Wii Mushroom Gorge
| Wii Mushroom Gorge | ||
| Based Upon | The bouncing levels in New Super Mario Bros | |
| First Appearance | Mario Kart Wii | |
| Cup(s) it Appears in | Mushroom Cup | |
| Reappearances | None | |
Mushroom Gorge is the third course of the Mushroom Cup from Mario Kart Wii. The course is located on a mountainous zone with tall mushrooms rising over cloudy abysses, where racers have to use some of them as platforms to pass certain gorges. Characters travel the course mainly on land thoughout the course. However, in the middle of the route, they enter a cave where they find an abyss full of mushroom platforms. Players can drive two different ways over these mushrooms to cross the cave. Red mushrooms will cause drivers to bounce, so players can elaborate a trick while they are in the air to get a small boost of speed later. The green-capped mushrooms, however, do not cause vehicles to bounce. Some Goombas appear serving as obstacles on the track.
Shortcuts
In Mushroom Gorge, there is a shortcut that will allow the player to speed past the regular curving route and get a boost, although it requires a Mushroom, and is recommended for Time Trials. After starting the race with a turbo boost, the player should head to the left. After the player has headed left, they'll see that there's no fence and that there's a crevice. As soon as the player is a few lengths away from the crevice, use a Mushroom to get a boost. The player will be flung onto a large Mushroom. Perform a trick, bounce on the other giant Mushroom, perform a trick, and the player should land back on the pathway.
Another much harder shortcut, which probably was programmed unintentionally, is as soon as you exit the cave, power slide to the left. Go towards the crack and use a mushroom just before you get on the grass. Hop right to the end before you leave the ground. If performed correctly, you should make it across, saving a fair few seconds. This is how some of the Top Ten and others use their three mushrooms.
A third shortcut, caused by a programming glitch, allows the player to avoid nearly the entire course. The player must drive to the mushroom in the first shortcut, but instead go backwards and drive into the rock edge. If done correctly, the player's kart will hug the edge, and be able to go backwards to the gorge at the end of the course. The player can then do this for all three laps without the game detecting they were ever going backwards.
Tournament
The second tournament of June 2008 was a Time Trial of Mushroom Gorge - however, the course had to be driven through backwards. Ramps were added to the beginnings of the mushroom paths (or else it would be impossible to land on them).
