Board 8 > Best Mario Kart Track: Results & Discussion

(+) Yeah! (+)

Here bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=479250
No deadline on predix, so feel free to do a favs bracket whenever if you like. The contest will start in two hours, with 4 matches a day for R1.

Here's the breakdown of tracks by game:
8: 14
64: 13
Wii: 10
DS: 8
GCN: 5
SNES: 4
3DS: 4
Tour: 3
GBA: 2
GP: 1

And by character!
5: Bowser
(4: Rainbow Road)
3: DK, Koopa, Toad, Wario, Yoshi
2: Luigi, Waluigi
1: Babies, Daisy, Mario, Peach

Go my Mount Wario

I wonder if meme tracks or honestly high-tier, well-designed tracks will do better.

I'm fine with either, I'm just curious.

Grand_Kirby posted...

I wonder if meme tracks or honestly high-tier, well-designed tracks will do better.

Well the actual objective #1 Mario Kart track, Baby Park, is both

Day 1 results
Baby Park 26-9 Mario Circuit 1
Shroom Ridge 21-14 Frappe Snowland
Choco Mountain 14-21 Koopa Cape
Ninja Hideaway 18-17 Wild Woods

Top seed Baby Park got off to a strong start, but MK's first ever track didn't embarrass itself. MK64 went 0-2 with both tracks losing in identical scorelines, and Wild Woods falls slightly short of a comeback against one of the few Tour originals in the contest.

Day 2: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80920860

(I won't update the bracket for a while yet in case people want to get their fav brackets in)

Oops i missed day 1
But I would have voted all those tracks through so that rules.

Day 2 results
Rainbow Road (64) 24-2 Diamond City
Wario's Gold Mine 14-15 Peach Gardens
Squeaky Clean Sprint 16-11 Luigi's Mansion
Bowser's Castle (64) 13-14 Animal Crossing

Wow, two very tight matches today! Wario v Peach tied after 24 hours, so I cast the deciding vote (as stated in the opening post). Animal Crossing manages to stay just ahead of Bowser 64, and Rainbow Road 64 shows a dominant performance. Is it a sign of that track's strength, or had people simply not played Arcade GP? Time will tell.

Day 3: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80921402

I watched the video of Diamond City because I wasn't familiar with it at all, and the track seemed fine. But man, the game itself looked really slow and boring.

every time I read the words baby park the music gets stuck in my head

send help

You know. Same.

https://youtu.be/7aOe1pdNU-4?si=Dy6Pr0oF9XNq3AvJ

Day 3 results
Mount Wario 18-7 Bowser's Castle Wii
DK Jungle Parkway 14-11 Music Park
Sky Garden 11-14 Toad Harbor
Delfino Square 16-9 Mushroom Gorge

These matches all had the same scoreline halfway in. In the end MK8 goes 2/2 and Wii goes 0/2, while Delfino Square keeps the portable tracks from getting wiped out.

Dang, Mushroom Gorge deserved better. It's fun to bounce.

Dang, only one thing I voted for advanced, but there's a lot of good choices there anyway. Also surprised since I thought more people liked Mushroom Gorge.

andylt posted...

Wii goes 0/2

Both DK Jungle Parkway and Delfino Square are in Wii as retro courses, so it did alright.

Whoops. Forgot to vote in the past 2 days. Well good to see that Animal Crossing track still advanced if only barely.

Damn, Sky Garden is the best "not based on anything in particular" track.

Fiop posted...

Both DK Jungle Parkway and Delfino Square are in Wii as retro courses, so it did alright.

True. I never bother to account for the retro tracks!

Day 4 results
Rainbow Road 3DS 20-9 Cloudtop Cruise
Koopa Troopa Beach 16-14 Daisy Cruiser
Airship Fortress 17-13 Mute City
Rainbow Road SNES 15-16 Yoshi Circuit

Many people commented about this being a stacked group, and we got a few tight matches to show for it. Even Cloudtop Cruise looked competitive early on, before Rainbow Road charged ahead.

Day 5: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80922601

nooooo mute city

nooooo rainbow road snes. Yoshi Circuit is great, though.

Yeah I probably have Yoshi Circuit as #3 in that 8-pack behind Koopa Troopa Beach and Rainbow Road SNES. Tough matchup, tough break! :/

Actually watching the video for Airship Fortress and realizing all the hype I heard surrounding it before but can't recall if I've ever actually seen it in action. Surely #1 guaranteed retro track for MK9... surely?

MartinFF7 posted...

Surely #1 guaranteed retro track for MK9... surely?

Wario Stadium is the only 64 track to have never returned, I'd put money on that one coming back!

MrSmartGuy posted...

I watched the video of Diamond City because I wasn't familiar with it at all, and the track seemed fine. But man, the game itself looked really slow and boring.

playing most tracks at lower CCs tends to do that for most entries lol

andylt posted...

Wario Stadium is the only 64 track to have never returned, I'd put money on that one coming back!

god i hope not lmao. i don't think they could do anything to make it worth it short of reimagining the whole thing and turning it into a 1 lap race, that track is just a slog...

btw i think my most wanted legacy course right now is probably maka wuhu, and i'd imagine that... honestly, toad's factory is probably the most demanded now as far as stuff that hasn't resurfaced since goes

by the way on today's match i couldn't help but of course notice that two links were provided for snes bc3 (fully understandable considering the difference between the versions lol)

i'm just wondering if perhaps by the later rounds, that can become a standard thing? (including the original and modern (or i guess rather, "best") iterations (i mean, people probably prefer 8 to tour versions in the cases where 8 came earlier). was thinking it was honestly a little bit biased having it but not mk8 yoshi valley on that match, even if it was understandable

UF8 posted...

by the way on today's match i couldn't help but of course notice that two links were provided for snes bc3 (fully understandable considering the difference between the versions lol)

i'm just wondering if perhaps by the later rounds, that can become a standard thing? (including the original and modern (or i guess rather, "best") iterations (i mean, people probably prefer 8 to tour versions in the cases where 8 came earlier). was thinking it was honestly a little bit biased having it but not mk8 yoshi valley on that match, even if it was understandable

Yeah, that's a good shout. I decided to post the original version of every track rather than the most modern one, because I know fans dislike the changes made to many tracks when they've been brought back (especially some of those in the early waves of the Booster Course Pass). I made an exception for Tour, as most of those would need 3 separate videos to see the whole track and it just made sense to me to use the 8 versions instead. Though in retrospect, I could've used the Tour version of Ninja Hideaway.

As you say, for Bowser Castle 3 I thought the 8 version was such a radical change that it warranted being included, but I didn't want to exclude the original either. I'm planning to include both versions of Ribbon Road for the same reason (thankfully its opponent is an 8 track so no need for multiple vids there). But you're right, it's not fair to Yoshi Valley, so from R2 I'll include the original and most 'modern' (excluding Tour) versions of each track where applicable.

Day 5 results
Yoshi's Island 23-4 Singapore Speedway
Neo Bowser City 18-9 Moo Moo Farm
Yoshi Valley 17-10 Bowser Castle 3 SNES
DK Mountain 20-7 Toad's Factory

After a bunch of close matches lately, today's were all pretty straightforward. It's been a good couple of days for Yoshi, but personally I'm most surprised by DK Mountain's dominance. I thought Toad's Factory was popular!

Day 6: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80923213

I also thought people liked Toad's Factory more. DK Mountain is great anyway, so not complaining too much.

Dedf1sh posted...

Damn, Sky Garden is the best "not based on anything in particular" track.

and one of the best tracks on DS, I like it a lot

I kinda liked Sky Garden on the GBA, as one of the better tracks there. But in later iterations on 8 & Tour, it's just kinda okay compared to the others. I forgot it was even on DS.

Day 6 results
Maple Treeway 23-3 Luigi Raceway
Big Blue 19-7 Ribbon Road
Waluigi Stadium 10-16 Sunshine Airport
Waluigi Pinball 17-9 Toad's Turnpike

No super close matches but Waluigi Stadium put up a bit of a fight. Both Super Circuit original tracks to make the contest have been eliminated in R1.

Day 7: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80923751

Toad's Factory was my favourite of its 8-pack so yeah, definitely surprised... DK Mountain good-not-great? such a slog between the cannon and when the hairpoint turns start

Sunshine Airport so good, fuck Ribbon Road, Maple Treeway lead contender status was never in doubt

Ribbon Road was probably my favorite GBA track. It had a bunch of crazy shortcuts which I had fun experimenting with, and also some kinda tough booster parts. The 8 remake was fine, though neither of those elements were really present. The crazy shortcuts I understand, but it could've used some similar booster parts.

Day 7 results
Coconut Mall 17-10 Athens Dash
Wario Stadium (64) 11-16 Ice Ice Outpost
Excitebike Arena 13-14 Moonview Highway
Royal Raceway 13-14 Bowser Castle (DS)

The latter three matches were tight, the last two in particular kept swapping leads all day. I cast the TB vote for Moonview but it was close, honestly. Athens Dash acquits itself well but still gets Coconut Malled.

Day 8 (End of R1!): https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80924238

Remember to do favs brackets today if you still want to do them, as I'll be inputting the bracket results tomorrow.

Wow could have been a 100% day until andy ruined it!

I was all ready to cast the deciding vote for Bowser Castle DS, your last min vote threw me off guard!

100% bad day that is

Although Coconut Mall is pretty boss in MKWii so that ones fair enough

andylt posted...

I once had the B8 record for Rainbow Road Wii. Not quite a world record, but still >_>

I'm sure this wasn't the case but I still want to believe in the 2008-2009 timeframe I was one of the best North American-based kart players online.

Maintaining a 9000+ rating while literally everyone else was using bikes, had to mean something...!

I also used karts in MKWii and maintained 9000+ most of the time. Also used auto drift and the Wii Wheel. Got a couple of good time trials with Jetsetter (best was probably on Moonview Highway). Didnt know about B8 records but I may not have been active there then. I was active on the MKWii board, though.

I maxed out VR in Wii and got bored so I switched to karts. I maxed out again so I switched to tilt controls. I maxed out again so I starting not leaving the start line until 30 seconds had passed (which, as it turns out is not as big of a hurdle to overcome since you basically immediately get Bullet Bills, but whatever).

Man, I loved that game.

Yeah I was pretty well known in Mario Kart Wii. Especially 08-10'.

Outside of the Coconut WR I held on separate occasions when the glitch was first discovered you could have probably seen me in various worldwide top 10's on the channel rankings before they got hacked to death and Nintendo stopped caring to fix them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50QxL7VllqQ

Here's one exampled where I'm 4th(peaked at 2nd on Desert Hills.)

And at some point I was on the top 10 of 28/32 regional records.

Highest I peaked was 4th on the player's page I think. I've always thought about jumping back into it and climbing myself back up the rankings(I'm way out of the top 100 now on the player's page). But uhhh, adulthood has more responsibilities.

I always jump into the TT scene on new release's to see if it sticks with me. I like 8 and Deluxe but they just didn't quite hold my attention as much, and unfortunately DS and 7 cramped my hands way too much.

Day 8 results
Rainbow Road (Wii) 28-3 Bone-Dry Dunes
DK Summit 18-12 Wuhu Loop
Electrodrome 14-17 Kalimari Desert
Tick-Tock Clock 28-3 Koopa Beach 1

Two blowouts to finish the round, will Rainbow Road Wii and Tick Tock Clock have an epic battle come round 3? Electrodrome had a great comeback attempt but it wasn't enough. The SNES is eliminated here.

Round 2: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80924746

Round 1 stats! Here's how many tracks are left per game, out of how many they came into the contest with:

8: 8/14
DS: 7/8
Wii: 6/10
64: 5/13
GCN: 3/5
3DS: 2/4
Tour: 1/3
SNES: 0/4
GBA: 0/2
GP: 0/1

The DS had an amazing round, only losing Luigi's Mansion. Though two of its wins were by a single vote. The 2D games are gone, and both DK and Yoshi went 3/3 with their tracks.

Day 9 results
Baby Park 10-15 Shroom Ridge
Koopa Cape 14-11 Ninja Hideaway

Round 2 starts off with a bang as our top seed is eliminated by Shroom Ridge! The DS powers on, while Koopa Cape manages to take out the last original Tour track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG198ZmLSP4

Day 10: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80925339

I was kinda worried that Baby Park was gonna run away with this after seeing those nominations I don't mind seeing it lose here, heh. Not really a track I would choose to play on most of the time.

In the few contests I've hosted, the top nominated thing never wins. Baby Park got nominations from 10 different people and got exactly 10 votes this round!

Man what the fuck, Baby Park is the best

I wasn't able to vote because busy with stuff and work but I guess at least it lost by more than my vote

Im just glad that Ninja Hideaway lost.

Baby Park is chaotic good.

But at the end of the day it's just Bristol speedway.

I nom'd Baby Park and it's my second-favorite Mario Kart track.

.... but Shroom Ridge is literally my favorite, so......

The only thing I can really give Shroom Ridge is that it has some cool curves for drifting but otherwise, oh cool a highway map, literally my least favorite type of Mario Kart track

tiny oval LOST?!!!

The evil is defeated

Day 10 results
Rainbow Road (64) 17-8 Peach Gardens
Squeaky Clean Sprint 12-13 Animal Crossing

No big upset today, as RR64 breezes past Peach. The 8 on 8 match was very tight though, and we were less than 10 mins from another tiebreak (I would have voted for Sprint, fwiw!). For the second round in a row, Animal squeaks past its opponent by a single vote.

Day 11: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80925896