Vanilla Lake 1
- This article is about the race course in Super Mario Kart. For the first Vanilla Lake remix course in Mario Kart Tour, see RMX Vanilla Lake 1.
| Vanilla Lake 1 | |||||||
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| Appears in | Super Mario Kart (1992) Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) Mario Kart Tour (2020) Mario Kart World (2025) | ||||||
| Cups | Star Cup (Super Mario Kart) Extra Star Cup (Super Circuit) VS Race, Mission (World) | ||||||
| Tours |
Ice Tour
Valentine's Tour Yoshi Tour (2020) Trick Tour (2020) Flower Tour Jungle Tour Cooking Tour Exploration Tour (2020) Super Mario Kart Tour Los Angeles Tour (2020) Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2020) New Year's 2021 Tour Cat Tour (2021) Snow Tour Bowser vs. DK Tour Trick Tour (2021) Frost Tour Toad vs. Toadette Tour New Year's 2022 Tour Wario vs. Waluigi Tour Sundae Tour (2022) New Year's Tour (2023) Ninja Tour (2023) Sundae Tour (2023) | ||||||
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Vanilla Lake 1 is the third race course of the Star Cup in Super Mario Kart. It was subsequently reused in Mario Kart: Super Circuit as the first track of the Extra Star Cup and in Mario Kart Tour starting with the Ice Tour and last appearing in the 2023 Sundae Tour. It is a short course taking place on a frozen lake. This track shares its music with Vanilla Lake 2. In Mario Kart World, Vanilla Lake 1 appears in the Star Cup as part of the route between Sky-High Sundae and Wario Shipyard. It later became playable in VS Race, Time Trials, Online Play, and Wireless Play via the Ver. 1.8.0 update.
Super Mario Kart[edit]
Course layout[edit]
The layout of this course involves one continuous clockwise loop around a mostly rectangular area that is blocked off by walls. Shortly after the first turn is the only set of ? Panels. The slippery ground makes it difficult to control the kart, and at the edge of the track, the lake is snow-covered; driving here will slow the kart down. The track also features pipes and snow blocks as obstacles; racers bumping into the ice blocks will break them. At two points along the track, the ice is broken, exposing water. If racers fall into the water and do not drive out quickly enough, they will be picked up by Lakitu.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit[edit]
Vanilla Lake 1 reappears in Mario Kart: Super Circuit and is the first race of the Extra Star Cup. It uses the background from Snow Land. The pipe hazards are removed from the track, and an extra Item Box is added on the left side of the small pool.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
Vanilla Lake 1 reappears as a classic course for the first time in Mario Kart Tour, debuting in the Ice Tour. Aesthetically, the hills are much taller and have zigzag patterns on them, while clouds also now appear. In this rendition, most of the ice blocks were removed, a glide ramp was added left of the now-first Item Box set, the walls within the course are thinner, and the wall to the right of the second set of Item Boxes (which replace most of the second set of ice blocks) has a break in it, as well as another Item Box. The course now has a starting banner with the classic Mario Kart logo.
The course also appears as Vanilla Lake 1R (reversed), Vanilla Lake 1T (with ramps), and Vanilla Lake 1R/T (reversed with ramps). The former two were introduced alongside the normal variant in the Ice Tour, while the latter was introduced in the 2020 Trick Tour. In the T variant, the length of the course is significantly extended via a giant slanted U-turn which is similar to that of Mario Kart: Super Circuit's Mario Circuit in Mario Kart 8, but entirely composed of Kanaami Road.
Due to the Vanilla Lake setting returning in this game for the first time (besides its Mario Kart: Super Circuit reappearance), this course, along with Donut Plains 1, Koopa Troopa Beach 2, and Bowser Castle 3, is one of the few Super Mario Kart courses to retain their original music, rather than reusing a cover from a later Mario Kart game.
Appearances[edit]
For this course's tour appearances, see List of SNES Vanilla Lake 1 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 Vanilla Lake 1 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 Vanilla Lake 1 tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
