Worst Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe Cups
What are the worst of the twelve cups found in Mario Kart 8 and/or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Vote and read this list to find out.
The Special Cup..., the epic finale to the games containing the hardest tracks in each game. Well, how ironic how the Special Cup in the newest Mario Kart game is actually the worst one. Well it does have two good tracks, Cloudtop Crusie and Bowser's Castle but they aren't quite amazing though. Bone-Dry Dunes is just terrible and Rainbow Road is one of the worst ones of all time. Overall I really don't like this cup at all.
Rainbow Road sucks. I'm surprised they even call it that anymore. It doesn't even feel like a Rainbow Road.
I'm torn wether this or the Egg Cup is worse. On one hand, the Egg Cup has all of the tracks being relatively decent but no stand-outs, while the Triforce Cup has some really bland tracks, but also one excellent. Wii Wario's Gold Mine had the difficulty cranked way too low from the original and SNES Rainbow Road is at this point becoming an annoying trend. Ice Ice Outpost is alright but one of the blandest tracks ever. However, at least it ends with Hyrule Circuit, one of the best tracks in all of Mario Kart 8.
Mario Kart 8 showed us what a Mushroom Cup really should be like, simple and easy, but still and interesting! Every track of this cup was at least fun in my book with no bad tracks. Mario Kart Stadium is way better than your average start-up track with its night-stadium setting, great music and showing off anti-gravity well. Water Park is a bit boring but it's still interesting, driving through a water-themed amusement park. Sweet Sweet Canyon is an incredibly original course and concept, but Thwomp Ruins is the real winner here. Racing on an abandonded temple in the sky? Count me in! This cup is just great to be honest!
The Flower Cup usually turns out to be one of my favourite cups in a Mario Kart game. The only exceptions to this rule for me are the SNES, GBA and Wii U Flower Cup. This specific Flower Cup does contain two really amazing tracks, but also two really uninteresting tracks. Let's start with the good. Toad Harbour is a nice and tropical harbour town with trolley cars and chill music, and Shy Guy Falls is an epic ride through the mountains. But then we have one of the worst Mario Circuit tracks to this date, and Twisted Mansion, a bland and uninspired ghost track. Not a particularly big fan of this cup.
Similarly to the Egg Cup, there are no real stand-outs to this cup. All courses are relatively fun but nothing too interesting, but they did it better here than the Egg Cup which puts this cup a lot lower on the list. Wii Moo Moo Meadows and GBA Mario Circuit are both fun tracks but they're nothing special that makes you go WoW. DS Cheep Cheep Beach though I'd say is a really cool beginner track with the track design, and N64 Toad's Turnpike is a very chill and beautiful track. However nothing in this cup blows your mind so it's a little on the safe side.
From now on I don't really dislike any of the cups but one thing I must call the Egg Cup is uncolourful. All of the tracks seem to contain the same greyish green aestethic or a really uncolourful pink merged with black/grey. Although the tracks themselves aren't bad. GCN Yoshi Circuit is a good remake, Mute City is alright and Dragon Driftway is one of the best tracks among DLC. But Excitebike Arena is just an adult baby park, boring. So..., I like it but at the same time it gives off a bad vibe.
And now that we're in the bottom half of Mario Kart 8 cups, we're starting to transition to the cups I can dig. Now yes the Banana Cup does also play it a little safe like the Shell Cup, but I liked on average the tracks more. GCN Dry Dry Desert is one of my most nostalgic tracks from Double Dash and while they unfortunately made it a little more barren, I still really like this track. SNES Donut Plains 3 looks STUNNING in HD and the music and setting makes for a nice setting. While N64 Royal Raceway is overrated, I did enjoy it nevertheless. 3DS DK Jungle was a track which on the 3DS I didn't enjoy very much, but here, it's pretty awesome!
DLC Pack 2 was all in all a lot better than the first one, as it was better in every category but the most notable part are the tracks, as they are way better. Out of Crossing and Bell Cup, I thought Crossing was slightly worse in track selection but it still was really great! GBA Cheese Land is my favourite of the retro tracks in the entire game, and Wild Woods is a really fun forest track, I really love that one. The other two tracks are simply just good though. GCN Baby Park is better than the DS or GCN version, and Animal Crossing is a pretty cool track. Overall it is great.
A tad better than what we just discussed, as the track selection is overall better. I really didn't like Neo Bowser City on the 3DS due to the slipperiness, but here it's not only non-existent, the track is also gorgeous! GBA Ribbon Road is simply one of the best retro courses in the history of Mario Kart, and Super Bell Subway happens to be my second favourite Mario Kart track of all time..., JUST behind Wario's Gold Mine on the Wii! And Big Blue is the better of the two F-Zero tracks in the game, obviously. Just a really awesome cup In my opinion.
Actually one of my favourite Mario Kart cups ever as well as my favourite Leaf Cup. I've talked about how revamped the retro tracks in Mario Kart 8 were, and the Leaf Cup's tracks in particular are oozing of quality, and the one track that didn't change much was still a masterpiece! The weakest track is GCN Sherbet Land which even then isn't even bad, in fact it added so much new to the remake while removing the ice physics, making it a good track. The rest of the cup is simply amazing. DS Wario Stadium was cool on the original but now it also added new sections which is even better! And then we end with two of the best retro tracks ever, 3DS Melody Motorway and N64 Yoshi Valley, both flawless masterpieces. So yeah this cup is amazing!
While the remake for Coconut Mall was, in this game pretty disappointing, it's still Coconut Mall, and though Toad Circuit is pretty mediocre, it is however, redeemed by Paris Promenade and Choco Mountain, which I'd argue are two of the best retro tracks ever created in a Mario Kart game, especially the latter, in how it revamps the atmosphere to be so much more atmospheric. Overall, amazing!
Tokyo Blur is the worst track, and it's still a pretty great one! The other three are absolutely amazing! Shroom Ridge and Sky Garden aren't exactly how I'd imagined them, but compared to Coconut Mall's revamp, this is so much better and more respectful to their original counterparts. And then we get Ninja Hideaway, only the craziest course ever created!
Best retro cup from this game. The weakest track was in my opinion DS Tick-Tock Clock due to the fact that I'm not a fan of technology-themed tracks, but even then this remake of the track is actually really great and cool. It only gets better from there though, as 3DS Piranha Plant Slide is one of the most stunning and original retro tracks in the game with its underground theme. And then we have my favourite retro track in Mario Kart 8 outside of DLC, and one of my favourite retro courses ever made, namely Wii Grumble Volcano. And while N64 Rainbow Road is slightly (emphasis on SLIGHTLY) overrated, I still adore it a lot because of what it accomplishes. Overall the best Lightning Cup and one of the best MK cups of all time.
This isn't just the best cup in Mario Kart 8, but also the best Mario Kart cup of all time. We've had tens of cups throughout this franchise but it wasn't until Mario Kart 8 when we got a cup where every single track in it was a flawless masterpiece! Sunshine Airport and Mount Wario are both in my top ten Mario Kart tracks of all time because of how gorgeous and original they are as courses. And Electrodrome and Dolphin Shoals, I'd say are solid masterpieces too because they're also super original and interesting courses. I doubt any cup will ever be better than this one.
