Piranha Plant Slide
- This article is about the race course from Mario Kart 7. For its musical theme, see Piranha Plant Slide (theme).
- Not to be confused with Piranha Plant Pipeline or Piranha Plant Cove.
| Piranha Plant Slide Piranha Plant Pipeway | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Appears in | Mario Kart 7 (2011) Mario Kart 8 (2014) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) Mario Kart Tour (2022) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cups | Star Cup (7) Lightning Cup (8, 8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Based on | Super Mario Bros. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.. The course mostly takes place in a sewer, with an overground portion comprising the finishing portion of the race. The underground consists of floating blocks, three Goombas (which are blue underground, as in the original game, albeit only in Mario Kart 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 and last appearing in the Pipe Tour.
Mario Kart 7[edit]
Course layout[edit]
The start of the track begins at a fortress, 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 causes the player to speed up when driven on, similar to Koopa Cape from Mario Kart Wii. Following a left turn, there is a huge Piranha Plant in the middle of the road, which causes the track to split for a bit. Behind the Piranha Plant, there is a ramp that leads to a path with three coins. After this, there is a left turn which leads into two Goombas. 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 use Dash Panel ramps on each side to jump and drive on rows of floating Empty Blocks 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. Next, the player must go down a huge pipe into a section that is underwater. The square pipes in this area are Jet Pipes, with one allowing players to be blasted onto a higher ledge on the right side of the bend leading to the Glide Ramp. 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 a Jet Pipe. Then, players drive up a to a Glide Ramp which takes them above ground to a fortress with three drain pipes that the player must avoid while gliding. They will land on a grassy area with walls, Horsetails, and bushes heavily resembling the Super Mario Bros. backgrounds. Some wooden cutouts shaped like Goombas and bushes are placed in the road, too, and there are gaps in the fences where players can use a Dash 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[edit]
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 fortress-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 classic course. 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 Dash Mushroom via gliding over it in Mario Kart 7. However, gliding over it outside of 200cc is impossible without a Dash 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 N64 Royal Raceway have been added throughout the aboveground section of the course.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
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 3DS Neo Bowser City, 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 (from Mario Kart 8) 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 and R/T variants, the aforementioned Piranha Plant has been moved to the jump near where the Goombas were.
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[edit]
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[edit]
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.
