Without a Mario Kart game, in my opinion, your library on a Nintendo gaming console is lacking. In addition, Mario Kart 8 follows that pattern, so your Nintendo Switch collection should ideally feature it. In our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List, we’ll rate some of the most crucial elements of the game’s various features.
However, before you start, you should understand what makes Mario Kart 8 a decent game and whether investing your hard-earned money in it is a good idea.
- Not including Variations, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe offers up to 41 playable characters along with more than 30 new and old kart tracks.
- While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe characters are ranked based on their effectiveness and base skills, the ranking of Tracks is closely linked to the challenges and excitement that each option packs.
- The best characters of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are Wario, Bowser, Dry Bowser, Donkey Kong, King Boo, Gold Mario, Koopa Jr., and Link. At the same time, those that contest as the worst in the game include Baby Rosalina, Baby Peach, and Dry Bones.
- As far as racing courses/kart tracks are concerned, Waluigi Pinball, Baby Park – GCN, Electrodrome, Sunshine Airport, and Mount Wario stand as the most exciting choices for every player type.
- To enjoy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to its fullest, pair the best characters with the most challenging tracks and see your experience boom like never before.
Here’s a summary of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List ranking all the characters and tracks in the game:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List Characters and Tracks Ranking Table | ||
Tiers | Characters | Tracks |
S-Tier | Wario, Koopa Jr., Dry Bowser, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Gold Mario, King Boo, and Link | Waluigi Pinball, Electrodrome, Baby Park – GCN, Sunshine Airport, Mount Wario, Mushroom Gorge, Golden Dash Cup: Coconut Mall – Wii, Bowser’s Castle, Super Bell Subway, Big Blue, Sydney Sprint, Dolphin Shoals, Ribbon Road – GBA, Rainbow Road, Mute City, Melody Motorway – 3DS, and Lucky Cat Cup: Ninja Hideaway |
A-Tier | Rosalina, Roy, Waluigi, Metal Mario, Pink Gold Peach, Iggy, and Luigi | Piranha Plant Pipeway – 3DS, Wild Woods, Koopa City – 3DS, Lucky Cat Cup: Sky Garden – GBA, Dragon Driftway, Golden Dash Cup: Paris Promenade, New York Minute, Hyrule Circuit, Snow Land, Royal Raceway – N64, Yoshi Valley – N64, Lucky Cat Cup: Shroom Ridge – 3DS, Cheep Cheep Beach – DS, Animal Crossing, Wario’s Gold Mine – Wii, Toad Harbour, Cloudtop Cruise, Sky-High Sundae, Shy Guy Falls, and Grumble Volcano – Wii |
B-Tier | Ludwig, Mario, Cat Peach, Princess Peach, Tanooki Mario, Yoshi, Koopa, and Bowser Jr | Ice Ice Outpost, Kalamari Desert – MK64, Golden Dash Cup: Toad Circuit – 3DS, Rainbow Road – N64, Cheese Land – GBA, Excitebike Arena, Golden Dash Cup: Coco Mountain – N64, Lucky Cat Cup: Tokyo Blu, Bone-Dry Dunes, Yoshi Circuit – GCN, Sweet Sweet Canyon, Thwomp Ruins, Wario Stadium – DS, Tick-Tock Clock – DS, Twisted Mansion, and Rainbow Road – SNES |
C-Tier | Villager, Isabelle, Lakitu, and Larry | Sherbet Land – GCN, Mario Circuit, Water Park, Mario Circuit 3 – SMK, and DK Jungle – 3DS |
D-Tier | Toad, Wendy, Toadette, Baby Daisy, Baby Luigi, Baby Mario, Lemmy, and Shy Guy | Moo Moo Meadows – Wii, Dry Dry Desert – GCN, Donut Plains 3 – SNES, Mario Kart Stadium, Toad’s Turnpike – N64, and Mario Circuit – GBA |
F-Tier | Baby Peach, Baby Rosalina, and Dry Bones | – |
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What Makes Mario Kart 8 A Good Game?
Many factors make Mario Kart 8 a wonderful game, but these are the top 5, in my opinion, that makes the game worth getting:
- This is the latest Mario Kart game, and its online servers are perfect for multiplayer gaming.
- You have many tracks to choose from; it is the most stacked Mario Kart game when it comes to tracks.
- The character roster in Mario Kart 8 is big, and you will not get bored by it easily.
- There are no concrete dates for the release date of the next Mario Kart game.
- In the game, there are several amazing tracks. A track being redone frequently seems unlikely, given the game’s history. My favorite track in the game is wildwood, but I don’t believe it will be included in the upcoming installment.
- The fact that you can play the game on the couch with your loved ones makes it a terrific party game.
Now you know why I recommend this game, so let’s move on to our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List Breakdown
Our Tier List would consist of 4 tiers, and we will have two different tier lists. In the first tier list, we will rank all the characters in the game; similarly, in the Tier List, following that, we will rank all the tracks.
Our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier List will consist of four tiers:
- S-Tier: We will rank the finest characters and tracks in the game.
- A-Tier: In this tier, we will rank the outstanding tracks and characters in the game; they fall short of making the S Tier.
- B-Tier: In the B Tier, we will have the average characters and tracks from the game.
- C-Tier: We will put the below-average characters and tracks from the game in the C Tier.
- D-Tier: We will have the bad characters and tracks from the game in this tier.
- F-Tier: We will rank the worst characters and tracks in the game here.
We will start by ranking the game’s best characters in our characters tier list.
Mario Kart 8 Complete Roster
Before jumping onto the character’s tier list, it is good to know about the Roster in the game.
Character | Weight Class |
---|---|
Mario | Medium-Heavy |
Luigi | Medium-Heavy |
Peach | Medium |
Daisy | Medium |
Rosalina | Heavy |
Tanooki Mario | Medium |
Cat Peach | Medium |
Yoshi | Medium |
Toad | Light |
Koopa Troopa | Light |
Shy Guy | Light |
Lakitu | Light |
Toadette | Light |
King Boo | Heavy |
Baby Mario | Very Light |
Baby Luigi | Very Light |
Baby Peach | Very Light |
Baby Daisy | Very Light |
Baby Rosalina | Very Light |
Gold Mario | Heavy |
Pink Gold Peach | Heavy |
Wario | Very Heavy |
Waluigi | Heavy |
Donkey Kong | Heavy |
Bowser | Very Heavy |
Dry Bones | Very Light |
Bowser Jr. | Light |
Dry Bowser | Very Heavy |
Wendy | Light |
Ludwig | Medium Heavy |
Iggy | Medium Heavy |
Larry | Light |
Lemmy | Very Light |
Inkling Boy | Medium |
Morton | Very Heavy |
Roy | Heavy |
Link | Heavy |
Inkling Girl | Medium |
Villager female | Medium |
Villager male | Medium |
Mii | Any Weight Category |
Isabelle | Light |
Metal Mario | Heavy |
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S-Tier

These characters are the greatest in the game, so choosing them to race with will be simple in all of the game’s racing modes.
Name of the Character |
---|
Wario |
Koopa Jr. |
Dry Bowser |
Bowser |
Donkey Kong |
Gold Mario |
King Boo |
Link |
A-Tier

The characters in the A tier of our Mario Kart Deluxe Tier List will make it easy for you to race in the game, but they are not as good as the characters in the S Tier.
Name of the Character |
---|
Rosalina |
Roy |
Waluigi |
Metal Mario |
Pink Gold Peach |
Iggy |
Luigi |
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B-Tier

The characters here are good but will be a challenge to race with, considering they have shortcomings that the characters in the A Tier might not have, while certainly, the ones in S Tier are perfect.
Name of the Character |
---|
Ludwig |
Mario |
Cat Peach |
Princess Peach |
Tanooki Mario |
Yoshi |
Koopa |
Bowser Jr |
C-Tier

The characters in this tier of our Mario Kart Deluxe Tier List are weak but can be fun to play with if you want to take on a challenge after playing with the stronger characters.
Name of the Character |
---|
Villager |
Isabelle |
Lakitu |
Larry |
D-Tier

I wouldn’t recommend characters from the D Tier, but they have fun powers that make me play with them periodically.
Name of the Character |
---|
Toad |
Wendy |
Toadette |
Baby Daisy |
Baby Luigi |
Baby Mario |
Lemmy |
Shy Guy |
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F-Tier

The characters in the F Tier of our Mario Kart Deluxe Tier List are the worst characters I would not recommend you to play with.
Name of the Character |
---|
Baby Peach |
Baby Rosalina |
Dry Bones |
Now we are done with ranking the best characters from the roster in the game. Therefore we will now move toward the ranking of the tracks.
Even though it is a bummer that till now, they have not recreated the Wario Colosseum, which might be the greatest ever track in Mario Kart’s history, we have some amazing tracks in the game that you will have a blast with.
Mario Kart 8 initially launched with 48 tracks, but Nintendo promised to bring an additional 48 tracks from 2022 to 2023. So far, there have been two waves in 2022 in which Nintendo has added some brilliant tracks. We have ranked them all below.
Track | Rank |
---|---|
Mount Wario | S Tier |
Sunshine Airport | S Tier |
Baby Park - GCN | S Tier |
Electrodrome | S Tier |
Waluigi Pinball | S Tier |
Big Blue | S Tier |
Super Bell Subway | S Tier |
Bowser's Castle | S Tier |
Golden Dash Cup: Coconut Mall - Wii | S Tier |
Mushroom Gorge | S Tier |
Mute City | S Tier |
Rainbow Road | S Tier |
Ribbon Road - GBA | S Tier |
Dolphin Shoals | S Tier |
Sydney Sprint | S Tier |
Lucky Cat Cup: Ninja Hideaway | S Tier |
Melody Motorway - 3DS | S Tier |
Dragon Driftway | A Tier |
Koopa City - 3DS | A Tier |
Lucky Cat Cup: Sky Garden - GBA | A Tier |
Wild Woods | A Tier |
Piranha Plant Pipeway - 3DS | A Tier |
Royal Raceway - N64 | A Tier |
Hyrule Circuit | A Tier |
Snow Land | A Tier |
New York Minute | A Tier |
Golden Dash Cup: Paris Promenade | A Tier |
Wario's Gold Mine - Wii | A Tier |
Animal Crossing | A Tier |
Cheep Cheep Beach - DS | A Tier |
Lucky Cat Cup: Shroom Ridge - 3DS | A Tier |
Yoshi Valley - N64 | A Tier |
Grumble Volcano - Wii | A Tier |
Shy Guy Falls | A Tier |
Sky-High Sundae | A Tier |
Cloudtop Cruise | A Tier |
Toad Harbour | A Tier |
Cheese Land - GBA | B Tier |
Rainbow Road - N64 | B Tier |
Golden Dash Cup: Toad Circuit - 3DS | B Tier |
Kalamari Desert - MK64 | B Tier |
Ice Ice Outpost | B Tier |
Yoshi Circuit - GCN | B Tier |
Bone-Dry Dunes | B Tier |
Lucky Cat Cup: Tokyo Blu | B Tier |
Golden Dash Cup: Coco Mountain - N64 | B Tier |
Excitebike Arena | B Tier |
Twisted Mansion | B Tier |
Tick-Tock Clock - DS | B Tier |
Wario Stadium - DS | B Tier |
Thwomp Ruins | B Tier |
Sweet Sweet Canyon | B Tier |
Rainbow Road - SNES | B Tier |
DK Jungle - 3DS | C Tier |
Mario Circuit 3 - SMK | C Tier |
Water Park | C Tier |
Mario Circuit | C Tier |
Sherbet Land - GCN | C Tier |
Toad's Turnpike - N64 | D Tier |
Donut Plains 3 - SNES | D Tier |
Mario Circuit - GBA | D Tier |
Moo Moo Meadows - Wii | D Tier |
Dry Dry Desert - GCN | D Tier |
Mario Kart Stadium | D Tier |
Mario Kart Tier List Criteria
Our criteria to rank the characters and tracks in the game were very simple. We looked at all characters in the game and compared their abilities over 50 tracks. It took us a very long, and it was a hard judgment to make, but we took the ones who gave the best average in performance over all tracks and ranked them from best to worst.
For the tracks in the game, we played all the available tracks to date. We compared the classic tracks made with the original versions and all the tracks in the current version of the game to determine the ranking of the tracks.
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