Mario Kart Tour Athens Dash Athens Dash 2 Athens Dash 3 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Staff ghost(s)
8DX 150cc
Nin★Pedro
1:52.892
8DX 200cc
Nin★Massim
1:21.362
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 debuted in the 2023 Anniversary 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 sponsor 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).
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, 3DS Rainbow Road R/T, and Singapore Speedway R/T. The gliding section itself is now shortened to begin after the new starting line.
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.
Course
Three-item drivers
Bonus points ×2 karts
Combo bonus ×3 gliders
Two-item drivers
Bonus points ×1.5 karts
Combo bonus ×2 gliders
Normal variant
**
R variant
T variant
***
***
R/T variant
***
***
* indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 3. ** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 6. *** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 8 for High-End items.
This route starts in the opposite direction of the first route. After leaving the Parthenon, racers take a left turn and approach the Erechtheion briefly before taking a glide ramp into a street resembling Monastiraki, driving down many sets of staircases as they approach a wide U-bend. After the U-bend, racers approach the Roman Agora while avoiding a Thwomp. They then begin driving uphill, avoiding boulders that fall down the Acropolis. Here, there is a shortcut in a narrow tunnel that can be reached with a boost. Once up the Acropolis, racers drive beneath the Beulé Gate and the Propylaea while avoiding a pair of Goombas. After a brief straightaway, they approach the finish line.
The course also appears as Athens Dash 2R (reversed), Athens Dash 2T (with ramps), and Athens Dash 2R/T (reversed with ramps). In all three variants, the boulders and Goombas are gone. In the R variant, there are two Thwomps positioned side-by-side, and racers use a cannon just after the wide U-bend. In the T variant, there are five Thwomps throughout the course, and the gliding section is gone; racers instead use a glide ramp once up the Acropolis. In the R/T variant, all Thwomps are gone.
Select "show" to reveal the drivers, karts, and gliders for which Athens Dash 2 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 2 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
Course
Three-item drivers
Bonus points ×2 karts
Combo bonus ×3 gliders
Two-item drivers
Bonus points ×1.5 karts
Combo bonus ×2 gliders
Normal variant
***
*****
***
R variant
***
T variant
R/T variant
**
* indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 3. ** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 6. *** indicates a favored course upgraded to a favorite course after reaching level 8 for High-End items.
This route starts in the same direction as the second route. After exiting the Parthenon, racers immediately take a right turn to drive on a dash panel ramp, sending them on a long fall onto the Theatre of Dionysus. Upon landing, racers drive on a road connecting to the stage of the theatre, turning right to approach the ruins. After taking a split path around a ruin in the middle of the road and tricking off fallen pillars, racers take a left into an entrance to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Racers drive across the Odeon's stage before ascending a section of seats covered in dirt to leave the Odeon. Racers then take a right next to the Beulé Gate to climb up some stairs and drive beneath the Propylaea, while avoiding a pair of Thwomps, before taking one last straightaway to the finish line.
The course also appears as Athens Dash 3R (reversed), Athens Dash 3T (with ramps), and Athens Dash 3R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R and T variants, the Thwomps are gone. In the R variant, racers use a glide ramp to exit the Theatre of Dionysus. In the T variant, there is a glide ramp that allows racers to glide over the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. In the R/T variant, the pair of Thwomps now appears where racers exit the threate.
Tour Athens Dash returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass DLC. It appears as the first course of the Feather Cup. It has received significant visual upgrades compared to its appearance in Mario Kart Tour. The cannon from the first route has been replaced with a normal Glide Ramp. As Athens Dash 3 had yet to be released when this course was added to the Booster Course Pass, Athens Dash is one of the two Tour city courses alongside Sydney Sprint to be added to the pass before all three variants were released. The course features a second starting line (along the Athens Dash 3 route), making it the second course in the Mario Kart series to open a cup and use sections (after Wuhu Loop in Mario Kart 7) and the third course in the series to feature both laps and sections, the first two being N64 Kalimari Desert and Tour Singapore Speedway (though unlike those courses, the section replaces the second lap rather than the third). It is used to begin the second lap, while the third and final lap starts in reverse along the Athens Dash 2 route.[1] Lap 1 follows the route of 1, although instead of racers turning left toward the finish line, racers take a U-turn to section 2. Section 2 follows Athens Dash 3's route, and Lap 3 takes on the route of 2. Many changes have been made. The beginning ramp was changed to a wooden one, leading to the raised pillar route being adjusted and the split path at the bottom is removed. The pillars take after their functionality from Athens Dash 3, rather than being short and static like in Athens Dash 1 and 2. The large drop on the Athens Dash 3 route now has several consecutive trickable green ramps on the way down (similar in function to Athens Dash 3T's singular Kanaami Road), leading racers to more consistently land on the Theatre of Dionysus's stage. The Thwomps have been removed. The minimap has also been rotated 90° clockwise.
Internally, the course is referred to as "Cnsw_65", implying it may have originally been intended to be the first course of the Spiny Cup and thus possibly originally being intended to be the final city course of the pass.
On the Nintendo Switch's newsfeed in North America, an article erroneously names this course as Tour Athens Drift.[2]
Unlike other city courses that do not use staff ghosts from their home nations, Athens Dash has a Spanish staff ghost, rather than an American or Japanese one.
Here's a sneak peek of what's to come in #MarioKartTour! Toad and Yoshi went ahead to check out the new tour location and sent a picture back. It looks like some races are about to heat up in a historic city with towering temples.[3]
The Yoshi Tour is wrapping up in #MarioKartTour. Next up is the Spring Tour featuring the course Athens Dash course[sic], along with other European city courses![4]
This course first appeared in the Mario Kart Tour game.
This course is modeled after the city of Athens in Greece. What a historic place!
Speaking of history, you'll speed through historical sites such as temple ruins.
Keep an eye out for jump boost opportunities. In addition to the course layout being different depending on the lap, stairs and pillars add different heights into the mix too.
Nintendo Switch News app (UK):Become a racing hero in Athens Dash! Here's a closer look at another course released as part of the fifth wave, which is available now: Athens Dash. First appearing in the smart device app Mario Kart Tour, the course is set in the Greek capital of Athens, meandering through and among the ancient temples, stadiums and gates whose ruins are dotted around the city. Each lap takes a different route, and the track is full of stairways, ramps and fallen pillars, giving the smart racer ample opportunity to trigger Jump Boosts - this will be key to claiming the laurel wreath of victory!
Athens Dash is the second course in the Mario Kart series to feature three different finish line locations, but to only have one of them ever be used among its numbered routes in Mario Kart Tour (the first being Singapore Speedway). They are:
The finish line in Athens Dash, Athens Dash 2, and Athens Dash 3, and beginning the first and third laps in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
The finish line in Athens Dash R/T.
The finish line beginning the second lap of the course in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
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