Cloudtop Cruise

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This article is about the race course that appears in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. For the race course from Mario Kart: Super Circuit with the same Japanese name, see GBA Sky Garden.
Cloudtop Cruise
Cloudtop Cruise
Information
Appears in Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)
Cup(s) Special Cup
Based on Beanstalk / Airship
Music sample
Mahito Yokota (Super Mario Galaxy themes)
Atsuko Asahi (composition/arrangement)

Thundercloud

Frontrunning

Thundercloud/frontrunning
Course map
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Map of Cloudtop Cruise in Mario Kart 8.Map of Cloudtop Cruise in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Staff ghost(s)
8 Nin★Maria
2:26.347 Baby Rosalina's head icon in Mario Kart 8The blue Biddybuggy.StandardThumbnail of Rosalina and Baby Rosalina's Super Glider (with 8 icon), in Mario Kart 8.
8DX 150cc Nin★Maria
2:19.568 Baby Rosalina's head icon in Mario Kart 8The blue Biddybuggy.StandardThumbnail of Rosalina and Baby Rosalina's Super Glider (with 8 icon), in Mario Kart 8.
8DX 200cc Nin★Giulia
1:44.120 Bowser Jr.'s head icon in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.Koopa Clown from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.Cyber Slick tires from Mario Kart 8Cloud Glider from Mario Kart 8

Cloudtop Cruise is the first course of the Special Cup of Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This course mainly takes place on clouds, a giant beanstalk (similar to GBA Sky Garden), and on an airship (like DS Airship Fortress). Several of Bowser's airships are seen flying in the background. It shares its name with Sky Garden in some other languages.

Course layout[edit]

Cloudtop Cruise, from Mario Kart 8.
The course as seen from the starting line

The race starts on a giant beanstalk. Shortly after, there is a slight right turn and a ramp with some Item Boxes on it leading onto a balloon with Bowser's insignia that characters can bounce on, similar to Mushroom Trampolines. The racers will then continue racing on a cloud, with a zigzagging set of turns and a small split route with another balloon. After a U-turn, they jump onto an airship, where the player encounters two paths, both of which meet up right before a cannon, which launches the player to a anti-gravity metal track inside a storm cloud. On the track, there are many Dash Panels, but once in a while, lightning will strike them, which the racers have to avoid or else they will get knocked out. The lightning also deactivates the Dash Panels when active. This section then ends to start a gliding section, which touches down on a giant stone ? Block, a reference to how Beanstalks grow out of ? Blocks in Super Mario games. There is then one more right turn before the finish line.

Shortcuts[edit]

  • Near the end of the lap, players can jump off two big leaves, cutting the final corner.

Music[edit]

Like several other courses, the music for this course has two different variations: the first variation is orchestral and plays when the players drive on the cloud and beanstalk sections, while the second variation is a rock arrangement that plays when reaching the thundercloud section. The ending portion of both variations uses parts of "Gusty Garden Galaxy" from Super Mario Galaxy and "Sky Station Galaxy" from Super Mario Galaxy 2. The course's music also reappears as a new arrangement, which combines the two variations, in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on the Mario Circuit stage and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on any Mario Kart stage.

The first portion of the course's music plays on amiibo screens in select retail stores.

Audio.svg Cloudtop Cruise - The Gusty Garden Galaxy section of the music
File infoMedia:MK8 CloudtopCruise2.oga
Audio.svg Cloudtop Cruise (thundercloud) - The thundercloud version of the Gusty Garden Galaxy section of the music
File infoMedia:Thundercloud_gustygardengalaxy.oga
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

Mario Kart 8 Original Soundtrack liner notes[edit]

"On this title, we set ourselves on a challenge of creating melodies we'd never come up with before, and we put a huge amount of effort into this track. We thought that a full orchestra would be perfect for creating that sense of a vast world in the clouds. We've included the thundercloud version of the track, as well as a medley."

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese スカイガーデン
Sukai Gāden
Sky Garden

Chinese (simplified) 空中花园
Kōngzhōng Huāyuán
Sky Garden

Chinese (traditional) 空中花園
Kōngzhōng Huāyuán
Sky Garden

Dutch Wildewolkenweg
Wild Cloudway
French (NOA) Dans les nuages
In the Clouds
French (NOE) Voie céleste
Celestial Way
German Wolkenstraße
Cloudstreet
Italian Vascello Nuvolante
"Cloudflying" Vessel – "Nuvolante" is a pun of "nuvola" (cloud) and "volante" (flying)
Korean 스카이 가든
Seukai Gadeun
Sky Garden

Portuguese Via Nublada
Cloudy Way
Russian Заоблачный круиз
Zaoblachnyy kruiz
Cloudstrider Cruise

Spanish Ruta Celeste
Celestial Route