Rainbow Road

Rainbow Road is always the final track in the last cup (Special Cup) in the Mario Kart series. As the name implies, the track is rainbow-colored and the course is suspended in space. It is well known for being one of the most surreal and toughest tracks to master, since most of the Rainbow Road tracks have no rails.

Super Mario Kart
Rainbow Road has no rails at all and contains 90-degree turns. The rainbows are made of tiles. Flashing Thwomps (named Electric Thwomps by many) serve as obstacles. When remade for Mario Kart Super Circuit, the Thwomps were removed.

Mario Kart 64
This version of Rainbow Road contains rails throughout the course, roving Rainbow Chomps, neon-light pictures of characters in the distance, and a huge drop just after the start line. A carefully timed Jump at the beginning could be used as a huge shortcut. This course made an appearance in F-Zero X and is described as a "Psychedelic Experience" in that game. It is the longest course in the series at two minutes a lap, or 2000 game meters.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit


In this game, Rainbow Road has rails at the start/finish line. Edges of the course are lined with bounce-jumps, and astute racers can use Mushrooms for significant shortcuts. This game also features the Rainbow Road course from Super Mario Kart, but without the flashing Thwomps.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Dash Panels give a boost of speed to the racers in this course. This version of Rainbow Road also has rails in parts of the course. It contains a pipe that shoots players to the highest point in the track. It also contains floating sculptures of items, and rains stars that racers can pick up. It has the most pearl-like colors of all the Rainbow Roads. Additionally, the entire course is placed high above a city when played in single player, whereas all the other Rainbow Roads are just floating in space. The city it floats over could be Mushroom City because of the design of some of the buildings.

''Mario Kart DS
This Rainbow Road also has some rails and includes a loop and corkscrew. Those elements may have been added to ensure some challenge; players can place items so their opponents fall off the corkscrew or loop. Also, the coloring is different from the other Rainbow Roads: here, the stripes on the track follow the track, instead of crossing it.

Mario Kart Arcade GP
This game is notable for having two new Rainbow Road themed tracks, (Rainbow Coaster for instance, gives a very rollercoaster like experience, much like the DS Rainbow Road. It also features a teleporter mid-stage.). However the difficulty level of these courses are much lower than the other Rainbow Roads, even in the sections without walls.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 has the same track of its previous version, but no coins at the Jumping Shortcut.

Mario Hoops 3 on 3
Rainbow Road is the unlockable third dribble race from the "challenges" section. However, this Rainbow Road floats above the clouds and around a clock tower, and not much of the course is fully seen when playing.

Trivia

 * F-Zero X has a track named Rainbow Road. It imitates the Mario Kart 64 version of the Rainbow Road, having the same map of the track, and following it basically. Parts, though not all of it, are rainbow-colored. Unlike the original, it has no barriers in certain areas, and the neon Mario series decor is missing.
 * Sonic R has a stage named Radiant Emerald, which is obviously inspired by Rainbow Road, as both courses take place in outer space and are filled with Rainbow-colored flashing lights.