Super Mario Rainbow Road is a ROM hack created by Skilllux, and released in October 2012. This hack is best known for its uncanny resemblance and Super Mario Star Road, released 10 months prior, from which this hack drew much inspiration.
The hack contains a total of 54 Stars in the original version, then was re-released with six more Stars in the updated version, Super Mario Rainbow Road Plus. Eventually, in 2023, a new update by FrostyZako was released with quality-of-life changes and further improvements.
Gameplay (Latest Version)[]
Fall damage has been disabled for this hack, as has Mario's lives counter. While wearing any of the Caps, a timer counting down until the Cap wears off can be seen in the lower-left corner of the HUD. Mario's swimming speed has also been greatly increased.
When standing on a blue switch, it will show the locations the blue coins will spawn at, allowing the player to plan their route before activating the blue coin switch.
Each Cap course has two Stars each, including a red coin Star. With the exception of the Metal Cap course, collecting the red coin Star in will not warp Mario out of the level, but collecting the other Star will warp Mario out of the level and send him to his prior location (e.g. after collecting the other Star in the Vanish Cap course, Mario is sent back to the warp pipe he used to access it in C3).
Areas[]
| Area ID | Name | Stars | Requirement | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Sunny Island | 7 | 0 | 127 | This level takes inspiration from Bob-omb Island. In Acts 2-6, a two-way warp pipe can be found behind Mario's starting point that acts as a shortcut to the floating islands in the sky. |
| C2 | Floating Fortress | 162 | This level takes inspiration from Sky Land Resort. | ||
| C3 | Creepy Forest Mansion | 220 | This level takes inspiration from Piranha Plant Pond. Creepy Mansion is located in this level. | ||
| C4 | Freezy Peaks | 180 | Fiery Volcano is located in this level, via a warp pipe on top of the Chill Big Bully's building. In Acts 3-6, a two-way warp pipe can be found behind Mario's starting point that acts as a shortcut to the top of the mountain. | ||
| C5 | Toxic Factory | 191 | This level takes inspiration from Haunted Factory from Super Mario 74. | ||
| C6 | Chilly Harbour | 7 | Key 1 | 236 | This level takes inspiration from Chuckya Harbor. |
| C7 | Swampy Forest | 171 | This level takes inspiration from Piranha Plant Pond. |
Secret Courses[]
| Area ID | Name | Stars | Requirement | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WC | Windy Garden | 2 | None | 51 | Located in the overworld by standing in the middle of the patch of flowers. The Wing Cap Switch is located in this level. |
| MC | Fiery Volcano | 73 | The Metal Cap Switch is located in this level. | ||
| VC | Creepy Mansion | 49 | The Vanish Cap Switch is located in this level. | ||
| B1 | Bowser's Fiery Fortress | 8 Stars | This is the first Bowser course of this game. | ||
| B3 | Bowser's Galaxy Palace (Part 1) | 1 | 30 Stars | This is the second and final Bowser course of this game. Was originally accessible at 53 Stars but was changed down at 30 in the latest update. | |
| Bowser's Galaxy Palace (Part 2) | 0 | This area is actually the main entrance to Bowser's Castle. | |||
| Bowser's Galaxy Palace (Part 3) | 1 | This area is the interior of Bowser's Castle. The pipe to the fight is located at the end of the level. | |||
| SC | The End | This level is where the final Star is located. Upon collecting it, the game restarts back to the overworld. |
Overworld[]
| Area ID | Name | Stars | Requirement | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OW1 | Rainbow Palace (Outside) | None | None | Contains courses 1-5, all three Cap Switch levels, and B1. | |
| OW2 | Rainbow Palace (Inside) | Bowser Key | Contains courses 6 and 7, and B2. |
Music[]
| Used in | v1.0 / Plus / v2.0 | v2.0.2+ |
|---|---|---|
| File Select Overworld 1 (100% Completion) |
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Starship Mario | |
| Overworld 1 | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Skyloft | |
| Overworld 2 | Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory | |
| Star Select | Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy | |
| Sunny Island | Bomberman 64 - Green Garden | |
| Floating Fortress | Sonic Adventure - Windy Hill ...for Windy Valley | Mario Party - Mario's Rainbow Castle |
| Creepy Forest Mansion | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Beware the Forest's Mushrooms | Mario Party 2 - Horror Land |
| Freezy Peaks | Banjo-Kazooie - Freezeezy Peak | |
| Toxic Factory | Donkey Kong 64 - Frantic Factory | Banjo-Tooie - Grunty Industries |
| Chilly Harbor | Super Mario 64 - Dire, Dire Docks | Sonic Advance 3 - Ocean Base Zone (Map) |
| Swampy Forest | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Beware the Forest's Mushrooms | |
| Bowser's Fiery Fortress | Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla | |
| Bowser's Galaxy Palace (Part 1 & 3) | Super Mario 64 - Koopa's Road | |
| Windy Garden | Sonic Adventure - Windy Hill ...for Windy Valley | |
| Creepy Mansion | Luigi's Mansion - Dark Hallways | |
| Fiery Volcano | Super Mario Galaxy - Melty Molten Galaxy | |
| Boss Battle | Super Mario 64 - Stage Boss | |
| Bowser Battle | Super Mario 64 - Bowser's Theme | |
| Final Bowser Battle | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn (Abridged) | |
| The End | Super Mario 64 - Staff Roll | |
| Wing Cap Koopa Shell |
Sonic Adventure - Windy Hill ...for Windy Valley | Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Star Fox 64 (Main Theme) |
| Vanish Cap | --- | |
| Metal Cap | Super Mario 64 - Metallic Mario | |