Every Mario Kart World Grand Prix Cup ranked

Mario Kart World is the big Nintendo Switch 2 launch title, bringing the first completely new Mario Kart game in over a decade. The first $80 Switch 2 game includes a ton of new and interesting tracks to race on, which you will likely experience the way I did, through the new set of Grand Prix Cups. Grand Prix Cups are the main single-player content in Mario Kart since the start of the series, and Mario Kart World contains eight cups to race through, using a combination of new tracks and classics. The Grand Prix is a bit different in Mario Kart World since the tracks are connected via an open-world, so after the first race, you spend most of the race traveling to the next track before completing a lap or two on the actual track. I've ranked these based on the best combination of tracks and overall theming, since there is no scientific way to rank Mario Kart World Grand Prix Cups.

8 Shell Cup

It's just kind of bland

I deeply enjoyed my time with Mario Kart World and I like all of these Grand Prix Cups, but one of these has to be last. I landed on the Shell Cup last, for two major reasons. The first is that the starting track, the one you actually get to do a traditional lap-based race on, is Koopa Troopa Beach. This is a solid track, but it operates like Baby Park from Mario Kart: Double-Dash, where it's five laps long, but is really just a loop. If there were four lap-based races, this would add some nice variety, but instead it feels like a waste of the starting track for the cup. The other issues is that the locations combined here are a bit bland, moving from a beach to a safari area, and ending in different city tracks.

7 Lightning Cup

A couple of classics slapped togther

The Lightning Cup suffers from a lack of cohesion from race to race, something that hasn't felt important in previous Mario Kart games, but Mario Kart World having you drive from race to race makes it feel a little more odd when there isn't cohesion. The Lightning Cup contains four classic tracks, and they are classics, but starting with Moo Moo Meadows and moving all the way through Bowser's Castle makes it feel like these tracks weren't chosen with the intention of them being paired together. I also think that Toad's Factory and Bowser's Castle are well-done remakes of older maps, so it's a bummer that both are only used as a conclusion to a race, and not the whole race.

6 Flower Cup

A solid Grand Prix

The Flower Cup is a pretty solid Grand Prix, with a nice desert-theme connecting the four tracks. It starts with Desert Hills, a great opening track that I can only penalize for being the least interesting of the four tracks here. Shy Guy Bazaar has a great design and Wario Stadium is the high point of this Grand Prix. My only complaint is that Airship Fortress feels like a bit of an odd note to end on, going a bit past the desert theme and not being that exciting of a track to drive on.

5 Banana Cup

Four great tracks and a strong conclusion

The number five spot might suggest issues here, but the Banana Cup is a solid collection of four great tracks. It just doesn't have one absolute standout track. It opens with an extended remake of Peach Beach, which features new sections, followed up by the gorgeous Salty Salty Speedway. That transitions into Dino Dino Jungle, a map with a great aesthetic appearance but doesn't feel like it gets to fully utilize its dinosaur obstacles in this format, but is great as a lap-based track. Great ? Block Ruins serve as a strong conclusion, shooting you into the air onto this classic feeling track. After the Banana Cup, is where the Grand Prix start to really shine thanks to great tracks and strong cohesion.

4 Star Cup

A wintery collection of tracks

Three retro tracks and a new one, the Star Cup, uses its retro tracks to string together a cohesive, winter Grand Prix. Wario Shipyard doesn't feel totally cohesive with the rest of the tracks, but the journey from Sky High Sundae does a great job of bringing the two types of tracks together. All three retro tracks here, DK Pass, Sky High Sundae, and Wario Shipyard, are excellent versions of these tracks, utilizing new designs to take advantage of rail grinding and wall driving. Starview Peak is the sole new track heere, but the winter-themed fortress fits right in with the rest of the Grand Prix, making for an exciting series of tracks.

3 Mushroom Cup

It's rare that the first cup is this good

It's rare that the opening Grand Prix is one of the best, but the Mushroom Cup in Mario Kart World is fantastic. It's all new courses, opening with Mario Bros. Circuit, leading to Crown City, Whistlestop Summit, and DK Spaceport. Crown City is the weakest of the three, a generic city with some solid high-elevation sections, but the other three tracks are great. Whistlestop Summit feels right at home thanks to the train tracks to grind on, Mario Bros. Circuit feels like a newly designed classic track, but DK Spaceport is the crowning jewel here. Designed to feel like the original Donkey Kong arcade game, the spaceport features a giant robot gorilla, and some of the best track design in Mario Kart World. It isn't the best track though, which is in the best Grand Prix in the game.

2 Special Cup

A journey through the ages

The Special Cup has a special feel to it. Not only is it not unlocked until after you finish the first seven Grand Prix, but it serves as a journey through Mario Kart and Mario in general. You start with Acorn Heights, a new course with some heavy Mario Galaxy design inspirations. From there you journey to Mario Circuit, a classic map from the start of the series. That's followed by Peach Stadium, which features the classic castle from Mario 64, culminating with Rainbow Road. Rainbow Road is a standard for Mario Kart, with each entry featuring a new version of the course as the final race. I've complained about the lack of lap-based courses outside the first race takes away from some of these tracks, but the new Rainbow Road is designed to be a point-to-point race, making it feel like a strong conclusion to the final Grand Prix.

1 Leaf Cup

Boo Cinema is simply too great

The Leaf Cup is taking the top spot, in large part thanks to Boo Cinema, the best track in Mario Kart World. It starts with Cheap Cheap Falls, a track that feels like a river-based amusement park ride, which is a ton of fun. Dandelion Depths is the weakest of the four tracks here, but the underground caves still have a distinct feel to them. The third track is Boo Cinema, which is a track set in a haunted movie theater. During the race, you go inside the screen, taking you into an ethereal and spooky area, unlike anything else in Mario Kart World. It feels like the pinnacle of both track and art design. While you might normally want to end on the best track, getting to also drive out of the theater into the lava-filled hellscape of Dry Bones Burnout, which feels like a fitting area to have just outside Boo Cinema.

A great collection of races

Like I said towards the top, none of these Grand Prix are bad. I find every cup and basically every track in Mario Kart World to be at least fun, even if they aren't a huge standout. Having played each one multiple times, there are certainly better-constructed cups, and not every cup has a true standout track, but it's a great collection of races in a fantastic kart racer.