Mario Kart’s Rainbow Highway holds a particular place within the hearts of many, and it additionally occurs to hover over very particular elements of our planet.
X/Twitter account @MarioBrothBlog highlighted the position of the racing collection’ most iconic observe in a collection of posts. Those that have put in a while into the Nintendo spinoff franchise may need observed that Earth may be seen under some variations of Rainbow Highway in-game. Mario Broth gives an in-depth evaluation of the scale and site of each the Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart Wii iterations of Rainbow Highway, revealing that they each solid shadows over very completely different elements of the planet.
Mario Kart Wii’s and Mario Kart 8’s Rainbow Roads are each depicted as floating above the Earth. By inspecting the skyboxes, we will map their real-world areas. The Wii Rainbow Highway is over Canada, whereas the Mario Kart 8 Rainbow Highway is over the Mediterranean. pic.twitter.com/MUoHwhYiOL
— Supper Mario Broth (@MarioBrothBlog) July 18, 2024
Mario Kart Wii’s Rainbow Highway is very large, protecting a big portion of Canada and even a sliver of Greenland. Quebec and Nunavut get probably the most protection, with the beginning line positioned simply above the previous. Mario Kart 8, in the meantime, appears to be positioned above the Mediterranean Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea, centered between Sardinia, Sicily, and Tunisia. It’s additionally a lot smaller than its Nintendo Wii counterpart. Mario Broth notes that the Booster Course Cross re-release of the Wii observe makes use of this similar skybox, placing it in similar place.
However wait, there’s extra! X person @SB2749 was in a position to observe down a 3D mannequin of the Mario Kart Tour model of Wii Rainbow Highway, which comes with a couple of small adjustments. Notably, the gargantuan course hovers above Southeast Asia as a substitute of Canada within the cellular entry, swallowing greater than half of Japan with one sharp flip.
Addendum: reader @SB2749 has supplied the situation of the Mario Kart Tour model of the Wii Rainbow Highway observe, which is in one more location, protecting Japan, China and Southeast Asia: https://t.co/2xD73iMtYR
— Supper Mario Broth (@MarioBrothBlog) July 18, 2024
Nintendo possible didn’t intend for any model of its Rainbow Highway to be constructed to scale, nevertheless it’s nonetheless enjoyable to think about you may catch a glimpse of Mario and co. should you escape a telescope. In the meantime, Nintendo’s Mario Kart collection is presently between releases. The final numbered entry arrived on the Wii U in 2014, although Nintendo’s managed to benefit from that have with a Deluxe re-release for the Swap in 2017. A protracted checklist of DLC additions have since arrived over the course of the previous couple of years by way of the Booster Course Cross, which wrapped up with its last wave of content material late final yr.
There’s no phrase on when one other installment will seem. Nonetheless, followers are patiently awaiting any information relating to Nintendo’s Swap successor. It’s not anticipated to launch anytime earlier than April 2025. You possibly can see what little we all know in regards to the mysterious machine right here.
Michael Cripe is a contract contributor with IGN. He began writing within the trade in 2017 and is greatest recognized for his work at retailers similar to The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
You should definitely give him a observe on Twitter @MikeCripe.
