What are the Best Courses in Mario Kart World?

What makes a track in Mario Kart World truly great? Is it the speed, the shortcuts, the chaos? Or maybe it’s that moment you fly off a glide pad and land clean on a rail, leaving other driversin the dust. There are lots of tracks to try out in this game. Some old ones are back with a fresh look and some brand-new ones are here to shake things up. But out of all of them, only the few listed in this article stand out in every way.

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These are the courses that make you want to race again, just to get better or find something new you missed before. They might have lava pits, flying sections, glowing roads in the sky or busy city paths with jumps and rails. Some are hard, while others are just fun from the first lap to the last.

8

Cheep Cheep Falls

Shrine-Style Track with Tricky Water Sections

Cheep Cheep Falls is one of the new courses in Mario Kart. It’s part of the Leaf Cup and takes place in a quiet, nature-filled area with shrines, wooden bridges and small waterfalls. The track looks calm at first, but there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. You start by racing beside a slow-moving river, with lanterns floating in the water and wooden gates overhead.

Cheep Cheep Falls is also full of collectibles. You’ll find Question Panels in high-up spots, behind logs, near jump pads and even inside hidden paths that require special moves like Wall Run or Charge Jump. There are Peach Medallions placed behind the waterfall and above lanterns and P‑Switches hidden in quiet garden areas or near the shrine pond.

7

Dino Dino Jungle

Jungle Filled with Dinosaurs and Geysers

Dino Dino Jungle is a wild and fun course that takes you deep into a thick green jungle. It’s part of the Banana Cup and starts off in an open forest, but halfway through, you race into a secret lab hidden inside a cave. At the start, you drive through twisting jungle roads. You have to watch out for dinosaurs walking around, especially triceratops and huge long-necked ones. Some block the road, so you need to steer fast or take a different line.

Geysers also pop up without warning. If you drive over one at the right time, you’ll launch into the air, which can help with pulling off beautiful tricks, but it can also throw you off course if you’re not ready. There are three smart shortcuts hidden in the course and all of them need a boost to use properly. If you time it right, you can cut across grass and turn faster. One shortcut is near the start, one is after the dinosaurs and the last is just before the cave lab.

6

DK Spaceport

Tall Space Tower with Steel Roads

DK Spaceport is the last course in the Mushroom Cup. It takes place on a huge metal tower built over the ocean. The design is based on the old Donkey Kong arcade game, with rising platforms, steel beams and barrels scattered across the track. The goal is to race all the way to the top while dodging obstacles and making the most of your boosts.

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You start at the bottom near the water, where the road is wide but full of tight turns and open sides. It’s easy to fall if you don’t steer carefully. You’ll spot crates, ramps and pipes all around as you begin to move upward. One cool thing about this course is that it’s different from most Donkey Kong tracks. Instead of a jungle or volcano, you get a somewhat futuristic spaceport.

5

Acorn Heights

Glide High, Sneak across Vines, and Run through a Village in Trees

Acorn Heights is a high-up forest track found in the Special Cup. This course takes you to a village built on treetops, with wooden paths, leafy bridges and homes shaped like giant acorns. You drive through platforms made of leaves and tree bark while water flows below and forest creatures roam around. It feels peaceful at first, but the track has a lot of clever parts that make each lap exciting.

Early in the race, you go across leaf paths with sharp turns. You have to steer carefully because it’s easy to fall off. A little further ahead, there’s a glide pad that launches you over a big gap. If you aim well in the air, you can skip part of the winding road and land far ahead. There’s also a shortcut with rails tied to hanging vines. You can slide across them to skip a section if your timing is good. These spots save time but can slow you down if you miss.

4

Shy Guy Bazaar

Busy Marketplace Full of Stalls, Water Canals, and Narrow Passageways

Shy Guy Bazaar appears in the Flower Cup and brings back the classic market track from Mario Kart 7. The race takes place in a busy bazaar full of stalls, water canals and narrow passageways hemmed in by palace walls. You’ll run through crowded streets with vendors around you and fountains lining the road, giving the track a lively festival feel.

If you look closely above the stalls, you’ll see rails. You can ride these to skip part of the street, but you need to time your approach and jump just right to land on them. Inside the palace, things are tighter. You go upstairs and around corners, where a jump pad can launch you over a fountain. If you angle any kart well, you can land near a hidden Question Panel next to an item box. After that, you go out onto the palace rooftop. From there, there’s another rail you can ride, or you can take a risky shortcut by dropping down onto the market below.

3

Rainbow Road

Colorful Space Track with Off-Road Shortcuts

You can only race in Rainbow Road after unlocking all seven Grand Prix cups and it’s not available in Free Roam. The race begins on a glowing road above water, with bright lights and star patterns all around you. The track moves up and down and curves in strange ways, so you have to stay focused or risk falling off. On your second lap, a ramp shows up on the left side. If you use a Mushroom here, you can jump across an off-road gap and land far ahead.

On the final lap, there’s a tight left turn where you can pull off another shortcut. If you drift early and boost at the same time, you can fly over part of the road and land past the curve. It’s a risky move, but it saves time and feels great when you pull it off. The whole track feels like it’s floating in space. The road is narrow and sometimes twists sharply, so drifting and boosting at the right moments really matters. You don’t see any guardrails either, so one wrong move can send you falling.

2

Bowser’s Castle

Huge Castle Surrounded by Lava and Dark Hallways

Bowser’s Castle is part of the Lightning Cup and brings back one of the most dangerous tracks in the game. It’s set inside a huge castle surrounded by lava, with tight corners, dark hallways and a lot of places where one mistake can send you into the fire. Right at the start, the road splits into two paths. If you take the outside route, there’s a chain rail that you can grind across. When timed well with a boost, it leads into a wall ride that skips a hard turn.

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If you pick the inside route, a Mushroom lets you dash across a lava patch and cut through the curve. As you move deeper into the castle, the road takes you through a control room where rails and boost pads let you hop over another curve. Later, near the second big turn in the north part of the map, there’s a narrow wall you can ride if you boost at the right time. In the southwest corner, another shortcut lets you skip a bend by driving across rough ground with a dash item.

1

Airship Fortress

Flying Warship with Cannons Aiming at You

Some courses in Mario Kart look cool and serene, but that’s not the Airship Fortress. Here you race on a giant flying airship in the sky, dodging cannon fire, spinning through tight hallways and jumping across broken walls. The race begins on the main deck of the ship. It’s wide enough at first, but things get tricky fast. You’ll see spinning Rocky Wrenches trying to bump you and Bullet Bills getting shot from big cannons on the side.

If you’re not careful, one hit can throw you off the track. The safest way to move quickly here is by riding the rails. There are metal bars along the ship that you can grind across to cut corners and build speed. Later in the course, you enter the fortress part of the airship. This area is packed with tight turns and a big spiral road that wraps around the tower. After that, you get launched from a cannon and land on another platform way ahead. That moment is short, but it feels exciting and helps break up the tight driving sections.

Mario Kart World

Systems

Released

June 5, 2025

ESRB

Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer

Prequel(s)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

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