Legendary Laps

The Mario Kart series is loaded with references to previous Mario titles, but no track relies more heavily on nostalgia than Yoshi’s Island. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is one of the greatest platformers of all time, and Nintendo went to great lengths to make the game feel unique. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was able to capture some of this magic, and the Yoshi’s Island course feels like a loving tribute to its namesake. Right off the bat, you’ll notice Poochy cheering you on at the starting line, Stilt Guys wandering around aimlessly, and bouncing Chain Chomps having a merry old time in the background. As you progress, you’ll be hit over the head with more and more references. Huffin Puffins and Goonies also make appearances, and a Gargantua Blargg dominates the skyline before the final turn. The track even borrows gameplay mechanics from Yoshi’s Island! If you hit a floating cloud with an item, it will open up an alternate path in the form of a cascading staircase. (As an aside, I love the idea of a shortcut that you have to unlock.) The Mario Kart series has featured tracks based on Zelda, Animal Crossing, and F-ZERO, but Yoshi’s Island stands as their most veracious tribute course to date. The orchestrated version of the game’s Athletic theme is worth the price of admission alone.

No Mario Kart track is more whimsical than Cloudtop Cruise. It could be likened to a Disney animated feature in many regards, and it makes you feel like you’re on a magical journey. The race starts on a giant beanstalk vine, and you’ll soon be racing on top of fluffy clouds and on the deck of an airship. There’s also a stormy area within a thundercloud where you’ll have to avoid perilous lightning strikes while trying to hit boost panels. It’s easily one of the most beautiful courses in the series, and the music hits all the right notes as well. (I especially love the callback to Super Mario Galaxy‘s Gusty Garden theme.) Sky Garden was the most memorable track from Super Circuit, and Cloudtop Cruise unleashes its full potential. Although there’s a couple of noteworthy shortcuts, Cloudtop Cruise is mostly being recognized for its incredible atmosphere and sense of scale. Video games are a visual medium, after all, and few Mario Kart courses provide more eye candy. The course isn’t especially long or complex, but it’s never boring. If nothing else, Cloudtop Cruise illustrates how important theming is to the Mario Kart series. I rather enjoy my adventures in the sky, and I hope to see a third iteration of Sky Garden in the future.

Shy Guy Falls is a delightful track located in a cliff-side area with two prominent waterfalls. Thanks to Mario Kart 8‘s anti-gravity gimmick, you’ll be able to scale one of the waterfalls (vertically) before descending down the other. I was taken aback by how seamless the transitions were, and it feels like you’re racing through a shallow river while you’re ascending up the rushing waterfall. This verticality makes Shy Guy Falls one of the most unique, immersive, and subtle uses of the game’s gravity mechanic. The track simply wouldn’t have worked in previous Mario Kart entries, and it’s hard to imagine how it could be adapted for future games unless they also feature gravity-defying gameplay. In this capacity, Shy Guy Falls is a perfect showcase for Mario Kart 8, and it helps illustrate why it’s a special game. I’ll concede the track design isn’t especially complex, but the flowing layout rewards smart drifting and precise positioning. If you’re willing to take a risk, there are a couple of worthwhile shortcuts that can save you valuable seconds. The course also has a great atmosphere, and I loved how the industrious Shy Guys sing along with the music. Little details like this make the world feel alive, and the catchy music ties everything together brilliantly.

Introduced in Double Dash!!, the layout of Yoshi’s Circuit is shaped like Yoshi himself. This seems like a weird gimmick at first, but it somehow makes for one of the most engaging tracks in the entire series. The course features demanding corners that reward skilled drifting and precise racing lines. You’ll often find yourself drifting back and forth from one direction to the next, and tight bends often flow into one another. More than any track in the series, Yoshi’s Circuit feels like an actual raceway. It could be likened to Circuit de Monaco in many regards, and it even features a familiar tunnel section! When the track was added to Mario Kart 8, no additional gimmicks were required. Other legacy tracks were given new underwater or anti-gravity sections, but Yoshi’s Circuit was largely unchanged. It provides a pure racing experience, and the serpentine S-curves and razor-sharp hairpin turns would make for a great Formula 1 course. This isn’t to say that it’s bound by realism, of course. Yoshi’s Circuit has some well-placed shortcuts that reward high-level play, for example, and you’ll have to contend with wandering goombas and hungry piranha plants. By and large, Yoshi’s Circuit is defined by raw driving prowess. Few tracks offer a more competitive and timeless racing experience. If you’re playing in 200cc, you’ll even have to use your brakes on occasion!

Mario Kart World is largely defined by open roads and cross country races, but it still featured a handful of traditional courses that were in contention for a spot on this countdown. Rainbow Road is worth a mention for its sheer spectacle, but Great ? Block Ruins stands out for its incredible shortcut potential. Experienced players will be grinding rails, riding walls, and landing perfectly-timed jump boosts. Even though you can potentially skip entire sections, it somehow feels deliberate. Many Mario Kart shortcuts feel like unintended exploits, but Great ? Ruins actively encourages players to experiment with the game’s newly-minted Parkour mechanics. If you lack the skills (or sense of adventure), Great ? Block Ruins is still an amazing course. What’s not to love about driving through a golden temple in the sky? Drifting opportunities are plentiful on the winding roads, and the elevation shifts are exciting. It’s always fun to bounce off clouds as you hop from one section of the track to the next. Of all the courses in Mario Kart World, Great ? Block Ruins is the most likely to show up as a legacy track in future Mario Kart games. It’s the newest track on this list, but I feel it will stand the test of time.

No Mario Kart track is more frenetic (or divisive) than Baby Park. The layout is a basic oval, and there are no banked corners or shortcuts to speak of. You could easily finish a lap in 10 to 15 seconds, and it’s the simplest Mario Kart track by far. At the same time, it’s the undisputed king of chaos. The items never stop flying, and you’ll almost certainly be caught by stray rounds that weren’t even intended for you. In some ways, the course feels more fair than standard Mario Kart tracks. In most races, the leader is more likely to be targeted by dangerous items. In Baby Park, everyone is forced to deal with the mayhem. While iterations of the track have been featured in Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Mario Kart Tour, the original Double Dash!! version is still the best because the character-specific items somehow make things even more chaotic. (Those giant chain chomps were a menace!) The track was the perfect showcase for the game’s team-racing gimmick, since one player could work on item management while the other focused on dodging mastery. In any iteration, the bouncy circus soundtrack tries everything together and helps fuel the frenzy.

This list obviously wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of Rainbow Road. Deciding which iteration to include was challenging, however. Super Mario Kart‘s rendition felt like the ultimate test, Mario Kart 64 had an unforgettable theme, and Double Dash!! made the course feel like a grand finale. From a cinematic perspective, Mario Kart World‘s version soars above every track in the entire series. Mario Kart 7 is being recognized here for many reasons. It feels like a cosmic journey through space rather than an arbitrary race track, and some of the most exciting moments happen after you hop off of the road itself. At various points, you’ll drift around the rings of a Saturn-esque planetoid and eventually land on the surface of a moon! The course has three distinct laps, and the flowy design offers plenty of drifting opportunities throughout. Although there are extended sections with no guardrails, the track is built for speed. (There are roughly three dozen speed boost arrows, in fact.) There are multiple glider ramps as well, which makes it a great showcase for one of the game’s central gimmicks. Whether you’re driving over a wavy road, racing through a spinning space tunnel, or dodging asteroids in outer space, the track is never boring.

DK Mountain is an explosive jungle masterpiece and one of the most creative Mario Kart tracks ever devised. The main gimmick revolves around a giant barrel that blasts you to the top of a volcano. This means that you’ll be racing downhill for the majority of the course! You’ll be launched back to the summit when you reach the bottom, and this format is strangely reminiscent of the ski lifts from Snowboard Kids. Mario Kart players had become accustomed to hills and banked corners by the time Double Dash!! was released, but a proper downhill course had never been attempted before. The layout is truly special, and skilled players will be rewarded for drifting around the cliff-hugging switchbacks and numerous hairpin turns. Everything eventually converges into a rickety rope bridge that acts as a choke point and a hilarious source for meme-worthy mishaps. The tribal music makes you feel like you’re on a jungle adventure, and the falling boulders and bottomless pits add an element of danger. The track has been featured in four Mario Kart games thus far, but I’m partial to the original Double Dash!! iteration. Revised versions had to be widened to accommodate a larger number of racers, but Double Dash!! demands more precision with its tight corners. It’s also a great showcase for the “two racers per kart” mechanic, and it almost feels like you’re in a bobsled while navigating all of those downhill corners with a partner.

Several Mario Kart tracks feature oversized worlds or shrunken-down racers, but none match the energy of Waluigi’s Pinball. Introduced in Mario Kart DS, the course is lauded for its engaging gameplay, iconic soundtrack, and unmatched thematic cohesion. For reasons that are not adequately explained, the track is set inside a giant (and functional) pinball table. Flippers will make you spin out, bumpers can give you a speed boost, and giant metal pinballs threaten to flatten racers as they roll down the track. The layout features winding paths that mimic the rails of a pinball table, and there are plenty of high-speed drifting opportunities. Waluigi’s Pinball doesn’t feature any intentional shortcuts, but it’s still exciting since the emphasis is placed on dynamic hazards and pure driving skill. The track is dripping with atmosphere, and the visual design is nothing short of extraordinary. The neon lights and casino-style aesthetics make Waluigi’s Pinball the trippiest course this side of Rainbow Road. I also appreciate the catchy music, and it’s well-suited for the track’s vibrant energy. I’m still not sure why Waluigi’s course was centered around a pinball theme in the first place, but I’m certainly not complaining.

Mario’s name might be on the marquee, but his evil doppelganger claims the top spot on this list with Mount Wario. The track is set on top of a snow-capped mountain, and it requires you to race from the summit to the base. In lieu of the standard three-lap format, the course is one continuous track with three distinct sections. The starting line is situated in a large cargo helicopter, and you’ll have to jump down onto the mountain to kick things off. The initial segment is largely comprised of sweeping downhill curves, and the terrain will switch between snow and ice. Eventually, you’ll race through the mountain, descend down a cascading river, and emerge within a hydroelectric dam. When you finally make your exit, you’ll be in a forested area that’s littered with snow-covered trees. The final stretch could be likened to a proper ski mountain, complete with slalom flags, moguls, and a spectacular jump. It feels like an Olympic event, and hordes of spectators will be cheering you on when you cross the finish line. There are ample drifting opportunities throughout the course, and plenty of places to flex your driving skills. The track even makes use of the anti-gravity mechanic without feeling gimmicky. Since no section is repeated, the entire experience feels fresh and exciting. I also appreciate the dynamic soundtrack, and the tunes change to match the atmosphere. The music hits a frenzied violin solo during the slalom and swells for the final downhill dash. The intense pacing of Mount Wario is almost unrivaled, and the theming is incredible. It’s a literal race to the bottom, so it’s not without irony for it to be positioned on the top of this countdown.