Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass, is DLC that brings back iconic tracks from the series’ history. However, Double Dash has been entirely ignored so far. Despite its 20th anniversary approaching swiftly, the GameCube entry is yet to have a single track appear in the DLC. Even worse, according to leaks, tracks from Double Dash may be absent for some time.
Most of the Booster Course Pass courses are pulled from Mario Kart Tour, which itself mostly includes tracks available in Mario Kart 7. This puts Double Dash at a disadvantage. Only two retro tracks from the GameCube iteration of Mario Kart are included in the 3DS and mobile games. This means more work would have to be put into remastering other tracks from the game as faithfully as Mario Kart 8's producers intend the DLC to be. Curiously, even though Double Dash did not have much representation in Mario Kart 7, the GBA’s Super Circuit had even less - just Bowser's Castle 1 - but currently has two in the Booster Course Pass. Furthermore, one of the Super Circuit tracks included in the DLC, Snow Land, is currently not in Tour, similar to Shroom Ridge from Mario Kart DS. Although those tracks will likely appear in Tour with these designs eventually, it raises the question as to why the GameCube entry has not yet received similar treatment.
Mario Kart: Double Dash's Current Exclusion From The Booster Course Pass Is Questionable
Perhaps one of the reasons for Double Dash’s limited representation in the Booster Course Pass is that it does have four tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe already. With the DLC meaning Mario Kart 8 will have a ridiculous number of tracks, Double Dash tracks are inevitable at some point, so this doesn't hold water. This argument is further refuted by the fact that the original Mario Kart 8 DLC ensured every game except the SNES entry had at least three returning tracks. As of that DLC, the 3DS also had four tracks, and has already had the mediocre Toad Circuit return in the Booster Course Pass for a total of five returnees.
Mario Kart: Double Dash is one of the more popular entries in the series, partly because of its unique mechanic of having two playable characters; one to drive, and one to use items. In addition to the courses that returned for Mario Kart 7, the game is home to a variety of popular tracks, like DK Mountain and Waluigi Stadium. With rumors implying that Waluigi Stadium was meant to be included in Wave 3 of the Booster Course Pass before getting delayed, fans of Double Dash will have to wait until at least Wave 4 of the DLC for any returning tracks from that game to make an appearance.
Tracks from Double Dash will almost certainly be included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass eventually, but the choice to leave any until so far into the DLC is certainly unexpected. Nintendo may realize the hype behind some of these long-awaited tracks and be using this as a way to keep people excited for the next reveal. This unfortunately has the unintentional side effect of frustrating fans of that game. Hopefully, the best tracks from that Double Dash are able to make their return sooner rather than later. Otherwise, they'll have to wait until the next entry in the Mario Kart series.