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Which Mario Kart from DS to 8 had the best selection of classic courses?

Torokil

Member
Kind of a weird question but I've been playing MK8 Deluxe since I got my switch last weekend and to me, the classic courses in this one don't even compare to the Murderers Row that is 7.

-Luigis Raceway
-Waluigi Pinball
-Koopa Troopa Beach
-Mario Circuit 2
-Dino Dino Jungle
-Kalimari Desert
-SNES Rainbow Road

All of these are fantastic courses in my opinion. Meanwhile, 8 really only has GBA mario circuit, Donut Plains 3, and Tick Tock clock that I truly love (as well as the SNES RR retread).

What say you GAF?
 
I want to like SNES Rainbow Road, but I still have PTSD from it as a kid. Getting wrecked by Thwomps while Mario and Luigi just barrel through them with their invuln.
 
8 had the most consistently solid selections. Very careful choices so not one classic course felt redundant, and yet they all managed to be great courses. Maybe it's the insanely love-filled ground-up makeovers they all got, but it managed to take courses I thought were good but never quite gave the time of day into some of the all-time best. Some of my personal favourites like Royal Raceway, Yoshi Circuit, Tick Tock Clock, Moo Moo Meadows, DK Jungle, and Piranha Plant Slide all showed up. They even redeemed Dry, Dry Desert! It also has two amazing Rainbow Roads which I honestly prefer to that games' ground-up one, and finally got rid of all those redundant GBA Bowser's Castles they loved so much.

Also it singlehandedly made MK7 redundant by using all of its good tracks.

I will give MK7 points for having almost all of my favourite MKWii tracks though.
 
Mario Kart 7 had a pretty solid set, I think it offset a lot of the poorer new courses (Neo Bowser City is so fucking bad) SNES Rainbow Road is so good on that game.

8 had the most consistently solid selections. Very careful choices so not one classic course felt redundant, and yet they all managed to be great courses. Maybe it's the insanely love-filled ground-up makeovers they all got, but it managed to take courses I thought were good but never quite gave the time of day into some of the all-time best. It also has two amazing Rainbow Roads which I honestly prefer to that games' ground-up one, and finally got rid of all those redundant GBA Bowser's Castles they loved so much.

Also it singlehandedly made MK7 redundant by using all of its good tracks.
I prefer 7 to 8 so there's that :/
 

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
OP argues for MK7 but includes Luigi's Circuit but not Airship Fortress?

While MK7 probably has the best core selection, MK8's reimagining of courses, especially the GBA ones, puts it in a league of its own. The DLC helped a lot in pushing 8 to the top. Wario's Gold Mine was a personal wish.
 

Giga Man

Member
Mario Kart 7 because it had most of my favorite courses in it, with my highest favorites coming from Mario Kart DS, the best Mario Kart (even though Double Dash is my favorite).
 
I honestly feel like its Mario Kart 8 just because of how good the whole game looks. Even if the courses they selected for the classic cups weren't amazing, the coat of paint they gave each and every one of them made them shine in whole new lights. 7 runs great and everything, but the maps are so bare that they're just hard to go back to from 8.

I only really played a bit of 64 as a kid, and missed out on DD and DS, so I guess I don't have the same attachments to courses so its hard to tell. But 8 is just so good in almost every way. Hard to go back to any other version of SNES Rainbow Road after 8
 
I honestly feel like its Mario Kart 8 just because of how good the whole game looks. Even if the courses they selected for the classic cups weren't amazing, the coat of paint they gave each and every one of them made them shine in whole new lights. 7 runs great and everything, but the maps are so bare that they're just hard to go back to from 8.

I only really played a bit of 64 as a kid, and missed out on DD and DS, so I guess I don't have the same attachments to courses so its hard to tell. But 8 is just so good in almost every way. Hard to go back to any other version of SNES Rainbow Road after 8
This. MK7 has a robust lineup of tracks that I like from previous games. MK8D has a ton as well but each track was heavily redesigned to feel like it belongs in the game.
 

ramparter

Banned
These threads make me sad because I miss so many old tracks. DS had great new tracks, I didnt like only 2-3. Wii also had some awesome tracks even though the gameplay was more random. Id be okay if they gave us a dlc with classic tracks only.
 

ChrisFatso

Neo Member
8 ruined the classic tracks by changing them too much imo. One of the best parts of Yoshi's Circuit, for example, was the risk/reward of going for the shortcut near the end, and they completely removed that in 8 and killed the nostalgia for me. For that reason I'd have to go with MK Wii
 

rekameohs

Banned
7 had Waluigi Pinball. And it had Koopa Cape. And it had Kalamari Desert. And it had Daisy Cruiser. And it had Maple Treeway. And it had Airship Fortress. And it had SNES Rainbow Road. So definitely that one.

The way that 8 revamped the GBA tracks is incredible, though.
 

mclem

Member
Any reason you're not including Super Circuit in the mix? Having basically every classic course it could run (No N64 courses, understandably, but the complete SNES collection) was incredible at the time.
 
7 is so good it ain't even close. All of the best Wii tracks (Coconut Mall, Mushroom Gorge, Maple Treeway, Koopa Cape), some good retro ones (Mario Circuit 2, Bowser's Castle 3, SNES Rainbow Road), Dino Dino Jungle, Waluigi Pinball, Airship Fortress, the Koopa N64 one... I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
 

Cepheus

Member
Idk about the best, but 8 has the worst. I hate the 3DS tracks and they brought back Wario's Gold Mine instead of Maple Treeway. Also Cheep Cheep Beach, one of the worst DS courses. The only thing it has going for it is Tick-tock Clock.
 

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
Any reason you're not including Super Circuit in the mix? Having basically every classic course it could run (No N64 courses, understandably, but the complete SNES collection) was incredible at the time.

They were just the layout reskins of the main courses with zero obstacles. It was a nifty bonus, but not the same as What DS introduced with Retro Tracks.
 
7 is so good it ain't even close. All of the best Wii tracks (Coconut Mall, Mushroom Gorge, Maple Treeway, Koopa Cape), some good retro ones (Mario Circuit 2, Bowser's Castle 3, SNES Rainbow Road), Dino Dino Jungle, Waluigi Pinball, Airship Fortress, the Koopa N64 one... I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

I've never played/seen much of 7.
I should probably play 7.
 

Piscus

Member
OP argues for MK7 but includes Luigi's Circuit but not Airship Fortress?

While MK7 probably has the best core selection, MK8's reimagining of courses, especially the GBA ones, puts it in a league of its own. The DLC helped a lot in pushing 8 to the top. Wario's Gold Mine was a personal wish.

Nailed it. Wish MK8 had every retro track, their re-imaginings of them (especially with updates takes on their original music tracks) takes them to another level.
 
MK8 has Music Park and SNES Rainbow Road, so it's automatically MK8.

I also love MK8's takes on Royal Raceway, Tick-Tock Clock, Donut Plains 3, N64 Rainbow Road, Moo Moo Meadows, Cheese Land, Ribbon Road, and Neo Bowser City.

In 7 I was only really fond of the N64 tracks and Daisy Cruiser (Waluigi Pinball is just okay imo); likewise for Wii. Never played the DS one, but Sky Garden and Banshee Boardwalk are the only ones there I'd be super interested to try via DS.
 

Jazzem

Member
Yeah 7 is probably my pick too, even if 8 w/DLC does put up a good fight. The latter having no SNES Mario Circuit though is a bummer :(
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
8 revamped the classics to the point they often just felt like new tracks, which in some ways was good but in other sort of defeated the point of that nostalgia trip. So, despite 8 having a generally good selection, I'd have to stick with 7 for getting into the spirit of things.
 

R00bot

Member
8 with waluigi pinball would win every time. As it is it's a toss up between 7 and 8 because 7 has waluigi pinball.
 

Berordn

Member
7's selection of retro tracks was probably my favorite, but overall I prefer 8's approach of making them fit in with the new ones.

This.
Wii U/switch killed snes rainbow road but 7 was amazing

Wait, how? It's the same track in both, the DLC version is just the one from 7 with a facelift.
 

Giga Man

Member
7's selection of retro tracks was probably my favorite, but overall I prefer 8's approach of making them fit in with the new ones.



Wait, how? It's the same track in both, the DLC version is just the one from 7 with a facelift.

They downgraded the music in 8's SNES Rainbow Road as far as I'm concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQdq9GLIlto

is better than

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYRLEzQVqTs

The first gets me far more hyped, especially when I'm in first place.
 
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