Oiram Trak

Finally something for here this year! Well, besides comments, naturally. And by November there'll be a whole new set of Pokemon to rank (plus Original Stitch patterns...) As for calendars, no need to essentially repeat the humongous lists from the past few years. Four "calendarmanias" are plenty; from now on let's just jot down the most unique and new ones--the most likely choices and ones that really need to be saved. Anyhoo. Wave 2 of the new MK courses dropped a few days ago, and one in particular made me think I need a spot to add/rank them as they're released. Four more waves, so 32 more tracks, by the end of next year. Waow.

Wave 1:
*Golden Dash Cup [Coconut Mall, Choco Mountain, Paris Promenade, Toad Circuit]
*Lucky Cat Cup [Sky Garden, Shroom Ridge, Tokyo Blur, Ninja Hideaway]

That one was fairly underwhelming. Golden Dash>Lucky Cat. The mountain, mall, and "garden" were the best.

Wave 2:

Turnip Cup~
*Waluigi Pinball (OoOoOoOoOoOohhhhh...)
*Kalimari Desert (haha, the  good ol' train xD)
*New York Minute (Goombas in Central Park! Cool)
*Mario Circuit (classic bright Lego-block course)

Propeller Cup~
*SKY-HIGH SUNDAE (I imploded, too much to say, gotta put it below)
*Snow Land (So basically like Frappe, a longtime fave of mine...with penguies/pingus and gorgeous giant ice crystals and snowmen, yee-haw. Kind of a pretty, blandly named Frappe/Sherbet combo. Still love the 64 versions of both & wish they'd reproduce all of them exactly, just with updated graphics.)
*Mushroom Gorge (ONE OF MY MOST-HOPED-FORS! And magnificent with its own crystals!! "Thank you! You have correctly counted the crystals!")
*Sydney Sprint (Cool)

I'd been hoping for the Turnip Cup next because it has the coolest (well, funniest) name--but it turns out the Propeller Cup is actually the most godlike cup ever. Even more so than the Piston Cup. Swap Waluigi Pinball and Sydney Sprint and it'd be perfect.

But yeah, I wasn't expecting to see a new all-time-favorite course...boy oh boy though, I think that may be Sky-High Sundae. I had to slow a video to 1/4-speed to drink in all the beauty. It has so much detail and creativity. ;3; The ice-cube diner--mimicking the glass block of a classic one--with the jukebox, counter, and booths. The penguies, Yoshis, Toads. The blocks and trays of cubes (I've always had a thing for ice cubes, miss our old plastic trays now that the freezer makes its own. Also the fruit-shaped water-filled plastic reusable ones. And the plastic trays with other mold designs, like the Halloween Jigglers I just used for cherry Pepsicles.) The transparent roads so you can see everything. The excellent-looking giant popsicles and wafers and street of way too many ice cream parlors+trucks in a row. The metal tubs of ice cream (and sherbet/sorbet/gelato/frozen yogurt/whatever)...the flaaaaavorrrrs...lemon-lime, blue raspberry, rainbow swirl, orange, strawberry, chocolate, etc...it was just kinda designed for me. Was in giddy slack-jawed shock the first time watching since I wasn't expecting anywhere near THAT much. "Oh, another Candyland-style thing like Sweet Sweet Canyon and stuff, should be cute. Looks aiight. Probably nothing too special thou--OH MY GOD." Ya had to go THAT hard? Actually my first thought was the Lisa Frank Saturn Sundae, but still anticipated more of a generic ice cream/dessert theme.
I pick favorites by the beauty of the visuals--the ones that make me just want to drive around for leisurely sightseeing instead of racing. The ones I wanna live in.

...Speaking of which. Lettuce hope for some more fabulous additions from the remaining waves--in particular MY PRECIOUS MAPLE TREEWAY. And any number of others from N64, Double Dash, & Wii. Daisy Cruiser!!!! Banshee Boardwalk!!! Peach Gardens!! Dino Dino Jungle (already got jungles but not with dinos?), Mushroom Bridge, etc...whichever ones don't have a near enough equivalent in Deluxe. I'll eat my hat if Maple Treeway's not in one of the four. It's too unique and perdyful. Totally the most-needed.
Rankings are always approximate and in flux...looking back through last year's Mario comments below the Pokemon Snap entry, I'd kinda wanna maybe put the subway & Ribbon Road a tad higher, idk (just 'cause of the cute mall-like parts of the subway, and how Ribbon Rd reminds me of the I Spy books...) But eh, whatever...can't believe I forgot Deluxe Sherbet Land. The iceberg dudes are cute, though N64's course is more beauteous. All the 64 ones are still amazing, with many better than or on par with later versions and other tracks...

And always remember...last year's revelations. x_x *_*
-Whomps walk. Thwomps, uh, thwover. Both are sacred. (Knew that already, just hadn't consciously separated them or the names. Seeing 'em side by side was an epiphany.)
-You don't need to press forward on the joystick to go forward (*don't* do that in the air/water 'cause it sends you down.)
-The L button doesn't make you drift left, it only does items.

*First comment below | PC counterpart