Mario Kart 8 Trailer: New Racers, Difficulty Coming in April

The wait for new Mario Kart 8 DLC will be much shorter than anticipated. Nintendo's Satoru Iwata announced the upcoming Animal Crossing add-on was coming in April, as well as a new, free update to add a harder difficulty.

Instead of releasing in May as originally planned, the Animal Crossing DLC for Mario Kart 8 will now arrive on April 23. You'll get three new racers (Isabelle, the Villager and Dry Bowser), four new vehicles and eight new courses for $7.99. Though details were sparse on the vehicles and courses, the actual Animal Crossing course will change seasons every time you race on it, Additionally, the Animal Crossing theme will be getting an all-new recorded version that's a bit zippier for the content.

On April 23, you'll also be able to download the new 200cc difficulty absolutely free. The new race difficulty marks the first time in Mario Kart history you'll be able to race above 150cc, and should provide quite the challenge to even the most savvy of racers. The 200cc setting will be included in the Mario Kart 8 software update, due to arrive in time for the new Animal Crossing DLC.

Additionally, new amiibo functionality will be added in later this month. Characters like Mega Man, Pac-Man, Sonic, Toad, Villager, Rosalina, Bowser, Olimar and Wario will now offer even more customizable gear for your Mii racer in-game. The trailer below shows off some of the new goods coming, provided you've got enough amiibo figures to go around.