The Mario Kart series has introduced many courses since the first game was released in 1992. Many courses quickly became fan favorites, leading the creators to reintroduce retro courses to newer releases. Mario Kart 8, the latest installment to the series, has a total of 23 retro courses, including those in the DLC.
While these are all welcome additions that evoke players' nostalgia for the older games, some retro courses are better than others. Many factors can contribute to this, such as interesting new features that expand upon a classic track, improvements to a course, updated graphics that make a map reach its full aesthetic potential, etc. In any case, many retro courses in Mario Kart 8 are incredible and deserve recognition.
10 3DS Music Park
As one of the newer courses introduced to the series, 3DS Music Park did not undergo many changes between Mario Kart 7 and 8. The features are all the same save for the graphics, which were updated for the new game and make the map more visually pleasing.
However, it does not need to be thoroughly updated to be a fantastic course. From notes playing when a character drives over giant piano keys to Piranha Plants bouncing their heads to the music playing in the background, the elements of 3DS Music Park make for a fast-paced, exhilarating course.
9 Wii Wario's Gold Mine
This course is well-known as one of the most difficult tracks Mario Kart of all time, but it is also beloved by many. With its inclusion in Mario Kart 8, not much about the course changes. It benefits from updated graphics, but the rest of the original course was left virtually untouched.
The chance that the character can fall off the course at a moment's notice has remained a source of both frustration and excitement for players since the introduction of Wario's Gold Mine on the Wii. The new version stays true to the original intention of the course while enhancing it with a fresh coat of paint.
8 DS Tick-Tock Clock
In Mario Kart 8, the original Tick-Tock Clock receives several well-deserved upgrades. The game preserves the feeling of the DS course while introducing newer features to modernize it. One of these is the implementation of gliding mechanics which were not in the DS version of Mario Kart.
Instead of driving over the entirety of several rotating pieces of clockwork, the character can glide for a portion of them, avoiding spinning mechanisms in the air. This expands on the design of the original DS Tick-Tock Clock in a way that updates it for the current game.
7 DS Cheep Cheep Beach
Although it is a fairly simple course, DS Cheep Cheep Beach is a staple of the series. Aside from improvements to the graphics and the implementation of gliding in one small portion of the map, this course is virtually the same as the original.
It functions to give players enhancements to a beloved classic course while preserving the feeling of the original. While the DS version of Cheep Cheep Beach was visually impressive for the time, the improvement of its aesthetics is a welcome change to this already fantastic course.
6 GCN Dry Dry Desert
Introduced in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, a Nintendo GameCube game that still holds up today, Dry Dry Desert undergoes only minor changes in Mario Kart 8. A brief but enjoyable underwater section is one of the only new additions to the course, with opportunities for players to obtain speed boosts from performing tricks.
Dry Dry Desert remains a popular course among fans of the series, and, although the changes to it are not abundant, they are not necessary to make this course one of the best in the game.
5 GBA Cheese Land
The original Cheese Land course is an entertaining concept that includes Little Mousers serving as obstacles throughout the track, though the inclusion of this course as Mario Kart 8 DLC offers up a significant revamp in its design.
The new course is much more large-scale, with Chain Chomps replacing the Little Mousers and newer elements being integrated from more recent Mario Kart games. The improvements to this track built well on the original design, and it is clear that a lot of care went into making GBA Cheese Land an exciting course for both new and experienced players.
4 GBA Ribbon Road
The Mario Kart 8 DLC takes the original Ribbon Road concept of the characters racing in a land of presents and changes it to toy-sized characters racing on a miniature track. The execution of this concept is wonderfully done, with the characters surrounded by toys and furniture much larger than themselves.
The course features a blisteringly fast pace and has uniquely colored sections to make the environment more interesting. With new features like gliding past moving obstacles, GBA Ribbon Road is a stellar upgrade to an already great course.
3 N64 Yoshi Valley
Much of the excitement from N64 Yoshi Valley comes from the speed with which players must make decisions. The early portion of the track includes several forks in the road, which can cause a character to hit a wall if a choice is made too late.
This feature was also present in the original version of the track, and not many changes were made on this course between Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart 8. The exhilarating feeling is well-preserved on this visually updated version of a beloved course.
2 N64 Rainbow Road
Throughout the series, Rainbow Road has been perhaps the most popular course, with at least one variation present in every game. Rainbow Road was a great course on the Nintendo 64, but its full potential was limited by the technological capabilities of the time.
Mario Kart 8, considered one of the best non-platformer Mario games, adds incredible new features to this course, including speed boosts and gliding, to make it more fast-paced and exciting. With enhanced aesthetics granted by modern technology, N64 Rainbow Road has now been modernized in a way that faithfully honors the original classic.
1 SNES Donut Plains 3
One major reason why Mario Kart 8 is still so popular is that it builds significantly on the previous games in the series. In the original Donut Plains 3, Monty Moles jump out of the ground, serving as obstacles. In the revamped course, these obstacles make trails that serve as makeshift ramps, allowing players to jump, perform tricks, and gain speed boosts.
SNES Donut Plains 3 also adds a brief underwater area, whereas the original only featured a small water obstacle. This course works well because it improves features that should be improved while keeping great parts of the original course intact.
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