Bowser Castle 3 (Super Mario Kart)
| Bowser Castle 3 | |||||||||||
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| Appears in | Super Mario Kart (1992) Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) Mario Kart Tour (2023) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 6) (2023) | ||||||||||
| Cups | Star Cup (Super Mario Kart) Extra Star Cup (Super Circuit) Spiny Cup (8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||
| Tour | |||||||||||
| Based on | Bowser's Castle | ||||||||||
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Bowser Castle 3 is the fourth race course of the Star Cup in Super Mario Kart. Like every Bowser Castle course, the entire race is held inside a large castle room filled with a big lava pool.
The course returns in Mario Kart: Super Circuit as the second track of the Extra Star Cup, in Mario Kart Tour only appearing in the 2023 Bowser Tour, and the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Spiny Cup.
Super Mario Kart[edit]
Course layout[edit]
As with the other Bowser Castle tracks, Bowser Castle 3 is composed entirely of straightaways and 90° turns. There are also Thwomps as obstacles, which remain airborne on the first lap. The course begins with a left turn, a straightaway with a row of four Thwomps at the end, and another left turn. Racers then encounter the first fork where they must continuously jump over the lava onto various platforms while dodging four individual Thwomps. The platforms also have individual ? Panels. After two left turns, a brief straightaway with another row of four Thwomps, and two right turns, racers encounter the track's second fork; here there are three distinct paths separated by walls. The leftmost has six coins and a zipper, but is farthest away and narrows the following turn into a hairpin. The easiest path to reach is the right one, which has a jump pad and a zipper directly behind such that a player who hits the jump line passes over the zipper. To reach the zipper, racers must time a hop over the jump pad. The middle path has six coins and two jump pads with ? Panels positioned behind them. At the end of the left and rights paths is an individual Thwomp. After two more left turns, racers pass a pair of Thwomps and soon reach the finish line.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit[edit]
Bowser Castle 3 reappeared in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and is the second track of the Extra Star Cup. It uses the background from that game's Bowser Castle 1. The Thwomps and zippers were removed from the track, along with the jump pad in the rightmost path at the end. Also, the Question Blocks in the first split path were reduced to just three Item Boxes (one on both sides early on, and one in the middle afterwards).
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
SNES Bowser Castle 3 returns in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2023 Bowser Tour, marking the first reappearance of an SNES Bowser Castle course in a Mario Kart title since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It was the final SNES course added to the game. Unlike any other SNES courses that reappeared before it, the course has received a major visual and gameplay overhaul, including a new starting banner, being the first remake of an SNES track in the Mario Kart series to feature any kind of dynamic elevation. Unlike the GBA Bowser's Castle courses in Mario Kart Tour, this course retains its original name, Bowser Castle, as opposed to being changed to be in the possessive noun, "Bowser's Castle".
Large stretches of the course are now angled vertically, including segments of lava. The course now features more pillars and ramps, and many walls have been omitted. Offroad has been added all throughout the course, similar in appearance to the offroad present in GBA Bowser's Castles. Unlike in most other Tour courses, the offroad is not blocked off at all through the game's Smart Steering, even for the patches that do not serve as opportunities for shortcuts. The layout of the jump section has been streamlined, with the platforms all being fully aligned and offroad now breaking up the platforms. Lava Geysers now erupt from the lava. An extra turn has been added before the U-bend where the track previously only got thinner, marked with an arrow sign. The walls separating the three roads towards the end are now aligned and can now be driven on, and gaps have been added between sections of the walls. The final turn is now a curved bend as opposed to two 90° turns. Bone Piranha Plants have been added to the end of the course. The background is more open, since the arches in the background have been trimmed down and do not fill the entire horizon. A volcano similar to that of 3DS Bowser's Castle has been added to the course's background.
The course also appears as Bowser Castle 3R (reversed), Bowser Castle 3T (with ramps), and Bowser Castle 3R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, there is a glide ramp at the beginning of the last straightaway, allowing racers to cut off the final turn. In the T and R/T variants, a glide ramp is located at the fork with the numerous jumps. In the R/T variant this allows racers to cut off the second to last turn if they can dodge the additional Bone Piranha Plants that are present.
Like with the SNES Donut Plains, SNES Koopa Beach, and SNES Vanilla Lake courses, this course reuses its original music from Super Mario Kart.
SNES Bowser Castle 3, N64 Mario Raceway and GBA Lakeside Park are the only classic courses in Mario Kart Tour to only ever appear in one tour.
Appearances[edit]
For this course's tour appearances, see List of SNES Bowser Castle 3 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Top-tier and middle-tier items[edit]
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which SNES Bowser Castle 3 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 SNES Bowser Castle 3 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
