by
Evan Norris
, posted 2 hours ago / 258 Views
This article series is dedicated to Nikena, my Mario Kart rival.
With a new Mario Kart only days away, it’s a perfect time to revisit Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, perhaps for the final time. Mario Kart 8 has been with us, in some form or another, for over a decade, believe it or not. In that time the track count went from 32 to 48, before ballooning to 96 with the Booster Course Pass DLC. It’s doubtful we’ll ever see a game from the series with so many courses again. To celebrate all 96 tracks, and to bid a fond farewell to what I consider the finest Mario Kart (not to mention the best racing game ever made), I’ve ranked each and every course, from 96 to 1. So buckle up; this is going to take a while.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
#36
Cheep Cheep Beach
Cheep Cheep Beach is a sneaky good course. It really creeps (or cheeps?) up on you. I think what I admire most about it are its different textures. Things start on a stiff wooden boardwalk before transitioning to a soft sandy area before moving into a submerged area with an exposed sandy s-curve before finally ending on a dirt road with a mud puddle — which can be boosted across. The submerged area is the highlight, since racers can now dive under the waves to pick up coins, cut corners, and trick off ramps.
#35
Toad Harbor
When I went into this ranking, I figured Toad Harbor would land somewhere in the middle of the pack. But the more I reacquainted myself with it, the more I fell in love with it. The best thing about it? A lot of alternative paths. You can jump over a tugboat, bounce along tents in the marketplace, drive up an anti-gravity section that runs perpendicular to the street, cut through an alleyway, and more. Even the “traditional” route is filled with interesting things like boost pads, ramps, and moving cable cars.
#34
DK Mountain
I’m a big fan of DK Mountain from the GameCube days and was very glad to see it make an appearance in the Booster Course DLC. Visually, it represents a big improvement over the original, due to far greater detail in the lands adjacent to the track. The clouds, mountains, and jungle canopies in the distance are just gorgeous — as is the central volcano, which seems to be smoldering. In terms of track design, the bumpy downward spiral along the slope of the mountain remains a blast, even if the chasm shortcut is regrettably nerfed. That last desperate dash across the wooden bridge is one of the more breathless finishes in the whole game.
#33
Animal Crossing
Based on its course layout, Animal Crossing is really quite good. There’s an early forest area where dropped fruit will give you a speed boost, a gliding section where item boxes hang from floating balloons, and a gentle curve along a sandy beach. But the real genius of the track is that it has four seasonal variants, chosen at random before each race. In the spring, the race takes place in the morning and there are several additional ramps leading into the glide ramp. In the summer, the race occurs at high noon, with ramps on the beach. In autumn, there are leaf piles that release items, à la Maple Treeway. And in winter, the race is set at night, the driving physics are more slippery, and the track features Snowboys as hazards. In a way, it’s four courses in one.
#32
Berlin Byways
This track has it all: urban areas, wooded areas, alternative paths, hazards, and three unique laps. What’s especially enticing about Berlin Byways is the way in which the track intersects at certain moments with traffic, in the style of Mushroom City from Mario Kart: Double Dash. But by far the most impressive part of the track is the final lap, which includes Thwomps underneath the Brandenburg gate and Whomps that fall right out of the Berlin Wall into the street. It’s something to see. And can we talk about the music? The theme, somehow, against all odds, manages to merge classical and techno into one. It rivals Electrodrome for pure electronic intensity.
#31
Mario Circuit 3
I know this pick might raise a few eyebrows, but hear me out. Yes, Mario Circuit 3 is not nearly as unpredictable or as lively as other tracks. The backgrounds are minimalist, the spectacle is non-existent, and there are zero elevation changes to speak of. But in terms of pure driving joy, it may just be the best in the entire game. The course layout is sublime, with exciting straightaways, several pivotal short-cut opportunities, and some of the most buttery curves in all of Mario Kart 8.
#30
Coconut Mall
Coconut Mall has been a fan-favorite for over 15 years, so it was great to see it reappear on Switch via the Booster Course DLC. Thanks to its shopping center setting, escalator-like conveyor belts, and branching paths, it feels like its own thing in the Mario Kart universe. Now, I won’t lie. This Mario Kart 8 Deluxe variant is a slight downgrade from the Wii days, since the escalators are now glowing ramps — similar to but more garish than those from the Mario Kart 7 version. The good news: Nintendo’s programmers updated this track after launch to reinstate the moving cars in the last stretch of each lap, which are the icing on the cake.
#29
Sherbet Land
I never really connected with Sherbet Land in Double Dash, but in Mario Kart 8 it really hits its stride. That’s due primarily to two new alternative underwater routes. The first appears early on and segues into an anti-gravity shortcut, and the second goes underneath the ice field toward the end of the lap. When you combine these novelties with the other strengths of the course — skating Shy Guys and Freezies, a shortcut behind the ice tower, and a nighttime setting that features fireworks and an aurora — you’re left with a remarkable, replayable course. I just wish the Freezies still froze racers, instead of causing them to spin out.
#28
Ribbon Road
Talk about a glow-up. Ribbon Road in Mario Kart 8 is no longer the flat, mostly-red track from Super Mario Kart. It’s alive with colors — green, blue, yellow, pink, and red — set at miniature scale, and surrounded by children’s toys in a massive bedroom. There are plush Yoshis, Koopa Clown Car jack-in-the-boxes, toy versions of karts from the game, and even a Mario Kart 8 poster on the wall. Not only that, but there are lots of gameplay additions: wind-up Mechakoopas walking across the track; an anti-gravity section with an undulating floor; and a gliding segment.
#27
Maple Treeway
Maple Treeway has been one of the best Mario Kart courses since it debuted on the Wii, and nothing in the past decade has done anything to change that. This incarnation feels a bit like the ultimate version of the Mario Kart Wii classic, since its borrows interesting elements from everything that came before — the half-pipe from Wii, the glide ramps from 7, and the fantastical art direction from Tour — and raises the ante with better-than-ever graphics. The layout of the course remains superior, due to a nifty shortcut early on, leaf piles that eject mushrooms when struck, a wide open area at the tree’s summit guarded by Big Wigglers, and three alternative routes just before the finish line. It’s a blast, from beginning to end.
#26
Moo Moo Meadows
The orchestrated soundtrack in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is stellar. It’s simply one of Nintendo’s best. And no course has a better theme than Moo Moo Meadows. I will die on that hill. The folksy tune, heavy on fiddle with an underlying counter-melody, is a work of art. And it sets the stage perfectly for the pastoral beauty of the track, with its verdant grass, worn dirt paths, ambling Moo Moos, and pale pink sunrise. Mechanically, it’s much improved from the Wii days. There are more rises and dips, a brand new glide ramp, and earthen mounds left behind by Monty Moles that provide perfect platforms for trick boosting.
#25
Koopa Cape
If there’s a winner of the Booster Course Pass, it’s Mario Kart Wii. The DLC highlighted just how good the track design was in that game. Among the beneficiaries of that expert track design is Koopa Cape, an eye-catching, compelling track with great variety in elevation and driving conditions. You’ll start low, climb a cliff, ride a water current forward, and drop several stories into a submerged half-pipe before shooting forward into a waterfall area. While Koopa Cape in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an excellent course, one wonders if it could be even better if it returned to some of the idiosyncrasies of the original Wii layout, with its longer pipe area and electrified hazards.
Stay tuned for Part 7!
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