Mushroom City
- This article is about the course from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! For the setting of Mario Party Advance, see Shroom City (Mario Party Advance). For the city in Paper Mario: The Origami King formerly known as "Snif City", see Shroom City (Paper Mario: The Origami King).
| Mushroom City | |||||||
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| Appears in | Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003) | ||||||
| Cup(s) | Star Cup | ||||||
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Mushroom City is the second race course of the Star Cup in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. It is a large city with Mushroom-shaped buildings. There are several junctions in the course, but all paths lead to the same spot. The course takes place at night, unlike its counterpart, Mushroom Bridge, which takes place during daylight. The two courses also share the same music.
The hazards present in Mushroom City are the cars, trucks, buses, Wiggler Wagons, and Bob-omb Cars, all of which hinder the players in contact. Cars, buses, and trucks make players spin out. Wiggler Wagons flip the player and render the rear character helpless, and always have twelve wheels, unlike the ones on Mushroom Bridge. Bob-omb Cars can explode if they touch any players or certain items, such as Fireballs or shells. Mushroom-shaped cars are also present in the city, providing players Mushrooms flying out if they manage to hit them. Until the addition of Tour Berlin Byways in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, this was the only course in the whole series to feature traffic that does not follow the exact route racers take.
This course can be seen in the background of Mushroom Bridge, Wario Colosseum and Rainbow Road. The bridge in Mushroom Bridge can be seen in the background of this course. Mushroom City is the only course in the game to have the finish line marked on the map without an overlay sprite. Mushroom City is one of four courses from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! that has yet to reappear as a classic course in a future Mario Kart game. As such, it is the only course from the game's Star Cup that has yet to return.
Course layout
The course starts just at the end of a highway. It is a very straight road with some lights illuminating the path. Players have to take the right side of the way where they will run along a smooth U-turn to the right, which leads into the road that goes to the floor of the city. The path splits into two stretches that will remain such until later on in the track. The players may choose to go straight ahead or turn left into an area below the overhang of the highway. The first path, the road is straight, but changes into a 90° turn right. The other path changes into a 90° turn to the left and becomes into a boulevard, running along below the highway. Both paths intersect then, and the racers may choose to remain on the same road or switch paths. Players have to make sure to not to turn to the left in the junction. Doing so will cause the racers to go backwards in the race. A Double Item Box is found in the center of the intersection.
If racers still follow the boulevard after the junction, they will go in a straight line until they discover a 90° turn to the right where the road meets the main way turning to the left. If the players that took the other path and do not turn in the junction, they will run in a straight line until the road bends to a 90° turn to the left, and then going again straight to take the main way. Players can see the other path merging completely from the left.
After the road merges, the players will see a set of item boxes and a small twist in the road that leads racers to the right at the end. Players now go straight uphill and find the last set of item boxes in the road. Taking to the left then, players run over the highway where they have previously been, evading oncoming traffic. To the right of the road is located a large gap that shows the boulevard below, and falling in it, Lakitu will come to take racers back to the highway. The finish line is right found after passing this section of the highway where the racers cross it for the start of the next lap.
Throughout this course, traffic behaves in ways not seen on any other traffic course in the series. On the lower level, traffic can be found going clockwise along two loops, one between where the path splits and the junction, and the other between the junction and where the path merges again. Most traffic is found in the left lane driving around both, however there will be one or two vehicles (depending on the game mode) in the right lane that only drive along one loop or the other for the entire race. On the upper level, vehicles continuously spawn on a part of the road that's out of bounds and out of sight, drive against players at the end of the track, and then despawn out of bounds shortly after.
There is a shortcut located at the junction. If one takes the straight path, but stays on the right hand side, a short, pink, curly alley will come with an Item Box placed there. This leads straight to the turn ahead, just before the intersection of the aforementioned path and the boulevard. Another shortcut allows the players to skip the highway part; on the very right of the gap, the players can see a very narrow road between the wall and the hole. Using a speed booster like a Mushroom or a Star will prevent the kart from decelerating by the dirt covering the shortcut's path.
There are several businesses in the city such as Pianta Fruits, Wario Pharmacy, and Koopa Shop. The Birdo bulletin board that appeared on Yoshi Circuit also appears on this course.
Game mode differences
The vehicles that appear on the stage in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! vary based on the mode the player selects:
- If the player selects Time Trial mode, there will be 12 vehicles. The lower level will have a Wiggler Wagon, a blue car, and a yellow car in the left lane, as well as a yellow car (on the second loop) and a red car (on the first loop) in the right lane. The upper level will have a Star Travel bus, a Peach Beach bus, a blue car, and a red car in the left lane, as well as a Super Chocolate truck, a Moo Moo Farm truck, and a red car in the right lane. No Mushroom cars or Bob-omb Cars are present in Time Trials.
- If the player selects Grand Prix mode for a single screen (single player or co-op play), there will be 18 vehicles. The lower level will have a Wiggler Wagon, a blue car, a red car, two Mushroom cars, a Bob-omb Car, and two Item Boxes in the left lane, as well as two red cars (one on each loop) and one Item Box (on the first loop) in the right lane. The upper level will have a Star Travel bus, a Peach Beach bus, two yellow cars, a Bob-omb Car, and two Item Boxes in the left lane, as well as a Super Chocolate truck, a P. Express truck, a red car, a Mushroom car, a Bob-omb Car, and three Item Boxes in the right lane.
- If the player selects a split-screen mode and items are also played, there will be 11 vehicles. The lower level will have a Wiggler Wagon, two red cars, a Mushroom car, a Bob-omb Car, and an Item Box in the left lane, as well as a red car (on the first loop) in the right lane. The upper level will have a Star Travel bus, a red car, and an Item Box in the left lane, as well as a Super Chocolate truck, a Mushroom car, a Bob-omb Car, and two Item Boxes in the right lane.
- If the player selects a split-screen mode and items are not played, there will be 11 vehicles. The lower level will have a Wiggler Wagon, a yellow car, a red car, a Mushroom car, and a Bob-omb Car in the left lane, as well as a blue car (on the second loop) in the right lane. The upper level will have a Star Travel bus and a red car on the left lane, as well as a Moo Moo Farm truck, a Mushroom car, and a Bob-omb Car on the right lane.
Sponsors
- Express (Cargo trucks)
- Delfino Fruits (Signs)
- Koopa Shop (Shops)
- Lakitu Park (Signs)
- Moo Moo Farm (Cargo trucks)
- Nintendo (Signs)
- Nintendo GameCube (Signs)
- Peach Beach (Buses)
- Ribbon 86 (Posters)
- Shoot!! (Signs)
- Star Travel (Buses)
- Super Chocolate (Cargo trucks)
- Super Mushroom (Trackside banners)
- Super Star! (Signs)
- Wario Pharmacy (Signs)
Profiles
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Instruction booklet bio: "This course takes you through downtown Mushroom City in the dead of night. It’s easy to take a wrong turn and get lost. The key to victory is avoiding the inner-city traffic."
- North American website bio: "City traffic can be horrible, especially in Mushroom City. Watch out for traffic and try not to get lost."
- European website bio: "Karts weren’t meant for commuting, but you’ll find dense traffic and tight turns on your trek through Mushroom City."
Gallery
The course logo
The course icon
The two-way intersection
The Wiggler Wagon
Back on the highway
Taking the alternate road
The four-way intersection
An alternate road, requiring a Mushroom to avoid losing speed
In a split-screen race, the length of the Wiggler Wagon does not change at all, but there are fewer vehicles on the road.
Bowser and Bowser Jr. drive through Mushroom City
A pre-release screenshot of Mushroom City, having two Wiggler Wagons instead of one
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | キノコシティ[?] Kinoko Shiti |
Mushroom City | |
| French | Champiville[?] | Portmanteau of champignon ("mushroom") and ville ("town" or "city") | |
| German | Pilz-City[?] | Mushroom City | |
| Italian | Cittá dei Funghi[?] | Mushrooms' City | |
| Spanish | Ciudad Champiñón[?] | Mushroom City |
