Mario Kart is an extremely long-lived franchise, with its thirtieth anniversary on the horizon later this year. It's been around so long that most gamers have likely given it a try at one time or another, or are at least familiar with some of its iconic race tracks.
One Mario Kart race track that's extremely well-known is Rainbow Road, which combines charming graphics with pretty intense difficulty. Mario Kart fans tend to either love or hate Rainbow Road, but those who can't get enough of it can now visit a recreation in Grand Theft Auto Online.
GTA Online lets players not only play races, but also build their own if they so choose. Following the introduction of go-karts into GTA Online last year, it's the perfect time for a new replica of a Mario Kart track in the game. Now, Redditor iosgamer2day has shared their creation of a Rainbow Road recreation in GTA Online, and the results are impressive.
A short video of the track was shared in which players can see the demonstration, with a GTA Online Mario cosplay, to boot. The track is divided up into rainbow colors, as one would expect, and everyone is driving go-karts. That would be interesting enough for some players on its own, but it quickly becomes apparent that this track is nearly as dangerous as the original Rainbow Road. Several racers approaching one of the first corners at high speed fly off the edge and promptly explode. While not quite the same as being fished up and carried back to the track by Lakitu, it gets the job done, and provides a similar nerve-wracking risk to the track.
Unfortunately, while combat is a big part of normal GTA Online modes, players in the video can't directly attack one another on this particular track. Seeing players tossing grenades in lieu of banana peels or shells would have been an interesting addition. In any case, iosgamer2day did a great job of reproducing the Rainbow Road experience as best they could, and the course can be played by anyone who currently has the game on PS4 or Xbox One.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch recently got a content expansion, with Nintendo releasing a steady flow of maps from prior games for the next year. While some would have preferred a new game, the added content will boost Mario Kart 8 Deluxe by 48 additional tracks, giving players plenty to do while they wait for an inevitable Mario Kart 9.
GTA Online is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.