Each cup in Super Mario Kart contains 5 tracks.
The original game has four Grand Prix cups, and each cup is a sequence of five races. Together, they make 20 unique standard tracks. The cups are the Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups, with difficulty and track complexity increasing as players progress.
This five-race structure became one of the defining formats of the Mario Kart series. Players are evaluated across the full cup rather than on a single race, so consistent finishes matter. Points are awarded according to placement, and the racer with the strongest overall performance wins the Grand Prix.
The total of 20 tracks does not include Battle Mode arenas. Super Mario Kart has four separate Battle Mode courses, which are designed for combat rather than lap-based racing. The game also introduced recurring themes such as Mario Circuit, Bowser Castle, haunted courses, and Rainbow Road, many of which returned in later installments.