N64 Yoshi Valley

Yoshi Valley is the second course of the Special Cup in Mario Kart 64. It is Yoshi's home track in the game. It takes place over a canyon, and there are many twists and turns. The map modes that show the player icons making circuits around the screen relative to their positions seem to work fine; however, due to how complicated the maze is, the players' mugshots are just replaced with question marks regardless of what HUD mode is used. Their positions are revealed only at the end of the race. There are also several porcupines that can disable turning and slow racers down for 1.5 seconds. Near the end of the course, there is a rotating Giant Egg that can easily flatten any player, disabling their movement for about five seconds. The track shares its music with Moo Moo Farm. It returns in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a classic course; it is the fourth and last course of the Leaf Cup in both games, and in Mario Kart 8, it is also a battle course. The course also returns in Mario Kart Tour, making its debut in the 2022 Yoshi Tour.

Course layout


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, from left to right.


 * 1) 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.
 * 2) 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.
 * 3) Route 3 is taken by going left, right, then right again. It is a brief straightaway that quickly merges with route 5.
 * 4) Route 4 is taken by going right, then left twice. It is a brief straightaway that quickly merges with route 2.
 * 5) 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).
 * 6) 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.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
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 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.

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

 * After the giant Yoshi Egg, there is a ramp on the grass area that can be accessed by using a Mushroom.

Mario Kart Tour
Yoshi Valley returns 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 Giant 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, many Mushroom Trampolines are added to the course. In the R/T variant, multiple routes are incorporated into one continuous route with a split path, making the track longer.

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of N64 Yoshi Valley tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart 64

 * Instruction manual bio: Steep canyons and a very large egg... Hmm... How does this course relate to Yoshi? To make one lap, you can take any route you like through the complicated maze, but without keeping a careful eye on the course radar, you might drive the wrong way and end up returning to where you started. Of course, leaving the course is forbidden.
 * Website bio: The track in Yoshi Valley meanders through a twisting maze high above a mountain valley.

Mario Kart 8

 * Mario Kart Facebook page (United States): Ah, the majestic Yoshi Valley from Mario Kart 8. So beautiful. So sprawling. So eggs-quisite. Make a pit stop today!

Mario Kart 8 Original Soundtrack liner notes
''I was a bit concerned that the violin part was going to be very difficult, but thanks to Hitoshi Konno's superb technique, we were able to reproduce the original part in a live performance. I think with the perfectly-pitched swing tone, we even managed to convey the feel of the adorable eggs towards the end of the course.''

Trivia

 * The trees bearing Fruits in the Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart Tour versions look similar in shape to that of a.
 * One of the Yoshis near the starting line will occasionally hum Totaka's Song. This also occurs in other courses featuring Yoshis in the audience.