GCN Baby Park
Baby Park is a race course belonging to Baby Mario and Baby Luigi that has appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart 8 as part of the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Being a simple oval loop with no hazards, it is the shortest course in length in the series, excluding the unused "Test Circle" course found in Mario Kart DS and Donkey Kong Jungle from Mario Kart Arcade GP, only taking around ten seconds to complete a whole lap. As the name implies, the course takes place in an amusement park, including various elements from the Yoshi franchise. The track is a platform hanging from a large support complex, where a roller-coaster runs above and around the course and a pink train runs over the rails. It is possible to collide with the roller coaster, though it is very difficult to achieve. The roller-coaster obstacle was removed in the DS version and it returned in the Wii U and NS version of the track as an aesthetic effect.
The file names for this course in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, including ghost data, have "BabyLuigi" as a prefix or suffix.
History
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Baby Park is the third course in the Mushroom Cup. One half of the floor is blue and the other half is pink. It has various pictures of characters from the Yoshi's Island series on it, including Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. Due to its length, this course has seven laps instead of the traditional three, making it one of only two courses in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! to not be a three-lap course; the other course being Wario Colosseum, which has two laps. DK Mountain can be seen in the background.
Baby Park's music was also used in Balloon Battle on Tilt-a-Kart, though with more cymbals and the opening notes is cover version of the Super Mario Bros. theme rather than the beginning notes of the Baby Park piece.
Staff ghost
The staff ghost of the track uses Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, driving the Goo-Goo Buggy. They appear when the player completes the race in 1:14.000 or less.
Mario Kart DS
Baby Park appears in Mario Kart DS as the last track in the Banana Cup. This time around, it has five laps instead of seven. Missions 2-8 and 3-Boss take place here. It was available in Wi-Fi. On the final lap, the music starts playing in G♭ Major instead of A Major.
Staff ghost
The staff ghost of this track in this game uses Toad in the Mushmellow. The player must clear the course in 50.920 seconds or less.
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Template:Right Baby Park reappears in Mario Kart 8 as a heavily-revamped DLC retro course and the first track of the Crossing Cup. This is the only retro track in the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC pack that has already appeared at least once as a retro track. One of the major changes made to the race course is that the entire track is now slanted, making it entirely an anti-gravity race track. The race track now has each half of the U-turn with different colors. The park background has gone through a lot of changes, such as the addition of a "Baby Castle" (which is a nod to Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom), new rides added like a haunted house attraction based on Luigi's Mansion, and some of the returning background rides being heavily redesigned, like the Bowser's Ship ride and the Ferris wheel, now resembling the Sun Wheel from Super Mario Sunshine. Also, the starting banner now shows Baby Mario and Baby Luigi with their shirts, overalls and shoes on as opposed to being solely in diapers like the previous versions. They also have been given slight animations that are found on rides, where they move back and forth.
The race on this course has seven laps just like in the original and the revamped music now increases in speed after every lap, making it the first retro course to do this. On the final lap, the guard rails light up and become multi-colored and like with remade N64 Rainbow Road, the last part of the music starts to play instead of the beginning of it. It is the only retro course and one of three DLC courses (along with Mute City and Big Blue) to be entirely an anti-gravity race track. This is the shortest track in the game and the only track with more than three laps/sections. Baby Park is also the only track in Mario Kart 8 where players cannot perform tricks.
A statue resembling the one in the course Toad Harbor can be seen in the background, but instead of Peach in a Statue of Liberty pose, a pink gold version of Baby Peach (Baby Pink Gold Peach) can be seen holding a star (referencing the Partners statue seen in front of Cinderella's Castle).
This track, alongside the other DLC content, is available in the core game of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Cameos
Several characters that are important to the Yoshi franchise appear to have their own rides around Baby Park. They are listed below.
- Baby Bowser appears on a ship attraction called "Bowser's Ship". In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, he is replaced with Bowser Jr.
- Kamek appears above a sign reading "Kamek's Magic Show".
- A Pink Yoshi Train in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! appears to ride around on an orange track, as if it were a roller coaster. It is seen in various parts of the Park, and sometimes it can appear above it. If it does do this, it may actually reflect off shells. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, this is replaced with a Standard Kart coaster riding on a red track.
- A large Poochy-like house appears far in the background.
- A Helicopter Yoshi just like the one from Yoshi's Island can be seen at the background, flying around the track.
- Two large Shy Guys can be seen.
- A Paratroopa can also be seen. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Paratroopa has been converted into a shop selling merchandise named Shop Paratroopa.
Official descriptions
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- US website: “It may look easy, but Baby park is a 7-lap cage match with 14-monster Power-slides! There are plenty of items to pick up, and the long straightaways make easy targets out of everyone.”
- European website: “It’s Mario Kart: the theme park ride! The track is a simple oval, but the power-ups are plentiful, so you’ll have a battle on your hands to finish in first place”
Mario Kart DS
- European website: "It's the shortest and simplest track of them all, but Baby Park isn't child's play. Because of the circuit's great size you're given five laps instead of three, but make sure you put petal to metal from the word go, as it'll be over in seconds rather than minutes."
Sponsors
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Moo Moo Meadows Milk (Trackside banners)
- Peach & Daisy Royal Patisserie (Trackside banners)
- Princess Orange (Trackside banners)
Gallery
GCN appearance
The track logo
The track icon
- BabyParkMKDD.PNG
The starting line
- Rocket Start (Mario Kart Double Dash!!).png
The start of the race
DS appearance
- MKDS-CourseIcon-GCN-BabyPark.png
The track icon
- Baby Park.png
Wario, racing in Baby Park
- MKDS32.png
Dry Bones, racing in the track
Race with Goomboss, in Mission Mode
Wii U / Switch appearance
- MK8-DLC-Course-icon-GCN BabyPark.png
The track icon
Overview of the course
Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Peach, racing along the track
Male Villager, racing on the track
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ベビィパーク[?] Bebī Pāku |
Baby Park | |
| Chinese | 寶寶公園 (Traditional) 宝宝公园 (Simplified)[?] Bǎobǎo Gōngyuán |
Baby Park | |
| Dutch | Babypark[?] | Baby Park | |
| German | Baby-Park[?] | Baby Park | |
| Italian | Baby Park[?] | - | |
| Korean | 베이비 파크[?] Beibi Pakeu |
Baby Park | |
| Portuguese | Parque Bebé[?] | Baby Park | |
| Russian | Луна-парк Малыш[?] Luna-park Malysh |
Baby Amusement Park | |
| Spanish | Parque Bebé[?] | Baby Park |
Trivia
- In Mario Kart 8, this track and the three different Rainbow Roads are the only courses in the game to have the map in different colors instead of just blue.
