My Favourite Mario Kart Courses from Each Game!

Super Mario Kart turned 25 yesterday! The now renowned and popular series paved the way for fun item-shooting racing games that we've all come to know and love. Allowing players the chance to race as one of their favourite Mario heroes or enemies, the game offered a bunch of truly fantastic tracks, as well as a multi-player Battle Mode. 

To celebrate the games anniversary, join me as I share my favourite course from each of the games so far. 

Super Mario Kart 

Rainbow Road 

There's no way I could do a list like this without mentioning Rainbow Road somewhere! The track that has no doubt made plenty of people utter profanities as they slipped to their doom, Rainbow Road provided a challenging final course in Super Mario Kart's Special Cup. Pretty simple in design, this multi-coloured road offered sharp bends, angry Thwomps, and holed-up pathways. The simplicity is deceiving, as when you're trying to traverse this with other players, there's no doubt at one point you'll find yourself being nudged off the side. 

Rainbow Road also included some truly memorable music, and has since seen several reiterations throughout the games 25-year history.

Retro Review: Toobin'

Many older games I have fond memories of span across the times when me and my brother would play a bunch of video games together. As a duo, we've played through a variety of games-many of which I can look back on fondly. Toobin' is one of those games.


Originally released in 1988 as an Atari arcade game, it has since been ported onto a number of systems, including the Nes, Game Boy Colour and Playstation. The game saw players taking control of Bif and Jet, two water-loving dudes who are relaxing upon one of those inflatable rubber donuts. The aim of the game was quite a simple one-navigate your chosen character down a number of different landscapes, whilst avoiding obstacles, collecting points and letters to spell "Toobin" and attempting to slow down the other player. Like any racing game, the first to make it across the finish line wins.

What I distinctly remember from Toobin' is the level designs. One minute you can be enjoying a bright jungle-like atmosphere (like the Amazon level), and suddenly, you'll seamlessly glide down a strong current into a rather sinister one (like Nightmare, and the River Styx). There are a total of 15 levels to race through, which unfortunately isn't too many, but then the game gets increasingly more difficult by the end, so you'll be playing them for a considerably long time.


As much as I love this game, there is no denying that negative aspects are evident. Firstly, the controls take a little getting used to. Biff and Jet are navigated through the water by merely pressing left and right repeatedly to build up a momentum. Whilst this may sound simple, it's definitely harder than it looks, resulting in what I feel is a somewhat clunky control system at times. Another problem is that the game play gets very samey rather quickly. Whilst this may not matter too much in multiplayer mode, there is definitely an element of tedium towards the end on single player. 


Overall, Toobin' is an enjoyable game which I have fond memories of completing as a kid with my brother. The graphics are bright and fun-looking, the enemies are  often quite scary (remember I mentioned the Nightmare and River Styx levels? That's where you'll find them), and it is a great game to play with another player. As the racing lane is rather tight, it is hard to overtake players for long before the other crashes into you, making this a pretty fun, competitive game. Sure, it may get a little repetitive and dull at times, but it's harmless fun and thankfully has considerable replay value.