Classic course

A classic course,  formerly known as an Extra Track in Mario Kart: Super Circuit and as a Retro course from Mario Kart DS to Mario Kart 7, is a course that appears in a Mario Kart game following its introduction. They first appeared in Mario Kart: Super Circuit in Extra Cups, which include the Extra Mushroom, Flower, Lightning, Star, and Special Cups, each containing four courses from Super Mario Kart. Classic courses systematically appear in every Mario Kart game since Mario Kart DS, with the Shell Cup, Banana Cup, Leaf Cup, and Lightning Cup exclusively featuring classic courses. Starting with the DLC cups in Mario Kart 8, classic courses can appear in the same cup as new courses. The Booster Course Pass DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe consists mostly of classic courses, which are also referred to as Booster Courses.

Starting with Mario Kart DS, classic courses are distinguished by a prefix in their names indicating the game they originate from. Most of these prefixes are abbreviations of the name of the console that the game was released on; for example, "N64" refers to Mario Kart 64, while "GBA" refers to Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

Prior to Mario Kart 8, classic courses were near-identical to their original counterparts, usually only receiving graphical updates, such as expanding the space and blocks in SNES and GBA courses. In Mario Kart DS, however, some classic courses appear to be scaled down in graphics due to limitations of the Nintendo DS. In Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, classic courses appear almost identical to their original versions, besides added underwater and gliding sections in the latter game. Starting in Mario Kart 8, most classic courses are completely redesigned with HD graphics, usually featuring newer mechanics such as underwater, gliding, and (except in Mario Kart Tour) anti-gravity. They also tend to feature other new details, including completely new backgrounds or even changes to the track's layout. Additionally, Mario Kart 8 features newly remastered music for all classic courses, whereas classic courses in previous Mario Kart games tend to retain their original music (though they were sometimes altered due to system limitations, primarily for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS). Mario Kart Tour's classic courses vary in similarity to their original versions, and the music is almost always either the original arrangement or from Mario Kart 7, with the only exceptions being and  (which both use new arrangements), the SNES Mario Circuit and GBA Bowser's Castle courses (which use the Mario Kart 7 arrangements),  and  (which use the Mario Kart Wii arrangements), and the four Choco Island courses (which use the Mario Kart DS arrangement).

Mario Kart Tour
Mario Kart Tour features 52 courses from previous entries, being the most of any Mario Kart game, as well as a new reroute of N64 Kalimari Desert named Kalimari Desert 2 which is categorized as a classic course in-game. Courses in Mario Kart Tour are not arranged into set cups like in the other games, as the cups and available courses change between each tour. The courses below are listed in the order in which they were introduced to the game, with 3DS Toad Circuit listed first due to it being the track used for the tutorial before the new players get to access the cups. All of Mario Kart 7's classic courses also returned in the game. Screenshots of DS Shroom Ridge in this game have also been shown, but the course has yet to be featured in a tour.

For a more detailed list of the classic courses in this game, see Mario Kart Tour § Classic.

Table of classic race courses
Courses highlighted in red have yet to appear as classic courses in a later Mario Kart installment. A dash (–) indicates that the course appears as a new course in its respective game and therefore cannot appear as a classic course in it or, unless noted otherwise, in a previous installment.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
While no classic battle courses appear in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, unused tilemaps and minimaps exist for all four battle courses from Super Mario Kart. Unlike other courses in the game, these are stored in one piece, the same way Super Mario Kart stores them.