SNES Rainbow Road

Rainbow Road is a race course that first appeared in Super Mario Kart, and as a retro track in Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart 7.

Appearance in Super Mario Kart
Rainbow Road is a very unique track: this is the only track in the game that is not numbered compared to the others, thus, there is only one Rainbow Road in the whole game. Despite being the final track of the game, it is relatively short compared to other tracks in the game and it is also the shortest Rainbow Road to date. It is also the only track in the Special Cup with normal traction. To begin with, Rainbow Road lacks rails entirely and has 90-degree turns. Rainbow-colored tiles cover the track's surface, and the yellow tiles conceal Coins and jumping bumps. This course features Star Thwomps which can, unlike regular Thwomps, wipe out a racer by touch as well as by crushing, unless the racer activates a Star or a Boo. The track begins with racers taking a turn to the right, there they find ? Panels to gather items and there are some jumping bumps that might be a hindrance as there is a quartet of Star Thwomps ahead with a very tight space between them for racers to pass though racers can also pass on the sides of the Thwomps; after this, racers turn to the right again where they could get some coins here, followed by another turn to the right, there is once again a path with jumping bumps with an incoming turn that might cause careless racers to fall, after this turn, the track gets narrower and follows a long path where more coins and Star Thwomps are found along the way with another turn awaiting the player, it is here where the track gets even more narrower increasing the risk of falling, before the final turn, the track splits into two roads, the left side contains coins while the right side has 2 ? Panels, both have a pair of Star Thwomps near the part these roads merge, alternatively, there is a jumping bump in the middle gap, if any racers use a Mushroom while they're heading it, they can jump over the gap for a significant shortcut. After the final turn, before the finish line, there is another quartet of Star Thwomps, but this time there is no space between them to pass, only the side or when the Star Thwomps are rising, after this, the track starts over again.

Appearance in Mario Kart: Super Circuit
This Rainbow Road reappeared in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. The background is from Rainbow Road, the only feature absent being the Paper Mario Bowser's Castle floating in the sky. The Star Thwomps and the last jumping bump were removed.

Appearance in Mario Kart 7
Rainbow Road makes its third appearance as the last course of the Lightning Cup in Mario Kart 7, being the first Rainbow Road to reappear as a retro track in another Mario Kart besides its appearance in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Unlike the last appearance or any other Rainbow Road course, this track is short, and is one of the shortest tracks in the game. Despite this, there are three laps instead of five. It underwent a great redesign while keeping the original layout. Unlike Super Circuit, Star Thwomps make a return in the course. They are bigger (which actually reduces their number in the track) and now hit the track forming undulations on it, which the player Trick off of. Also, metallic grinding noises can be heard when the Star Thwomps are driven under. Ramps are also added throughout the course, taking the place of the yellow bumps. Using the ramp in between the junction track is easy, the player has to use the mushroom on the ramp and hop to perform a trick to get a boost across the gap. If the player is in first-person view, the player can see the stars in the background through the breaks in the pixels.

Trivia

 * Super Mario Kart composer Soyo Oka considers this course's theme one of her favorite compositions.
 * SNES Rainbow Road has appeared in three Mario Kart games, more than any other Rainbow Road in the series.
 * SNES Rainbow Road is the only course in Mario Kart 7 not to have a boost pad or a boost ramp, and one of four courses not to have a glider pad, or a glider ramp; the others being N64 Luigi Raceway,  GCN Daisy Cruiser, and Rosalina's Ice World.