Mario Kart Track(s) that's(/that) not(/aren't) as awesome as you once thought of it(/them)?

NinTylo

NinTylo

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NinTylo
I think we all can agree that Mario Kart is awesome no matter which game your playing. But there are those courses that I feel are a lot better back then than they are now. So now I'm gonna discuss a track I personally loved back then - but now with a newer opinion, it just doesn't hold up to my currect standards anymore...

MK8-Course-RainbowRoad.png

Mario Kart's Rainbow Roads are all pretty awesome, but even with some that grind on me based on frustrating difficulty (which sometimes AMAZES me as how people would judge challenge over design much less length of a course), I still enjoy them for what they represent as themselves - colorful courses that almost anyone would consider racing on for their eye-candy-like visuals. But looking back on them all, I have bigger problems with Wii U's in spite how much better it feels to race on than the flatruns on the SNES and GBA.

Remember all those things that made the previous versions so great, or at least strongly element to actual rainbows in reality? (Which some people might think of as magic, but they're mainly holographs that occur once rain stops pouring from the sky) Yeah, now that I look more clearly at it, Wii U's take actually has little to no similar characteristics in comparison.

- The color within the course? Not that pretty/beautiful unlike the previous versions - including 64's squared, tile-like recycling.
- Its Rainbow-like elements? COMPLETELY different. (Obviously)
- Its new unique theme of where it takes place in space? If you ask me... No real logic - being within a stadium-ish space station.

Yes, the music is catchy and all, but you can obviously say the same for every other course in Mario Kart history (albeit the Ghost Valley tracks in SMK which I personally find lame and uninteresting to listen to). I think this course is mediocre on its own, but its only decent in my book for having excellent music. Putting any upsides aside, does anyone else besides me think that Wii U's Rainbow Road was a huge step down?

If not feel free to at least bring up with what track you think is not as cool as you once considered it to be...
 
i personally feel that my opinion of everything about mario kart wii has grown more negative as i've aged. apart from maybe it's rainbow road since that music tho
 
Toad Harbor used to be my favorite Mario Kart course, but I've grown tired of it over the years.
 
MK8 Rainbow Road was a huge step down from MK7. MK7 had the cool journey of you ending up on the moon over the 3 phases. Great music too.

As for one's I liked then grew to dislike...
Luigi Circuit 64 because I was in a tournament, got hit with a shell in the tunnel and clipped through the roof. 🙃 I also still love the design and aesthetic of Wario Stadium but it's so busted with its walls.

Grumble Volcano in Wii had a great design. But those feelings fizzled after all the trolls kept picking it in online and doing the ultra shortcut.

Wuhu Island / Mountain Loop are out of contention because they were never good. In fact the ultra shortcut in Mountain made it better because it cut out half of a very boring course. But people kept picking it because they could do shortcut which was annoying. :/
 
Many tracks from Mario Kart 64 has had my opinion degraded over time, as a result of my opinion of the game being degraded over time. I used to think N64 Rainbow Road was okay, but playing other racing games in the N64 made me realize how...bad of a finale track it actually is. I've played Beetle Adventure Racing, a game known for its very long tracks, and it proves that you can have very fun long tracks, they just need a reason to be long. N64 Rainbow Road had no reason to be long, not at all. Sure, if it had variety throughout the track rather than an occasional Chain Chomp, maybe it would have been interesting. Mario Kart 7 knew how to design a long Rainbow Road, at the very least.

Super Mario Kart tracks in general are pretty generic. Everything that game does, Super Circuit outclasses it. That's simply that. Broken Pier is much more fun to race on than Ghost Valley 3, with better music behind it (it pretty much uses Ghost Valley's melody but layers more instruments and other melodies on top of it, making it a more interesting piece music wise). Snow Land is better than Vanilla Lake 1. Bowser Castle 3 for GBA is better than Bowser Castle 3 on SNES, simply because the Bowser Castles in GBA actually have an attempt to all feel different from each other and use different aesthetics for each variant of them, as well as two of them using Bowser baddies too (they have Bubbles, 3 has Kamek while 4 has Mechakoopas).

Contrary to popular belief, I actually think 8's Rainbow Road is okay. I like the different artificial aesthetic that goes for it. It makes it stand out among the conglomerate of Rainbow Roads with a fantasy setting. I would love to see more unconventional takes on Rainbow Roads, such as having one take place in the day (like Rainbow Coaster / Rainbow Downhill from the Arcade games) or even one inside a rave party house with a glowing floor that changes colors.
 
The SNES Bowser Castles make me feel like a crash test dummy. The sharp turns, the tight spaces, the Thwomps that block you temporarily but the CPU can pass through... it's like a contest of bonking your car against concrete, you versus yourself every damn lap.
 
I've played SNES Bowser Castle 3 in Sonic Robo Blast Kart 2 as a character that had very low handling in Time Trials (a Soviet tank)

It's so easy to bounce around like a pinball lol.

I like the challenge the courses provide though.
 
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