10 Mario Kart Tracks That Deserve Remakes

“Mario Kart: Super Circuit” (2001) Seeing Sky Garden getting remade for “Deluxe” has opened our horizons. Sure, “Super Circuit” is more of a 2D racer like the first “Mario Kart”, but this limit in technology only widens the scope for what the GBA racer’s tracks could look like today. Take Lakeside Park, for example. At first, it’s simply a tropical island with a volcano resting in the distance. Upon reaching the final lap, the volcano erupts and causes magma rocks to rain from the sky! Just imagine how awesome this would look in a game with 3D graphics and detailed textures like “Deluxe”!

“Mario Kart 64” (1996) Kalamari Desert has had the remake treatment before, having reappeared in “Mario Kart 7” on the 3DS. And yet, it feels like it’s been ages since we last saw it. Racers bolt across this Western-themed location as they try to outrun the busy railroads that intersect the course. Even in “Mario Kart 7”, the track feels a bit barren, even for a desert. Under “Deluxe”, Kalamari Desert could get some much-needed touch-ups. Place some Toads dressed as cowboys in a few places, maybe put a third train on the track or make the two pre-existing ones go faster. Dress it up and make it look pretty for the hootenanny! Come on!!

Peach Gardens

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“Mario Kart DS” (2005) Speaking of looking pretty, Peach Gardens was a surprisingly beautiful course despite it running on DS hardware. It also presented its own use of typical stage hazards like setting Chain Chomps loose in the hedge maze and littering the dirt paths with Monty Moles. Though it did get remade for “Mario Kart Wii”, it’s time we modernize the course a bit. The Switch’s power could bring those flower patches to life and make the hedges look less blocky. It’s time this course looks more like a garden and less like Block Plaza!

“Mario Kart: Super Circuit” (2001) Sunset Wilds was yet another uniquely designed course for “Super Circuit” that has only been remade once, and it wasn’t a very good remake. See, the schtick here lies in the tents. Crash through one of these tents and you’ll find a Shy Guy or two latched onto your kart, slowing you down. Annoying? Yes, but it was kind of funny! Unfortunately, when it was brought back for the mobile game “Mario Kart Tour”, the Shy Guys were basically replaced with a bunch of Monty Moles. If this course were to come back, the Shy Guys need to be integrated into the course, not sidelined as background characters.

“Mario Kart: Double Dash!!” (2003) A handful of “Double Dash” tracks have returned in “Deluxe”, but there is still one we’re missing out on. Where in the world is Daisy Cruiser!? This course was just as much of a fan favorite as Peach Beach and Waluigi Stadium! The only gripe we really had was the poor excuse of a shortcut; it failed to serve as a proper shortcut and was only worth traversing for the guaranteed double Item Box. Also, the oversized dining room tables that you can’t crash through. Should Daisy Cruiser return, we hope to see these changes take hold and really flesh out the atmosphere.

“Mario Kart Wii” (2008) There are two tracks from “Mario Kart Wii” that we would love to revisit. One of them is Moonview Highway, a course that puts racers in the middle of a busy highway as they dart around hillside roads and into city streets. While Toad’s Turnpike already fulfills the “token race in the city” desire, we’d argue that Moonview Highway is a better fit. The course manages to blend the metropolitan atmospheres of cities like San Francisco, New York City, and even Tokyo perfectly. From the moment you get on the bridge to the trucks that let you boost off their ramps, Moonview Highway has been overlooked for far too long.

“Mario Kart DS” (2005) Airship Fortress was one the coolest tracks introduced in “Mario Kart DS”. It’s popularity has managed to get the course remade not once, but twice - once for “Mario Kart 7” and again for “Tour”. And yet, we want it again. See, the awesome thing about Airship Fortress is how it replicates the same airships from “Super Mario Bros. 3” as a racetrack. Rocky Wrenches will try to mess you up, flame pillars move about in the hull, and you even get shot out of a cannon and into a castle! Sure, other courses do similar things, but Airship Fortress did it best.

Yoshi Desert

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“Mario Kart: Super Circuit” (2001) Of all the courses featured in “Super Circuit”, Yoshi Desert was the weakest. So, why do we want it to be a part of “Deluxe’s” DLC? Well, it had some good ideas that could be fleshed out. Yoshi Desert’s gimmick was that the more sandy segments of the road housed Piranha Plants that would pop out of the ground like a bunch of polka-dotted Sarlaac Pits! And it was cool! But the problem was that you really had to go out of your way and intentionally get eaten by one of these just to see it. Otherwise, you could go through a whole race and not even know they were there. “Deluxe” could really revamp this track and make these Piranha Pits a threat!

“Mario Kart Wii” (2008) Originally, we were going to throw Koopa Troopa Beach from “Mario Kart 64” on here, but then we remembered the water park ride that is Koopa Cape. At first, the course doesn’t seem all that special. You’re just racing in the side of a mountain with a waterfall, and next thing you know, you’re racing through a raging river, straight down a pipe, and driving through an underwater tunnel alongside Cheep Cheeps! Cap it off with a launch out of the pipe and landing by the waterfall…I mean, really, why wouldn’t you want this track again!?

“Mario Kart DS” (2005) Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the best “Mario Kart” track in the history of mankind. The power of “WAH” has been harnessed and morphed into a massive pinball machine. Now, racers can dash past huge balls and drift along railings before reaching the center of the table and avoiding bumpers and balls. Plus, Item Boxes are given different sound effects to drive the arcade feeling home within players. And we experience it all under the watchful eye of our Lord and savior, Waluigi. The day we see this course come back is the day the world screams “WAH” in joy once again.