'Mario Kart 8' Release Date Coming: We Take A Look Back At Rainbow Road

"Mario Kart 8" will launch May 30 for the Wii U, and so far, the game looks pretty awesome. During a roundtable discussion with Gamespot, "Mario Kart 8" Director Kosuke Yabuki told gamers the upcoming racer will feature two Rainbow Roads! One will be a recreation of the course from Nintendo 64's "Mario Kart," while the other will be a completely new design, one that Yabuki feels will be "really spectacular."

"Rainbow Road of course is a classic course. This time we actually grabbed Rainbow Road N64 version in addition to the current iteration of Rainbow Road," Yabuki told GameSpot. "So we hope you look forward to racing on both of those courses."

"One thing I do want to mention is Rainbow Road, that final course. We really want you to look forward to what we've done to it this time because it's something else," he added.

Rainbow Road has definitely become synonymous with the "Mario Kart" series, so let's take a look back at the franchise's most iconic level.

The original Rainbow Road, from 1992's "Super Mario Kart" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Not only was it challenging to race on a course with no protective borders, the added frustration of the Thwomps made the final level all the more difficult.

1997's "Mario Kart 64" is a gamer favorite. The title's Rainbow Road course is 2,000 meters long and requires around two minutes to complete. This is the only Rainbow Road from the series that has a rail comprised of yellow stars.

The final course of 2001's "Mario Kart: Super Circuit" for the Game Boy Advance.

Rainbow Road from 2003's "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" for the GameCube. This course also featured rails at various points in the track, along with giant floating rainbow sculptures.

Rainbow Road from 2005's "Mario Kart DS" is unlike its predecessors because it contains both a loop and a corkscrew. It also has rails to prevent players from falling off the sides.

2008's "Mario Kart Wii" features a Rainbow Road that is located over North America, Africa, South America and Europe. If you fall off the track, you burn up into the atmosphere.

2011's "Mario Kart 7" launched Dec. 4 in North America. The course only has one lap, but has three checkpoints to resemble laps.

"Mario Kart 8" will launch May 30 and Nintendo has already confirmed the game will have two Rainbow Roads.

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