Snow Land
MKSC Snow Land Starting Line.png
Information
Appears in Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 2) (2022)
Mario Kart Tour (2022)
Cup(s) Star Cup (Super Circuit)
Propeller Cup (8 Deluxe)
Tour(s)
Online play Available (Switch)
Music sample
Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (frontrunning)

Mario Kart Tour
Course map
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
MKSC Snow Land Map.png
MKSC Snow Land Mini Map.png


Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Map of GBA Snow Land in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Mario Kart Tour
GBA Snow Land from Mario Kart Tour

Staff ghost(s)
8DX 150cc Nin★Maria
1:46.763 Tanooki MarioTanooki KartStandard tiresSuper Glider
8DX 200cc Nin★Leonel
1:21.826 King BooCircuit SpecialMonster tiresSuper Glider
Not to be confused with Ice Land.
“Proverbe du Pays Neigeux : « Qui taquine les pingouins, finit par tomber dans le ravin. » (Snow Land proverb: "Those who tease the penguins end up falling into the ravine.")
Official French Mario Kart Facebook page[1]

Snow Land is the first course of the Star Cup in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Like most ice courses from the Mario Kart series, Snow Land is a very slippery track which requires accurate steering. Similar to Frappe Snowland, snowmen appear as obstacles on this course though bumping into them does not cause the player to spin out. Spinning penguins also appear as obstacles, which can cause the player to spin out. A portion of this course's music resembles a section from Choco Mountain's music from Mario Kart 64. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the course's background is used on SNES Vanilla Lake 1 and 2 from Super Mario Kart.

Snow Land returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the second course of the Propeller Cup in the Booster Course Pass DLC and in Mario Kart Tour starting from the 2022 Holiday Tour.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Course layout

The course takes place atop a frozen body of water, with the main road being dark blue ice and the sides of the road being lined with light blue ice and snow. The course begins with a 90° turn to the right, the first set of Item Boxes, and a 90° turn to the left. There is then a 135° right turn followed by a straightaway; in the middle of the road here is a long line of the course's only coins. Racers then take another 135° right turn followed by a slight right and a U-turn to the left. The course then continues with a brief straight and two 90° right turns, along which there are holes in the ice and spinning Penguins as obstacles. Afterwards, racer encounter another item set as well as a speed strip on the left side of the road. They then take a 45° right turn, 90° left turn, and another 45° right turn. A 90° right turn and a brief straightaway then bring racers to the finish line.

Throughout the course as a whole, trees and snowmen appear at the sides of the road as potential obstacles. Additionally, the bumpiness of the course causes the camera to slightly shake during each race.

Shortcuts

The first notable shortcut can be found after the second turn. By not taking the entire subsequent turn and driving to the left of the main road, the player can access an alternate route with several speed strips.

The second notable shortcut can be found at the second 135° right turn. By driving between holes in the ice to the right of the main road, the player can cut off the turn and access an extra set of Item Boxes. A very similar shortcut can also be found just before the last item set, but it results in the player missing the item set instead.

Lastly, the player can use a Mushroom to reach a ramp to the left of the 90° turn at the end of the track, cutting it off.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 
GBA Snow Land in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Snow Land makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 2 of the Booster Course Pass. It appears as the second course of the Propeller Cup. The course has received dramatic visual upgrades, and now features more elevated portions, similar to GBA Cheese Land. The course's starting line is now on a bridge that connects the first and last bends of the course together, and the U-turn in the middle is now a sheet of ice with a water hole in the middle, replacing the smaller water holes in the main road. The first part of the course is now set in a forested area, and the snowmen reappear there. Penguins now roam around the course, and act similar to the Skating Shy Guys in GCN Sherbet Land. The ice spires in the course's background now have a slight purple hue, like the sky. Additionally, unlike GBA Ribbon Road in Mario Kart 8 and designs for GBA courses in Mario Kart Tour, the original layout was recreated relatively faithfully despite the elevation changes, though the ice paths and shortcut in the upper right portion of the course were removed. The latter has been replaced by a different shortcut that involves boosting through an elevated portion of snow signified by a snowman that skips the turn after the straight away. The shortcut located on the second final straight away now features an opening in the wall rather than two ramps before it, the Dash Panel previously in this area was removed, and an additional ramp has been added at the final turn. The course's music has also received an additional intro that was not present in the original. Curiously, the minimap does not reflect the hole in the ice being rough and jagged, with it looking round as in Mario Kart Tour. This also applies to minor tweaks made to the jump section, as the gap is shorter compared to Tour and the landing spot has been widened.

Barring the Mario Kart Tour tracks, Snow Land is the only course added in the second wave of the Booster Course Pass that had never previously appeared outside of its debut, and is one of two courses in the DLC with this distinction, alongside DS Shroom Ridge.

Shortcuts

  • On the straight path with two snowmen inbetween three trees, if you mushroom after the first snowman, you can cut off a sizable chunk if you miss the death area, which can be done easily by mushrooming towards the wall to the left in the air and bonking or mushrooming slightly to the right and drifting as soon as you land.

Mario Kart Tour

 
The course in Mario Kart Tour

Snow Land returns in Mario Kart Tour starting in the 2022 Holiday Tour. While the layout of the track does not change, the course features several differences compared to its appearance in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, making it resemble its original counterpart as well. For example, the main road is no longer shiny and has been reverted to the more ice-like design of the original rather than the frozen road design in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The large shards of ice in the background do not have a purple hue anymore. The penguins have been moved to the first part of the track, as opposed to appearing in the ending section. The hole in the iced-over lake has been filled in with a snow patch, a ramp is added before that section and the ramp ending it now has a Dash Panel. The blocks separating the road before and after the U-turn have been removed. Additionally, the Item Boxes are no longer moving from the road to the end of the U-turn, instead being placed above the ramp before the latter. The player can no longer pass through the trees in the forest section of the course.

The course also appears as Snow Land R (reversed), Snow Land T (with ramps) and Snow Land R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, the Penguins can slide around instead of walk, and there are Skating Shy Guys on the lake. In the T variant, several water geysers appear on the lake. In the R/T variant, there are several Thwomps and racers can use a glide ramp at the end of the course to glide over the finish line.

Much like other GBA courses excluding the Bowser's Castle courses and Cheep-Cheep Island, Snow Land's theme has a new arrangement with synthesized instruments, instead of using the original theme or its Mario Kart 8 Deluxe arrangement, although it retains the intro from the latter.

Appearances

For this course's tour appearances, see List of GBA Snow Land tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Top-tier and middle-tier items

Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which GBA Snow Land 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 GBA Snow Land 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                 Exploration Tour (2023)  
Monty Mole Cup
Kart                
Glider TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
Glider Challenge
Icon Course variant Chosen
driver
Chosen
kart
Chosen
glider
Grand Star distances Tour appearances Cup
  Regular  
Mario (Santa)
 
Jingle Bells
 
Gift Glider
  • 200
  • 450
  • 750
Holiday Tour (2022)  
Mii Cup
Princess Tour  
Bowser Cup
Time Trial
Icon Course variant Chosen
driver
Chosen
kart
Chosen
glider
Grand Star scores Tour appearances Cup
  Regular  
Ice Mario
 
Pipe Frame
 
Super Glider
  • 1:50:00
  • 1:38:00
  • 1:28:00
Holiday Tour (2022)  
Birdo Cup
  R  
Dry Bowser
 
Pipe Frame
 
Super Glider
  • 1:50:00
  • 1:40:00
  • 1:30:00
Princess Tour  
Funky Kong Cup

Profiles

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

  • Nintendo Switch News app (US):
    • This course first appears in Mario Kart™: Super Circuit™ game[sic] on the Game Boy™ Advance system.
    • As the name implies, this course is covered in snow and ice. Snow and ice? That sounds mighty slippery!
    • You can crash into the penguins on the course, so keep an eye out.
  • Nintendo Switch News app (UK): Slide into pole position in Snow Land!
    Now, we'd like to present to you a course released as part of the second wave, which is available now: Snow Land.
    This course first appeared in the Game Boy Advance title Mario Kart: Super Circuit. As you might guess from the name, most of its surfaces are bound in snow and ice, making for rather slippery road conditions. Crashing into one of the penguins that inhabit the track will cause you to spin out, so you'll want to do your best to try and avoid them as you skate and jostle for first place!
  • Nintendo Magazine 2022 Winter: "Like its name, a course covered in ice and snow The roads are very slippery, and bumping into the penguins in the course will make you crash. Be sure to dodge them as you race past."[2]

Gallery

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart Tour

Course icons

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart Tour race course icons (GBA courses) § Snow Land.

Screenshots

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese スノーランド[?]
Sunō Rando
Snow Land
Chinese (simplified) 白雪天地[?]
Báixuě Tiāndì
Snowy World
冰天雪地[3]
Bīngtiān Xuědì
Ice and Snow World Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Chinese (traditional) 白雪天地[?]
Báixuě Tiāndì
Snowy World
Dutch Sneeuwland[?] Snow Land
French Pays Neigeux[?] Snowy Land
German Schneeland[?] Snow Land
Italian Terra delle nevi[?] Snow Land
Korean 스노우 랜드[?]
Seunou Raendeu
Snow Land
Portuguese Terra Nevada[?] Snowy Land
Russian Снежные края[?]
Snezhnyye kraya
Snowy Edges
Spanish Tierra Nevada Snowed Land Written as "Tierra nevada" in Mario Kart: Super Circuit European instruction booklet[4]

References

  1. ^ MarioKartFR (August 17, 2022). Facebook. Retrieved November 27, 2022. (Archived November 27, 2022, 21:58:50 UTC via archive.today.)
  2. ^ Nintendo Magazine 2022 Winter (Digital English edition). nintendo.co.jp. Retrieved December 1, 2022. (Archived December 1, 2022, 20:11:43 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  3. ^ From the iQue localization prototype.
  4. ^ Mario Kart Super Circuit European instruction booklet