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 DK 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 Switch version of the track as an aesthetic effect.
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 short 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 being Wario Colosseum, which has two laps). DK Mountain can be seen in the background.
Baby Park's music is also used in Balloon Battle on Tilt-a-Kart, though with more cymbals and the opening notes are a cover version of the Super Mario Bros. ground theme. The music starts in F major, then goes to F# major, and then G major before looping back to F major.
The file names for this course, including ghost data, use "BabyLuigi" as a prefix or suffix.
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 reappears in Mario Kart DS as the last track in the Banana Cup. This time around, it has five laps instead of seven and lacks the roller coaster obstacle. Missions 2-8 and 3-Boss take place here. It was available in Wi-Fi. On the final lap, the music starts playing in F#/G♭ major instead of A major.
It and the Mario Kart 8 iteration of N64 Rainbow Road are the only courses to differ in lap count as a classic course, excluding courses originating in Super Mario Kart and all classic courses in Mario Kart Tour. Incidentally, it is the only course from this game's Banana Cup to not appear in Mario Kart Tour.
Staff ghost
The staff ghost of this track in this game uses Toad in the Mushmellow, with a time of 50.920 seconds.
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Baby Park also reappears in Mario Kart 8 as a heavily-revamped DLC classic course and the first track of the Crossing Cup. This is the only classic course in the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC pack that has already appeared at least once as a classic course, as well as one of the only two classic courses overall not from Super Mario Kart to appear more than once (the other being GCN Yoshi Circuit). 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 pink and blue parts of the floor are now split across the track's length instead of its width (with the colors on the turns instead of the parallel tracks). The park background has received many 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. 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, as well as the Mario Kart logo redesigned in a similar style and color scheme to the Super Mario series current logo. They also have been given slight animations that are found on rides, where they move back and forth. The roller coaster makes its return, though unlike the original, it is impossible to collide with it.
The race on this course has seven laps just like in the original and the revamped music now increases in tempo (and goes up a key) after every lap, making it the first classic course to do this. On the final lap, the guard rails start to flash and light up in multiple colors, and like with N64 Rainbow Road, the last part of the music starts to play instead of the beginning of it. During replays, the music plays in a style similar to the original game (going up in key after each "verse", but not increasing the tempo).
Baby Park is the only classic 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 that does not have exactly three laps or sections. It is also the only track in Mario Kart 8 where players cannot perform tricks, and it is the only course aside from the three different Rainbow Roads to have its map in colors aside from blue.
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 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. However, the map colors are no longer unique and have been changed to white and gray to match the other tracks.
Staff ghost
The staff ghost for this track in this game uses Baby Mario in the Biddybuggy for 150cc, and Baby Rosalina in the Teddy Buggy for 200cc in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Their time is 1:22.562 in Mario Kart 8, 1:16.561 in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 150cc, and 0:59.765 in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 200cc.
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 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island can be seen at the background, flying around the track.
- Two large Shy Guys can be seen.
- A Koopa Paratroopa can be seen. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Paratroopa has been converted into a shop selling merchandise named Shop Paratroopa.
Profiles
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- North American website bio: "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 bio: "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 bio: "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
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The course logo
The course icon
The starting line
The start of the race
Mario Kart DS
The course icon
Wario, racing on the course
Dry Bones, racing on the course
Race with Goomboss, in Mission Mode
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- MK8 DLC GCN Baby Park Course Icon.png
The course icon
Overview of the course
Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Peach racing on 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 (simplified) | 宝宝公园[?] Bǎobǎo Gōngyuán |
Baby Park | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 寶寶公園[?] 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 |
