The 10 HARDEST Mario Kart Tracks
Wario’s Gold Mine
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“Mario Kart Wii” (2008) Wario is one of the greediest characters in gaming, and “Mario Kart Wii” introduced us to the source of his immense wealth. Wario’s Gold Mine is designed in a way that makes it hard to tell what’s coming next. Massive turns and dips in the track have the tendency to hide items placed by opponents. Some sections are missing guardrails, which, trust me, you’ll hear me mention a lot in this video. Hazards are also fairly problematic. Annoying bat-like enemies called Swoops can slow you to a halt with the tiniest of bumps. A short cut towards the end is purposely placed to entice you, with multiple minecarts around it just waiting to ruin your day.
Yoshi Circuit
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“Mario Kart: Double Dash!!” (2003) The designers of “Mario Kart” tracks can get pretty creative with their layouts. In “Double Dash!!,” the Star Cup featured Yoshi Circuit, an island shaped exactly like everyone’s favorite green dino. However, therein lies the challenge. While the race begins in the part that would be Yoshi’s foot, it soon confronts you with sharp turn after sharp turn. It reaches peak difficulty at Yoshi’s spine, where his three little spikes form a wavy road that would be tough to stay on even if there weren’t annoyingly placed Piranha Plants along the side. Your drifting skills will be more than put to the test. And God help you if you’re playing on 200cc.
Neo Bowser City
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“Mario Kart 7” (2011) Most of the time, Bowser only attaches his name to lava-filled castles. “Mario Kart 7” includes a sprawling Metropolis named after him, though it’s still just as tough as his other courses. A lot of the difficulty comes from the constant downpour of rain. This makes for several puddle hazards on the track. However, and unfortunately like the franchise’s ice courses, it also makes for diminished traction throughout. It’s a double dose of frustration, and that’s before we’ve even gotten to the track’s layout. Most of its turns are manageable on lower CCs, even with the rain, though one without any guardrails comes up so quickly, you’re likely to fly into the city below if you don’t slam on breaks.
Donut Plains 3
“Super Mario Kart” (1992) What “Super Mario Kart” lacks in creative level names, it makes up for with some pretty tricky designs. Donut Plains 3 opens up the Special Cup, the last and traditionally hardest of each game. While it may resemble a pleasant, lakeside drive, it’s one of the most stressful courses in the series. There are only a couple of tough turns, but big portions are so narrow, things will start to feel crowded as soon as another racer’s next to you. This is even tougher on the bridges, neither of which have guardrails and the second of which features a hole you have to jump over. Then there are the Monty Moles, placed just at the right moments to be a major nuisance.
Dino Dino Jungle
“Mario Kart: Double Dash!!” (2003) This prehistoric track offers a distinct feeling of adventure, though some racers may want to think twice before embarking. Like many challenging “Mario Kart” tracks, Dino Dino Jungle features a lot of sharp twists and turns. Narrow bridge sections with no guardrails can be annoying with other racers around you. Precariously placed geysers are a hazard to watch out for, as is the brontosaurus-like dino that acts as the track’s center piece. While at one point in the course, it’ll try to stomp you as you go for item boxes, at another it’ll try to nudge you as you cross one of the previously mentioned, narrow bridges.
Toad’s Turnpike
“Mario Kart 64” (1997) There are plenty of old school “Mario Kart” tracks that have been remastered for newer installments. In the case of Toad’s Turnpike, we are eternally grateful, because the original version is much harder than the one we have today. The concept is simple; racers must traverse a nighttime highway while avoiding traffic. You can never tell how many cars will be around each turn, and they make avoiding other racers and their items a major pain. If you’re unlucky enough to be struck by a car, the slow and painful animation almost ensures you’ll get passed. Worse, if you play on Mirror Mode, the direction of the traffic is changed to drive directly into you. No…just, no.
Grumble Volcano
“Mario Kart Wii” (2008) If a track is set around an active volcano, you can bet it’s appropriately hectic and troublesome. Grumble Volcano ends the Wii entry’s Star Cup in spectacularly tough fashion. Its layout is already challenging, with several tight turns that’ll leave your fingers aching through intense drifting. But as every lap sees more sections of the course crumble into the lava below, the track becomes so narrow that you’ll quickly go diving in after it. Additionally, the end of each lap is covered in Fire Snake enemies as well as giant patches of fire due to the volcano’s eruption. Few tracks can put you on the edge of your seat like Grumble Volcano.
Ghost Valley 3
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“Super Mario Kart” (1992) There are many Boo-filled tracks in the “Mario Kart” series, yet none have managed to top Ghost Valley 3 in terms of difficulty. There are hardly any guardrails, and the ones that are there get knocked off as soon as a racer bumps into them. So there’s no guarantee they’ll save you from falling off. More worrisome, and more likely to be the source of your plunge into the abyss, are boost and jump pads placed entirely too close to the edge. If they don’t get you, there are giant chunks of planks missing from the course. Nintendo was at least nice enough not to throw any other obstacles in there as the course is literally falling apart.
Bowser’s Castle
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“Mario Kart 8” (2014) There has been a new Bowser’s Castle track in every “Mario Kart” game. But to be fair, we only wanted to include one. The newest iteration of the big bad’s abode is undeniably intimidating. It features hazards from past versions, like fireballs and daredevil jumps across lava. But Nintendo seemingly went out of its way to make everything just a bit tougher. For example, one big jump is blocked by a pendulum-like ball and chain that requires good timing to make it past. The fireballs are spit by a giant Bowser statue, who also slams the track periodically. That’s not to mention the anti-gravity sections paired with sharp turns, which makes driving in general suspenseful. It truly is a gauntlet.
Rainbow Road
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“Mario Kart Wii” (2008) Like Bowser’s Castle, we didn’t want to overload this list with different Rainbow Roads. We all know that every Rainbow Road is hard. But we chose to single the Wii version out for several reasons. Most of the course is naturally without guardrails. It gets incredibly wavy at certain sections, whether it’s testing your drift skills or bouncing you upwards, tempting you into a speed-granting trick. Speaking of speed, its most frustrating feature is a string of dash pads towards the end of a lap directly on the course’s edge, which promise a boost but are just as likely to send you flying off the side. Rainbow Road is always the final test of your abilities and you’ll definitely feel tested here.
