Rainbow Road

Rainbow Road in its latest appearance in Mario Kart 7.

Rainbow Road is the name of the last racecourse of the Special Cup in each of the Mario Kart games. As the name suggests, these tracks are made of multi-colored tilesets that are either one color or change their color as racers pass by them, depending the game they appear. They are suspended in the starry night sky in outer space. Most contain few or no rails, putting racers at risk of falling, and each Rainbow Road also contains its unique hazards. Due to these obstacles, Rainbow Road is one of the hardest tracks in each Mario Kart game. Rainbow Road is also usually a long track when compared to other tracks. Outside the Mario Kart series, Rainbow Road has also made some few appearances in other games.

History

Mario Kart series

Rainbow Road has appeared as multiple incarnations throughout the Mario Kart series:

• Rainbow Road (SNES) - Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart 7
• Rainbow Road (N64) - Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart 8
• Rainbow Road (GBA) - Mario Kart: Super Circuit
• Rainbow Road (GCN) - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
• Rainbow Road (DS) - Mario Kart DS
• Rainbow Road (Wii) - Mario Kart Wii
• Rainbow Road (3DS) - Mario Kart 7
• Rainbow Road (Wii U) - Mario Kart 8

Mario Hoops 3-on-3

Towers floating over the clouds, where the Rainbow Road takes place.

Rainbow Road is the unlockable third dribble race from the "challenges" section in the basketball game Mario Hoops 3-on-3. However, this Rainbow Road floats above the clouds and around a clock tower, and not much of the course is fully seen when playing. Podoboos and Bombs come out of holes similar to Bowser's Castle Court.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

File:RoCoG2.png

Rainbow Road in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Rainbow Road appears in the Rolling Coaster Galaxy in the mission called the "Rainbow Road Roll", and also a purple coin challenge, but it is very different than in its previous appearances. While it does retain its appearance, it's curved and appears to be made up of rainbow tiles instead of the colors simply being contiguous, much like the Rainbow Road from Super Mario Kart in which the track was also made up of rainbow tiles. Instead of just the Rainbow itself, it also has several platforms shaped both like mushrooms and squares with different colors. Despite taking place in space, this Rainbow Road features a cloudy sky as a background. Along the way, Mario or Luigi must avoid several obstacles like towers and Bob-ombs. Also, the two brothers can earn two Power Stars for finishing the course, one for the normal mission, and another for collecting 100 of the 110 Purple Coins. The music played when riding on Rainbow Road is a remix of the music played on the The Princess's Secret Slide in Super Mario 64.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

The Rainbow Road stage, from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

The Rainbow Road track from Mario Kart 7 has been confirmed to appear as a stage for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. Like Port Town Aero Dive from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it will be a cruise-type stage where players will fight on a platform that flies around the course, which also occasionally lands on the course itself. While on the ground, Shy Guys can drive by and damage any fighters in its way, like in the Mario Circuit stage from the previous game.

Trivia

• F-Zero GX also has a track similar to Rainbow Road called the "Phantom Road", but this one doesn't take place in a starry night sky or the cosmos like most Rainbow Roads, it takes place in a psychedelic cybernetic void of sorts. In addition, the track has only one color that constantly shifts through the color spectrum as opposed to having the traditional rainbow-looking appearance.
• The SNES Rainbow Road has appeared the most times out of all the Rainbow Roads, having appeared in three games so far.