Rainbow Road is the fourth and last course of the Special Cup in Mario Kart Wii. The course is located over Earth's atmosphere. If a driver falls off the course, they will burn up in the atmosphere (even if there is a section of the course below them) before getting picked up by Lakitu.
This course has a Super Mario Galaxy theme to it, featuring a Launch Star and floating Star Bits as elements of the track's design and theming. A large galaxy can be seen in the background, as well as sunlight on the Earth's surface. Both of the course's staff ghosts are driven with Rosalina. The opening to the course's music is similar to the opening portion of Rainbow Road's music from Mario Kart DS; later, it uses "Egg Planet", Good Egg Galaxy's theme, as a countermelody underneath its own main melody. An arrangement of this course's music appears as one of the selectable songs in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
In Mario Kart Wii, the course appears to be located over the eastern parts of North America, as well as some parts of Europe, Africa, and South America. In Mario Kart Tour, the course instead takes place above parts of Europe and Asia.
The course is the longest nitro course in Mario Kart Wii. It begins with a brief straightaway which has guard rails on both sides. The guard rails then immediately end as the track curves downward and racers drive along a very steep downhill. The downhill immediately contains a dash panel that spans the width of the track, followed by two smaller dash panels on the right and left sides of the track respectively. The track then curves upwards, ending in a dash panel ramp. The first set of Item Boxes can be found between this ramp and the steep downhill. After landing, racers gradually descend as they take a left turn followed by three dash panels and another left turn. On the outside of the second turn is a brief half-pipe with three Item Boxes on top and some short guard rails on both sides. After the turn there is a portion of track which is moderately wavy at the beginning of the race but becomes more and more wavy as time goes on; racers can perform tricks off of the waves and can also make use of the dash panel ramp at the end of this track. There are also three pairs of Item Boxes along the wavy track.
Upon landing from the dash panel ramp, racers reach a much wider portion of track that has guard rails and curves upward on both sides and leads them into a figure-8 shaped section. In this section, there are two large circular holes in the middle of the track that racers must go left or right around. On both sides of the track there are long half-pipes with sets of Item Boxes on top. The holes in the middle of the track are also entirely lined with simple ramps. After the figure-8, the track makes a slight curve to the right as it narrows and the left guard rail ends. The track then takes a left turn; along this turn, colliding with the right guard rail is able to bump racers, sometimes far enough to knock them off the other side of the track. The right guard rail then ends and there is a more gradual U-turn to the right. Towards the end of this U-turn is another item set, and the U-turn ends with a Launch Starcannon. This Launch Star sends racers at a steep angle upwards through a rainbow-colored tunnel to a much higher part of the track.
After the Launch Star ends, racers take a slight right turn followed by a slight left turn. Along the slight left turn are guard rails and four dash panels, and it ends with a unique type of half-pipe ramp that makes racers take a left turn over a gap while they pass through several star-filled rings. As racers land, the track is once again wider but quickly splits into two narrow paths. The right path quickly curves left to cross over to the left side while the left path quickly curves right to cross under to the right side, then both curve again to go the same direction. The right path briefly has guard rails on the right side while it's crossing over, but the paths otherwise function very similarly; each has a small dash panel on the outside of the curve before it crosses over, a small dash panel on the inside of the curve after it crosses over, and a ramp at the end. In both cases, the ramp has guard rails on both sides, three dash panels, and three Item Boxes on top. Racers then reach the final part of the track which is a singular wide U-turn to the left. It has no guard rails, curves downward on both sides, and takes racers through a swirling tunnel of stars. At the start there is a small dash panel on the inside of the turn, followed by a dash panel on the outside of the turn, and then one last dash panel on the inside of the turn at the end. This then leads into a slight turn right followed by the finish line.
Both the normal and expert staff ghost of this course make appearances as staff ghosts in Mario Kart 7. The normal ghost, Nin★Konno, appears as the normal staff ghost for DS Luigi's Mansion, while the expert staff ghost, Nin★Syun1, appears as the expert staff ghost for Wario Shipyard.
The first notable set of shortcuts can be found at the beginning of the track. By using a Mushroom and jumping at the correct time just before the track curves downwards, the player can fly over the downhill portion and land just before the subsequent dash panel ramp. This saves time due to the player's ground speed not being affected by gravity, thus traveling directly forwards through the air clears the section faster than driving on the track at an angle. Additionally, the player is able to cut off the following turn if they are using an outside drift type vehicle and drift left off the dash panel ramp at the correct angle.
The second notable set of shortcuts can be found at the figure-8 section of the track. By using any speed item, the player is able to fully jump over the holes in the middle. A separate shortcut can also be performed afterwards by simply going off the left side of the track at full speed where the left guard rail ends. If angled correctly, the player gets enough height to clear the gap and skip the left turn, and this can be done without an item.
Tournaments
The November 2009 2nd Tournament
November 2009's second tournament required players to complete a Time Trial on a version of Rainbow Road with Chain Chomps added: There is one Chain Chomp roaming near the first half-pipe, two rolling around the figure-8 section, one roaming where the track splits, and one roaming along the final left turn. Players start the Time Trial with a set of Triple Mushrooms. This tournament could be a reference to the Mario Kart 64 iteration of Rainbow Road, as Chain Chomps were also present there. The tournament was restricted to karts only. The official description stated, "Chain Chomps have taken over Rainbow Road in this karts-only Time Trial. Anticipating their movements and avoiding them is the key to a good score."
This tournament was repeated as the first tournament of December 2010, but without restrictions. It was later repeated as the second tournament of August 2011, and the first tournament of November 2012, with the karts only restriction intact for the August 2011 tournament.
Mario Kart Tour
View of the course in Mario Kart Tour
This version of Rainbow Road makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart Tour, starting from the 2023 Space Tour. This makes it the first Mario Kart WiiSpecial Cup course to reappear in a future installment of the series, the sixth Wii course in Mario Kart Tour, the first Wii course since Wii Koopa Cape in the May 2022 Peach vs. Bowser Tour seventeen tours prior, and the second Wii course to make its classic course debut in Mario Kart Tour, the first one being Wii DK Summit in the Snow Tour forty-nine tours prior. The most notable change is that the course has been converted into a two-section track like Tokyo Blur 4, New York Minute 4, and N64 Kalimari Desert 2, with the second section beginning at the Launch Star cannon.
The course layout itself has also received some alterations. The wavy part of the track is now consistent and doesn't change over time, the simple ramps that lined the holes at the figure-8 section are gone, the Launch Star now has a glide ramp, and the previously unique half-pipe jump is now effectively parallel to where racers land from the jump, presumably due to the game's different half-pipe physics. Additionally, there are different Item Box placements: Most previous Item Boxes are gone, with the set just before the Launch Star and the set at the end of the split paths as the only retained ones. Instead, an item set is found just before the downhill and a set is found just before the wavy track. Lastly, many more guard rails appear along the sides of the track: The whole portion between the first dash panel ramp and the three subsequent dash panels is covered on both sides, the slight right turn after the Launch Star is mostly covered on both sides, the track just before the split path is covered on both sides, the right path is covered on the left side at its second curve, and the slight right turn at the end is covered on both sides.
The course has also received numerous graphical updates. The starting line and various other course elements now have technicolor ring designs. The road texture is now animated, with pinpricks of light following the path of the course. The background has received quite a few changes, such as the Earth being moved closer to the track and Saturn being moved from the last turn to being right after the cannon. Most notably, the moon is now modeled, is much closer to the track, and has a rocket ship based on the ones from 3DS Rainbow Road. The floating arrows now take on their appearance from SNES Rainbow Road. The wavy road no longer has a different texture from the main road, and the road texture no longer highlights arcs for the subsequent half-pipes. The tunnel found at the Launch Star now cycles through colors. The tunnel of light surrounding the last bend now has a pattern of rings moving forward with rotating sun-shaped entrances and exits, with the mandatory half-pipe jump also now having a version of this tunnel with simpler entrance and exit points.
This course also appears as Rainbow Road R (reversed), Rainbow Road T (with ramps), and Rainbow Road R/T (reversed with ramps). In the T variant, there are only three Item Boxes, with players being able to collect a fourth via the use of item tickets. Because players cannot get Frenzies from back-to-back Item Boxes, it is the first and only course where receiving three Frenzies is impossible. It is also significantly shorter due to the first two turns being entirely skipped. In the R/T variant, there are three pairs of Star Thwomps along the second section, and racers briefly drive underneath the figure-8 section.
The course icon for the R/T variant is slightly incorrect: in it, only one Star Thwomp is shown on the left side of the Kanaami Road near the figure-8 portion, but when racing, there are two Star Thwomps on each side.
* indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 3. ** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 6. *** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 8 for High-End items.
This section is referring to a subject in an upcoming or recently released DLC wave. When the DLC wave is released, or more information about this subject is found, this section may need major rewriting. This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the DLC wave was first released.
Rainbow Road in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
This version of Rainbow Road reappears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the sixth and final wave of the Booster Course Pass DLC. It is the fourth and final course in the Spiny Cup, and the final course in the DLC and game overall. The course is largely based on its appearance from Mario Kart Tour, but with significant visual upgrades. The entire course is now in anti-gravity, making it one of five courses in the game with this distinction, alongside Mute City, GCN Baby Park, Big Blue, and Sky-High Sundae. This also results in several Spin Boost Pillars appearing along the track. The ramps lining the holes in the figure-8 section of the course have returned.[1] Additionally, the Item Boxes above the half-pipes in the figure-8 section have returned, and there are Double Item Boxes at the set before the wavy track. The dash panels along the second curve of each split path are now on the outside of the curve, and each dash panel along the final U-turn has been moved to the opposite side of the track. Lastly, more guard rails once again appear along the sides of the split path part of the track: Both paths are fully covered on the outside of both of their turns. In the case of the first turns, there are no guard rail gaps between them and the start of the section, and in the case of the second turns, there are no guard rail gaps between them and the dash panel ramps.
Visually, the course is also noticeably paler on color compared to how it appeared in Mario Kart Tour, making it closer resemble how it originally appeared in Mario Kart Wii. Additionally, the tiles on the road are smaller compared to how they appear in Tour, giving the road somewhat of a resemblance to Mario Kart 8's own Rainbow Road. The sound effect for the cannon has been brought back after being absent in Mario Kart Tour.
It is also one of two courses from Mario Kart Wii to appear in Wave 6, the other being Wii Daisy Circuit. Its music was used for the course overview trailer for Wave 6.[2]
Profiles
Mario Kart Wii
European website bio:Don't get caught stargazing as you power round the multicoloured Rainbow Road. The multiple speed boosts could hurry you along to the finish line or over the edge to your demise. Remember; don't look down!
Trading card bio:The layout of Rainbow Road has changed over the years as it has appeared in a variety of incarnations; the challenge factor has always been high. It's a long track with plenty of opportunities to fall off into space. In Mario Kart Wii, at least one of those opportunities can become a shortcut if you play it right.
Mario Kart Tour
Mario Kart Tour Twitter:The New Year's Tour is coming to a close, but there's still plenty to look forward to in #MarioKartTour! Next up is the Space Tour where you can race down the new Wii Rainbow Road course!
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