Nintendo is officially going crazy with Mario Kart 8, its best-selling game for Wii U. The console maker has followed-up its announcement of Mercedes-Benz DLC with news that Link from The Legend of Zelda will be appearing in Mario Kart 8 in the near future.
The Mario Kart 8 Zelda DLC will hit Nov. 7 this year. It marks the first time Link has been featured prominently in a Mario-themed game.
Nintendo has historically avoided franchise cross-overs like this. In fact, the Mario Kart series in particular has previously only dabbled in such cross-overs by adding Donkey Kong characters. The Mario Kart 8 Zelda DLC will be the first such franchise mingling when its release date rolls around Nov. 7.
But Nintendo isn’t stopping there. After the Mario Kart 8 Zelda DLC hits, Wii U owners will only have to wait six more months before the next round of Mario Kart 8 DLC arrives. And it, too, will include content from a separate Nintendo franchise.
In May 2015, Nintendo will release a pack of Animal Crossing DLC for Mario Kart 8.
Both the Mario Kart 8 Zelda DLC and Animal Crossing DLC will cost $7.99. If you choose to pre-order them both, you can pick them up at a combined price of $11.99.
Both Mario Kart 8 DLC packs will require 1GB of hard drive space on the Wii U, so they’re plenty beefy and should provide quite a bit of new content.
The Zelda DLC is a bit of a misnomer, as it really only includes one character from The Legend of Zelda. The other two characters are Tanooki Mario (the raccoon suit) and Cat Peach (Princess Peach in a cat costume). It will also include four vehicles, the Blue Falcon from F-Zero and three to-be-announced vehicles, eight new tracks and two cups.
The Animal Crossing DLC is a bit more overtly tied to that franchise, as it includes two Animal Crossing characters. Villager and Isabelle will anchor that pack, with the third character being Dry Bowser. It will also include four vehicles, eight tracks and two cups.
Details about the Animal Crossing vehicles, tracks and cups will be announced at a later date.
Mario Kart 8 owners who purchase both packs starting Aug. 27 will get access to eight new colors of Yoshi and eight new colors of Shy Guy to race with immediately. To purchase the packs in advance, users with a broadband Internet connection can click the new “Shop” icon in the game or visit the Nintendo eShop on Wii U.
In addition to these two new upcoming Mario Kart 8 DLC packs, the previously announced Mario Kart 8 update has gone live today with a variety of new features. This now-live update includes the three free Mercedes-Benz cars mentioned above: the modern Mercedes-Benz GLA, the 300 SL Roadster from the 1950s and the legendary Silver Arrow of the 1930s.