Tour Athens Dash

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search

This article is about a subject in an upcoming or recently released tour. When the tour is released, or more information about this subject is found, this article may need major rewriting.
This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the tour was first released.

Athens Dash
Athens Dash in Mario Kart Tour
View of the Theatre of Dionysus and Hadrian's Arch
Information
Appears in Mario Kart Tour (2023)
Tour(s)
Athens Dash:
Spring Tour
Athens Dash 2:
Spring Tour
Based on Athens, Greece
Music sample
Course map
Athens Dash
The map of Athens Dash from Mario Kart Tour
Athens Dash 2
The map of Athens Dash 2 from Mario Kart Tour

Athens Dash is a race course in Mario Kart Tour. It is set in Athens, Greece and first appeared in the Spring Tour, making it the first city course to debut in a tour that is not named after the city it is based on. The course visits various landmarks of the city it is based upon, specifically atop the Acropolis, and the various ruins atop it, such as the Parthenon and the Erechtheion. Unlike most other city courses, Athens Dash largely keeps the city proper to the background, instead focusing on the ancient ruins the city is known for. Unlike other real world city courses, which tend to reconstruct real world buildings faithfully, this course takes many liberties regarding its design, such as placing a gigantic statue of Athena outside the Parthenon, made of ivory and gold and wielding a spear and shield, similarly to the long-disappeared statue of Athena Parthenos. Like Sydney Sprint and Singapore Speedway, the track largely does not condense landmarks down and instead situates the ones featured around where they are in real life, though akin to the former, it takes more liberties with the layout and what's included. The starting banner consists of two golden statues of Danaïdes holding vases of water. The landscape seen in many of the routes is actually similar to that of Santorini, but with red roofs instead of blue.

There are currently two routes for this course named Athens Dash and Athens Dash 2. The first route takes racers to the Theatre of Dionysus and Hadrian's Arch, while the second route takes racers off the Acropolis. The course's model contains a currently unreleased third route, taking racers to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and featuring a route that comes down upon the Theatre of Dionysus. So far, it is the only city course in Mario Kart Tour to debut in 2023, and the first city course since Bangkok Rush, which debuted twenty-one tours prior; the longest period of time between the debut of two Mario Kart Tour city courses. This course is the first real world city course to feature half-pipes.

Course layouts

Combined map of Athens Dash in Mario Kart Tour with Athens Dash 1 highlightedCombined map of Athens Dash in Mario Kart Tour with Athens Dash 2 highlighted
The city course's routes in relation to each other.

Athens Dash

Racers start inside the Parthenon. Upon leaving the Parthenon, racers soon take a left turn before going down hill to approach some ruins. Racers can choose to jump off of a ramp and drive along the floor, or jump up on some arches and collect a few coins. After avoiding some ruins that create a fork in the road, racers drive up a ramp before landing on the Theatre of Dionysus. After curving along the seats, racers drive off a boost panel, and take two left turns to enter a cannon located beneath the Hadrian's Arch, taking them back up to the Acropolis via a tunnel. After exiting the tunnel and taking a left turn, racers make their way back to the Parthenon to reach the finish line.

This route also appears as Athens Dash R (reversed), Athens Dash T (with ramps), and Athens Dash R/T (reversed with ramps).

In the R variant, a road connecting to the Theatre of Dionysus that is not present on the minimap is used. Additionally, Athens Dash R/T starts in a different location compared to the other variants. The R/T version of Athens Dash is one of four courses in Mario Kart Tour that does not start in the same place as the original, the others being 3DS Rock Rock Mountain T, 3DS Rainbow Road T and R/T, and Singapore Speedway R/T.

Athens Dash 2

After leaving the Parthenon, racers take a left turn and approach the Erechtheion briefly before taking a glider ramp into a street, driving down many sets of staircases as they approach a wide U-bend. After the U-bend, racers approach the Roman Agora, avoiding Thwomps. Racers then begin driving uphill, avoiding boulders that fall down the Acropolis. Here, there is a shortcut in a narrow tunnel that requires destroying a wooden cutout of a Goomba. Once up the Acropolis, players drive beneath the Beulé Gate and the Propylaea. After a brief straightaway, they approach the finish line.

This route also appears as Athens Dash 2R (reversed), Athens Dash 2T (with ramps), and Athens Dash 2R/T (reversed with ramps).

Appearances

For this course's tour appearances, see List of Athens Dash tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Profiles

  • Mario Kart Tour Twitter:
    • Here's a sneak peek of what's to come in #MarioKartTour! Toad and Yoshi went ahead to check out the new tour location and sent a picture back. It looks like some races are about to heat up in a historic city with towering temples.[1]
    • The Yoshi Tour is wrapping up in #MarioKartTour. Next up is the Spring Tour featuring the course Athens Dash course[sic], along with other European city courses![2]

Gallery

Athens Dash

Course icons

Screenshots

Athens Dash 2

Course icons

Screenshots

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese アテネ ポリス[?]
Atene Porisu
Athens Polis
"ポリス" is a transliteration of "πόλης"; a Greek word meaning "city"
Chinese 雅典城邦[?]
Yǎdiǎn Chéngbāng
Athens Polis
French Athènes antique[?] Ancient Athens
German Athen auf Abwegen[?] Astray in Athens
Italian Alture di Atene[?] Athens Heights
Korean 아테네 폴리스[?]
Atene Polliseu
Athens Polis
Portuguese Cenas de Atenas[?] Athens Scenes
Spanish (NOA) Periplo ateniense[?] Athenian Periplus
Spanish (NOE) Atenas de Altura[?] Athens of Height

Trivia

  • Prior to its official reveal, references to assets for this course such as pillars and doorways were left within the game's internal data, all of which were appended the course's internal abbreviation (mobat).

References