Which Mario Kart game introduced retro cups with courses from older games?

Which Mario Kart game introduced retro cups with courses from older games? The answer is Mario Kart DS.

Released for Nintendo DS in 2005, Mario Kart DS divided its 32 race courses evenly between 16 new tracks and 16 returning tracks from earlier games. The returning tracks formed the Retro Grand Prix, establishing the series format of bringing classic courses forward into a newer game.

The retro selection covered the four preceding mainline entries: Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. Examples include SNES Donut Plains 1, N64 Frappe Snowland, GBA Luigi Circuit, and GCN Baby Park.

The wording can cause a historical wrinkle. Mario Kart: Super Circuit already included older Super Mario Kart tracks in its Extra Cups, but those were not presented as the series’ formal Retro Cups. Mario Kart DS is therefore the accepted answer for introducing the named retro-cup structure that later games continued.