Rainbow Road. Just those two words are enough to make certain people put down their controllers and walk away. For others, it's a whole world of play. Either way, Nintendo has been dropping this course at the end of nearly every Mario Kart game for decades now, and it's gone from a thin, terrifying ribbon of SNES tiles to a full-on planet-hopping spectacle. But not all of them get the attention of the crowds.
The best versions get the balance right. Beautiful AND dangerous. Winning should feel like something you worked for, not just a situation where you got lucky.
This ranking covers each Mario Kart mainline game's original Rainbow Road, plus a handful of modern layouts that are different enough to count on their own. What goes into each placement? Difficulty, flow, how good it looks, and whether it actually uses that game's signature mechanics well: tricks, gliding, anti-gravity, and whatever else the era brought to the table.
The Ones That Spark Debate
12th and 11th: RMX Rainbow Road 2 and RMX Rainbow Road 1 (Mario Kart Tour)
These two live at the bottom, and honestly? They know what they are. The RMX courses are remix tracks, basically copying the SNES Rainbow Road into new layouts with modern additions. Sure, that's fun, but "fun remix" and "series-defining finale" aren't really the same thing, are they?
RMX Rainbow Road 2 feels the most skippable of the whole list. The lap just doesn't build tension the way a Rainbow Road should. RMX Rainbow Road 1 is a little cleaner and easier to read, so it sneaks just above it, but neither one hits you in the chest the way this course is supposed to.
10th: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 8)
This one is going to upset some people, and that's okay. Mario Kart 8's Rainbow Road is genuinely stunning. It contains an anti-gravity space station, incredible lighting, and is as smooth as anything. But here's the thing... it can feel almost too smooth. The road itself is surprisingly straightforward in places, and for a game as technically brilliant as MK8, Rainbow Road sometimes feels like it forgot to be a little scary.
9th: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 64)
This track has die-hard fans who will fight you over your ranking. We know the music is iconic, the neon dreamscape is beautiful, and there's a real emotional attachment here for a lot of people. But. BUT. It is SO long. And the guardrails littered throughout the track mean you can kind of lean on the walls and muddle through. The nostalgia is warranted, but the execution is a little bit soft.
8th: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart World)
This is the "still settling in" entry. New tracks change fast once people figure out the optimal lines and item strategies, and Mario Kart World is fresh enough that its Rainbow Road's true reputation is still being written. It also has to work with up to 24 racers in one pack, which means clarity and spectacle matter just as much as tight technical corners. Guides are already out there describing it as the last race of the Special Cup, which is very on-brand for the series. For now, it sits in the middle. Ask us again a year from now.
7th: N64 Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 8 and 8 Deluxe retro)
This is what happens when Nintendo looks at a beloved classic and asks, "Okay, but what if we made it actually fun to drive?" The MK8 rework trims the original down into a punchier, section-based sprint that matches the modern game's pacing way better. Yes, the marathon feeling of the N64 original gets lost, but honestly… it needed a haircut.
The Ones That Define the Series
6th: Rainbow Road (Super Mario Kart)
The grandfather of the series, and still as vicious as ever. This track has no guardrails, the turns are genuinely sharp, and every single mistake costs you big time. It's a bit bare-bones compared to what came after, sure, but there's something borderline respectful about how unforgiving it is. This track looks you dead in the eyes and asks if you’ve actually learned anything.
5th: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart DS)
The DS entry doesn't get nearly enough love. Alongside its loop de loops and a much faster rhythm, this entry manages to add all that creativity without turning into complete chaos. It's the one that figured out how to be hard AND fun at the same time, which is, clearly, harder to pull off than it looks.
4th: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
This one is mean. Wonderfully, deliberately mean. The edges will toss your kart into the void if your line gets even a little sloppy, and there's a particular flavor of panic when you realize you've drifted just a touch too wide. If you played this as a kid, you remember exactly how it felt. If you're playing it now, you'll soon find out.
Our Top Three Picks
3rd: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart Wii)
Huge jumps. Tricky landings. The very real possibility of falling for what feels like…forever. Not to mention, shortcuts that, when they actually work, feel earned. Anyone going down the "hardest Rainbow Road" rabbit hole almost always ends up landing on this one and Super Circuit as the main contenders. The Wii version has earned its reputation.
2nd: Rainbow Road (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
Close. This is SO close to the top. Double Dash's Rainbow Road is dramatic, flowing, gorgeous, and it's got that night-sky cityscape backdrop that makes every single lap feel like a finale. Dramatic drops, boost-heavy straights, Double Dash provided players with a real spectacle. It's basically everything you want from a Rainbow Road, and it doesn't quite top the list only because of what comes next.
1st: 3DS Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 7)
Mario Kart 7's Rainbow Road doesn't loop around a track. It travels. You go from a space station to planetary rings to the actual moon, and the scenery just keeps escalating instead of resetting with each lap. It feels like a full journey, not just a circuit. Nintendo brought it back through the Booster Course Pass on Switch, and it continues to hold up. This track is the best of the best that Mario Kart has to offer, thus far.
Rainbow Road keeps changing with every new game, and that is what makes this iconic race still feel exciting almost 25 years later. But the versions that stick with you all nail the same feeling: high stakes, a beautifully detailed atmosphere, and that moment where one perfect drift saves the whole race. That's where the magic of Rainbow Road truly lies.
