N64 Mario Raceway

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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
Mario Raceway from Mario Kart 64.
View of N64 Mario Raceway in Mario Kart Wii
N64 Mario Raceway in Mario Kart Tour
Information
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)
Music sample
Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Tour
Course map
Mario Kart 64
An aerial view of Mario Raceway.Mini map of Mario Raceway from Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart Wii
WiiMarioCircuit64.png
Mario Kart Tour
N64 Mario Raceway from Mario Kart Tour
Staff ghost(s)
64
1:20.44 Mario
Wii Nin★Ichiro
2:14.799 Baby MarioBit Bike
Wii Expert Nin★Yuuki
1:59.053 Baby MarioMini Beast

Mario Raceway, alternatively named Mario Circuit[1][2] (which is also its Japanese name), 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 DS Desert Hills and Dry Dry Ruins, and oil slicks from SNES Mario Circuit 3.

Tournaments

 
The N64 Mario Raceway tournament

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. Like 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.

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
 
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

Break Item Boxes
Icon Course variant Chosen
driver
Chosen
kart
Chosen
glider
Item Box
type found
Number of item slots Grand Star scores Tour appearances Cup
  Regular  
Wario
 
Pipe Frame
 
Super Glider
 
Mega Mushroom

 
Coin
2
  • 12
  • 18
  • 24
Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2023)  
Fire Bro Cup
Big Reverse Race vs. 100
Icon Course variant Opponents Player Grand Star placements Tour appearances Cup
  Regular Driver                
Peach
  • 80th
  • 40th
  • 1st
Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2023)  
Luigi Cup
Kart                
Pipe Frame
Glider                
Super Glider

Profiles

Mario Kart 64

  • Instruction manual: 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.
  • Website: 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.[4]

Mario Kart Wii

 
Trading Card
  • Websites
    •   "A back-to-basics drifter's paradise with a single ramp perfectly placed for shortcuts across the grass."
    •   "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!"
  • 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

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Tour

Gallery

Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Tour

Course icons

Screenshots

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese マリオサーキット[?]
Mario Sākitto
Mario Circuit
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
Pista de Mario (Mario Kart Wii)
[?]
Mario Track
Mario's Track
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

  1. ^ Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 51, page 28.
  2. ^ Nintendo Magazine System (Australia) issue 49, page 40.
  3. ^ Supper Mario Broth (November 16, 2018). Supper Mario Broth Blog. Tumblr. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/19980205065149/http://www.nintendo.com:80/n64/mario_kart64/flwrcup.html