Rainbow Road

Rainbow Road

Rainbow Road is the final track in the last cup (Special Cup) in every Mario Kart game to date. As the name implies, the track is rainbow-coloured and the course is suspended in space. It is well known for being one of the most surreal and toughest tracks to master, since most of the Rainbow Road tracks have no rails to stay on.

• Super Mario Kart has no rails at all and contains 90-degree turns, the rainbows are made of tiles and flashing Thwomps (named electric Thwomps by many). When remade for Mario Kart Super Circuit, the Thwomps were removed.
• Mario Kart 64 version contains rails throughout the course, roving Chomps, neon-light pictures of characters in the distance, and a huge drop just after the start line. A carefully timed jump at the beginning could be used as a huge shortcut. This course is described as a "Psychedelic Experience". It is the longest course in the series at two minutes a lap, and a version of it also appears in F-Zero X.
• Mario Kart Super Circuit has rails at the start/finish line. Edges of the course are lined with bounce-jumps, and astute racers can use Mushrooms for significant shortcuts. This game also features the Rainbow Road course from Super Mario Kart, but without the flashing thwomps.
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!! also has rails in parts of the course. It contains a pipe that shoots players to the highest point in the track. It also contains floating sculptures of items, and rains stars that racers can pick up. It has the most pearlized colours of all the Rainbow Roads. Additionaly, the entire course is placed high above a city when played in single player, whereas all the other Rainbow Roads are just floating in space.
• Mario Kart DS also has some rails and includes a loop and corkscrew. Those elements may have been added to ensure some challenge; players can time items so their opponents fall off the corkscrew or loop. Also, the colouring is different from the other Rainbow Roads: here, the stripes on the track follow the track, instead of crossing it.
• Mario Kart Arcade GP is notable for having two new Rainbow Road themed tracks, (Rainbow Coaster for instance, gives a very rollercoaster like experience much like the DS Rainbow Road. It also features a teleporter mid-stage). However the difficulty level of these courses are much lower than the other rainbow roads, even with sections without walls.