Board 8 > Ranking all 96 tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with writeups

(+) Yeah! (+)

MK64 Rainbow Road is great precisely because it's so long

I haven't played enough of MK8 to react to most of these tracks but I just wanted to throw that out there

I need to play some more MK8 since it's something that's easy for me to play with my wife (even if she gets frustrated that I always win fairly effortlessly)

74. Shroom Ridge

I feel like I'm saying this a LOT, but Shroom Ridge is just another victim of the fact that I like every other track in the game more than this one for some reason or another. This track's solid, don't get me wrong. I like all the 'driving through traffic' courses and this one is smooth and doesn't have anything about it I don't like. It's straightforward and good. I just find the visual look of the course a little bit bland. I like the idea of a cliffside highway, it reminds me of a lot of places I've taken roadtrips to in the PNW; I wish this one gave me more of a sense of wonder but it kinda makes me feel nothing. There's nothing to really see.

73. New York Minute

A+ name, C+ theming. Yeah, I like the look of Times Square and all the lit up billboards, and there's some fun details to spot here and there. A Donkey Kong musical? Hell yeah. And Central Park is nice. And then... more Times Square... more Central Park... more Times Square... more Central Park. Where's the juice? Where is the big Statue of Liberty with a Yoshi face? Where's the Mouser trying to carry a big slice of pizza on the subway? Where's the Twin Towers? Oh, god, is 9/11 canon in the Mario universe? Or did they just never build them in this version of New York? Where can I find a parking garage that's this roomy in downtown Manhattan? I have questions!

72. Ninja Hideaway

This is a WEIRD one. It's full of detail and chock full of so many interesting track design choices and gimmicks - all of which kind of feel like they punish me for trying to use them. Every time I like, try to fly up to a rooftop it just feels like I end up wasting time. Or going up to the ceiling area instead of down on the floor and taking that cool little escape hatch exit from the crushing ceiling. Just never feels worth it! Besides that, this is another one of those courses where I have a tough time reading where I'm supposed to go in general, and something about the track feel of this one is just odd - for some reason, driving on the roofs outside just has a weird 'feel' to it that I don't like. Everything about this track is just kind of crunchy in a bad way. I don't know why it doesn't work - it's such a creative track with so many cool little choices in it.

71. Donut Plains 3

I'm kind of a big fan of the really retro looks, and I'll probably say that a few times more in these writeups - I like the colored blocks and the classic Mario things like the SMW fort here. There's some stuff to like here - I like the broken bridges that lead to optional underwater segments and I like the Monty Moles because tricking off of stuff is always fun. Surprisingly, I haven't talked a lot about that - I LOVE tricking off of stuff, it has such a good game feel to it, and one of the things a lot of the tracks I've talked about so far share in common is that they're not dense with interesting trick opportunities. The thing I don't like about this track so much is the washed out colors; I prefer the less 'realistic' and more colorful look that they used for retro tracks in the Booster Course tracks. The visual look of this one is stuck in a kind of weird in-between where it's colorful but also washed out.

I think everything that's dropped so far has been reasonable. I love DK Summit especially in Wii, but it just doesn't transfer very well to the MK8 engine. Same with Mushroom Gorge although that's partially down to it being so much easier. I also enjoy Dry Dry Desert, it gives very fun races, but the best strategy is usually to stay at the back for much of the race, at least on 200cc. It's probably the worst offender for that in the entire tracklist, and I also think the track visuals are a bit bland.

I did not finish this before Mario Kart World came out, RIP

70. Wario's Gold Mine

It's a minecart level! That's cool. It's a pretty solid track but I do think it's overrated? Again, maybe it's just because I don't have attachment to Wii tracks, I don't know. Wario's Gold Mine is pretty fun to drive on but I just found myself wishing it did a little bit more - I dunno if you use to collide with the minecarts in the original but making that section antigrav so you just slip by them kind of removes any interesting element of there actually being, like, minecarts. I dunno, I wanna dodge minecarts and stuff, I think it'd be more fun. Also I really do just find the music in this level annoying; MKWii never had my favorite songs in general but this one just doesn't scream Wario to me at all. I do really like the big sign where he's pointing down though, that's funny.

Okay one more hot take before bed

69. Baby Park

Baby Park is less of a course and more of a fundamental element of Mario Kart. It's a deconstruction of the idea of a normal Mario Kart racetrack and it's kind of inherently perfect, in that regard; this is the only track like this in the game, and for that reason, it's good. The positives to this particular version: making it anti-grav is funny because it means bumping into people just makes you go even faster, and being able to have 12 people in a single race is great. The downsides; first of all, they fucked up the music. They make it go too fast and transition abruptly on laps; you could argue that this is hilarious and makes Baby Park feel even more manic but I think is just sounds awkward. The other problem I have is that, without the pure item chaos of Double Dash, Baby Park just doesn't function as well. Baby Park is perfect in DD because you've got giant bananas and Bowser shells and Yoshi eggs flying all over the place just absolutely dicking everyone over with no survivors; it's just not quite the same without all of those chaos items. Sure you have Bob-ombs and Bullet Bills here and that helps a bit, but it's just not quite the same. It's never quite the same as it was in DD. So like, I think this track is important, I think it serves an important role in the game, but I find that most races on it are actually surprisingly placid. There are more chaotic tracks in the game, frankly. Baby Park is just a bit overrated.

Baby Park best course, but props for giving it 69th

Baby Park deserves better

i have the baby park music stuck in my head now nooooo

Baby Park is perfect in DD because you've got giant bananas and Bowser shells and Yoshi eggs flying all over the place just absolutely dicking everyone over with no survivors; it's just not quite the same without all of those chaos items.

Exactly! And it's bad that items are now unable to cross the central barrier.

Tag. I like Daisy Circuit and the SEETHING Wii hatred is showing through here smh!!

Hot take: Baby Park is merely just fine

Hot take: N64 Rainbow Road sucks in literally any version, and might be my least favourite track in the series. Unless you're playing as/watching someone good enough to do glitches that allow you to skip most of the track, then it's pretty cool.

I think liking N64 Rainbow Road is the hot take!

All N64 RR has going for it is good music, and even that was surpassed by Double Dash's version.

68. Mario Circuit (GBA)

Short but sweet. Part of the reason I like it is just the GBA nostalgia, this is the only track that gets that game's basic circuit theme and it's kinda burned into my brain. I like the GBA aesthetics too. One thing I like about this track is that it prominently raises the antigrav section up so that you can actually see it going up into the air before you drive on it - I feel like a lot of antigrav sections in the game aren't really that obvious, they just kinda happen and you don't realize you're driving upside down or on the walls, but it's obvious here, and even though it's for a simple part of the track I still like it. I like the little pit stop lane at the finish line that has an item box, too.

67. Berlin Byways

All I ask of any Tour track is that it gives me a couple of familiar landmarks and uses them in a funny way. Well, also that the track is generally good and driveable. Berlin Byways gives me all of that! The section of the Berlin Wall where Whomps can fall out of it and crush you is hilarious and I wish you got to drive by it more than once, as well as the Thwomps waiting to crush you when you drive through the Brandenburg Gate. See, this is the kind of cheese I'm looking for in Tour courses. This is a driving-through-traffic course, which is nice too. It's still got a little bit of that Tour course sameyness to it that makes it harder to rank higher. Points for the music being hilarious - I don't know what I expected from it, but Beethoven meets Eurovision wasn't it.

66. Sky Garden

Sky Garden is a track I really really like in Super Circuit, I love the theming and the music and obviously all the Paratroopas, and here it's uh... it's fine? It's still a good track, but something about the grandness of it got lost in translation for me. It just feels shorter than I remember, I don't know. I mean, I know none of the GBA tracks are particularly long to begin with, but still. It just feels over too quickly. I do still really like the scenery and all the Paratroopas of course and it's a fun track to race, but there is another track that has a really similar theme and does it better so this one is kind of stuck in mediocrity.

65. Moo Moo Meadows

I like Moo Moo Meadows. I like when the cows.

64. Excitebike Arena

This is another one of those where if you ranked it 96th, I mean, I get it - it's basically a big oval where you just drive in a straight line most of the time. But it's Excitebike! I love Excitebike! And I fucking love tricking off ramps! I don't even care if it barely constitutes normal racing. Driving up the ramps (which are semi-randomized, which is cool) and then tricking off of them, regardless of whether or not it's even faster, rules, and I like doing it and it makes me happy.

Excitebike Arena also a top tier for me

63. Bangkok Rush

Here's another Tour track that suffers from having a couple of really cool segments but then being kind of uninspired the rest of it. That boat section at the start? Super cool! The part where you bounce off the multicolored roofs near the end? I like it! Cool vibe to the city overall, it's like Sydney Sprint in that it feels like there's a lot of background detail and obscured stuff that makes the city seem "full." But there's almost nothing to say at all about lap 2 - it's just driving on a road and there are almost no features except for a short part with some boosts and crabs. It's just forgettable. Maybe I'm being too harsh on Tour tracks - a lot of courses are "just driving", and you wouldn't really want a track to be nonstop gimmicks anyway, but I just can't even remember half of Bangkok Rush and that hurts.

honestly surprised Vancouver hasnt shown up yet but maybe thats because I live in Vancouver

(why is the last lap so short)

Every time I'm in that boat part pf Bangkok Rush I get this song stuck in my head:
https://youtu.be/FlmqKyxh1B0?si=OUoxDquRdvAJaNlE

Leonhart4 posted...

I think liking N64 Rainbow Road is the hot take!

You might well be right! I've heard a lot of people have a lot of nostalgia for it recently for sure, though. I at least don't think I've ever heard of anyone particularly enjoying the original Wario Stadium casually.

Excitebike Arena feels so boring in concept, but I think it's saved by the track having enough different versions to have a bit of variety, and also it's actually kinda fun to race online? I would have loved to see something like it in MK Wii, but then I say that about everything in the franchise.

I still like N64 Rainbow Road

Wario Stadium is the best MK64 track though

62. Hyrule Circuit

I wish it was more. Link being in the game, and getting a Zelda-themed track, is insanely cool. It's got the music, which is perfect, and yeah, that little switch puzzle that leads to a shortcut is a really clever way to incorporate Zelda ideas into a Mario Kart track. It's also the track's ONLY clever idea. The problem with a Zelda-themed track is that there is no standard "Zelda" look, and they don't pick one here, so the result is kind of a bland sameyness that doesn't really look like Zelda to me at all. It'd help if there were even a single Octorok or Moblin or ANYTHING here, but all we get are Deku Babas and Keese because those were easy enough to copy and paste from Piranha Plants and Swoopers. Massively disappointing. There are other crossover tracks in this game that do a far, far better job of paying homage to the games they're from - hell, Excitebike Arena is one of them. I only gave this track as much leeway as I did because the switch puzzle IS super awesome, and hearing the Zelda theme IS great. But it should have been more. This had potential to be a top 10 but instead it's just kind of an okay track that I'm not really that excited to see.

well at least the worst track in the game was only 65th. level sucks ass though thank god its back in yet another mk game

I like when the cows

I also like when the cows

And Nintendo realized that since we've got Cow as a racer, which is the best improvement World has so far

61. Mount Wario

Mount Wario's another tough one for me. On the one hand, the theming of this course is hilarious, and runs circles around something like Wario's Gold Mine; it's hilarious that we have this overexploited mountain environment where Wario has built a dam and cut down all the trees and then built a fancy ski resort on, and I love how each segment of the race takes you through these different areas. Top 10 course on that front. But I just never actually have fun racing it, is the problem. First of all, hitting the trees on lap 2 is just extremely punishing; you can lose all of your speed and just be totally fucked from just the smallest wrong move. Second, I'm never able to pass anyone in lap 3. The slalom segment down the mountain is really kind of boring and just doesn't offer a lot of opportunity to really outdrive people, just hope you get some good items so you can race down it a little faster. I like the first half of this course, but the second half just always makes me annoyed.

60. Koopa Cape

Have I mentioned that I just really don't like Mario Kart Wii's soundtrack? I mean, aside from Coconut Mall and Toad's Factory. Everything else is just kind of obnoxious and Koopa Cape is maybe the worst offender imo - this music track is annoying as hell. Track's good otherwise. I like the water slide section. I like that it's Koopa themed! It's a solid mid tier course, I don't really have a lot else to say about it, it's there.

59. Riverside Park

This was where I had the most trouble finding the next track to eliminate so I guess this is where my B tier really starts; every track from here on out is one I just really like, though I may still have a few complaints here and there. Riverside Park is probably the least of these just because it's a fairly short and simple track, but I think they did a great job with the visual look, I really love the horns section in the music, and I fuckin' love Ptooies, man. I love watching them waddle around on their tiny little plant legs. They're hilarious. I love them. They're like the cows of this level but better somehow.

58. Mario Circuit (DS)

It's kind of a perfect, like, "basic Mario circuit" course, because it's really amazing how much just having a couple of fun little Mario elements elevates it. Standard race course? Whatever. Standard race course where you have to drive around Goombas and Piranha Plants and a Wiggler on the third lap? Now we're talking! These little things take what would be a pretty simple course and make it something that feels Mario-themed and consistently fun. I don't even remember this one from MKDS for some reason, so I don't have a ton of nostalgia for it, so it doesn't really get as much of a nostalgia boost as it probably should.

57. Royal Raceway

Just a solid glow-up of a solid MK64 track, there isn't too much to say about it - I love how they really went with the spring, cherry blossom atmosphere here, and I also love that it has the classic MK64 circuit theme, which is, TO ME, the most iconic song in the Mario Kart franchise. This is one of the few tracks where the long glider section feels iconic and not like a pointless burden. But I have to dock some points for closing off Peach's castle and not letting us drive around it. Sorry, those are the rules!

56. Merry Mountain

This track is just barely let down by the fact that the last stretch of it isn't that interesting, because GOSH this track is just gorgeous. Kind of winter/snow themed but it stands out by being Christmas themed specifically, and every little detail in this track just pops out at you as you drive by. But yeah, the track design is just a little too uninspired, especially in that last stretch, which really causes me physical pain - this should have been an A-tier track, easily. I'll still pick it over a lot of other tracks because the vibes are so great.

55. Choco Mountain

Choco Mountain is a comparatively modest track compared to most of the rest on this list but it's nostalgic and it makes me happy. I remember renting MK64 as a kid and humming the theme to this track all day and my mom was like "still thinking about Mario Kart, huh?" knowing she was gonna buy it for my birthday. By any measure, it really should be one of the blandest tracks in MK64, and in this game, being all brown and not very distinctive, but this did a nice job adding some cool crystal caves and making some of the features pop a little more in general. The ending part with the hills is still one of the most iconic last segments of a track to me.

54. Rainbow Road (3DS)

There's a lot of Rainbow Roads in this game, and with the one exception, they're all good, but this is probably the most forgettable of the bunch if we're going to name one. I still like it a lot, though, and I do think it deserves to get a chance here in MK8, even if I do wish they had just finished out the set and included SC, DD, and DS's Rainbow Roads, all of which I think are great. If you're going to do the whole one-lap Rainbow Road idea, at least the track is long enough here to justify it. I like the variety - I really like that you go onto the moon and can trick off craters and avoid chain chomps, and I like the spinning tube with the boosts. It's a surprisingly chill Rainbow Road otherwise; it doesn't really feel like a track that's intended to be challenging, which I wouldn't say about the other Rainbow Roads in this game. Nothing wrong with that! But it does stand out the least, for me.

53. Singapore Speedway

In addition to being one of the cooler and more unique looking Tour tracks, I think this one just has a better sense of speed and pacing than most of the others. It starts off seeming like it'll be boring like the rest, but then you go through a big boost up to a rooftop with more boosts and suddenly the whole thing is a lot more exciting than your usual Tour track. I really like the scenery in this one - I can't stop thinking about what those weird tree-looking things in the third lap near the conveyors are. I like that the nighttime scene and the neon lights make this feel like a more surreal take on a city rather than a realistic take. Overall definitely one of the better Tour offerings.

Choco Mountain is fun! I agree that the hills right before the end are super memorable. It's definitely one of the first things I think of, along with getting flattened by falling rocks.

52. Kalamari Desert

Kalamari Desert is a one trick pony but that one trick is REALLY COOL. I didn't know a Mario Kart track could have a plot twist, but the sudden veering off onto the train tracks themselves and having to race around the oncoming train was an incredibly cool moment and makes the train feel more important than it was in the original game (where it's either stupidly long and holds everyone up in single player or just doesn't really do anything in vs because they had to make it shorter). Really clever way to make this track more exciting while paying homage to that original shortcut that you could take if you knew how. This is one of the more original takes on a retro track that doesn't ruin the feel of the original.

51. Boo Lake

An easily-overlooked track that just falls out of the top 50 because every track in the top 50 is really, really good. I like this track a surprising amount; it's not particularly complex but it feels like a nice replacement for the missing Banshee Boardwalk and I really like the elevation changes and trick opportunities here. It's just a fun course to play and there are surprisingly few courses in MK8 that have this spooky vibe to them.

50. Rome Avanti

I really don't find myself picking Tour tracks that often, which is why they're nearly all towards the bottom half of the list, but this is one I would find myself picking. As Tour tracks go, this one just works really, really well. The city has a great vibe - I don't know what it is about the nighttime Tour courses, they just hit differently - and unlike a lot of Tour tracks, I don't find the pathing for this one confusing at all! Even when it takes you on kind of a weird, looping path where you cross paths with the people behind you, it somehow never ends up confusing and I always know where to go. Lots of different cool features here, good racing lines, every part of the track feels fairly unique. It's all good, I just don't find myself picking Tour tracks as much because I like the ones with wackier themes and more interesting gimmicks.

49. DK Jungle

The main problem with this track is that it's based on Donkey Kong Country Returns, which is just hands down the worst DKC game and the one I give the least of a shit about. Unfortunate! This is the only track that's actually based on Donkey Kong's games so it feels like a missed opportunity for it to be these tiki guys I don't give a shit about. Ah well -it's a good track with fun shortcuts and good pacing, and the DKC theming is still fun regardless.

48. Bone-Dry Dunes

A super underrated track, but it's not like I don't get why - it's visually drab and a bitch to race on. It's really easy to take a turn wrong and go offroad and just have your speed eaten in this track, and the whole thing is on sand which just makes your traction feel kind of wonky. But there's something here that I really like - this track feels like one of the most challenging in the game. Not just difficult, but really asking the player to make good choices at every turn. A lot of MK8 tracks feel like I'm just autopiloting them and having a chill time, which is all well and good, but I like that Bone-Dry Dunes asks questions of the player. You can't autopilot this track, and I like that there's a few tracks in this game that are like that. Have to be in the right mood for it, and it's easy to have a bad race here, but it's great when I'm really in a tryhard mood.

Koopa Cape is an all-timer for me on Wii, and I love the dynamic music there. But it's definitely nerfed in 8. Also 3DS RR may be the single most memorable one for me lol.

I'm back, had a busy Friday

47. Vancouver Velocity

As a Seattleite (close enough anyway), the closest city in the game to me physically and spiritually isn't LA or New York, which might as well be foreign countries to me - it's Vancouver, and this track makes me feel right at home in the good ol' PNW. Am I biased to this track for that reason alone? Absolutely! I do think this is one of the coolest city courses in the game, it's just lit so festively and the aurora borealis in the back really adds a lot to the atmosphere (although it's not very easy to actually see the aurora borealis in Vancouver. or snow, in general really - way too much snow for this to be the PNW but it's a nitpick). This one offers a lot of variety - I like the long, winding bridge through the snowy trees and I like driving through the ice rink. It's a Tour track, so it still has a couple of uninspired sections, but I'm just happy they included a city from my region of the world. It's probably the smallest city to have a track?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/824b0b8e.jpg

I decided to redo my tiers a bit so I put them like this, where the C tier is "stuff I'm happy to see", D tier is "good but not seeking it out", and E tier is "fine but I'd be happy to never play". So everything from now on is B tier and above, where B tier is like, actual priority pick stuff, and A tier is the true favorites. Half the courses are in these two tiers more or less lol