- This article is about the race course from Super Mario Kart. For the race course from Mario Kart: Super Circuit and retro course in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Tour, see GBA Bowser's Castle 3.
| Bowser Castle 3 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| Information | |||||||||||
| Appears in | Super Mario Kart (1992) Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) Mario Kart Tour (2023) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 6) (2023) | ||||||||||
| Cup(s) | Star Cup (Super Mario Kart) Extra Star Cup (Super Circuit) Spiny Cup (8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||
| Tour(s) | |||||||||||
| Online play | Available (Switch) | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Bowser Castle 3 is the fourth course of the Star Cup in Super Mario Kart. Like every Bowser Castle course, the entire race is held inside a large castle room filled with a big lava pool.
The course returns in Mario Kart: Super Circuit as the second track of the Extra Star Cup, in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2023 Bowser Tour, and the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Spiny Cup, as well as being the penultimate course of the game overall.
Super Mario Kart
Course layout
As with the other Bowser Castle tracks, Bowser Castle 3 is composed entirely of straightaways and 90° turns. There are also Thwomps as obstacles, which remain airborne on the first lap. The course begins with a left turn, a straightaway with a row of four Thwomps at the end, and another left turn. Racers then encounter the first fork where they must continuously jump over the lava onto various platforms while dodging four individual Thwomps. The platforms also have individual ? Panels. After two left turns, a brief straightaway with another row of four Thwomps, and two right turns, racers encounter the track's second fork; here there are three distinct paths separated by walls. The leftmost has six coins and a zipper, but is farthest away and narrows the following turn into a hairpin. The easiest path to reach is the right one, which has a jump pad and a zipper directly behind such that a player who hits the jump line passes over the zipper. To reach the zipper, racers must time a hop over the jump pad. The middle path has six coins and two jump pads with ? Panels positioned behind them. At the end of the left and rights paths is an individual Thwomp. After two more left turns, racers pass a pair of Thwomps and soon reach the finish line.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Bowser Castle 3 reappeared in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and is the second track of the Extra Star Cup. It uses the background from that game's Bowser Castle 1. The Thwomps and zippers were removed from the track, along with the jump pad in the rightmost path at the end. Also, the Question Blocks in the first split path were reduced to just three Item Boxes (one on both sides early on, and one in the middle afterwards).
Mario Kart Tour
Bowser Castle 3 returns in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2023 Bowser Tour, marking the first reappearance of an SNES Bowser Castle course in a Mario Kart title since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It was the final SNES course added to the game. Unlike any other SNES courses that reappeared before it, the course has received a major visual and gameplay overhaul, including a new starting banner, being the first SNES remake in the Mario Kart series to feature any kind of dynamic elevation. Unlike the GBA Bowser's Castle courses in Mario Kart Tour, this course retains its original name, Bowser Castle, as opposed to being changed to read "Bowser's Castle".
Large stretches of the course are now angled vertically, including segments of lava. The course now features more walls, pillars, and ramps. Offroad has been added all throughout the course, similar in appearance to the offroad present in GBA Bowser's Castles. Unlike in most other Tour courses, the offroad is not blocked off at all through the game's Smart Steering, even for the patches that do not serve as opportunities for shortcuts. The layout of the jump section has been streamlined, with the platforms all being fully aligned and offroad now breaking up the platforms. Lava Geysers now erupt from the lava. An extra turn has been added before the U-bend where the track previously only got thinner, marked with an arrow sign. The walls separating the three roads towards the end are now aligned and can now be driven on, and gaps have been added between sections of the walls. The final turn is now a curved bend as opposed to two 90 degree turns. Bone Piranha Plants have been added to the end of the course. The background is more open, since the arches in the background have been trimmed down and do not fill the entire horizon. A volcano similar to that of 3DS Bowser's Castle has been added to the course's background.
The course also appears as Bowser Castle 3R (reversed), Bowser Castle 3T (with ramps), and Bowser Castle 3R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, there is a glide ramp at the beginning of the last straightaway, allowing racers to cut off the final turn. In the T and R/T variants, a glide ramp is located at the fork with the numerous jumps. In the R/T variant this allows racers to cut off the second to last turn if they can dodge the additional Bone Piranha Plants that are present.
Like with the Donut Plains, Koopa Beach, and Vanilla Lake courses, this course reuses its original musical arrangement from Super Mario Kart.
Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of SNES Bowser Castle 3 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Top-tier and middle-tier items
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which SNES Bowser Castle 3 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 SNES Bowser Castle 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Normal variant |
       
|
           
|
           
|
          
|
                  
|
               
|
   
|
||||||
|
|
| ||||
 R variant |
        
|
        
|
        
|
        
|
       ***        
|
        
|
 
|
|
  
|
|
|||
|
||||||
 T variant |
             
|
         
|
    
|
        *** 
|
             
|
        ***  
|
|
|
|
||||
 R/T variant |
 
|
     
|
|
     ***   
|
 *** 
|
 ***   
|
 
|
| |||||
|
||||||
| * 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
| Big Reverse Race | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Course variant | Opponents | Tour appearances | Cup | ||||||||
| 7th | 6th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | Extra | |||||
|
Regular | Driver | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
N/A | Bowser Tour (2023) |  Diddy Kong Cup |
| Kart | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
| Glider |  [1]
|
 [1]
|
 [1]
|
[1]
|
 [1]
|
 [1]
|
 [1]
| |||||
| Steer Clear of Obstacles | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Course variant | Chosen driver |
Chosen kart |
Chosen glider |
Obstacles | Tour appearances | Cup |
|
Regular |  Iggy |
 Pipe Frame |
 Super Glider |
 Barrel Bomb  Bone Piranha Plant |
Bowser Tour (2023) |  Shy Guy Cup |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Bowser Castle 3 reappears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the sixth and final wave of the Booster Course Pass DLC. It appears as the third course in the Spiny Cup, marking the first time an SNES Bowser Castle course has been present in a cup since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It and SNES Mario Circuit 3 are the only courses from Super Mario Kart to appear in the Booster Course Pass. It is also the first and only classic Bowser's Castle to appear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It is based on its appearance in Mario Kart Tour, but with significant visual upgrades. Anti-gravity has been added starting from the first jump, continuing up until the end of the slanted section, making it the first SNES course to use anti-gravity. The Thwomp in this section was removed. The ground at the top of the incline is now a metal grate, instead of stone. Fireballs have been added as an obstacle, while more Thwomps appear along various parts of the course. Some of the added offroad from the Tour version was removed, while all the offroad was removed from the minimap. The turn following the antigravity section has been made slanted instead of following 90 degree angles. Metal blocks were added along the inner edge of the curved turn. Two Thwomps are added at the final jump with Coins that lay atop them, which can be collected by players passing over them. The left side of the course in this final stretch has been widened. The music was also arranged as a metal composition; the only retained instruments from the original SNES version of the track are the sampled AKAI S1000 brass hits. Like Rock Rock Mountain in Mario Kart 7, Toad Harbor, 3DS DK Jungle, Mute City, and GBA Ribbon Road, the final lap version of the music uses a different, shorter intro than the normal version. It is the only Booster Course Pass Track to do so.
Although the course's name in-game and in the Wave 6 reveal trailer reads as "Bowser Castle", like in its previous appearances, the official North American website for the Booster Course Pass names the course as Bowser's Castle 3, matching most modern Bowser's Castle courses. Bowser Castle 3 is the only SNES course to not be the second course of its cup, as SNES Donut Plains 3, SNES Rainbow Road, and SNES Mario Circuit 3 are respectively the second courses of the Banana, Triforce, and Turnip cups.
Internally, the course is referred to as "Cnsw_57", implying it may have originally been intended to be the third course of the Cherry Cup.
Gallery
Mario Kart Tour
Course icons
The course icon with Meowser
The course icon of the R variant with the Ludwig Mii Racing Suit
The course icon of the T variant with the Iggy Mii Racing Suit
The course icon of the R/T variant with Dr. Luigi
The course icon of the R/T variant with Cat Luigi
Screenshots
View of the starting line
Alternative view of the starting line
View of the ramps section
View of the walled off road
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The course icon
View of the castle
Thwomps on the course
Bowser and Bowser Jr. driving on the course
Bowser and Dry Bowser on the course
Bowser on the course
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | クッパじょうコース ３ (Super Mario Kart)[?] Kuppa Jō Kōsu 3 |
Bowser Castle Course 3 | |
| クッパじょう３[?] Kuppa Jō 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | ||
| Chinese (simplified) | 酷霸王城堡 3[?] Kùbàwáng Chéngbǎo 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 庫巴城堡 3[?] Kùbā Chéngbǎo 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | |
| Dutch | Bowsers Kasteel 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| German | Bowsers Festung 3[?] | Bowser’s Castle 3 | |
| Italian | Castello di Bowser 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| Korean | 쿠파 성 3[?] Kupa Seong 3 |
Bowser Castle 3 | |
| Portuguese | Castelo do Bowser 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| Russian | Замок Боузера 3[?] Zamok Bouzera 3 |
Bowser's Castle 3 | |
| Spanish | Castillo de Bowser 3[?] | Bowser's Castle 3 |
