Classic course

A classic course,  formerly known as Extra Course in Mario Kart: Super Circuit and as Retro course until Mario Kart Wii, is a past Mario Kart game's course. They first appear in Mario Kart: Super Circuit and then systematically appear in every Mario Kart game starting with Mario Kart DS. They come in the Shell Cup, Banana Cup, Leaf Cup, and Lightning Cup.

A Mario Kart course has rarely returned as a classic more than once with a few exceptions. Until Mario Kart 8, Retro Courses were generally identical to their original counterparts, receiving only graphical updates. For example, in SNES and GBA courses, the space is larger and the blocks are taller, and in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, courses appear almost identical to the originals, the only differences being the added underwater and gliding sections in the latter game, while in Mario Kart DS, some Retro Courses appear to be scaled down in graphics due to system limitations of the Nintendo DS.

Starting from Mario Kart 8, most classic courses are completely redesigned for HD graphics. They usually include new mechanics, new details for the race tracks, and completely new backgrounds, and also support the anti-gravity, underwater, and gliding mechanics. Also new to Mario Kart 8, most classic courses have newly arranged or remastered music, whereas Retro Courses in older Mario Kart games retain their original music (although there are exceptions). Mario Kart Tour features both courses with the original general appearance and reworked courses. The original soundtrack is almost always used.

Table of Retro Courses
Courses highlighted in red have yet to appear as Retro Courses in a later Mario Kart installment. A hyphen (-) indicates that the course appears as a new course in its respective game and therefore can not appear as a Retro Course in it or in a previous installment.