Cloudtop Cruise

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 Sky Garden (GBA).

Cloudtop Cruise
Information
Appearance(s)	Mario Kart 8 (2014) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)
Cup(s)	Special Cup
Based on	Beanstalk / Airship
Staff Ghost	2:26.347 by Nin★Maria (8) (as Baby Rosalina) 2:19.568 by Nin★Maria (8 Deluxe) (as Baby Rosalina) (150cc) 1:44.120 by Nin★Giulia (8 Deluxe) (as Bowser Jr.) (200cc)
Wi-Fi	Available (Wii U, Switch)
Music Mahito Yokota (Super Mario Galaxy themes) Atsuko Asahi (composition/arrangement)
Course map Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

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 Sky Garden), and on an airship (like Airship Fortress). Several of Bowser's airships are seen flying in the background.

Course layout

The course as seen from the starting line.

The race starts on a giant beanstalk. Shortly after there is a ramp with some Item Boxes on it, and there is a Bowser Balloon that characters can bounce on, similar to the mushrooms in Mushroom Gorge from Mario Kart Wii. The racers will then continue racing on a cloud. Later, they come 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. 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 Mario games. There is just one more right turn before the finish line.

Shortcuts

• Players can bounce on the second Bowser Balloon without using a Mushroom.
• Near the end of the lap, players can jump off two big leaves, cutting off the final corner.

Staff ghost

The staff ghost for this course uses Baby Rosalina in the Biddybuggy. The times to beat are 2:26.347 in Mario Kart 8 and 2:19.568 in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 200cc, the staff ghost is Bowser Jr. with a time of 1:44.120.

Music

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 Sky Station Galaxy and Gusty Garden Galaxy's music from the Super Mario Galaxy games. 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.

Gallery

• 

  The course icon

• 

  Starting line

• 

  Baby Rosalina at the start of the course

• 

  Rosalina racing on the course

• 

  Cloudy segment of the course

• 

  The Airship segment on the course

• 

  Entrance to the course's thunderhead segment

• 

  Mario racing on the course

• 

  Final jump

• 

  Aerial view of the beanstalk segment of the course

• 

  Shy Guy racing on the course

• 

  An released screenshot revealing the name of the course

• 

  The stamp obtained for beating the staff ghost at this course

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	スカイガーデン Sukai Gāden	Sky Garden
Spanish	Ruta Celeste	Celestial Road
French (NOA)	Dans les nuages	In the Clouds
French (NOE)	Voie céleste	Celestial Way
Dutch	Wildewolkenweg	Wild Cloudway
German	Wolkenstraße	Cloudstreet
Italian	Vascello Nuvolante	"Cloudflying" Vessel – "Nuvolante" is a pun of "nuvola" (cloud) and "volante" (flying)
Portuguese	Via Nublada	Cloudy Way
Russian	Заоблачный круиз Zaoblachnyy kruiz	Cloudstrider Cruise
Korean	스카이 가든 Seukai Gadeun	Sky Garden
Chinese	空中花園 (Traditional) 空中花园 (Simplified) Kōngzhōng Huāyuán	Sky Garden