight more tracks: Mario Kart GBA's Boo Lake, 3DS' Rock Rock Mountain and Rainbow Road, DS' Peach Gardens, Wii's Maple Treeway, plus Mario Kart Tour's London Loop, Berlin Byways, and the appropriately festive Merry Mountain.

Nintendo has three more waves of DLC tracks due over the next 12 months, adding a total of 48 additional tracks to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's already sizeable starting line-up.