SNES Bowser Castle 3
- This article is about the race course from Super Mario Kart. For the race course from Mario Kart: Super Circuit and retro course in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Tour, see GBA Bowser's Castle 3.
| Bowser Castle 3 | |||
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| Appears in | Super Mario Kart (1992) Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) Mario Kart Tour (2023) | ||
| Cup(s) | Star Cup (Super Mario Kart) Extra Star Cup (Super Circuit) | ||
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Bowser Castle 3 is the fourth course of the Star Cup in Super Mario Kart. Like every Bowser Castle course, the entire race is held inside a large castle room filled with a big lava pool.
The course returns in Mario Kart: Super Circuit as the second track of the Extra Star Cup, in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2023 Bowser Tour, and the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Spiny Cup.
Super Mario Kart
The course includes typical elements of Bowser Castle courses, including falling Thwomps, zippers, jump lines, 90 degree turns, and forks. The layout of Bowser Castle 3 begins with a left turn, a straightaway with a row of Thwomps at the end, and another left turn. Racers then encounter the first fork where they must continuously jump over the lava onto various platforms while dodging Thwomps. After two left turns, a brief straightaway with another row of Thwomps, and two right turns, racers encounter the track's second fork; here there are three distinct paths separated by walls. The leftmost has six coins and one zipper, but is farthest away and narrows the following turn into a hairpin. The easiest path to reach is the right one, which has a jump line and a zipper directly behind such that a player who hits the jump line passes over the zipper. To reach the zipper, the player must time a hop over the jump line and activate the zipper. The middle path has six coins and two jump lines with Question Blocks positioned behind them. After two more left turns, racers soon reach the finish line.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Bowser Castle 3 reappeared in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and is the second track of the Extra Star Cup. It uses the background from that game's Bowser Castle 1. The Thwomps and zippers were removed from the track, along with the jump pad in the rightmost path at the end. Also, the Question Blocks in the first split path were reduced to just three Item Boxes (one on both sides early on, and one in the middle afterwards).
Mario Kart Tour
Bowser Castle 3 returns in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2023 Bowser Tour, marking the first reappearance of an SNES Bowser Castle course in a Mario Kart title since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It was the final SNES course added to the game. Unlike any other SNES courses that reappeared before it, the course has received a major visual and gameplay overhaul, including a new starting banner, being the first SNES remake in the Mario Kart series to feature any kind of dynamic elevation. Unlike the GBA Bowser's Castle courses in Mario Kart Tour, this course retains its original name, Bowser Castle, as opposed to being changed to read "Bowser's Castle".
Large stretches of the course are now angled vertically, including segments of lava. The course now features more walls, pillars, and ramps. Offroad has been added all throughout the course, similar in appearance to the offroad present in GBA Bowser's Castles. Unlike in most other Tour courses, the offroad is not blocked off at all through the game's Smart Steering, even for the patches that do not serve as opportunities for shortcuts. The layout of the jump section has been streamlined, with the platforms all being fully aligned and offroad now breaking up the platforms. Lava Geysers now erupt from the lava. An extra turn has been added before the U-bend where the track previously only got thinner, marked with an arrow sign. The walls separating the three roads towards the end can now be driven on, and gaps have been added between sections of the walls. The final turn is now a curved bend as opposed to two 90 degree turns. Bone Piranha Plants have been added to the end of the course. The background is more open, since the arches in the background have been trimmed down and do not fill the entire horizon. A volcano similar to that of 3DS Bowser's Castle has been added to the course's background.
The course also appears as Bowser Castle 3R (reversed), Bowser Castle 3T (with ramps), and Bowser Castle 3R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, there is a glide ramp at the beginning of the last straightaway, allowing racers to cut off the final turn. In the T and R/T variants, a glide ramp is located at the fork with the numerous jumps. In the R/T variant this allows racers to cut off the second to last turn if they can dodge the additional Bone Piranha Plants that are present.
Like with the Donut Plains, Koopa Beach, and Vanilla Lake courses, this course reuses its original musical arrangement from Super Mario Kart.
Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of SNES Bowser Castle 3 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Top-tier and middle-tier items
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which SNES Bowser Castle 3 and its variants are always favored or favorite courses. For instances in which additional drivers, karts, and gliders temporarily had this course and its variants as favored or favorite courses, see List of SNES Bowser Castle 3 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
| Course | Three-item drivers | Bonus points ×2 karts | Combo bonus ×3 gliders | Two-item drivers | Bonus points ×1.5 karts | Combo bonus ×2 gliders |
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 R/T variant |
 
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| * indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 3. ** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 6. *** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 8 for High-End items. | ||||||
Bonus challenges
| Big Reverse Race | ||||||||||||
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| 7th | 6th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | Extra | |||||
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| Glider |  [1]
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| Steer Clear of Obstacles | |||||||
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| Icon | Course variant | Chosen driver |
Chosen kart |
Chosen glider |
Obstacles | Tour appearances | Cup |
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Regular |  Iggy |
 Pipe Frame |
 Super Glider |
 Barrel Bomb  Bone Piranha Plant |
Bowser Tour (2023) |  Shy Guy Cup |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
This section is referring to a subject in an upcoming or recently released DLC wave. When the DLC wave is released, or more information about this subject is found, this section may need major rewriting.
This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the DLC wave was first released.
Bowser Castle 3 reappears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the sixth and final wave of the Booster Course Pass DLC. It appears as the third course in the Spiny Cup, marking the first time an SNES Bowser Castle course has been present in a cup since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It and Template:Classic-link are the only courses from Super Mario Kart to appear in the Booster Course Pass. It is also the first and only classic Bowser's Castle to appear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It is based on its appearance in Mario Kart Tour, but with significant visual upgrades. Anti-gravity has been added starting from the first jump, continuing up until the end of the slanted section, making it the first SNES course to use anti-gravity. The ground at the top of the incline is now a metal grate, instead of stone. Fireballs have been added as an obstacle, while more Thwomps appear along various parts of the course. Some of the added offroad from the Tour version was removed. The music was also arranged as a metal composition, rather than retaining any of the original SNES instruments like Mario Circuit 3.[2]
Although the course's name in the Wave 6 reveal trailer reads as "Bowser Castle", like in its previous appearances, the official North American website for the Booster Course Pass names the course as Bowser's Castle 3, matching most modern Bowser's Castle courses. Bowser Castle 3 is the only SNES course to not be the second course of its cup, as Template:Classic-link, Template:Classic-link, and Template:Classic-link are respectively the second courses of the Banana, Triforce, and Turnip cups.
According to internal data in the 2.0.0 update, this course may have originally been planned to be the third course of the Cherry Cup.
Gallery
Mario Kart Tour
Course icons
The course icon with Meowser
The course icon of the R variant with the Ludwig Mii Racing Suit
The course icon of the T variant with the Iggy Mii Racing Suit
The course icon of the R/T variant with Dr. Luigi
The course icon of the R/T variant with Cat Luigi
Screenshots
View of the starting line
Alternative view of the starting line
View of the ramps section
View of the walled off road
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
View of the castle
- MK8-Course-SNES BowserCastle3.jpg
Thwomps on the course
Bowser and Bowser Jr. driving on the course
Bowser and Dry Bowser on the course
Bowser on the course
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
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| Chinese (simplified) | 酷霸王城堡 3[?] Kùbàwáng Chéngbǎo 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 庫巴城堡 3[?] Kùbā Chéngbǎo 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | |
| Dutch | Bowsers Kasteel 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| German | Bowsers Festung 3[?] | Bowser’s Castle 3 | |
| Italian | Castello di Bowser 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| Korean | 쿠파 성 3[?] Kupa Seong 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | |
| Portuguese | Castelo do Bowser 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| Spanish | Castillo de Bowser 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Bri-1101 (May 9, 2023). Gliders used in bonus challenges (2023 Bowser Tour). Reddit. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- ^ GameXplain (November 1, 2023). NEW Gameplay + Music of All 8 Tracks in Wave 6 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course DLC! (JP Site). YouTube. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
