Royal Raceway
- This article is about the race course from Mario Kart 64. For the musical theme also known as "Royal Raceway", see Luigi Raceway (theme).
- Not to be confused with Royal Highway.
Royal Raceway (referred to as "the Royal Raceway" in the Mario Kart 64 Player's Guide), also known as Peach Circuit,[1][2] is the third course of the Star Cup in Mario Kart 64. It is the longest of the three raceways and is Peach's home track of the game. The race takes place around a giant lake. Peach's Castle can be found after the big jump over the lake, and it is where the Award Ceremony takes place at the end of each cup in Mario Kart 64. It reappears in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Banana Cup, as well as in Mario Kart Tour, starting with the Peach Tour and last appearing in the Princess Tour.
Royal Raceway shares its music with Luigi Raceway, Mario Raceway, and Wario Stadium.
Mario Kart 64[edit]
Course layout[edit]
The course begins near a grand stand full of cheering audience, and it takes place on a simple asphalt road with grass on both sides under a pink sky. There is first a straightaway followed by a slight left turn and the first set of Item Boxes. After a brief straight there is a U-turn to the left and then a U-turn to the right. Racers then drive along three more brief straights, with slight right turns in between. A slight left turn follows with another item set afterwards, and then there is a straightaway with a right U-turn at the end. Racers then reach another, far longer straightaway that crosses over the beginning of the track.
Along the straightaway, racers drive slightly uphill and guard rails appear along both sides of the track. Two large Dash Panels appear on this straightaway; one is in the middle while one is at the very end. The one at the end curves upwards, acting as a ramp for racers to go off. As racers go off the ramp they cross a large body of water. Where racers land there is another item set followed by a left turn. On the right side of the track next to the left turn, racers can follow a path up to a version of Peach's Castle nearly identical to the version found in Super Mario 64. This castle is also where the awards ceremony takes place at the end of each cup. Afterwards, racers take a slight right turn followed by a left turn, a sharp right turn, and a brief straight with the last item set. A left turn and another brief straight then brings racers to the finish line.
While no obstacles appear on the track itself, trees and stationary Piranha Plants appear along the sides of the track. The course also has no specific notable shortcuts, but racers can use Dash Mushrooms or a Super Star to drive through the large amount of off-road along the course and cut off turns.
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]
Royal Raceway makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Banana Cup, making it the only course out of the four returning N64 courses in the base game that is not the last course of its respective retro cup. The sky is now blue with pink clouds, instead of pink with white clouds, both the starting banner and the bleachers have been redesigned to look more related to Peach's Castle, and the iconic crown is now more detailed. The audience is also more distinguishable and it is made up of Toads, Shy Guys, and Koopa Troopas. The wall, which the racers drive around, retains its red and white checker pattern but its design has been updated to have some elements of Peach's Castle, and subtle heart details have been added. The road markings are also made up of hearts. There are now swan boats in the lake, with Toads riding in them. At the starting line, the Mario Kart logo is now transparent.
While the layout is faithfully recreated, it is smaller compared to the original track, with straightaways being shorter. The ramp now has evenly spread out five grass arches with ringing bells, which the player can hear when passing by them, hanging on them and the rails on the ramp are redesigned to make it related to Peach's Castle. The ramp ends with a Glide Ramp now, which allows players to glide over the shortened large gap and then land gently at the next section which now features Peach's emblem. There are hot-air balloons piloted by Toads based on Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina's dresses, similar to the balloons present in Daisy Hills from Mario Kart 7. However, the designs for the balloons alternate every race, most noticeable in the one at the end of the glider section. There are also cherry blossom trees like in Mario Circuit from Mario Kart 7 in place of the striped evergreen trees. At the final turns, the grassland area has been narrowed down to make it less possible for players to slip off the track and end up in the grassland compared to the original.
The road leading to Peach's Castle is now blocked off, meaning players are unable drive around compared to the original. Furthermore, the design of Peach's Castle and the area around it have been revised from the original Super Mario 64 version, to look more like a modern interpretation of its design.
Shortcuts[edit]
- Before the second row of Item Boxes, there is a Dash Panel ramp with a pair of Item Boxes that can be reached using a Dash Mushroom or other boosting item. This causes players to skip that corner and the second row of Item Boxes.
- It is possible to reach this ramp itemless if the player charges a Mini-Turbo with a left drift and releases said Mini-Turbo and hops to the ramp. A second hop may be needed as players will typically land in the off-road just before the ramp and may also need to slightly reallign themselves to take the following turn.
- Almost every turn on the course features an off-road patch that may be passed over with the use of a Dash Mushroom or other boosting item. The following are the most prominent corners players can cut off.
- The first turn of the course
- The turn after the first row of Item Boxes
- These may be combined with at least two Dash Mushrooms, skipping the first row of Item Boxes
- The turn prior to the large ramp
- The turn with the final row of Item Boxes
- The final turn of the course.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
Royal Raceway reappears in Mario Kart Tour, starting with the Peach Tour. Like GCN Yoshi Circuit, N64 Yoshi Valley, and GCN Baby Park, it mostly takes on the appearance of its Mario Kart 8 iteration with elements of 3DS Mario Circuit like the hills in the background, and the castle's design being based on the Mario Kart Tour iteration. The hot-air balloons are no longer princess-themed, instead taking their design from the ones seen in this game's iteration of 3DS Daisy Hills. The starting line banner now uses an opaque Mario Kart logo. It is also the first classic course in the game that has not appeared in any handheld Mario Kart installment. Royal Raceway is the first and only course in Mario Kart Tour to appear in Coin Rush in four tours, being the Peach Tour, the 2021 Yoshi Tour, the 2021 Space Tour, and the Princess Tour, unless the beta test is counted, where SNES Rainbow Road also appears in four tours.
The course also appears as Royal Raceway R (reversed), Royal Raceway T (with ramps), and Royal Raceway R/T (reversed with ramps). The former two were introduced alongside the regular version in the Peach Tour, while the latter was added in the 2021 Yoshi Tour. In all three variants, the glide ramp used to get across the lake is removed; in the R and R/T variants, racers cross on top of Kanaami Road, while in the T variant, racers cross using mushroom trampolines. The R/T variant also has a mushroom trampoline, though racers are likely to jump over it instead of bouncing on it.
Like N64 Mario Raceway, the course uses the Mario Kart 7 arrangement of its music, which is heard in N64 Luigi Raceway
Appearances[edit]
For this course's tour appearances, see List of N64 Royal Raceway tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Top-tier and middle-tier items[edit]
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which N64 Royal Raceway 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 N64 Royal Raceway tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
