Kanaami Road

Kanaami Roads are red Chain-Link platforms that appear in the Mario Kart series. They have a unique associated ramp design, and also sometimes incorporate sloping structures similar to those found in Excitebike Arena or the RMX Choco Island courses. They make their first appearance in Mario Kart Tour, where they are mostly found in the R, T, and R/T variations of courses.

In R variants, their use is to assist the player in going upwards in areas where racers jump or glide down from a height. They are also sometimes used at the end of glider or cannon sections to give more space for the player to land. In T variants, their main use is to instead provide more Jump Boosts, Dash Panels, and Mini-Turbos for the player, which in turn provides more actions for the game's combo and point-earning system. In several courses, they are used to take racers outside the normal bounds of the track. Kanaami Roads are also frequently often placed as the startpoint and/or endpoint of Glider Challenges.

Kanaami Roads are also used in the normal variations of some courses, usually to replace a Chain-Link platform from a previous appearance. Wii Mushroom Gorge has several ramps replaced by Kanaami Roads, 3DS Toad Circuit has part of the bridge replaced, 3DS Rock Rock Mountain uses them on the left half of the starting area, and 3DS Piranha Plant Slide uses them as the floor of the underwater section.

Kanaami Roads reappear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe via the Booster Course Pass, mostly in the aforementioned cases where Mario Kart Tour incorporated them as a normal part of the track geometry. However, has a Kanaami Road appear on its second lap to turn racers onto the train tracks. This Kanaami Road is invisible and intangible to racers not on lap two, so a player that is sufficiently behind or ahead may see racers driving on nothing.

The word "Kanaami" itself is a romanization of「金網」, which is Japanese for "wire mesh", such as that of Chain-Links.