Athens Dash
| Athens Dash | |||||||||||
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 View of the Theatre of Dionysus | |||||||||||
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| Appears in | Mario Kart Tour (2023) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 5) (2023) | ||||||||||
| Cup | Feather Cup | ||||||||||
| Tours |
Athens Dash:
Spring Tour Vacation Tour Athens Dash 2: Spring Tour Vacation Tour Athens Dash 3 Anniversary Tour (2023) | ||||||||||
| Based on | Athens, Greece | ||||||||||
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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 is the fifth course set in a European city. 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. Also 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.
There are three routes for this course, named Athens Dash, Athens Dash 2, and Athens Dash 3. The first two routes debuted together while the third route made its sole appearance in the 2023 Anniversary Tour. The first two routes made their final appearance in the Vacation Tour. The first route takes racers to the Theatre of Dionysus and Hadrian's Arch, the second route takes racers off the Acropolis, and the third route features the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and a large drop onto the Theatre of Dionysus. Additionally, the first route starts in the opposite direction compared to the other two. It is the first city course in Mario Kart Tour to debut in 2023; additionally, the period of time between its introduction and the introduction of the previous city course is longer than any other city course, with twenty-one tours between Bangkok Rush's debut in the Bangkok Tour and Athens Dash's debut in the Spring Tour. Athens Dash is also the first city course to feature half-pipes and the second city course to lack any brand advertisements, the first being Singapore Speedway. Prior to the official reveal of Athens Dash, references to assets for this course such as pillars and doorways were left within the game's internal data, all of which were appended with the course's internal abbreviation (mobat).
Athens Dash returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the first course of the Feather Cup in the Booster Course Pass.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
Athens Dash[edit]
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 that has swarms of Swoops. After exiting the tunnel and taking a left turn, racers make their way back to the Parthenon to reach the finish line.
The course also appears as Athens Dash R (reversed), Athens Dash T (with ramps), and Athens Dash R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R and R/T variants, racers leave the Theatre of Dionysus via road that's not present on the minimap. In the T variant, the Swoops are gone. In the R/T variant, the starting line is now located in the middle of the former gliding section near Hadrian's Arch, making this course one of five courses in Mario Kart Tour to not start in the same location as the original, the others being 3DS Rock Rock Mountain T, 3DS Rainbow Road T and R/T, and Singapore Speedway R/T. The gliding section itself is now shortened to begin after the new starting line.
Appearances[edit]
For this course's tour appearances, see List of Athens Dash tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § Athens Dash.
Top-tier and middle-tier items[edit]
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which Athens Dash 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 Athens Dash tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
