Mario Kart Wii Mario Kart Tour Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Staff ghost(s)
Wii
Nin★KOZ★
2:16.802
Wii Expert
Nin★Koh
2:04.163
8DX 150cc
Nin★Yuya
1:54.655
8DX 200cc
Nin★Sophia
1:19.973
Moonview Highway is the second course of the Special Cup in Mario Kart Wii. The course takes place in and around a lit up city at night with a full moon overhead. The course seems to combine elements of previous traffic-based courses in the series, namely Toad's Turnpike from Mario Kart 64, Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and Shroom Ridge from Mario Kart DS, including the course taking place in a city at night like Toad's Turnpike and Mushroom City, the beginning portion taking place along a cliff like Shroom Ridge, an arched bridge and a tunnel like Mushroom Bridge, and the inclusion of the Bob-omb Cars present in both GCN courses.
The course begins in an area with steep cliffs and many trees along both sides. It follows the winding road of a highway that mostly lacks guard rails and is dense with traffic, including cars, trucks, and Bob-omb Cars. Like in the original iteration of Shroom Ridge, the traffic follows the Japanese system of driving, in which vehicles drive on the left side of the road (right side in Mirror Mode). Also, the Bob-omb Cars are absent from Time Trials. The track begins with racers driving straight and immediately encountering the first set of Item Boxes, and the road soon makes a right turn followed by a left turn. Along this portion of the track, racers have the option to leave the main road and drive onto some nearby cliffs, one of which has a dash panel ramp at the end. Additional Item Boxes can also be found along the cliffs. As the road makes several very slight turns, all paths swiftly converge, then there is a U-turn to the right. On the outside of this U-turn is some Kanaami Road which makes it easier to avoid falling off the track. The road then makes a slight turn to the left and goes over a bridge somewhat resembling that of GCN Mushroom Bridge. The bridge contains the second and last full set of Item Boxes, but no guard rail to protect racers from falling off either side. After this is a slight right turn followed by a brief straightaway. The straightaway leads into a set of toll booths that display the course's name and are controlled by the player's Miis. Passing the toll booths will allow the player to enter the city section.
As racers enter the city section of the track, an alternate version of the course's music will begin playing. The city itself is decorated with numerous signs and billboards, including a large billboard for "The Mushroom Moon"; if there is a Mii in the race, the faces of Mario and Princess Peach will have Mii faces from the player's console. Additionally, the Fire Flower found on a Green Fuel billboard will also have a Mii face. The layout of this section is entirely composed of three straightaways with two right turns in between. Individual Item Boxes can be found throughout this section, but they are always quickly moving. The highway itself is now four lanes, with two on each side, and fully covered by walls that show a pattern of Shy Guy and Bowser Jr. faces. Various dash panels litter the track, a few of which span the width of the entire road. The vehicles from before now move about three times as fast, and they will constantly change lanes to avoid running over any dash panels. Towards the end of this section, racers enter a tunnel which has pillars in the middle of the road, serving as additional obstacles. After exiting the tunnel, racers pass through another set of toll booths and reach one more brief straight where the finish line is located. As this happens, the course's music returns to its default version.
Unlike every other Wii track, this track does not feature any notable shortcuts. In conjunction with the track's frequent obstacles and dash panels, this greatly limits the utility of some speed items. However, items that provide the player with invincibility can still be of great use.
Course traffic patterns
This version of the course has 28 vehicles.
Left lane: Yellow car, red car, Moo Moo Dairy truck, red car, blue car, Bob-omb Car, Factory truck, Coconut Fruit truck, red car, Factory truck, yellow car, Coconut Fruit truck, Bob-omb Car, blue car, Factory truck
Right lane: Blue car, yellow car, red car, Moo Moo Dairy truck, blue car, yellow car, Bob-omb Car, Coconut Fruit truck, blue car, yellow car, Factory truck, Bob-omb Car, Moo Moo Dairy truck
Tournaments
April 2010's second tournament required players to complete a Time Trial on a version of Moonview Highway with different traffic and with all traffic now traveling against the player, similar to Toad's Turnpike in the Extra mode of Mario Kart 64. Players start the Time Trial with a set of Triple Mushrooms. The tournament was later repeated as the first tournament of November 2011, the second tournament of January 2013, and the first tournament of April 2014.
This tournament version of the course has 24 vehicles.
Left lane: Factory truck, blue car, Coconut Fruit truck, Factory truck, red car, Coconut Fruit truck, Factory truck, blue car, red car, Moo Moo Dairy truck, red car, yellow car
Right lane: Yellow car, red car, Moo Moo Dairy truck, blue car, yellow car, blue car, Coconut Fruit truck, blue car, yellow car, Factory truck, blue car, Moo Moo Dairy truck
Mario Kart Tour
Moonview Highway in Mario Kart Tour
Moonview Highway makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart Tour, starting from the Night Tour; it was the penultimate classic course added to the game, as well as the final Wii course. Cars now use designs from Berlin Byways 3, trucks use their Mario Kart 8 designs, and Bob-omb Cars return with their design from GCN Mushroom Bridge. The number of vehicles on the map has been significantly reduced and all vehicles now move slower. Vehicles also no longer travel at a higher speed while in the city; one consequence of this is that the first section of the course now has much lower vehicle density. Within the city, vehicles no longer change lanes, instead each one is assigned to either the inner or outer lane for the whole section.
The course itself has been slightly condensed vertically, which is most noticeable with the reduced distances between the tunnel and second toll booth, and said booth and the starting line. In the first section, the slope on the left cliff has been extended to cover the entire turn, but the slope on the right cliff has been cut short. All extra Item Boxes along both cliffs have been removed, except for a few atop the dash panel ramp on the right side. The trickable slope that elevated the third patch of grass has also been removed. The guard rail on the left side of the road has been extended, now preventing racers from falling off until the U-turn before the bridge, and the bridge itself now also has guard rails on both sides. In the city section, many Dash Panels have been rearranged somewhat, though many of the original placements are retained. These dash panels have also had their width increased. Lastly, all sets of Item Boxes no longer have gaps where traffic would drive through, and there is a new set shortly before the tunnel. The moving Item Boxes in the city section are still present as well.
Visually, the buildings in the city portion of the course resemble the ones in New York Minute. Rather than having windows lit with different colors with an emphasis on yellow as in the original, building windows are colored in a variety of different shades, but are no longer multicolored on an individual basis. Spotlights aimed at the sky are now visible in the city portion of the course. The Mushroom Moon and Green Fuel sponsors have been recreated with 2D artwork, although Petey Piranha's cameo appearance in The Mushroom Moon has been replaced with Bowser. The Miis in the tollbooths are now replaced with Yoshis and Shy Guys. The LED signs are now static images. The sirens heard in the city portion have been removed. The tunnel section now has fans attached to the ceiling. The toll booth bars now use the same sound effect heard in Wii DK Summit. The rabbit icon marking the exits of the city has been replaced with a yellow version of the heart icon used in Wii.
The course also appears as Moonview Highway R (reversed), Moonview Highway T (with ramps), and Moonview Highway R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, Mushroom cars from GCN Mushroom Bridge appear on the course instead of Bob-omb Cars, some trucks have dash panels on them, and a glide ramp is added at the entrance of the city. In the T variant, moving vehicles only remain in the city section of the track, turning around at each set of tollbooths. Additionally, racers can glide up to an overpass which is otherwise inaccessible for all versions of Moonview Highway. In the R/T variant, moving vehicles once again are limited to the city, and this time only consist of cars and Mushroom cars. A glide ramp at the beginning of the course also allows racers to drive on top of the tunnel.
Course traffic patterns
This version of the course, in its default variant, has 20 vehicles. Vehicles marked with an asterisk (*) take the outer lane instead of the inner lane while in the city section.
Left lane:Burning DK truck, blue car*, Moo Moo Meadows Milk truck, white car, red car*, Bob-omb Car*, Moo Moo Meadows Milk truck*, blue car, PTT truck, white car, Burning DK truck*
Right lane: Red car*, blue car*, white car, Bob-omb Car, PTT truck, green car*, PTT truck, Bob-omb Car*, Moo Moo Meadows Milk truck*
* 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.
Moonview Highway returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass. It appears as the third course of the Feather Cup. The course is largely based on its appearance from Mario Kart Tour. Cars now use their Mario Kart 8 designs and the total number of vehicles on the map has been further reduced. Additionally, traffic in the left lane travels 50% faster than before and includes several surfboard trucks from N64 Toad's Turnpike. In conjunction with the vehicle behavior changes from Mario Kart Tour, this results in the traffic no longer being effective as obstacles. In the first section of the course, the left cliff now has a simple ramp on top. There are now Double Item Boxes atop the dash panel ramp on the right cliff as well as on the sides of the bridge. In the city section, the dash panels that spanned the entire width of the road were removed, as well as the set of Item Boxes before the tunnel. The dash panels that remain now have their positions randomized between races, and they have once again been widened, now being as wide as one entire lane. The moving Item Boxes now behave differently, going through the toll booths and turning around instead of disappearing at both ends. Lastly, coins can now be found in different locations, with some trailing behind surfboard trucks. The course also receives numerous visual and auditory changes. For example, the lights on the bridge no longer alternate on and off, and the sound effect that plays when passing through the toll booths has reverted to the one used in Mario Kart Wii. The spotlights in the city now move and the yellow arrow signs in the city section are now green. Also, the course's minimap now displays the cliff portions near the start of the track. [1]
Moonview Highway is one of two courses originating from Mario Kart Wii to appear in Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass, with it appearing alongside Wii Koopa Cape. Internally, the course is referred to as "Cnsw_63", implying it may have originally been intended to be the third course of the Acorn Cup. This slot previously had no prefix attached to it, and the reason for its change is unknown.
Course traffic patterns
This version of the course has 16 vehicles. Vehicles marked with an asterisk (*) take the outer lane instead of the inner lane while in the city section.
European website bio: "Don't be distracted by the beauty of the full moon reflecting in the lake. Those on-coming headlights mean the road is chock-full of traffic that isn't going to move aside for you!"
Trading card bio: "Obstacles are one thing, but moving obstacles provide an entirely new level of danger and challenge. And there are plenty obstacles to be found along the "Moonview Highway". But the race is on and you've got to get out there and battle the traffic as you try to be the first to the finish line!"
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Nintendo Switch News app (US):
This course first appeared in the Mario Kart Wii game. You'll take a nice moonlit drive ... down an extremely busy highway.
Speaking of which, watch out for other cars while you're driving! (Yeah, that probably goes without saying.)
Cars with surfboards make convenient ramps. It's a good thing there are a lot of surfers in this city ...
Nintendo Switch News app (UK):Go driving in the moonlight in Moonview Highway! This stunning nighttime course made its debut in the Wii game Mario Kart Wii, and is set partly on a multi-lane city highway, and partly on a scenic riverside drive, lit by a bright full moon. The roads stay busy well in to the night, so be careful not to crash into any passers-by! On the other hand, if you can make good use of the trucks that carry surfboards on their backs, you might be able to pull off a Jump Boost to get that little extra edge over your competitors - not to mention, you'll look super cool!
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