Dragon Driftway
Dragon Driftway is a stunning, stylish course, which blends a lot of Eastern theming and motifs: mountains, pagodas, paper lanterns, curved bridges, and a red-and-gold colour palette that is common in Imperial Chinese imagery.
Excitebike Arena
Unlike most Mario Kart 8 tracks, Excitebike Arena doesn’t originate from the Mario universe at all. Instead, it’s a tribute to Nintendo’s classic NES motocross game Excitebike, which was released in 1984.
GCN Yoshi Circuit
Yoshi Circuit is literally shaped like the lovable green dinosaur himself. From a bird’s-eye view, the circuit traces his body – head, arms, tail, and all. In fact, it’s the only course in the Mario Kart series to be shaped after a playable character.
N64 Rainbow Road
Ostensibly, this is the Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64, one of the most infamous tracks in Mario Kart history, but in reality it has been changed so much that it might as well be a completely different course.
Wii Grumble Volcano
With deep lava awaiting anyone who strays off the track and flaming fireballs littering your path, Grumble Volcano will undo all your previous hard work in the Star Cup if you aren’t careful.
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3DS Piranha Plant Slide
Piranha Plant Slide takes place in a sewer system and is clearly based on the underground levels of Super Mario Bros. There are lots of floating blocks, Goombas, and – yes – Piranha Plants. This course is basically ‘World 1-2’ as a racetrack.
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DS Tick Tock Clock
If you like clocks, then this track has it all – giant gears, swinging pendulums, a road of spinning cogs, slowly turning clock hands, an alarm clock starting line, clock faces to drive over…
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Rainbow Road
The Special Cup in the Mario Kart series always end in a Rainbow Road track, and Mario Kart 8 is no different. Like previous Rainbow Road courses, this one takes place in outer space – in this case, in low orbit with the Earth visible in the background.
Bowser’s Castle
The various Bowser’s Castle tracks in the Mario Kart series feature a wide array of dastardly, menacing obstacles and hazards to avoid, and this incarnation is no different. The track is loaded with an impressive gauntlet of traps that make it clear just how unwelcome you are in Bowser’s abode.
Bone Dry Dunes
Bone-Dry Dunes takes place in a desert filled with twisting canyons, shifting rivers of sand, and the bones of ancient beasts embedded in rocky outcrops. Obviously, instead of studying these bones and excavating them to be placed in a museum, a race track was built over them instead.