Moonview Highway
- This article is about the race course from Mario Kart Wii. For its musical theme, see Moonview Highway (theme).
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| Appears in | Mario Kart Wii (2008) Mario Kart Tour (2023) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 5) (2023) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cups | Special Cup (Wii) Feather Cup (8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Previous | Dry Dry Ruins (Wii) GCN Daisy Cruiser (8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Next | Bowser's Castle (Wii) Squeaky Clean Sprint] (8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mario Kart Wii courses Mario Kart 8 Deluxe courses | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Mario Kart: Double Dash!! courses.
Moonview Highway reappears in Mario Kart Tour starting with the Night Tour, and in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Feather Cup in the Booster Course Pass.
Mario Kart Wii[edit]
Course layout[edit]
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, the latter of which are absent from Time Trials. Instead, no vehicle appears where a Bob-omb Car would be. Like in the original iteration of DS 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). 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.
In Mario Kart Wii only, the exits of the highway's city section are marked with a rabbit icon, which is based off rabbits being associated with the moon and space in Asian folklore.
Course traffic patterns[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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 brands 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 opening sound now uses the one heard in Wii DK Summit and Tokyo Blur (which was previously heard in Super Bell Subway in Mario Kart 8). 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[edit]
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*
Appearances[edit]
Moonview Highway has only ever appeared in city-centric tours, indicating it may have been treated akin to a city course due to its urban theme. For this course's tour appearances, see List of Wii Moonview Highway tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Top-tier and middle-tier items[edit]
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which Wii Moonview Highway 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 Wii Moonview Highway tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
