Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has revised the battle mode that was in place for the Wii U version. Instead of battling it out on normal racing tracks, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe brings back Battle Mode specific tracks to play on. Now things can really heat up! Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also brings back the fan favorite Balloon Battle, and If you want to be the best Balloon Battler out of your friends we’ve got some helpful advice for you to get a leg up on the competition. Follow this advice and you should quickly learn how to win in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Battle Mode.
Get Out There and Fight
In earlier installments of this game mode, the main object of the game was to outlast everyone. To try and be the lone survivor on top of the mountain of popped balloons. But this is not the case for Balloon Battle in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Sure, surviving is important, but you are trying to get the most points by the end of the match. And the only way to get points is to pop your opponents’ balloons. This makes losing all of your balloons less of an issue, as you are no longer eliminated from the match. Instead you get to respawn with three balloons, but you do lose half of your points. So get out there and be aggressive!
Banana Peels, the Real MVP
Probably the most underappreciated item in the Mario Kart series, at least in the racing sections. Every time you get this item during the race you can’t help but feel a little disappointed. Even a shell would be more useful! But I need you to shake off those preconceived notions to truly appreciate the power of this curved fruit. When you get the three banana peel item it will orbit around you in a similar fashion to how the shells normally do. This is a perfect shield for you to help block incoming shell attacks, and can also be useful when you decide to ram your opponents. The battle mode maps are actually fairly small, so if you are constantly dropping banana peels all over the place you will turn the track into a hazardous trap for your enemies.
Steal Some Balloons
The only thing better than holding onto as many of your own balloons as you can is to steal balloons from your opponents! It is rather tricky to do, but you can use the Feather and the Mushroom to steal balloons from other players. With the Feather you will have to jump over your opponent in order to steal a balloon, and with a mushroom you must ram into them while you are boosting.
If you’re just getting started in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, find out how the Nintendo Switch version is different from the Wii U version and how to get Gold Mario. We’ll have more on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe all week long!
