GCN Mario Circuit
- This article is about the race course from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and retro course in Mario Kart Wii. For other race tracks with similar names, see Mario Circuit.
| Mario Circuit | |||||||||||||||
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 The course icon | |||||||||||||||
| Information | |||||||||||||||
| Appears in | Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003) Mario Kart Wii (2008) | ||||||||||||||
| Cup(s) | Flower Cup (Double Dash!!) Leaf Cup (Wii) | ||||||||||||||
| Online play | No longer available (Wii) | ||||||||||||||
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Mario Circuit is the second race course of the Flower Cup in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. It is Mario's home track of the game. This version of the course features many of the typical elements of a Mario Circuit, such as Warp Pipes, Piranha Plants and giant mushrooms, visually similar to World 1 in various games from the Super Mario series. It also introduces the new element of Peach's Castle around which the course takes place, an element that appears in all later Mario Circuits, and also features Goombas, Piranha Plants, and a Chain Chomp as obstacles. This course appears at the end of the credits in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, as well as in the "Thanks for playing!" image seen after completing All-Cup Tour. In Mushroom Bridge, Peach's Castle from this track can be seen in the background. This course shares its music with Luigi Circuit and Yoshi Circuit.
Mario Circuit reappears in Mario Kart Wii as the fourth and final race of the Leaf Cup. An arrangement of it appears in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix under the title "Rollercoasting". An arrangement of the music for these courses also appears as one of the selectable songs that can be played during events in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo DS version), Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii version), and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Course layout
The starting line for the course is situated alongside Peach's Castle, from which the player drives straight for a short distance to a left turn, followed by a hairpin bend towards the right. This is followed by a long and gentle left turn around a patch of grass with a Chain Chomp, which will occasionally come out and attack the player, who will spin out if hit. This is followed by a gentle S-curve within a tunnel, followed by a straight level bridge. This then leads to another short stretch of straight road with a pair of Piranha Plants on each side, which attempt to bite the player and cause them to flip over if caught. The player must then drive around a left hairpin bend and a right turn, where they approach a bumpy section of road with Goombas, which follows another gentle S-curve shape. After another left turn the player then jumps over an arched bridge towards the finish line, where there is another Piranha Plant on each side of the road.
Shortcuts
- Part of the circular curve can be skipped and the Chain Chomp avoided by using a Mushroom or speed-boosting item to cut across the grass behind it.
Mario Kart DS
Mario Circuit was originally planned to appear in Mario Kart DS, but was removed prior to the game's release. The course would have used the textures "BeachTree1", "kuribo", and "mario_tree", which still remain in the game's files. There were no Goombas present toward the end of the track, and the graphics were reduced due to the limitations of the system. It can still be accessed in the game's data, and can be found by Action Replay without textures or through ROM Hacking with textures.[1]
Mario Kart Wii
This version of Mario Circuit makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart Wii as the fourth and last race of the Leaf Cup, though no major changes have been made apart from a slight design update. The player can now perform tricks off of the bumps in the road and the arched bridge approaching the finish line.
Tournaments
October 2009's first tournament required players to complete a Time Trial on a version of Mario Circuit with more obstacles: There are now two Chain Chomps near the beginning of the track, and there are now eighteen Piranha Plants all throughout the course, with some positioned directly in the middle of the track. Players start the Time Trial with no items, but there is one Item Box at the beginning of the track which always contains a Mushroom. The tournament was later repeated as the second tournament of July 2011, the first tournament of October 2012 and the second tournament of December 2013.
Profiles
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Instruction booklet bio: "This is the main circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Familiar denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom can be spotted here and there. The road’s filled with curves, so this is a good place to practice drifting."
- North American website bio: "Mario Circuit features lots of tight corners, a Chain Chomp, Piranha Plants, Peach’s Castle, and several Goombas, not to mention seven other racers trying to upend your kart."
- European website bio: "Dodge the waddling Goombas and snapping Piranha Plants, and say hi to Peach as you cruise by her castle."
Mario Kart Wii
- European website bio: "With pipes rising out of the surrounding hills and Goombas and giant Chain Chomps littering the track, this is classic Mario Kart action in all its glory."
Sponsors
- KoopaKart (Trackside banners)
- Mario Kart / Nintendo GameCube (Signs)
- Mario Racing (Trackside banners)
- Shoot!! (Trackside banners)
- Super Mushroom (Trackside banners)
Gallery
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The course logo
The starting line
The Chain Chomp on the circular turn
The tunnel
The first set of Piranha Plants
The bumpy road with the Goombas
The shortcut
Fewer Piranha Plants appear in split-screen races
Only two Goombas appear in split-screen races
The entire cast on the course after finishing the All-Cup Tour
Mario Kart Wii
The course banner
A preview of the course
An overview of the track
The first sharp turn
The Chain Chomp on the circular turn
The tunnel
Mario performing a trick on the bumpy road
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | マリオサーキット[?] Mario Sākitto |
Mario Circuit | |
| German | Marios Piste[?] | Mario's Circuit | |
| Italian | Circuito di Mario[?] | Mario's Circuit | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Circuito de Mario[?] | Mario's Circuit | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Circuito Mario[?] | Mario Circuit |
Trivia
- The Mario Kart from Nintendogs plays the theme from this course when used.
- As of the 2023 Mario vs. Luigi Tour, this is the only course in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s Flower Cup to not appear in Mario Kart Tour.
