3DS Piranha Plant Slide

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Not to be confused with Piranha Plant Cove or Piranha Plant Pipeline.
Piranha Plant Slide
Piranha Plant Pipeway
PPS MK7.pngPiranha Plant Slide
Information
Appears in Mario Kart 7 (2011)
Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)
Mario Kart Tour (2022)
Cup(s) Star Cup (7)
Lightning Cup (8, 8 Deluxe)
Tour(s)
Based on Super Mario Bros.
Online play No longer available (3DS, Wii U)
Available (Switch)
Music sample
Mario Kart 7 / Mario Kart Tour
(Kenta Nagata, Satomi Terui)
Normal0:31
Underwater
0:30
Mario Kart 7
Frontrunning
0:31
Underwater/frontrunning
0:31
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
(Ryo Nagamatsu)
Normal0:30
Frontrunning
0:30
Course map
Mario Kart 7
Piranha Plant Slide bottom screen map
Piranha Plant Slide

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Map of 3DS Piranha Plant Slide in Mario Kart 8.Map of 3DS Piranha Plant Slide in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.


Mario Kart Tour
Map of 3DS Piranha Plant Slide from Mario Kart Tour

Staff ghost(s)
7 Nin★tBando
2:20.186 LakituStandard KartMonsterSuper Glider
7 Expert Nin★JIKU
02:06.540 LakituCloud 9SpongeParaglider
8 Nin★Polly
2:23.991 LudwigJet BikeSlimSuper Glider
8DX 150cc Nin★Polly
2:21.321 LudwigJet BikeSlimSuper Glider
8DX 200cc Nin★Frank
1:48.454 WendyMr. ScootyMetalPeach Parasol

Piranha Plant Slide (known as Piranha Plant Pipeway in the British English version) is the first course of the Star Cup in Mario Kart 7. It is based on the underground levels of Super Mario Bros., and appears to take place in a sewer. It consists of floating blocks, three Goombas (which are blue underground, as in the original game, albeit only in 7), and Piranha Plants. The music for the course contains parts of the Ground Theme and Underground Theme from Super Mario Bros.

Piranha Plant Slide reappears in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the second course of the Lightning Cup, and in Mario Kart Tour starting with the Piranha Plant Tour. Coincidentally, it is the only course from the former's Lightning Cup to appear in the latter.

Mario Kart 7

Course layout

Piranha Plant Pipeway
Mario racing through the underwater portion

The start of the track begins at a castle, from which players drive down three water slides that lead into a pipe with a sideaways and top entrance in the same fashion as World 1-2 in Super Mario Bros. The track is mainly underground. It has flowing water that can cause the player to speed up when driven on, similar to Koopa Cape from Mario Kart Wii. There is a huge Piranha Plant in the middle of the road, which causes the track to split for a bit. After passing the Piranha Plant, two Goombas are encountered. Both are blue, similar to the underground ones in Super Mario Bros. A huge jump right after the Goombas leads the player to regular ground. Players also have the option to jump and drive on rows of floating bricks and collect Coins on them before landing on the ground. A few pipes on the ground provide jumps for the player in the turns afterwards, which form a zigzag. Soon, the player must go down a huge pipe into a section that is underwater. Some pipes are bubble-jet pipes that allow for players to be blasted to higher ledges. Another Piranha Plant blocks the path at the end of the tunnel, causing players to have to maneuver around it, though players can drive above it using the bubble-jet pipes. Then, players drive up a ramp which takes them above ground to a fortress with three drain pipes that the player must avoid. They will land on a grassy area with walls, Horsetails, and bushes heavily resembling the Super Mario Bros. backgrounds. Some boards shaped like Goombas and bushes are placed in the road, too, and there are gaps in the fences where players can use a Mushroom to cut through the grass before the finish line.

In Mario Kart 7, the bushes and clouds that appear on this course share a model, only with different textures and shading. This is a reference to Super Mario Bros., in which bushes and clouds shared the same sprite, albeit recolored.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

3DS Piranha Plant Slide in Mario Kart 8
3DS Piranha Plant Slide in Mario Kart 8

Piranha Plant Slide makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the second race of the Lightning Cup. Compared to the other two 3DS courses in the base game, this track received many notable changes. Its aesthetic has been altered to resemble Super Mario Bros. less, in line with the more realistic artstyle of Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The underwater version of the music has been removed. The starting banner, though still castle-themed, has been expanded to resemble the exterior of the larger castles, such as the one found at World 1-3 of Super Mario Bros., with towers added to the expanded walls on the side, replacing the flagpoles. The banner and towers also serve as stands for several Toads and Koopa Paratroopas.

The biggest change done to the course is the alteration of the underwater section. The chute that enters the water now goes straight down and is wider, longer, and has three slides akin to the opening of the track, instead of being a small spherical hole in the wall. Several trick ramps while heading down the chute replace the trickable pipes found in the original version of the track. The chute and the underwater section are also now an anti-gravity segment, with the track going down and then sweeping upward towards the glide ramp through a large tank populated with Cheep Cheeps, rather than through a closed tube. This results in a much steeper Glide Ramp. The ledge reachable by way of a Jet Pipe has also been repositioned to rest in the center of the track, instead of along the right side; it now allows racers to jump over the Piranha Plant prior to the Glide Ramp.

The three slides at the start/finish line have a ramp added at the end, allowing racers to perform tricks on them. The Star Cup sign at the entrance to the tunnel has also been removed, due to it being a retro track. In addition, the first of the two grass shortcuts during the last stretch has been removed, likely due to it being easily done without a Mushroom via gliding over it in Mario Kart 7. However, gliding over it outside of 200cc is impossible without a Mushroom due to the gliding section being made much steeper; in 200cc, the speed increase allows racers to glide over the top of the castle wall and beyond. Small Piranha Plants from Template:Classic-link have been added throughout the aboveground section of the course.

Mario Kart Tour

View of 3DS Piranha Plant Slide in Mario Kart Tour; this image was used to tease Petey Piranha and the Piranha Pipes, which can be partially seen behind the right side of the Big Piranha Plant.
The course in Mario Kart Tour

Piranha Plant Slide returns in Mario Kart Tour in the Piranha Plant Tour. It was the final 3DS course added to the game. Like with Template:Classic-link, it mostly uses its appearance from Mario Kart 7 as opposed to Mario Kart 8. Because of this, the starting line has been reverted back to the version seen in Mario Kart 7, albeit with the castle having a more straight orientation compared to its previous appearances. The Goombas, however, retain their normal coloration, like in Mario Kart 8. The underwater section has also been reverted to its original appearance and layout as a confined tunnel with trickable pipes along the ground. However, the final section retains its adjusted layout that removed a shortcut from Mario Kart 7. Additionally, one of the Empty Block rows has been removed during the underground section, likely to better suit the more limited controls. The water that comes from the pipes towards the end of the course no longer acts as an obstacle, and can be glided through with ease. The underwater version of the music returns.

The course also appears as Piranha Plant Slide R (reversed), Piranha Plant Slide T (with ramps), and Piranha Plant Slide R/T (reversed with ramps). The former two debuted alongside the original in the Piranha Plant Tour, while the latter debuted in the 2023 New Year's Tour. In all three variants, the Goombas are gone. In the R variant, the Piranha Plant where the track splits has been moved to the other end, so racers encounter it in the same manner. In the T variant, the aforementioned Piranha Plant has been moved to the jump near where the Goombas were. In the R/T variant, both Piranha Plants have been moved there.

On Piranha Plant Slide R and Piranha Plant Slide R/T, if their intro is skipped while overlooking the underwater section, the underwater variant of the courses' music will play when the race begins. Exiting the underwater section or restarting the race when this happens will switch back to the regular music instead.[1]

Appearances

For this course's tour appearances, see List of 3DS Piranha Plant Slide tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Top-tier and middle-tier items

Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which 3DS Piranha Plant Slide 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 3DS Piranha Plant Slide tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Bonus challenges

Mario Kart 8 Original Soundtrack liner notes

"Compared to this course's Mario Kart 7 incarnation, the amount of water flowing up and the size of the pipes have really been scaled up, and so even though it retains the 8-bit atmosphere, it's become a really dramatic course. We wanted to reflect this in the background music by making it more sweeping in scale and arranging it more dynamically."

Gallery

Mario Kart 7

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart Tour

Course icons

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart Tour race course icons (3DS courses) § Piranha Plant Slide.

Screenshots

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Chinese 吞食花滑道[?]
Tūnshí Huā Huádào
Piranha Plant Slide Mario Kart Tour
食人花滑道[?]
Shírén Huā Huádào
Mario Kart 7
Dutch Piranha Plant-Parkoers[?] Piranha Plant Course
French Égout Piranha[?] Piranha Sewer
German Röhrenraserei[?] Tubes Frenzy
Italian Tubirinto Piranha[?] From tubo ("pipe") and labirinto ("labyrinth")
Korean 뻐끔 슬라이더[?]
Ppeokkeum Seullaideo
Piranha Slider
Portuguese Canos Planta Piranha[?] Piranha Plant Pipes
Russian Канал растения-пираньи[?]
Kanal rastenya-pirani
Piranha Plant Canal
Spanish Tuberías Planta Piraña[?] Piranha Plant Pipes

References

  1. ^ video of the glitch; note the slightly different tune compared to when this does not happen.