I agree with a lot of this but man, I am a firm believer that DS bowser’s castle is the best one in the series. It just has the most creative layout and hazards with interesting risk and reward alternate paths
DS Bowser's Castle is in my top 5 favorite Mario Kart tracks of all time. In fact, Bowser's Castle tracks are better than Rainbow Road tracks more often than not. SNES Bowser Castles < Rainbow Road N64 Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road GBA Bowser Castles > Rainbow Road GCN Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road DS Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road Wii Bowser's Castle < Rainbow Road (It is EXTREMELY close, this opinion would change every week) 3DS Bowser's Castle < Rainbow Road (3DS Bowser's Castle is severly underrated, but still on the weaker side of BC's) MK8 Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road (Also extremely close, and despite still being really good, both the Bowser's Castle and the Rainbow Road are weak in this one)
They could’ve so easily just bought back GCN rainbow road. And before you say hardware limitations, keep in mind that DS Rainbow Road is super similar to GCN Rainbow Road.
Motorway tracks are always fabulous. Shroom Ridge is lovely, and I have to say that Mushroom Bridge feels out of place in this game because the other fifteen retro tracks are lifeless (Yoshi Circuit and Sky Garden are okay nice, but not particularly lively courses) and mushroom bridge is actually a happening track with all the traffic.
If you’re wondering, the reason GCN tracks always seem to be at the end of each retro cup in this game is because the cups tracks were ordered by the oldest to newest game. Hence why SNES tracks open up every cup. There was definitely no reason to put Yoshi Circuit as the final track in the game, though. I personally would’ve picked Rainbow Road (even if they removed the city, it’d still be an acceptable finale.).
Thinking about it, Flower Cup has been weirdly great in most Mario Kart games and a lot of fan favourites come from the Flower Cup (Choco Mountain, Cheese Land, Daisy Cruiser, Delfino Square, Waluigi Pinball, Coconut Mall, Music Park/Melody Motorway and Shy Guy Falls).
@@Noshadesfunky I agree on Shy Guy Falls. I loved it back in the Wii U days, but with the BCP giving us so many better tracks it made me realize that I only liked it because the base game track selection in 8 is just not that good. There are some high highs like Mount Wario, Super Bell Subway, Sweet Sweet Canyon or Big Blue, but then you got Toad's Turnpike, Dry Dry Desert, Water Park, Dolphin Shoals etc.
I kinda like the current approach that you’re going with. I can see this channel being a bigger focus on Mario Party and Mario Kart in a lot of ways. (Also someone who likes GBA Luigi Circuit? That’s rare in my book!)
8. Shell 7. Banana 6. Mushroom 5. Leaf 4. Lightning 3. Flower 2. Special 1. Star Really dont care about progression and more about selection, should explain alot
Finally someone who doesn't overpraise Waluigi Pinball. I personally find it a great track, the music is great, the visuals are great, the setting is unique and it is very iconic due to it being Waluigi's home track, however design wise it's not that interesting, it'a just a couple of turns here and there, while the best part of the track just comes at the very end and lasts briefly
I think Yoshi Circuit wouldn’t feel this anticlimactic if it was the final track of the Leaf Cup instead, and let Wario Colosseum, Bowser’s Castle, or Rainbow Road be the final track. Having one of those at the end of the Lightning Cup would make a better final impression.
I'm a sucker for DS because it was my first ever MarioKart but seeing Waluigi Pinball, Rainbow Road, Bowser's Castle, and Tick Tock Clock slandered just for rather plain courses like Yoshi falls (just an oval with an egg in the middle) and GBA Luigi Circuit (a normal circuit but with rain) to be praised really surprised me. I think the Special Cup is the best cup in the game, with complex courses involving verticality (and straight up breaking the laws of physics in Rainbow Road), shortcuts, moving platforms, different types of terrain and difficult obstacles; the tracks were also well themed and creative, and some of the best looking considering the DS hardware. Flower Cup is let down by Desert Hills and Shroom Ridge being quite boring and finnicky with DS's control scheme.
I honestly don't remember most of these tracks. It's been 11 years since I last played it, yet I only remember the most iconic tracks in this game. Like I played Waluigi Pinball, Peach Garden, Yoshi Falls, Airship Fortress with my choice of tracks. I think that's why I couldn't remember any lol Thanks for the video ride!
Here’s my biggest problem with mk ds it has my favourite battle mode but this games tracks are either amazing or incredible, and the incredible tracks are in wii, 7 and 8. The only good DS tracks that aren’t retro yet are DS bowser castle and rainbow road, still a fun game though I do recommend for casual gamers 💛
Here is my ranking of all Mario Kart DS Cups 8. Shell Cup 7. Banana Cup 6. Lightning Cup 5. Mushroom Cup 4. Special Cup 3. Leaf Cup 2. Star Cup 1. Flower Cup
8: Banana Cup (SNES Donut Plains 1 is ugly, GBA Bowser Castle 2 is groan endusing, GCN Baby Park ruined a fan favorite, N64 Frappe Snowland is frustrating) 7: Shell Cup (SNES Mario Circuit 1 is awful, GBA Peach Garden is just a circuit, Moo Moo Farms is fine, GCN Luigi Circuit is boring) 6: Lightning Cup (SNES Choco Island 2 is terrible, N64 Banshee Boardwalk is cool, GBA Sky Garden is interesting, GCN Yoshi Circuit is unique) 5: Leaf Cup (SNES Koopa Beach is pretty nice, N64 Choco Mountain is one of my favorites, GBA Luigi Circuit is bland, GCN Mushroom Bridge ruined it) 4: Mushroom Cup (I hate Figure 8 Circuit, Yoshi Falls is okay, Cheep Cheep Beach is underrated, Luigi Mansion is one of the coolest tracks) 3: Special Cup (Wario’s Stadium is epic, Peach Gardens is one of my favorites, Bowser Castle is the best version, Rainbow Road is a weaker version) 2: Star Cup (DK Pass is huge, Tick Tock Clock is a classic, why is Mario Circuit here?, Airship Fortress is top tier) 1: Flower Cup (Waluigi Pinball is amazing, Desert Hills is insane, Delfino Square is nostalgic, Shroom Ridge is growing on me)
This is my ranking: 8th: Shell cup 3 of the 4 tracks are literally the first in their respective game. Even moo moo farm is still the 2nd track in mk64. 7th: Banana cup 6th: Leaf cup 5th: Lightning cup 4th: Star cup Sadly the weakest nitro track but still has two of the best courses in the game, but the cup gets dragged down by bland courses like dk pass and Mario circuit. 3rd: Mushroom cup Very consistent cup with simple but super fun and memorable tracks. Figure 8 circuit is boring but perfect for learning how to snake and drift. 2nd: Flower cup All the tracks are pretty good, but desert hills is kinda boring along with shroom ridge after a while. Waluigi pinball brings it to number two though. 1st: Special cup All four of these tracks are bangers, and the most consistent in the game. Best special cup in the Mario kart series.
10:19-10:26 In my opinion, a good equivalent to your take on this cup is MKWii’s Shell Cup. All the other Shell Cups have at least one big groaner that drags them down. But the Wii Shell Cup, while not having any great tracks, don’t have any bad tracks either. It’s just a cup with 4 good tracks, which allows it to be the best Shell Cup. Sadly, MKWii has a very high bar in terms of its track standards, so it also makes it the weakest MKWii cup because the other ones are THAT GOOD.
I think waluigis island from mp3 fits waluigi better than waluigi pinball. It is a banger, but listen to both themes back to back and you’ll see what I mean.
The special cup in Mario Kart DS is my all time favorite. I also like the star, flower, and mushroom cups. The lightning and leaf cups are decent. The banana and shell cups are definitely the worst.
8. Shell (Every course is on the lower end of quality) 7. Banana (Donut Plains is okay, Frappe Snowland is good, I'm a big fan of all of the GBA Bowser's Castles, but Baby park ruins this cup) 6. Mushroom (Cheep Cheep Beach is solid, and so is Luigi's Mansion, but the other two tracks are what bring this one down) 5. Lightning (Banshee Boardwalk is my favorite retro track in the game, and Sky Garden is also very good, but the other two are only okay) 4. Leaf (Big fan of Choco Mountain, and the other tracks are solid. However, this game's neutering of the GCN tracks bring this one down) 3. Special (Bowser Castle is my favorite track in the game, Rainbow Road is solid, and Peach Garden is a 9/10 too. But Wario Stadium is on the weaker half of the nitro tracks in this game. 2. Flower (All bangers here, but despite all of these tracks being very good, they do still have some small issues. 1. Star (All bangers as well, and even Mario Circuit is solid. Easily the best cup here.
Great video although I would personally add more clips instead of using the same ones over and over. For the first minute and a half I've seen 3 clips over 6 times each and counting. Other than that the editing is amazing :)
Mine is shell, banana, lightning, mushroom, leaf, star, flower and special. I love special so much because of the stadium's jumps, Rainbow Road's anti gravity things, and everything about Bowser Castle. I don't like Waluigi Pinball much anymore because of the Tour version. Just too long in that game lol.
I get it’s all opinion but seeing the star cup not at 1 or 2 is mind blowing to me. I’m not even the biggest fan of ds but I think it’s star cup is the best cup of all the Mario kart games. It has 3 of my top 10 tracks ever as well as a higher end circuit track
Mario Kart DS fan here, so we're going to have polar opposite opinions on the game. It is my personal favorite in the series, after all, and it also was the first game I ever played and one which I thoroughly enjoy through and through - while I don't have a precise hour count, it easily holds the position of the game I've played the most, ever. And so the Mario Kart DS bashing here always has slightly irked me, but I respect the opinion since you do provide your own reasoning for it, which is fair enough. Plus, you don't do it to the extent that it actually hurts the quality of your channel. Nonetheless, despite our polar opposite perspectives on the game, though, we actually do share some common ground on this video. For one, I strongly agree with you on N64 Frappe Snowland - that one is one of my favorites of the entire game and I could never understand why people hated it. Likewise, I also agree with you that Waluigi Pinball was way overhyped by virtually everyone - it's a good course, don't get me wrong, but it's not the favorite. Likewise, finally I found someone who likes Shroom Ridge. I swear, I can never find someone who likes it even within my own family (who also grew up on Mario Kart DS), but I've always loved this track and it's really refreshing seeing someone who liked it too. That was probably the most surprising but most refreshing of the common ground areas we have, so thanks for that. For how I'd personally rank the cups, though, I'd personally go with this order: 8. Shell Cup I do agree here that it's the most boring cup in the game. I don't hate it like you do, but it is pretty meh with Moo Moo Meadows being the best of the four, although I always sorta liked SNES Mario Circuit 1 as, while a bit plain, it isn't too long and has decent shortcut potential. GBA Peach Circuit is just okay and GCN Luigi Circuit is an alright track in my book. Even this last-place cup I've played plenty and still enjoy doing 7. Banana Cup We also share this placement, though I do like this cup. N64 Frappe Snowland is one of my favorite courses in the entire game and I love playing on it, and so this cup gets several bonus points for that. Likewise, SNES Donut Plains 1 is an interesting track and one which I have a fondness for because of past memories. GCN Baby Park, while a downgrade compared to the original, is alright and a decent course to snake around on. GBA Bowser Castle 2 is alright as well, though definitely not my first pick when playing Mario Kart DS 6. Lightning Cup Once more we agree on this placement, though the disparity between the Banana and Lightning Cups is smaller for me. GBA Sky Gardens is another really nice course I like which often goes unappreciated, I fully agree with you there. It looks nice, has nice music, and has a ton of shortcut potential to spice things up a bit. N64 Banshee Boardwalk is a good course too, it's always a fun one to play for me. GCN Yoshi Circuit is a neat course too and one which I've always enjoyed playing on. SNES Choco Island 2, though, is just a meh course, not a massive fan of it but I have no hatred for it. This cup I do hold an interesting memory for, and I kinda do wanna share it. Jumping back to like 2013 (or early 2014 at the very latest) when I had unlocked all the Nitro cups and finished the Shell Cup, I was speculating with my siblings about what the two unknown cups could be, as we had no idea. We actually guessed the Leaf Cup correctly but came up with the ideas of the Cat Cup and then the Bell Cup (and probably a few others) only for it to really be the Lightning Cup. I always look back on that memory fondly thinking back to it. So yeah, resuming the list now: 5. Mushroom Cup Probably our biggest disagreement here is with the Mushroom Cup. Don't get me wrong, I really like this cup and I always enjoy playing it. Even the most boring course, Figure-8 Circuit, isn't terrible and is the best course in the game for snaking - I can't bring myself to hate it. That said, the other three courses are all enjoyable and ones I like playing. This is a good cup 4. Leaf Cup This is another good cup in my books. N64 Choco Mountain is a very fun course and one I enjoy playing. Likewise, GBA Luigi Circuit and SNES Koopa Beach 2 are interesting and underrated courses. GCN Mushroom Bridge, meanwhile, is an alright course - it might be a slight downgrade compared to the original, but I always had a fondness for this one. This cup as a whole is a rather enjoyable one for me Ask my brother, though, and he's likely to have conflicting feelings on this cup. On one hand, N64 Choco Mountain is his favorite course in the entire game and, on the other hand, SNES Koopa Beach 2 is the course he hates the most and genuinely despises. So yeah, that's interesting 3. Flower Cup Now we're in the top three and I honestly enjoy all three of these roughly equally, the differences here are only slight. All three cups are very, very enjoyable for me and I always love playing them. Nonetheless, let's begin. Desert Hills, while probably the most boring course of the cup, is a really underrated one. There's just so much shortcut potential, especially at the end, and it's just an interesting course overall. Waluigi Pinball is a very overhyped course, but, even then, it's still a good course which is enjoyable to play. Then you have Delfino Square and Shroom Ridge and, let me tell you, I love these courses. They're so vibrant yet have this chill and relaxed feel to them and I really enjoy playing them, even with how underrated Shroom Ridge is - I could never understand why people didn't like it 2. Special Cup I honestly like this cup. Wario Stadium is a good start and I always liked that course. In fact, I remember one memory when, back when I was in second grade (so 2013 most likely), I had brought my DS to school and I remember being in the cafeteria before classes started playing Mario Kart DS. Oddly enough, I very vividly remember playing Wario Stadium specifically but none of the other ones I played that day. Nonetheless, Peach Gardens is just a decent course, a bit too mellow for me but by no means a bad course. Then you have Bowser Castle - this one I've always enjoyed for its creativity. While it is inspired a bit by GCN Bowser Castle, this one has its own unique twist to it through the split paths which have a risk-reward aspect to them along with the tight spiral up to the top. Overall, I don't feel like this one disappoints and it's actually one of my favorite Bowser Castles, even if it lacks some "cool" graphical feature like Bowser punching the track in Mario Kart 8 - one does have to be fair with the device limitations. And then you have Rainbow Road. I honestly like this one. While I won't say it's my favorite Rainbow Road, this one is still a really fun one in my book and it just has its own unique charm to it. After all, it literally is the first course in Mario Kart history to introduce anti-gravity with its loop and corkscrew which literally goes through the loop. Additionally, it's really fun to mess around with the loop and corkscrew by going up to the rail at the top and spam hopping, you'll actually lift off the loop and take off. In fact, I've actually done it where you can spam hop near the bottom and drop down below the loop towards the void and then fly back up and, if you angled yourself right, you can actually land on the track immediately before the corkscrew. It won't count the lap, but it's really fun. Another thing: If you go to the corkscrew and start hopping on the right side at the right place (near the first third), you can actually lift off and land on the other side of the corkscrew in what I term the "corkscrew jump". It doesn't save time unless you do it perfectly (and it's only like half a second anyways), but I do remember one time it actually came in handy. So, I was playing Rainbow Road and I had a blue shell chasing me on Lap 3. I knew I wasn't going to make it and that the blue shell was going to hit me at the top of the corkscrew (and make me fall off the track too), and so I attempted the corkscrew jump as a hail mary tactic. I actually got it to work first try, lifted off the corkscrew, and landed on the other side near the end of the corkscrew. The blue shell hit me immediately thereafter, but it was at the end of the corkscrew and not the top, so I didn't fall off the track and got to keep my first place. 1. Star Cup While the Special Cup holds a lot of speciality for me, the Star Cup is the best one in the game for me. It starts off great with DK Pass being one of my favorites in the game, even if it is surprisingly underrated. Tick Tock Clock, meanwhile, is a pretty solid course too. Mario Circuit, meanwhile, is one of my favorite Mario Circuit courses in the entire series and that out-of-bounds glitch it has is surprisingly fun. And then, it ends off with Airship Fortress - probably one of my favorite courses in the entire game, if not my favorite period. Overall, it's a wonderful cup and one I always have fun with So, yeah, that's the end of the list now. If you can't tell already, I really love this game and hold it dear with so many memories attached to it. That said, we may have opposite opinions, but also a surprising amount of common ground on this game. I just want to conclude this by saying that I enjoyed the video, so thank you for uploading about this game which often doesn't get enough attention
for my ranking, i'm a bit more polarizing with nitro and retro. i did a mkwii cups ranking based on the tracks on each cup, and all four nitro cups ended up above all four retro cups. in DS, the disparity in quality between nitro and retro is even higher, so i feel obliged to do the same (besides, leaf cup over special cup? in DS? really?) (jk ik it's just opinions). anyways, here it is: 8 - banana (butchered baby park, and i don't think i'll ever come to like frappe snowland) 7 - shell (three tracks that come first in their respective games, and one that comes second. you said it yourself) 6 - lightning (choco island 2 is almost as bad as frappe snowland, banshee boardwalk is... fine actually! sky garden is also ok, but yoshi circuit got butchered as with all the GCN tracks) 5 - leaf (four mediocre tracks, making it above average for a retro cup) 4 - mushroom (i'm sorry, half of the cup is terrible, cheep cheep beach is ok, luigi's mansion is great, that's not enough to bring this above 4th now that the standards are higher) 3 - special (first half works, second half is rather underwhelming) 2 - star (dk pass is awesome, so is airship fortess, tick-tock clock is pretty good, and the questionable decision of putting mario circuit in the star cup surprinsingly doesn't bring it any lower) 1 - flower (desert hills is okay enough, delfino square and waluigi pinball are S tier tracks, shroom ridge is also pretty good)
I enjoy watching your videos although I disagree with a lot of your opinions. For example, Tick-Tock Clock is one of the most amazing courses in the series in my opinion and I also don't have a problem with how the courses in the retro cups are set up in the order of the game they originated from. However, with that being said I would put GCN Yoshi Circuit in the leaf cup and put GCN Dino Dino Jungle in the lightning cup instead and I agree with replacing Choco Island 2 with Koopa Beach 2.
Ngl bro you made some bad points, you made some fair points at time but others you seemed to be grasping g at straws, everyone has their opinions but calling tik tok clock bland then comparing it to 8’s remake doesn’t make sense, that’s like going to Mario kart 64 tracks and saying they look bland and don’t have enough decor. As mentioned everyone has opinions but I feel like the passive aggressive attitude just worsens it and it just seems like you were trying to find pointless reasons to dislike most of the tracks
I agree that GCN Yoshi Circuit shouldn't've been the one to end off the Lightning Cup. Honestly, I think they should've picked GCN Bowser's Castle because its more chill than most other Bowser's Castles (both 3D and 2D) while still being quite chaotic and atmospheric. That way, it could be implemented without much butchering. Similarly, I would've replaced Choco Island 2 with Vanilla Lake 2 instead, as that would've been more challenging and it would've been easier to see the ice blocks in 3D. Otherwise, great video! I love your underrated opinions :)
I agree with a lot of this but man, I am a firm believer that DS bowser’s castle is the best one in the series. It just has the most creative layout and hazards with interesting risk and reward alternate paths
I agree with Bowser Castle! It's the only one that I could stay alive with if I had to play it 50 times.
Wii's is easily better imo but DS is #2.
For some reason, people always forget about the DS Bowser Castle (also 3DS too)
DS Bowser's Castle is in my top 5 favorite Mario Kart tracks of all time. In fact, Bowser's Castle tracks are better than Rainbow Road tracks more often than not.
SNES Bowser Castles < Rainbow Road
N64 Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road
GBA Bowser Castles > Rainbow Road
GCN Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road
DS Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road
Wii Bowser's Castle < Rainbow Road (It is EXTREMELY close, this opinion would change every week)
3DS Bowser's Castle < Rainbow Road (3DS Bowser's Castle is severly underrated, but still on the weaker side of BC's)
MK8 Bowser's Castle > Rainbow Road (Also extremely close, and despite still being really good, both the Bowser's Castle and the Rainbow Road are weak in this one)
And the shortcut
A thing with the Retro tracks in DS that admittedly took me a while to notice was that they are listed in order of debut; SNES, N64, GBA, GCN.
So glad someone noticed
The Lightning cup suffers because the arrangement of tracks is restricted to game order.
😭
They could’ve so easily just bought back GCN rainbow road. And before you say hardware limitations, keep in mind that DS Rainbow Road is super similar to GCN Rainbow Road.
@@endstoneninja3845 fr
@@endstoneninja3845I’d say Bowser’s Castle, it would be easier to handle with hardware limitations.
Now I realise why Shroom Ridge is so underrated. It's the final track of the best cup! The bar was too high.
Waluigi Pinball absolutely steals the show.
Motorway tracks are always fabulous. Shroom Ridge is lovely, and I have to say that Mushroom Bridge feels out of place in this game because the other fifteen retro tracks are lifeless (Yoshi Circuit and Sky Garden are okay nice, but not particularly lively courses) and mushroom bridge is actually a happening track with all the traffic.
Shroom ridge lacked the theming, but was sweet and simple.
HECK NO, Shroom ridge is overrated and bottom 3 in the WHOLE series and waluigi pinball is also a bad course
If you’re wondering, the reason GCN tracks always seem to be at the end of each retro cup in this game is because the cups tracks were ordered by the oldest to newest game. Hence why SNES tracks open up every cup. There was definitely no reason to put Yoshi Circuit as the final track in the game, though. I personally would’ve picked Rainbow Road (even if they removed the city, it’d still be an acceptable finale.).
Maybe not the most quality video, as I had to kind of rush it through in order to get it out in time, but I hope you guys will enjoy it either way!
Ik how that is folk, don’t worry about it still a good watch, ds was a fun handheld. R.I.p. DKR
Thinking about it, Flower Cup has been weirdly great in most Mario Kart games and a lot of fan favourites come from the Flower Cup (Choco Mountain, Cheese Land, Daisy Cruiser, Delfino Square, Waluigi Pinball, Coconut Mall, Music Park/Melody Motorway and Shy Guy Falls).
I didn’t know Cheese Land was a fan-favourite.
i agree but waluigi pinball and shy guy falls are really not that good.
@@Noshadesfunky I agree on Shy Guy Falls. I loved it back in the Wii U days, but with the BCP giving us so many better tracks it made me realize that I only liked it because the base game track selection in 8 is just not that good. There are some high highs like Mount Wario, Super Bell Subway, Sweet Sweet Canyon or Big Blue, but then you got Toad's Turnpike, Dry Dry Desert, Water Park, Dolphin Shoals etc.
Dolphin Shoals is great@@mailpaper7754
@@mailpaper7754WHAT NO SHY GUY FALLS IS EPIC
I kinda like the current approach that you’re going with. I can see this channel being a bigger focus on Mario Party and Mario Kart in a lot of ways.
(Also someone who likes GBA Luigi Circuit? That’s rare in my book!)
I always thought people liked GBA Luigi Circuit, but I guess it's just me lol
@@AlbertBoris I could be wrong though, most people aren’t exactly fond of Circuit tracks. But yeah, Luigi Circuit is unique
@@AlbertBoris my fav is flower cup
Because
DELFINOOOOOOOOOOO YOOOOO
Yes rewatching this I’m glad I’m not the only Frappe Snowland enjoyer!! Let’s go Albert!!!
11:32 from what I’ve heard, people hate the track due to it coming back to Wii (same reason why people hate toad circuit)
Great ranking! Can't wait to replay some of these tracks in the new dlc
8. Shell
7. Banana
6. Mushroom
5. Leaf
4. Lightning
3. Flower
2. Special
1. Star
Really dont care about progression and more about selection, should explain alot
Ooooooooooooooo
Yeah I focus more on that although It still comes to thought with the finishing cups.
To be honest your rearrangement of the lighting cup sounds really good and i would love to play it in that order.
Finally someone who doesn't overpraise Waluigi Pinball. I personally find it a great track, the music is great, the visuals are great, the setting is unique and it is very iconic due to it being Waluigi's home track, however design wise it's not that interesting, it'a just a couple of turns here and there, while the best part of the track just comes at the very end and lasts briefly
1. Star Cup
2. Flower Cup
3. Special Cup
4. Lightning Cup
5. Mushroom Cup
6. Leaf Cup
7. Banana Cup
8. Shell Cup
I think Yoshi Circuit wouldn’t feel this anticlimactic if it was the final track of the Leaf Cup instead, and let Wario Colosseum, Bowser’s Castle, or Rainbow Road be the final track. Having one of those at the end of the Lightning Cup would make a better final impression.
I'm a sucker for DS because it was my first ever MarioKart but seeing Waluigi Pinball, Rainbow Road, Bowser's Castle, and Tick Tock Clock slandered just for rather plain courses like Yoshi falls (just an oval with an egg in the middle) and GBA Luigi Circuit (a normal circuit but with rain) to be praised really surprised me. I think the Special Cup is the best cup in the game, with complex courses involving verticality (and straight up breaking the laws of physics in Rainbow Road), shortcuts, moving platforms, different types of terrain and difficult obstacles; the tracks were also well themed and creative, and some of the best looking considering the DS hardware. Flower Cup is let down by Desert Hills and Shroom Ridge being quite boring and finnicky with DS's control scheme.
I think it's funny how he'll love Yoshi Falls even with its lame layout, then shit on other tracks for having bad layouts lol.
Track selection mostly bland but some are amazing like Tick Tock Clock, Luigis Mansion and Airship Fortress
You forgot a certain pinball course
@Perkanover Why do you even like that overrated course? The music is good but doesn't save it for me.
i don’t particularly disagree with the ranking that much but i hugely disagree with pretty much everything you’re saying
I also think Waluigi Pinball is overrated.
Coconut mall better
I honestly don't remember most of these tracks. It's been 11 years since I last played it, yet I only remember the most iconic tracks in this game. Like I played Waluigi Pinball, Peach Garden, Yoshi Falls, Airship Fortress with my choice of tracks. I think that's why I couldn't remember any lol
Thanks for the video ride!
MY ULTIMATE CUPS!!!
Mushroom Cup:
- Figure-8 Circuit
- Yoshi Falls
- Cheep Cheep Beach
- Desert Hills
Flower Cup:
- Mario Circuit
- Delfino Square
- Waluigi Stadium
- Shroom Ridge
Star Cup:
- DK Pass
- Tick-Tock Clock
- Peach Gardens
- Airship Fortress
Special Cup:
- Wario Stadium
- Luigi’s Mansion
- Bowser Castle
- Rainbow Road
Shell Cup:
- SNES Mario Circuit 1
- GBA Peach Circuit
- GCN Luigi Circuit
- N64 Moo Moo Farm
Banana Cup:
- GCN Baby Park
- SNES Choco Island 2
- N64 Frappe Snowland
- GBA Bowser Castle 2
Leaf Cup:
- SNES Donut Plains 1
- GBA Luigi Circuit
- GCN Mushroom Bridge
- N64 Choco Mountain
Lightning Cup:
- GCN Yoshi Circuit
- SNES Koopa Beach 2
- N64 Banshee Boardwalk
- GBA Sky Garden
8. Shell cup
7. Banana cup
6. Lightning cup
5. Mushroom cup
4. Leaf cup
3. Special cup
2. Star cup
1. Flower cup
If Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn’t remaster Airship Fortress and Bowser Castle NDS they have failed every Mario Kart fan in the wave pass
Hahaha....criyng actually 😭
8 - Shell Cup
7 - Banana Cup
6 - Mushroom Cup
5 - Lightning Cup
4 - Leaf Cup
3 - Special Cup
2 - Flower Cup
1 - Star Cup
Here’s my biggest problem with mk ds it has my favourite battle mode but this games tracks are either amazing or incredible, and the incredible tracks are in wii, 7 and 8. The only good DS tracks that aren’t retro yet are DS bowser castle and rainbow road, still a fun game though I do recommend for casual gamers 💛
I was meant to say awful or incredible 💀
I love your content ! Next rank all cup from MK8 deluxe with the dlc that can be dope !
Here is my ranking of all Mario Kart DS Cups
8. Shell Cup
7. Banana Cup
6. Lightning Cup
5. Mushroom Cup
4. Special Cup
3. Leaf Cup
2. Star Cup
1. Flower Cup
I always found it so strange that gcn yoshi circuit closes off the game lol
8: Banana Cup (SNES Donut Plains 1 is ugly, GBA Bowser Castle 2 is groan endusing, GCN Baby Park ruined a fan favorite, N64 Frappe Snowland is frustrating)
7: Shell Cup (SNES Mario Circuit 1 is awful, GBA Peach Garden is just a circuit, Moo Moo Farms is fine, GCN Luigi Circuit is boring)
6: Lightning Cup (SNES Choco Island 2 is terrible, N64 Banshee Boardwalk is cool, GBA Sky Garden is interesting, GCN Yoshi Circuit is unique)
5: Leaf Cup (SNES Koopa Beach is pretty nice, N64 Choco Mountain is one of my favorites, GBA Luigi Circuit is bland, GCN Mushroom Bridge ruined it)
4: Mushroom Cup (I hate Figure 8 Circuit, Yoshi Falls is okay, Cheep Cheep Beach is underrated, Luigi Mansion is one of the coolest tracks)
3: Special Cup (Wario’s Stadium is epic, Peach Gardens is one of my favorites, Bowser Castle is the best version, Rainbow Road is a weaker version)
2: Star Cup (DK Pass is huge, Tick Tock Clock is a classic, why is Mario Circuit here?, Airship Fortress is top tier)
1: Flower Cup (Waluigi Pinball is amazing, Desert Hills is insane, Delfino Square is nostalgic, Shroom Ridge is growing on me)
This is my ranking:
8th: Shell cup
3 of the 4 tracks are literally the first in their respective game. Even moo moo farm is still the 2nd track in mk64.
7th: Banana cup
6th: Leaf cup
5th: Lightning cup
4th: Star cup
Sadly the weakest nitro track but still has two of the best courses in the game, but the cup gets dragged down by bland courses like dk pass and Mario circuit.
3rd: Mushroom cup
Very consistent cup with simple but super fun and memorable tracks. Figure 8 circuit is boring but perfect for learning how to snake and drift.
2nd: Flower cup
All the tracks are pretty good, but desert hills is kinda boring along with shroom ridge after a while. Waluigi pinball brings it to number two though.
1st: Special cup
All four of these tracks are bangers, and the most consistent in the game. Best special cup in the Mario kart series.
10:19-10:26 In my opinion, a good equivalent to your take on this cup is MKWii’s Shell Cup. All the other Shell Cups have at least one big groaner that drags them down. But the Wii Shell Cup, while not having any great tracks, don’t have any bad tracks either. It’s just a cup with 4 good tracks, which allows it to be the best Shell Cup. Sadly, MKWii has a very high bar in terms of its track standards, so it also makes it the weakest MKWii cup because the other ones are THAT GOOD.
I think waluigis island from mp3 fits waluigi better than waluigi pinball. It is a banger, but listen to both themes back to back and you’ll see what I mean.
Oh, Waluigi's Island is amazing for sure!
Mushroom Cup:
Figure-8 Circuit (3/10)
Yoshi Falls (5/10)
Cheep Cheep Beach (7/10)
Luigi’s Mansion (9/10)
Flower Cup:
Desert Hills (7/10)
Delfino Square (6/10)
Waluigi Pinball (8/10)
Shroom Ridge (8/10) (10/10 on 8 Deluxe)
Star Cup:
DK Pass (8/10)
Tick Tock Clock (10/10)
Mario Circuit (7/10)
Airship Fortress (10/10)
Special Cup:
Wario Stadium (7/10)
Peach Gardens (6/10) (7/10 on 8 Deluxe)
Bowser’s Castle (7/10)
Rainbow Road (8/10)
Shell Cup:
SNES Mario Circuit 1 (3/10)
N64 Moo Moo Farm (3/10)
GBA Peach Circuit (4/10)
GCN Luigi Circuit (6/10)
Banana Cup:
SNES Donut Plains 1 (4/10)
N64 Frappe Snowland (6/10)
GBA Bowser’s Castle 2 (5/10)
GCN Baby Park (3/10)
Leaf Cup:
SNES Koopa Beach 2 (5/10)
N64 Choco Mountain (8/10) (9/10 on 8 Deluxe)
GBA Luigi Circuit (5/10)
GCN Mushroom Bridge (7/10) (maybe 8 on 8 Deluxe if it comes and turns out better)
Lightning Cup:
SNES Choco Island 2 (4/10)
N64 Banshee Boardwalk (6/10)
GBA Sky Garden (9/10)
GCN Yoshi Circuit (8/10)
7:34 isn’t that Mario Kart 7?
This man really slandered Bowser’s Castle and Tick Tock Clock
Will you do the same for Double Dash?
My ranking:
8:shell
7:mushroom
6:leaf
5:banana
4:lightning
3:star
2:special
1:flower
7:19 Yeah, I don’t understand how MK8 managed to screw up the Special Cup so badly after its incredible Star Cup💀
The special cup in Mario Kart DS is my all time favorite. I also like the star, flower, and mushroom cups. The lightning and leaf cups are decent. The banana and shell cups are definitely the worst.
8. Shell (Every course is on the lower end of quality)
7. Banana (Donut Plains is okay, Frappe Snowland is good, I'm a big fan of all of the GBA Bowser's Castles, but Baby park ruins this cup)
6. Mushroom (Cheep Cheep Beach is solid, and so is Luigi's Mansion, but the other two tracks are what bring this one down)
5. Lightning (Banshee Boardwalk is my favorite retro track in the game, and Sky Garden is also very good, but the other two are only okay)
4. Leaf (Big fan of Choco Mountain, and the other tracks are solid. However, this game's neutering of the GCN tracks bring this one down)
3. Special (Bowser Castle is my favorite track in the game, Rainbow Road is solid, and Peach Garden is a 9/10 too. But Wario Stadium is on the weaker half of the nitro tracks in this game.
2. Flower (All bangers here, but despite all of these tracks being very good, they do still have some small issues.
1. Star (All bangers as well, and even Mario Circuit is solid. Easily the best cup here.
Great video although I would personally add more clips instead of using the same ones over and over. For the first minute and a half I've seen 3 clips over 6 times each and counting. Other than that the editing is amazing :)
Mario kart 7 rankings for cups when?
I now feel like instead of Peach Circuit in the Shell Cup in should've been something more interesting like Riverside Park.
mine goes:
8. Shell Cup
7. Mushroom Cup
6. Banana Cup
5. Leaf Cup
4. Lightning Cup
3. Flower Cup
2. Special Cup
1. Star Cup
Mine is shell, banana, lightning, mushroom, leaf, star, flower and special. I love special so much because of the stadium's jumps, Rainbow Road's anti gravity things, and everything about Bowser Castle. I don't like Waluigi Pinball much anymore because of the Tour version. Just too long in that game lol.
I get it’s all opinion but seeing the star cup not at 1 or 2 is mind blowing to me. I’m not even the biggest fan of ds but I think it’s star cup is the best cup of all the Mario kart games. It has 3 of my top 10 tracks ever as well as a higher end circuit track
Sad how the worst cup is one of the two available in DS download play.
Mario Kart DS fan here, so we're going to have polar opposite opinions on the game. It is my personal favorite in the series, after all, and it also was the first game I ever played and one which I thoroughly enjoy through and through - while I don't have a precise hour count, it easily holds the position of the game I've played the most, ever. And so the Mario Kart DS bashing here always has slightly irked me, but I respect the opinion since you do provide your own reasoning for it, which is fair enough. Plus, you don't do it to the extent that it actually hurts the quality of your channel.
Nonetheless, despite our polar opposite perspectives on the game, though, we actually do share some common ground on this video. For one, I strongly agree with you on N64 Frappe Snowland - that one is one of my favorites of the entire game and I could never understand why people hated it. Likewise, I also agree with you that Waluigi Pinball was way overhyped by virtually everyone - it's a good course, don't get me wrong, but it's not the favorite. Likewise, finally I found someone who likes Shroom Ridge. I swear, I can never find someone who likes it even within my own family (who also grew up on Mario Kart DS), but I've always loved this track and it's really refreshing seeing someone who liked it too. That was probably the most surprising but most refreshing of the common ground areas we have, so thanks for that.
For how I'd personally rank the cups, though, I'd personally go with this order:
8. Shell Cup
I do agree here that it's the most boring cup in the game. I don't hate it like you do, but it is pretty meh with Moo Moo Meadows being the best of the four, although I always sorta liked SNES Mario Circuit 1 as, while a bit plain, it isn't too long and has decent shortcut potential. GBA Peach Circuit is just okay and GCN Luigi Circuit is an alright track in my book. Even this last-place cup I've played plenty and still enjoy doing
7. Banana Cup
We also share this placement, though I do like this cup. N64 Frappe Snowland is one of my favorite courses in the entire game and I love playing on it, and so this cup gets several bonus points for that. Likewise, SNES Donut Plains 1 is an interesting track and one which I have a fondness for because of past memories. GCN Baby Park, while a downgrade compared to the original, is alright and a decent course to snake around on. GBA Bowser Castle 2 is alright as well, though definitely not my first pick when playing Mario Kart DS
6. Lightning Cup
Once more we agree on this placement, though the disparity between the Banana and Lightning Cups is smaller for me. GBA Sky Gardens is another really nice course I like which often goes unappreciated, I fully agree with you there. It looks nice, has nice music, and has a ton of shortcut potential to spice things up a bit. N64 Banshee Boardwalk is a good course too, it's always a fun one to play for me. GCN Yoshi Circuit is a neat course too and one which I've always enjoyed playing on. SNES Choco Island 2, though, is just a meh course, not a massive fan of it but I have no hatred for it.
This cup I do hold an interesting memory for, and I kinda do wanna share it. Jumping back to like 2013 (or early 2014 at the very latest) when I had unlocked all the Nitro cups and finished the Shell Cup, I was speculating with my siblings about what the two unknown cups could be, as we had no idea. We actually guessed the Leaf Cup correctly but came up with the ideas of the Cat Cup and then the Bell Cup (and probably a few others) only for it to really be the Lightning Cup. I always look back on that memory fondly thinking back to it. So yeah, resuming the list now:
5. Mushroom Cup
Probably our biggest disagreement here is with the Mushroom Cup. Don't get me wrong, I really like this cup and I always enjoy playing it. Even the most boring course, Figure-8 Circuit, isn't terrible and is the best course in the game for snaking - I can't bring myself to hate it. That said, the other three courses are all enjoyable and ones I like playing. This is a good cup
4. Leaf Cup
This is another good cup in my books. N64 Choco Mountain is a very fun course and one I enjoy playing. Likewise, GBA Luigi Circuit and SNES Koopa Beach 2 are interesting and underrated courses. GCN Mushroom Bridge, meanwhile, is an alright course - it might be a slight downgrade compared to the original, but I always had a fondness for this one. This cup as a whole is a rather enjoyable one for me
Ask my brother, though, and he's likely to have conflicting feelings on this cup. On one hand, N64 Choco Mountain is his favorite course in the entire game and, on the other hand, SNES Koopa Beach 2 is the course he hates the most and genuinely despises. So yeah, that's interesting
3. Flower Cup
Now we're in the top three and I honestly enjoy all three of these roughly equally, the differences here are only slight. All three cups are very, very enjoyable for me and I always love playing them.
Nonetheless, let's begin. Desert Hills, while probably the most boring course of the cup, is a really underrated one. There's just so much shortcut potential, especially at the end, and it's just an interesting course overall. Waluigi Pinball is a very overhyped course, but, even then, it's still a good course which is enjoyable to play. Then you have Delfino Square and Shroom Ridge and, let me tell you, I love these courses. They're so vibrant yet have this chill and relaxed feel to them and I really enjoy playing them, even with how underrated Shroom Ridge is - I could never understand why people didn't like it
2. Special Cup
I honestly like this cup. Wario Stadium is a good start and I always liked that course. In fact, I remember one memory when, back when I was in second grade (so 2013 most likely), I had brought my DS to school and I remember being in the cafeteria before classes started playing Mario Kart DS. Oddly enough, I very vividly remember playing Wario Stadium specifically but none of the other ones I played that day. Nonetheless, Peach Gardens is just a decent course, a bit too mellow for me but by no means a bad course. Then you have Bowser Castle - this one I've always enjoyed for its creativity. While it is inspired a bit by GCN Bowser Castle, this one has its own unique twist to it through the split paths which have a risk-reward aspect to them along with the tight spiral up to the top. Overall, I don't feel like this one disappoints and it's actually one of my favorite Bowser Castles, even if it lacks some "cool" graphical feature like Bowser punching the track in Mario Kart 8 - one does have to be fair with the device limitations. And then you have Rainbow Road. I honestly like this one. While I won't say it's my favorite Rainbow Road, this one is still a really fun one in my book and it just has its own unique charm to it. After all, it literally is the first course in Mario Kart history to introduce anti-gravity with its loop and corkscrew which literally goes through the loop.
Additionally, it's really fun to mess around with the loop and corkscrew by going up to the rail at the top and spam hopping, you'll actually lift off the loop and take off. In fact, I've actually done it where you can spam hop near the bottom and drop down below the loop towards the void and then fly back up and, if you angled yourself right, you can actually land on the track immediately before the corkscrew. It won't count the lap, but it's really fun. Another thing: If you go to the corkscrew and start hopping on the right side at the right place (near the first third), you can actually lift off and land on the other side of the corkscrew in what I term the "corkscrew jump". It doesn't save time unless you do it perfectly (and it's only like half a second anyways), but I do remember one time it actually came in handy. So, I was playing Rainbow Road and I had a blue shell chasing me on Lap 3. I knew I wasn't going to make it and that the blue shell was going to hit me at the top of the corkscrew (and make me fall off the track too), and so I attempted the corkscrew jump as a hail mary tactic. I actually got it to work first try, lifted off the corkscrew, and landed on the other side near the end of the corkscrew. The blue shell hit me immediately thereafter, but it was at the end of the corkscrew and not the top, so I didn't fall off the track and got to keep my first place.
1. Star Cup
While the Special Cup holds a lot of speciality for me, the Star Cup is the best one in the game for me. It starts off great with DK Pass being one of my favorites in the game, even if it is surprisingly underrated. Tick Tock Clock, meanwhile, is a pretty solid course too. Mario Circuit, meanwhile, is one of my favorite Mario Circuit courses in the entire series and that out-of-bounds glitch it has is surprisingly fun. And then, it ends off with Airship Fortress - probably one of my favorite courses in the entire game, if not my favorite period. Overall, it's a wonderful cup and one I always have fun with
So, yeah, that's the end of the list now. If you can't tell already, I really love this game and hold it dear with so many memories attached to it. That said, we may have opposite opinions, but also a surprising amount of common ground on this game. I just want to conclude this by saying that I enjoyed the video, so thank you for uploading about this game which often doesn't get enough attention
Could you rank the groups of missions? It's a feature unique to DS after all
Who else actually likes DS rainbow road? I genuinely can’t be the only one who thinks it’s underrated!!!
very underrated dawg its my favorite track and i am hoping it gets remade in the booster pass
they couldn't have changed the order of the lightning cup since it has to go SNES, N64, GBA, GCN
for my ranking, i'm a bit more polarizing with nitro and retro. i did a mkwii cups ranking based on the tracks on each cup, and all four nitro cups ended up above all four retro cups. in DS, the disparity in quality between nitro and retro is even higher, so i feel obliged to do the same (besides, leaf cup over special cup? in DS? really?) (jk ik it's just opinions). anyways, here it is:
8 - banana (butchered baby park, and i don't think i'll ever come to like frappe snowland)
7 - shell (three tracks that come first in their respective games, and one that comes second. you said it yourself)
6 - lightning (choco island 2 is almost as bad as frappe snowland, banshee boardwalk is... fine actually! sky garden is also ok, but yoshi circuit got butchered as with all the GCN tracks)
5 - leaf (four mediocre tracks, making it above average for a retro cup)
4 - mushroom (i'm sorry, half of the cup is terrible, cheep cheep beach is ok, luigi's mansion is great, that's not enough to bring this above 4th now that the standards are higher)
3 - special (first half works, second half is rather underwhelming)
2 - star (dk pass is awesome, so is airship fortess, tick-tock clock is pretty good, and the questionable decision of putting mario circuit in the star cup surprinsingly doesn't bring it any lower)
1 - flower (desert hills is okay enough, delfino square and waluigi pinball are S tier tracks, shroom ridge is also pretty good)
How to unlock all course?
Albert Boris: Lord of the unpopular opinions
I enjoy watching your videos although I disagree with a lot of your opinions. For example, Tick-Tock Clock is one of the most amazing courses in the series in my opinion and I also don't have a problem with how the courses in the retro cups are set up in the order of the game they originated from. However, with that being said I would put GCN Yoshi Circuit in the leaf cup and put GCN Dino Dino Jungle in the lightning cup instead and I agree with replacing Choco Island 2 with Koopa Beach 2.
Talks about Wii while showing 3DS footage. 🤔
flower cup is much harder than the others in my view
How could you say something controversial yet so brave
I think that would be a more fitting thing to say on my Mario Kart DS rant lol
Flower and Star Cups are my top 2.
I love the ranking videos! Can you rank the mario kart wii cups?
That's definitely gonna be my next cup ranking, whenever that is lol
Stupid beeping, stupid society, stupid rules, stupid censoring, stupid censoring, STUPID CENSORING
Lol the Flower Cup is also the best cup on my list
Most people can probably agree it's a good one lol
I love that concept so much. I’m excited for the wii cups cause the selection is better than ds for sure
We can all agree that most of the retros suck
Undarrated opinion: MK7 is the best in the series
Star Cup is the best
Dislike for censoring shit and Mario Kart DS is NOT overrated
Albert clearly didn’t play the games on an actual DS… mario kart da is better then mk7 in a lot of ways… starting eith the mission mode
Ngl bro you made some bad points, you made some fair points at time but others you seemed to be grasping g at straws, everyone has their opinions but calling tik tok clock bland then comparing it to 8’s remake doesn’t make sense, that’s like going to Mario kart 64 tracks and saying they look bland and don’t have enough decor. As mentioned everyone has opinions but I feel like the passive aggressive attitude just worsens it and it just seems like you were trying to find pointless reasons to dislike most of the tracks
I agree that GCN Yoshi Circuit shouldn't've been the one to end off the Lightning Cup. Honestly, I think they should've picked GCN Bowser's Castle because its more chill than most other Bowser's Castles (both 3D and 2D) while still being quite chaotic and atmospheric. That way, it could be implemented without much butchering. Similarly, I would've replaced Choco Island 2 with Vanilla Lake 2 instead, as that would've been more challenging and it would've been easier to see the ice blocks in 3D.
Otherwise, great video! I love your underrated opinions :)
Bro the star cup is the best
Nice video, only note I have is that your opinions are all wrong
I honestly agree that ds is overrated
00:44
1:08
This guys takes kept getting worse somehow 🤣
bro trying so hard to be different
Lol
Lol = Laps of Laziness, for that's what MKDS' courses are lol
Uktra dislike, this whole censoring in society sucks
3:33
2:34