Yoshi Valley
- This article is about the race course from Mario Kart 64. For the musical theme also known as "Yoshi Valley", see Moo Moo Farm (theme).
| Yoshi Valley | |||||||||||||||
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| Appears in | Mario Kart 64 (1996) Mario Kart 8 (2014) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) Mario Kart Tour (2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Cups | Special Cup (64) Leaf Cup (8, 8 Deluxe) Battle Mode (8) | ||||||||||||||
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| Distance | 772 m | ||||||||||||||
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| Previous | DK Jungle Parkway (64) 3DS Music Park (8, 8 Deluxe) | ||||||||||||||
| Next | Banshee Boardwalk (64) | ||||||||||||||
| Mario Kart 64 courses Mario Kart 8 courses Mario Kart 8 Deluxe courses | |||||||||||||||
Yoshi Valley is the second course of the Special Cup in Mario Kart 64. It is one of Yoshi's home courses. It takes place at a canyon with winding paths, and porcupines and a Giant Egg serve as hazards along the way. It shares its music with Moo Moo Farm.
Yoshi Valley reappears in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the fourth and last course of the Leaf Cup, and in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2022 Yoshi Tour and last appearing in the 2023 Yoshi Tour. It is also used as a battle course in Mario Kart 8.
Mario Kart 64[edit]
Course layout[edit]
The race starts in a grassy field. After a brief straightaway, racers turn left into the valley proper. The valley is a maze structured such that the path in splits once, each path splits again, and then the inner two of the resulting four paths splits for a third time, creating routes 1 through 6, from left to right.
- Route 1 is a narrow path taken by choosing the left option twice. It has no railings, meaning racers are at risk of falling off. Aside from that, it is the simplest option, almost immediately merging with the end of route 6.
- Route 2 is taken by going left, right, then left. It passes through a tunnel underneath route 6 before turning right and reaching the point where all the routes converge.
- Route 3 is taken by going left, right, then right again. It is a brief straightaway that quickly merges with route 5.
- Route 4 is taken by going right, then left twice. It is a brief straightaway that quickly merges with route 2.
- Route 5 is taken by going right, left, then right. It is merged into by route 3 as it dips into a bridge through a tunnel below route 6. Afterward, it takes a steep 270° left turn full of porcupines before a drop that merges it with route 2 (and by extension, the other routes).
- Route 6 is the longest route, taken by going right at every opportunity. It curves around a mountain, then travels over routes 2 and 5 before being merged into by route 1. After, a U-turn leads it to jump onto route 2 just before route 5 does, merging all the routes.
Once all the routes have converged, racers take a winding road with few railings that leads to a large circular area with a rotating, hazardous Giant Egg. A rope bridge leads them past the area and takes them out of the valley to the grassy area they began in, where they cross the finish line.
Shortcuts[edit]
- When all the routes have merged into one, it is possible to hop to the left, thus skipping a curve. Alternatively, a Dash Mushroom may be used to make the shortcut easier.
Glitches[edit]
In the starting area, if the player positions themselves facing left and uses a Dash Mushroom, it is possible to jump over the fence and fall into the void. If this is done in a very specific place, it is possible to have Lakitu position the player at the finish line and count a lap.[1]
Unique rank display[edit]
- “With the complicated maze in Yoshi Valley, determining the correct rank positions during the race is impossible. For this course, the Top 4 Ranking Data will display "?".”
- —Mario Kart 64 instruction booklet, page 32
During races on Yoshi Valley, the game does not show the top four racers, instead displaying a yellow "?" with a gray border for all positions that have not yet completed all three laps. According to the manual, this is due to the complexity of calculating the rankings during a race where each path is of wildly differing lengths. While the game hides this information altogether on the default position tracker, the game still displays relative positions in the progress bar available by pressing 
. Racers' positions can be seen fluctuating wildly on the progress bar as they take various forks.[citation needed]
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]
Yoshi Valley makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the fourth and final course of the Leaf Cup. The valley now features a waterfall and river, and is now known as the Wild Yoshi Sanctuary, a nature reserve for the Yoshis, and there are now baobab-like trees, flowers and bushes with Fruits and lanterns hanging from them. Water is also added there. The starting banner is now a wooden sign with a nested green Yoshi Egg placed on top of it. There are also multicolored Yoshis throughout the track waving and jumping as spectators. Some are behind the wooden fence, with two of them on crates, and others are on the cliff tops. There is a rock structure with moss forming the head of a Green Yoshi, and there are various colored eggs within the valley. In addition, the game now properly displays current player positions, apart from a couple of minor glitches on route 5. Coins have been added to the course.
All of the original paths remain intact, though have been given slight changes to even out the lengths of them; the most significant being that route 6 has been turned into a Barrel Cannon with a glider segment. It is the only route to have Item Boxes. Other changes include the bridge being moved from route 5 to route 1. The left turn at the end of route 5 is more flat and runs through a cave where Swoops appear. Taking the first left upon entering the maze and then the first right now leads to route 5 instead of route 2, and route 1 is now a typical shortcut over a wooden bridge. Route 2 can only be accessed by going right, then left twice at the start of the maze, and thus is much more easily missed. The track has toned down in difficulty, and is slightly easier than the original, with the addition of guard-rails and the fact that the game now tells the players which place they are in. The giant Yoshi Egg is smaller, spins around counterclockwise instead of clockwise, has coins trailing behind it, and will instead knock over racers rather than flattening them. The porcupines have also been replaced with Goombas. The Yoshis seen on the course are always in the same spots, though they sometimes change color every time the course is restarted.
Shortcuts[edit]
- After the Giant Egg, there is a ramp on the grass area that can be accessed by using a Dash Mushroom.
- The final turn features an off-road patch that can be skipped using a Dash Mushroom or other boosting item. When using a Dash Mushroom, it is recommended for players to drive into the fence while drifting to be bounced off of it. This allows players to charge a higher tier of Mini-Turbo more easily for the final straightaway. It is also best to always take this shortcut rather than the previous one with the ramp.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
Yoshi Valley reappears in Mario Kart Tour starting from the 2022 Yoshi Tour. It is the first N64 course to be included in the game since N64 Choco Mountain in the 2020 Exploration Tour forty-five tours prior. Like GCN Yoshi Circuit, N64 Royal Raceway, and GCN Baby Park, it mostly takes on the appearance of its Mario Kart 8 iteration. The course features a different starting line design compared to Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and the nest on the starting line now features some leaves on it. A cliff and some more Yoshi spectators have been added near the starting line. The time of day has also been changed from evening to early morning (also applies to GBA Yoshi Desert and DS Airship Fortress). Route 1 was made much wider and now has guardrails. Two logs have been added to route 6. Two half-pipes have been added at the loop after racers pass through the split paths, making this the first classic course in the game that is not present in Mario Kart Wii to have half-pipes. The fence at the area with the big egg is now colored white, and bushes appear under it. Hot-air balloons themed after Yoshi are also added above the track as decorations. The Wild Yoshi Sanctuary signs present on the course now use 2D artwork of Yoshi instead of 3D artwork. Despite using its Mario Kart 8 appearance, this course uses the original version of its music from Mario Kart 64. The minimap also now matches its orientation from 64, as opposed to the 8 version.
This course also appears as Yoshi Valley R (reversed), Yoshi Valley T (with ramps), and Yoshi Valley R/T (reversed with ramps). The former two were introduced alongside the normal variant in the 2022 Yoshi Tour, while the latter was introduced in the 2023 Yoshi Tour. In the T variant, racers drive across several mushroom trampolines, including a blue one, and are only able to take one route. In the R/T variant, racers drive along multiple of the maze's routes on each lap, extending the length of the course.
Appearances[edit]
For this course's tour appearances, see List of N64 Yoshi Valley 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 Yoshi Valley 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 Yoshi Valley tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.
