All 145 Mario Kart Tracks (so far) ranked pre-Mario Kart Tour... (Excluding the GP arcade games)

[Goombuigi]

Based on my beliefs, I don't believe in it!

If you're gay however... so be it I guess. (It's your free will after all)

Thanks for the compliment, but please, don't talk about Gay Pride with me. I'm straight/heterosexual, and I have better things to talk about than people's sexuality.

You'd be surprised how many LGBTQ+ members there are in this community. But, to each their own, I suppose.

On topic, here are my favorite Mario Kart courses (in no specific order):
- Kalimari Desert
- Neo Bowser City (Koopa City)
- Electrodrome
- Sky Garden
- Waluigi Pinball
- Airship Fortress
- 3DS Rainbow Road
- SNES Rainbow Road (MK8)
- Mount Wario
- Piranha Plant Pipeway (Piranha Plant Slide)

 

[Smashley]

yeah can we cool it on the blatant homophobia in a thread about mario kart

as said above there are a number of lgbtq+ users in the community, and the rules clearly say to respect people. do better than this

 

[Marioro]

I don't egg on challenge. I egg on aesthetics, and 64's Rainbow Road is terrible.

It has good music yeah, but the level itself just sucks.

Well, compared to Wario's shit colored muddy stadium it looks good and it's also not as messy as a few other tracks because of how simple it is.

 

[Xiahou Ba]

Mario Kart 64's track designs in general are shit, so it's not a high bar.

One of the reasons I'm not even a fan of most Rainbow Road's to begin with is that they're a random ass floating road in a void. At least 3DS Rainbow Road tried to make it have a bit more spacey-feel to it while 8 relied on artificial aesthetics rather than fantasy but otherwise, all Rainbow Roads have a tendency to mesh together. I still like DS's Rainbow Road though, I always like being on loop-the-loops, though you should really get invincibility frames while on one. I can't believe 8 had no loop-the-loops to speak of, the game's anti-gravity was begging for one of those, the hell?

 

[Fanny]

Anti-Gravity in Mario Kart 8 was poorly implemented, and ended up being forced a majority of the time. There's about four the tracks that actually make good use of it, two of which are based on a series that's based on that mechanic, the others are Mario Circuit and Electrodrome. Half of the appeal of Anti-Gravity is visual spectacle, which was only used well in Electrodrome, with the two split paths being above each other, every other track failed to do anything interesting visually at all. I'm fine without Loops and Corkscrews actually, they only add visual spectacle and not much track design-wise, but where are the pipes? They're such a unique element of anti-gravity, that I can't believe they didn't appear once.

 

[Xiahou Ba]

Idk, I thought Dragon Driftway had great use of anti-gravity as well, as you race on a spindling dragon but I see your point, a lot of the anti-gravity portions are used in areas only slightly angled or tilted areas and that's a big shame. Ribbon Road could have had interesting loops and stuff being based on ribbon but...eh. I'm not a huge fan of Ribbon Road's makeover; I like the idea of it being toy-based but I miss the present land rampant with boost panels and the cover version of the song isn't that good, removing the fantastical, childish tune in favor of a surf rock theme. If they wanted to do a mini theme, they should have honestly made Ribbon Road its own track than this giant overhaul.

Personally, I like a bit of visual spectacle myself, hence why I like loops, and it's a great way to ramp up on the speed boosts for a nice little sense of speed in a Mario Kart. Maybe make it super fast rather than a large loop, even, so it's at least brief and you get a nice visual spectacle.

 

[Greninja The Mario Karter]

Here is my ranking.
I Tier (Disaster)
145: MKWii Wario's Gold Mine
144: MK64 Toad's Turnpike
H Tier (Intolerable)
143: MKDS Figure 8 Circuit
142: MKSC Snow Land
141: SMK Vanilla Lake 1
G Tier (Atrocious)
140: MK7 Toad Circuit
139: SMK Vanilla Lake 2
F Tier (Awful)
138: MKDD Dry Dry Desert
137: SMK Bowser Castle 2
136: SMK Mario Circuit 1
135: MKSC Peach Circuit
E Tier (Bad)
134: SMK Mario Circuit 3
133: MKSC Mario Circuit
132: MK64 Luigi Raceway
131: MK64 Moo Moo Farm
130: MKDS Yoshi Falls
129: MKDS Desert Hills
D Tier (Mediocre)
128: MK7 Cheep Cheep Lagoon
127: MKDD Luigi Circuit
126: MK8 Ice Ice Outpost
125: MK8 Super Bell Subway
124: SMK Koopa Beach 2
123: SMK Choco Island 2
122: SMK Ghost Valley 1
121: MK64 Rainbow Road
120: MKSC Bowser Castle 1
119: SMK Bowser Castle 1
C Tier (Average)
118: SMK Mario Circuit 4
117: MKWii Luigi Circuit
116: MK64 Mario Raceway
115: MKDD Baby Park
114: MK64 Koopa Troopa Beach
113: MK64 DK's Jungle Parkway
112: SMK Ghost Valley 2
111: SMK Donut Plains 1
110: MKSC Luigi Circuit
109: MKSC Bowser Castle 2
108: MK64 Kalimari Desert
107: MK7 Shy Guy Bazaar
106: MK64 Frappe Snowland
105: MK7 Daisy Hills
B Tier (Decent)
104: MK7 Rosalina's Ice World
103: MKDS Cheep Cheep Beach
102: MK7 Mario Circuit
101: MK8 Mario Circuit
100: MK8 Bone Dry Dunes
99: MKWii Mario Circuit
98: MKDD Peach Beach
97: MKSC Riverside Park
96: SMK Mario Circuit 2
95: SMK Ghost Valley 3
94: SMK Koopa Beach 1
93: MKSC Boo Lake
92: MK64 Royal Raceway
91: MKDD Wario Colosseum
90: MKSC Shy Guy Beach
89: MK8 Excitebike Arena
88: MK64 Sherbet Land
87: SMK Donut Plains 3
86: MKSC Ribbon Road
85: SMK Choco Island 1
84: MKSC Bowser Castle 4
83: SMK Bowser Castle 3
82: MKSC Cheep Cheep Island
81: MKSC Lakeside Park
80: MKSC Broken Pier
79: MKSC Bowser Castle 3
78: MK8 Water Park
77: SMK Donut Plains 2
76: MKSC Rainbow Road
75: MK7 Wuhu Loop
74: MKSC Yoshi Desert
73: MK7 DK Jungle
72: MKDS DK Pass
71: MKDD Mario Circuit
70: SMK Rainbow Road
69: MKWii Moo Moo Meadows
68: MKSC Cheese Land
67: MK64 Yoshi Valley
66: MKSC Sunset Wilds
65: MKWii Daisy Circuit
64: MK64 Wario Stadium
A Tier (Good)
63: MK7 Maka Wuhu
62: MKSC Sky Garden
61: MK64 Choco Mountain
60: MKWii Dry Dry Ruins
59: MK7 Wario's Shipyard
58: MKDD Sherbet Land
57: MKDS Mario Circuit
56: MK64 Banshee Boardwalk
55: MKDD Yoshi Circuit
54: MK8 Thwomp Ruins
53: MK8 Toad Harbor
52: MK8 Shy Guy Falls
51: MK8 Dolphin Shoals
50: MKDS Peach Gardens
49: MK8 Sunshine Airport
48: MK8 Mute City
S Tier (Great)
47: MKDD Dino Dino Jungle
46: MK8 Animal Crossing
45: MK8 Big Blue
44: MKDD Mushroom Bridge
43: MKDD Daisy Cruiser
42: MKDS Luigi's Mansion
41: MKWii Mushroom Gorge
40: MK7 Piranha Plant Slide
39: MK8 Wild Woods
38: MK8 Mario Kart Stadium
37: MK8 Twisted Mansion
36: MK8 Sweet Sweet Canyon
35: MK8 Dragon Driftway
34: MK8 Hyrule Circuit
X Tier (Awesome)
33: MK8 Electrodrome
32: MK8 Mount Wario
31: MK8 Cloudtop Cruise
30: MKWii Toad's Factory
29: MK7 Rock Rock Mountain
28: MK8 Rainbow Road
27: MK7 Neo Bowser City
26: MK7 Bowser's Castle
25: MKDD DK Mountain
Y Tier (Outstanding)
24: MK64 Bowser's Castle
23: MKDS Shroom Ridge
22: MKDS Wario Stadium
21: MKDD Mushroom City
20: MKDS Delfino Square
19: MKWii DK Summit
18: MKWii Maple Treeway
17: MKDS Airship Fortress
Z Tier (Amazing)
16: MKDD Bowser's Castle
15: MKDD Waluigi Stadium
14: MKWii Grumble Volcano
13: MKWii Coconut Mall
12: MKWii Moonview Highway
11: MK7 Rainbow Road
10: MKDD Rainbow Road
9: MKDS Bowser Castle
8: MK8 Bowser's Castle
7: MK7 Music Park
6: MKWii Koopa Cape
5: MKDS Rainbow Road
4: MKDS Tick Tock Clock
3: MKWii Bowser's Castle
2: MKWii Rainbow Road
1: MKDS Waluigi Pinball

 

[deus_cecidi]

(obligatory "you're missing the arcade tracks" post)

Blue=Love
Green=Like
Gold=Neutral
Orange=Dislike
Red=Hate

Choco Mountain
Wario Stadium (64)
Royal Raceway
Bowser's Castle (64)
Cheese Land
Cheep-Cheep Island
Sunset Wilds
Ribbon Road
Yoshi Desert
Lakeside Park
Baby Park
Mushroom City
Bowser's Castle (GCN)
Waluigi Pinball
Shroom Ridge
Wario Stadium (DS)
Rainbow Road (DS)
Coconut Mall
Maple Treeway
Dry Dry Ruins
Bowser's Castle (Wii)
Shy Guy Bazaar
Music Park
Piranha Plant Slide
Neo Bowser City
DK Jungle
Rosalina's Ice World
Sunshine Airport
Dolphin Shoals
Electrodrome
Bowser's Castle (Wii U)
Dragon Driftway
Mute City

Koopa Beach 1
Koopa Beach 2
Mario Circuit 4
Bowser Castle 3 (SNES)
Bowser Castle 2 (SNES)
Vanilla Lake 1
Vanilla Lake 2
Koopa Troopa Beach
Kalamari Desert
Frappe Snowland
Mario Raceway
Shy Guy Beach
Boo Lake
Bowser Castle 2 (GBA)
Sky Garden
Snow Land
Bowser Castle 3 (GBA)
Bowser Castle 4 (GBA)
Luigi Circuit (GCN)
Mushroom Bridge
Mario Circuit (GCN)
Dino Dino Jungle
Luigi's Mansion
Delfino Square
Mario Circuit (DS)
Airship Fortress
Toad Factory
Koopa Cape
Moonview Highway
Mario Circuit (3DS)
Rock Rock Mountain
Wario Shipyard
Rainbow Road (3DS)
Water Park
Twisted Mansion
Mount Wario
Ice Ice Outpost
Hyrule Circuit
Wild Woods
Animal Crossing
Super Bell Subway
Big Blue

Mario Circuit 1
Mario Circuit 2
Mario Circuit 3
Donut Plains 1
Donut Plains 2
Donut Plains 3
Bowser Castle 1 (SNES)
Ghost Valley 1
Ghost Valley 2
Rainbow Road (SNES)
Luigi Raceway
Moo Moo Farm
Toad's Turnpike
Sherbet Land (64)
Peach Circuit
Riverside Park
Bowser Castle 1 (GBA)
Mario Circuit (GBA)
Luigi Circuit (GBA)
Broken Pier
Rainbow Road (GBA)
Peach Beach
Dry Dry Desert
Daisy Cruiser
Waluigi Stadium
Sherbet Land
Figure-8 Circuit
Cheep Cheep Beach
Tick-Tock Clock
Peach Gardens
Bowser Castle (DS)
Moo Moo Meadows
DK Summit
Wario's Gold Mine
Daisy Circuit
Rainbow Road (Wii)
Toad Circuit
Daisy Hills
Wuhu Loop
Bowser's Castle (3DS)
Mario Kart Stadium
Sweet Sweet Canyon
Thwomp Ruins
Toad Harbor
Shy Guy Falls
Cloudtop Cruise
Bone-Dry Dunes
Rainbow Road (Wii U)

Ghost Valley 3
DK's Jungle Parkway
Banshee Boardwalk
Yoshi Circuit
DK Mountain
Wario Colosseum
Desert Hills
DK Pass
Mushroom Gorge
Mario Circuit (Wii)
Grumble Volcano
Cheep Cheep Lagoon
Mario Circuit (Wii U)
Excitebike Arena

Choco Island 1
Choco Island 2
Yoshi Valley
Rainbow Road (64)
Rainbow Road (GCN)
Yoshi Falls
Luigi Circuit (Wii)
Maka Wuhu

Super Mario Kart: Overall mediocre tracks that are generic as hell. None of them particularly stand out to me, and almost everything that game did was outclassed by later installments.

Mario Kart 64: Also has a lot of mediocre and lifeless tracks. It's a step above Super Mario Kart but its outclassed by its racing contemporaries of the time. Also houses the worst track in the series, Yoshi Valley.

Mario Kart Super Circuit: Has plenty of very fun and great tracks. It's the last 2D installment, but its tracks are a major upgrade from Super Mario Kart, being filled with much more life and variety than what we see. It's a shame that devs wasted the game's variety for retro tracks on the most generic tracks like the circuits and Bowser Castles though.

Mario Kart Double Dash: Mixed bag mostly. Has some great tracks, has some bad ones, a bit of mediocre ones.

(Unranked) Mario Kart Arcade GP series: I haven't played 2 and DX in a while, but I did like some of tracks they had to offer, namely Rainbow Coaster / Rainbow Downhill, the Bowser's Castle courses, Waluigi stadiums with the dinobots, Bananana Ruins, Diamond City, and the Yoshi Parks. Their tracks aesthetics look very nice and I wish we could play in them in the console releases.

Mario Kart DS: Had some pretty good tracks overall. Some of them were one of the series best even.

Mario Kart Wii: Has some very, very weak and mediocre early game tracks like the typically terrible and generic circuit tracks, but has great Star Cup and Special Cup tracks.

Mario Kart 7: Has a lot of strong tracks. I would have liked and loved all of their Star Cup tracks if Maka Wuhu wasn't there being a terrible track overall. Did we really need another Wii Sports Resort track, even? Wuhu Loop was fine enough.

Mario Kart 8: There are no tracks that I particularly hate in this one, has a lot of strong tracks. I do dislike Mario Circuit and Excitebike the most, but for the former's case I tend to dislike the circuit tracks since they tend to be utterly generic and boring.

This is a good list tbh. The only change I would make is Animal Crossing. I hate that map so much. The whole season idea is a really unique mechanic that I hope they expound on more in the future but the main issue for me is the flow of the map. So much of the races for me depend on how much you can flow through the map and pull off cool drifts, stunts, etc. The animal crossing map just doesn't do this for me and there are probably other maps that have the same problem but I think the animal crossing one is worse simply because it had a lot of potential and every time I play it it just feels like a disappointment. The biggest problem with the map tends to be the grove of trees about a third of the way through the race. There is no way to get through these efficiently without clipping a tree or drifting into a wall. If you add this problem to the winter conditions where the map becomes more slippery it can make for a hellish experience, especially in the higher cc's. I also feel like the use of the gliding section in this map is done poorly. You don't get to experience scenic views or fly to a cool part of the map, all you do is fly down to the beach and maybe pop some balloon item boxes in the process which is just an underwhelming experience in its entirety. The only really interesting part of this map is part of the beach section and the satisfying turns leading up to the finish line. Overall I wish this track had more going for it as it just tends to be a letdown and really offers no significant ways to get ahead of the pack if you have a higher skill level. Honestly, if this track just had some more rewarding stunts and offered an interesting map change/shortcut opportunity during the grove and flight to the beach sections and actually utilized the glide ramps to their full extent I think that this map would be much more enjoyable.