Piranha Plant Cove

Piranha Plant Cove is a race course from Mario Kart Tour. It debuted in the 2023 Exploration Tour as its featured course. It is set in an archipelago containing underwater ruins with a Piranha Plant motif. Along the course are various hieroglyphs depicting 8-bit Piranha Plant sprites from Super Mario Bros., and various engravings on Falling Pillars are seen glowing bright turquoise. Thwomps, Maw-Rays, Clampys, Cheep Cheeps, Jellybeams, and Bulbers are featured as course and background elements. The underwater ruins of this course bear similarities to popular depictions of the fictional island of.

It has two routes, Piranha Plant Cove and Piranha Plant Cove 2, making it the second course in Mario Kart Tour to have numbered re-routes and not be set in a real life location, after N64 Kalimari Desert; it is the first new course with this distinction. Several unused routes indicate a third variant will release later, also akin to city courses. It is also the third Tour-original course to have a re-route with a different starting line placement, after Los Angeles Laps and Berlin Byways, although unlike said courses, the starting line has a completely different appearance between variants. The music is written in 3/4 time, making it the third course in the Mario Kart series with this music format, after Peach Gardens and Paris Promenade.

This first route for this course is a favorite of Toadette (Explorer), Peach (Explorer), Luigi (Vacation), Daisy (Sailor), and the Castle, Chain Chomp, and Roaring Racer Mii Racing Suits. The second route is a favorite of Luigi (Golf), Kitsune Luigi, Petey Piranha, and the Petey Piranha, Rocky Wrench, and Brown Mii Racing Suits.

Piranha Plant Cove
Similar to Dolphin Shoals from Mario Kart 8, this course's starting line is located underwater. When the race begins, racers are immediately met with a brief fork in the road; here, there are pillars that, throughout the race, may fall on to the road, similar to Dry Dry Ruins from Mario Kart Wii and in Mario Kart 8. When the two branches are connected again, racers drive up a large staircase with currents, decorated with stone Petey Piranha heads, that takes them up to the surface. Afterwards, racers drive along the ruins, beneath stone arches with the option to drive on top of one of them, taking 90-degree bends before diving back into the water, and driving down a straightaway and into a cavern featuring Thwomps to be avoided, with Dash Panels placed in front of them. This section has raised portions of the road with slanted sides, allowing for multiple Tricks to be performed depending on the lines being taken. Racers take a few more turns before reaching the finishing line.

The course also appears as Piranha Plant Cove R (reversed), Piranha Plant Cove T (with ramps), and Piranha Plant Cove R/T (reversed with ramps).

Piranha Plant Cove 2
The second variant begins in a part of the course completely separate from the first variant, at the edge of an island overlooking the ruins. Racers are promptly launched off a glider ramp into the water below, which features Jellybeams that can be hit for points, before making a tight turn followed by a slight S-bend towards the starting area of the first variant, where the currents now appear before the split path. After driving along a brief portion of the ruins from the first variant, instead of turning left racers keep heading straight and then make a gradual right up the bank of the island. Here, the path splits into two wooden paths around a small pier, before meeting up and making another sandy S-bend to the finish line past a biting Piranha Plant.

The course also appears as Piranha Plant Cove 2R (reversed), Piranha Plant Cove 2T (with ramps), and Piranha Plant Cove 2R/T (reversed with ramps).

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of Piranha Plant Cove tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Trivia

 * The first route for this course is the first instance of a course starting completely underwater in Mario Kart Tour, and the second course in the Mario Kart series overall after Mario Kart 8's Dolphin Shoals.
 * Excluding courses that were announced simultaneously, this course and Yoshi's Island mark the shortest period of time between the announcement of two new courses for the Mario Kart series, with them being announced five days apart from each other.