Rainbow Ride

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This article is about the Super Mario 64 course. For the stage in the Super Smash Bros. series originally known as "Rainbow Ride" in PAL regions, see Rainbow Cruise.
Not to be confused with Rainbow Road.
Rainbow Ride
Entrance of Rainbow Ride
Super Mario 64
Luigi at Rainbow Ride
Super Mario 64 DS
How to unlock Open the Big Star Door on the third floor with 50 Power Stars.
Boss(es) None
Mission(s) Super Mario 64
Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow
The Big House in the Sky
Coins Amassed in a Maze
Swingin' in the Breeze
Tricky Triangles!
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Super Mario 64 DS
Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow
The Big House in the Sky
Coins Amassed in a Maze
Swingin' in the Breeze
Tricky Triangles!
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Switch Star of the Manor
Stars Super Mario 64:
Star icon in Super Mario 64Star icon in Super Mario 64Star icon in Super Mario 64Star icon in Super Mario 64Star icon in Super Mario 64Star icon in Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS:
Star SM64DS.pngStar SM64DS.pngStar SM64DS.pngStar SM64DS.pngStar SM64DS.pngStar SM64DS.pngStar SM64DS.png

Rainbow Ride is the fifteenth and final main course in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS. The entrance to the course is located to the right of Tick Tock Clock's, in a small room above a ledge. The player has to jump onto a high platform in order to reach it. The entrance itself is a small hole in the floor.

Layout[edit]

Map of Rainbow Ride
Map of Rainbow Ride in Super Mario 64 DS

To get around the course, there are several magic carpets that move along rainbow rails when the player steps onto them. The player starts on a platform next to a magic carpet, which moves in a bend around a platform and through a flamethrower. The platform has a ring of coins with an Amp circling above them. The magic carpet falls off its rail at four large spinning platforms with a Lakitu flying over them. Here, the path splits in three directions: To the left are swings, forward is a large concrete[1] maze, and to the right is another magic carpet.

Swinging Platforms Path[edit]

To the left of the player's starting position on the spinning platforms is a pole the player can use to reach the platform below. Hovering above the stair-like platform is a Fly Guy, as well as a seesaw afterward that can help the player reach the platform above. Afterward is a swing, followed by a seesaw that leads to several Falling Blocks. Across the gap is a flamethrower that the player has to time their jump with in order to prevent getting burned. Past the flamethrower is a moving platform followed by a split in the path; up the stairs is another swing that leads to a Power Star, and across the Falling Blocks are pyramid platforms.

Underneath all the platforms up to the split is a large flat platform with a yellow block containing a 1-UP Mushroom.

Maze Path[edit]

Directly ahead of the player's starting position on the spinning platforms is a concrete maze, with a moving platform that helps the player reach it. Inside the maze are the course's Red Coins, Bob-ombs, and flame throwers. By using the Wall Kick to reach the top of the maze through the back end of it, the player can find a Bob-omb Buddy that opens the cannon on the Rainbow Cruiser.

Carpet Path[edit]

To the right of the player's starting position on the spinning platforms is a magic carpet. When stepped on, the carpet moves along its path, and the player has to dodge several platforms in order to prevent being swept off. At the end of the carpet's path are two more carpets, a left and a right, along with the Lakitu from earlier in the N64 version if the player did not defeat it.

The carpet to the left takes the player to the Rainbow Cruiser. The carpet moves around a spinning platform the player has to dodge to avoid getting pushed off the carpet. The bottom of the platform also acts as a flamethrower (the flame is absent in the DS version), and the top has a 1-UP Mushroom floating above it. Once at the Rainbow Cruiser, the player has to jump over platforms and Falling Blocks to climb onto it. The Rainbow Cruiser has a heavy wind rush through it, pushing the player to the stern of the ship. On the deck, there are a couple of Bob-ombs (one replaced by a Goomba in the DS version) and a Lakitu, with the cannon on the stern of the ship. On the bow is the Power Star for the first mission. Using the cannon, the player can reach a platform with a Chuckya and the Power Star for the sixth mission.

The carpet to the right takes the player to the Cloud House. The carpet moves through several platforms the player has to climb over, and the player needs to quickly return to the carpet before it disappears. On one of these platforms is an Amp circling it. The Cloud House itself has a large fireplace that acts like a flamethrower, as well as having a Power Star on its roof. In the DS version, it also contains the Switch Star of the course.

Missions[edit]

Mission Appears in Summary
Rainbow Ride Star 1
Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS
This mission's objective is to collect the Power Star on the ship.
The fireplace flame in Rainbow Ride in Super Mario 64 DS.
The Big House in the Sky
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS
The mission's objective is to collect the Power Star on top of the Cloud House.
Rainbow Ride Star 3
Coins Amassed in a Maze
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS
This mission's objective is to collect the course's Red Coins.
Rainbow Ride Star 4
Swingin' in the Breeze
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS
This mission's objective is to cross the swings.
Rainbow Ride Star 5
Tricky Triangles!
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS
This mission's objective is to use the pyramid platforms to collect the Power Star.
Rainbow Ride Star 6
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 DS
This mission's objective is to use the cannon to reach a platform.
Switch Star of the Manor.PNG
Switch Star of the Manor
Super Mario 64 DS This mission's objective is to collect the course's Switch Star.

Music[edit]

Main article: Slider

The background music for Rainbow Ride is "Slider," a frantic bluegrass/country arrangement of the "Super Mario 64 Main Theme." Rainbow Ride shares this theme with Tick Tock Clock, the Tower of the Wing Cap, Vanish Cap Under the Moat, Wing Mario Over the Rainbow, and Battle Fort, as well as during Koopa the Quick's footraces.

Audio.svg Slider
File infoMedia:SM64-Slide Theme.oga
0:30
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

Enemies[edit]

Statistics from Super Mario 64[edit]

  • Total Number of Coins: 146
  • Caps Found: (none)
  • Spinning Heart: #1: On one of the four large spinning platforms. #2: At the bottom of the maze, under the place where the player can wall-kick up the maze.
  • Cannons: 1
  • 1UP Mushrooms (9):
    • Homing Mushrooms : #1 In the pole on the ship.
    • Static Mushrooms : #2 Floating above one of the platforms of the Pyramid Puzzle. #3 On the second set of Falling Blocks after the player takes the carpet to the Cloud House. #4 Above the fire-shooting platform midway through the ride to the cruiser. #5 On the tip of the cruiser's bowsprit, next to the Star.
    • Triggered Mushrooms : #6 Triggered by riding the Falling Block on the top of the maze.
    • Box Mushrooms : #7 Underneath the "Swingin' in the Breeze" Star on a long platform. #8 On the very top of the maze, by the warp. #9 On the top of the Cloud House, beside the Star.
  • Warps:
    • Located on the very top of the maze, just beside a yellow block with a 1UP in it, it warps the player to the Cloud House balcony.

Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

Main article: Rainbow Cruise

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, there is a stage based on Rainbow Ride, known as Rainbow Cruise in the North American release, which is Rainbow Ride's Japanese name. In PAL versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, its name is corrected to "Rainbow Ride," but Super Smash Bros. Brawl's North American release and both English releases of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate still refer to it as "Rainbow Cruise."

This stage returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese レインボー クルーズ
Reinbō Kurūzu
Rainbow Cruise

Chinese 彩虹之旅[2]
Cǎihóng zhī Lǚ
Journey of Rainbows

French Course Arc-en-ciel
Rainbow Race
German Regenbogen Raserei
Rainbow Madness
Italian Cammino Arcobaleno
Rainbow Road
Korean 레인보우크루즈
Reinbou Keurujeu
Rainbow Cruise

Spanish Camino del Arco Iris
Rainbow Road

Trivia[edit]

  • The name of the 100-Coin Star is Blue Coins atop the Maze.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ (June 10, 1998). Course 15 - Star 3: Coins Amassed in a Maze. Nintendo: Super Mario 64 Strategy (Internet Archive: Wayback Machine). Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  2. ^ From the score sheetMedia:SM64DS course list in Chinese.png and the Power Star menu of Super Mario 64 DS as localized by iQue.
  3. ^ M. Arakawa. Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Page 127.