N64 Mario Raceway
- This article is about the race course from Mario Kart 64 and retro course in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Tour. For other race tracks with similar names, see Mario Circuit.
| Mario Raceway | |||||||||||||||
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| Appears in | Mario Kart 64 (1996) Mario Kart Wii (2008) Mario Kart Tour (2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Cup(s) | Flower Cup (64) Shell Cup (Wii) | ||||||||||||||
| Tour(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Distance | 567 m | ||||||||||||||
| Online play | No longer available (Wii) | ||||||||||||||
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Mario Raceway, rarely named after its Japanese name, Mario Circuit[1][2], is the fourth and last course of the Flower Cup in Mario Kart 64. It is Mario's home track of the game and shares its music with Luigi Raceway, Wario Stadium and Royal Raceway. It is the second shortest course of the game after Moo Moo Farm, measuring at 567 meters.
Mario Raceway reappears in Mario Kart Wii as the fourth and final course of the Shell Cup, and in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2023 Mario vs. Luigi Tour.
Mario Kart 64
Course layout
The course begins near a grand stand full of cheering audience, atop which is a large model of the Mario Cap, and it takes place on a simple asphalt road with grass on both sides. Racers first take two right turns, with the first set of Item Boxes in between. Afterwards there is a gradual U-turn to the left, with a large hill on the inside of the turn. A much sharper U-turn to the right follows, with a big toadstool on the inside of the turn. After passing another item set, racers take a left turn followed by a slight right turn and a brief straightaway. To the left of the straightaway is a giant rotating sign with text reading "Go" and Mario's artwork from Super Mario World; running into this sign while using a Star causes it to rise into the air.[3] After the straightaway is another right U-turn followed by a left turn, with the last item set in the middle of the left turn. Racers then drive along a straightaway that goes through a giant Warp Pipe tunnel. A 90° turn to the right then brings racers to the finish line.
While no obstacles appear on the track itself, trees and stationary Piranha Plants appear along the sides of the track. The course also has no specific notable shortcuts, but racers can use Mushrooms or a Star to drive through the large amount of off-road along the course and cut off turns.
The player can press the 
Button on the title screen to display the best time recorded for Mario Raceway.
Staff Ghost
If a player beats the time of 1:30:00 on this course in Time Trial mode, they unlock a Mario staff ghost.
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Raceway makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart Wii as the fourth and last race of the Shell Cup. Some of the new elements added to the track are a ramp to perform tricks in the middle of the rough grass past the toadstool, and Shine Sprites can be seen on the "Mario Star" advertisements on the side of the course near the finish line. The rotating signs feature new artwork of Mario which is later used for Mario's Nintendo 3DS AR Card and the king card in the NAP-02 deck of Mario Playing Cards. The Piranha Plants have been updated to match their modern appearance. The Warp Pipe tunnel also allows tricking off the sides as the racer comes out. The first Mario Kart Wii tournament of November 2008 was on this course, with extra obstacles such as Pokeys from Template:Classic-link and Dry Dry Ruins, and oil slicks from Template:Classic-link.
Tournaments
November 2008's second tournament required players to complete a Time Trial on a version of Mario Raceway with more obstacles: The road now has many oil slicks, more Piranha Plants appear in the grass, and several Pokeys appear in the sand just before the tunnel. Players start the Time Trial with no items, but there are several sets of Item Boxes which will always yield a Golden Mushroom. The tournament was later repeated as the second tournament of November 2010, the second tournament of March 2012, and the first tournament of June 2013.
Mario Kart Tour
Mario Raceway returns in Mario Kart Tour starting from the 2023 Mario vs. Luigi Tour. It was the final N64 course added to the game. Visually, the course resembles the Mario Kart Tour iteration of N64 Luigi Raceway, with the grandstand, the starting banner and the trees having the same design of the mentioned course. Hot-air balloons have been added to the background, akin to N64 Yoshi Valley. The rotating signs' design is retained from Mario Kart Wii, except the "Go" is in a different font and the background has a checkered pattern. A glass wall now runs along the entire stretch of the hill in the top half of the course. Similarly to N64 Choco Mountain, the proportions of the course differ notably from the original version of the track - most notably, the track has been condensed vertically. The U-turn around the mushroom is more banked and no longer has any offroad between it and the wall. The brick wall now has indented sections. Goombas now appear in the pipe section; the pipe itself is now designed like the one present in 3DS Mario Circuit, and has rocks blocking off the offroad areas on either side of it, making it now mandatory to drive through. Like N64 Royal Raceway and N64 Luigi Raceway, the course uses the Mario Kart 7 arrangement of the Mario Kart 64 raceway music.
The course also appears as Mario Raceway R (reversed), Mario Raceway T (with ramps), and Mario Raceway R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, some of the Piranha Plants to the side of the track are no longer passive. In the T and R/T variants, racers drive across several mushroom trampolines. In the R/T variant, the mushroom at the U-turn is used as an additional mushroom trampoline, and a glide ramp allows racers to drive on top of the pipe on lap 2.
This is the only course in the game that has never been playable without Team Rally rules; however, Wii Mushroom Gorge R/T is also exclusively available in team play as part of the 2023 Mii Tour.
N64 Mario Raceway, SNES Bowser Castle 3, and GBA Lakeside Park are the only classic courses in Mario Kart Tour to only ever appear in one tour.
Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of N64 Mario Raceway tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Top-tier and middle-tier items
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which N64 Mario Raceway 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 N64 Mario Raceway 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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 Normal variant |
       
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 R variant |
     
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 T variant |
    
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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
| Break Item Boxes | |||||||||
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| Icon | Course variant | Chosen driver |
Chosen kart |
Chosen glider |
Item Box type found |
Number of item slots | Grand Star scores | Tour appearances | Cup |
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Regular |  Wario |
 Pipe Frame |
 Super Glider |
 Mega Mushroom  Coin |
2 |
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Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2023) |  Fire Bro Cup |
| Big Reverse Race vs. 100 | |||||||||||||
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| Icon | Course variant | Opponents | Player | Grand Star placements | Tour appearances | Cup | |||||||
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Regular | Driver | 
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Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2023) |  Luigi Cup |
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Profiles
Mario Kart 64
- Instruction booklet description:
- English:
Although the distance of one lap is fairly short, it has complex corners and numerous hairpin curves. The course, named after our mascot, is highly recommended by the game designers as their favorite Time Trials course.[4]
- English:
- Website description:
- English (American):
The "official" course in Mario Kart 64, Mario Raceway is a quick circuit track with a variety of turns to test your Kart handling skill.[5]
- English (American):
Mario Kart Wii
- Website description:
- English (American):
A back-to-basics drifter's paradise with a single ramp perfectly placed for shortcuts across the grass. - English (British):
Drift your way around wide turns and through the pipe tunnel as you dart in-between the lush green hills of Mario Raceway. That's what the sell-out crowd came to see!
- English (American):
- Trading Card bio: "Certainly one of Mario's favorite stomping grounds, N64 Mario Raceway makes another appearance on the Mario Kart circuit. May not be an overly difficult track, but it's definitely one that has a lot of opportunities to define, practice and refine your driving strategies. You should be boosting out of every turn."
Sponsors
Mario Kart 64
- Koopa Air (Signs)
- Luigi's (Signs)
- Mario Star (Trackside banners, signs)
- Nintendo (Signs)
- Shot! (Signs)
- Yoshi (Signs)
Mario Kart Wii
- KoopaKart (Trackside banners)
- Luigi Grand Prix (Trackside banners)
- Mario Racing (Trackside banners)
- Nintendo (Trackside banners, flags)
- Shoot! (Trackside banners)
- Yoshi (Trackside banners)
Mario Kart Tour
- Bob-omb Plugs (Trackside banners)
- KoopaKart (Trackside banners)
- Launch! (Trackside banners)
- Mario Racing (Trackside banners)
- Super Mario (Trackside banners)
- Yoshi (Trackside banners)
Gallery
Mario Kart 64
Artwork
The icon from the menu
The icon from the official Mario Kart 64 website
An overview of the map from the official Mario Kart 64 website
Luigi, Peach and Toad racing on this course in the demo movie.
Mario racing on this course in the demo movie.
Yoshi racing on this course in the demo movie.
Luigi, Peach and Toad racing on this course in the Japanese demo movie.
Mario racing on this course in the Japanese demo movie.
The course in the demo movie
The course in the Japanese demo movie.
Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Toad racing on this course in the European demo movie.
Bowser racing on this course in the European demo movie.
The first circle turn with the giant mushroom
The long stretch
The large pipe before reaching the finish line
The course in the Japanese staff credits
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Mario Kart Wii
The course banner
A preview of the course
The beginning of the track
The large mushroom, along with some Piranha Plants
The ramp shortcut
The rotating sign appears different from the original
The large pipe
Mario Kart Tour
Course icons
The course icon with
The course icon of the R variant
The course icon of the T variant
The course icon of the R/T variant
Screenshots
Goombas in the pipe
Additional names
Internal names
| Game | File | Name | Meaning
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| Mario Kart Wii | old_mario_64 | Old Mario 64 |
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
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| Chinese (simplified) | 马力欧赛道[?] Mǎlìōu Sàidào |
Mario Speedway | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 瑪利歐賽道[?] Mǎlìōu Sàidào |
Mario Speedway | |
| French | Autodrome Mario[?] | Mario Motordrome | |
| German | Marios Rennpiste[?] | Mario's Racetrack | |
| Italian | Pista di Mario[?] | Mario's Track | |
| Korean | 마리오 서킷[?] Mario Seokit |
Mario Circuit | |
| Portuguese | Pista Mario[?] | Mario Track | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Pista Mario[?] | Mario Track | |
| Pista de Mario[?] | Mario's Track | Mario Kart Wii | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Pista Mario[?] | Mario Track |
Trivia
- In an early build of Mario Kart 64, the first rotating "Go" sign was absent, and in its place was a Nintendo sign.
References
- ^ December 1996. Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 51. Page 28.
- ^ April 1997. Nintendo Magazine System (Australia) issue 49. Page 40.
- ^ Supper Mario Broth (November 16, 2018). Supper Mario Broth Blog. Tumblr (English). Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ 1996. Mario Kart 64 instruction booklet. Nintendo. Page 29.
- ^ Mario Kart 64: Flower Cup. Nintendo of America (American English). Archived February 5, 1998, 06:51:49 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
