Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is here for the Nintendo Switch, and for the most part it’s a solid addition to the Nintendo Switch’s lineup of games. However, despite its strengths, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe seems to have one glaring flaw: frequent connection and lag issues.

According to many posts by Nintendo Switch owners on gaming forums and social media, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is riddled with connectivity issues, with gamers experiencing disconnects and lag that have become cumbersome and frustrating.

One of the most nagging issues seems to come from the lag. While lag has been an issue in the past for Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U, it seems the issues on the Nintendo Switch are slightly different. Gamers have noted that on the Wii U version of the game, a player’s character will only react to getting hit by an item when that item strikes their character on the screen. On the Nintendo Switch version, it sounds like the hit is registering before the item even strikes the player, making it difficult to anticipate when a hit is incoming.

This hit detection problem is especially troublesome in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s revived balloon battle mode, where games are decided by who can make the most strikes, and who can dodge them. Without knowing when a strike is incoming, it makes the game mode difficult to enjoy.

One gamer noted the frustration on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, describing how the lag and connectivity issues can negatively impact the course of a race or battle. The Redditor, who goes by NicholasNSane, said:

“Far too often I will land a hit on an opponent, usually with a visual cue that it landed, like my character cheering, only for the player to continue on like nothing happened and, in battle mode, no points being given to me.”

It’s possible the connectivity issues are due to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's use of peer-to-peer connection for the online multiplayer, which can be significantly affected if one player has a poor Internet connection. Many gamers have noted that the issues seems to have worsened as more Nintendo Switch owners purchased the game and started playing. And considering how well Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been selling, it’s likely the connection issues will only continue if that is indeed one of the causes.

Hopefully Nintendo will figure out a fix for this issue soon. That said, many Wii U Mario Kart 8 players continue to experience connectivity issues to this day. Maybe gamers will get lucky and see Nintendo transition to dedicated servers once the Nintendo Switch’s paid online service becomes available later this year. Until then, gamers will have to do their best to deal with any issues that remain.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is available now for Nintendo Switch.

Source: Reddit