GCN Sherbet Land

Sherbet Land is a race course from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! that takes place in a different environment from the Mario Kart 64 version of the track. It takes place in an ice rink, a snow area and soon, another icy place with Freezies, that stay still in the road, but they freeze the driver and the kart by contact. In the ice rink are Shy Guys skating around. It is possible to knock them into the water, but only if the player has the time and items (such as a Star, shells, and some Special Items) to do so, which permanently knocks the Shy Guys out of the track. The track is going to reappear as the second track in the Leaf Cup of Mario Kart 8.

Course layout
The course starts out in a snowy road, in between two brown walls with faces on them. After the first twist with some Item Boxes there is a slight right curve into the ice rink area, with blue and red Shy Guys skating around. Any contact with the Shy Guys will spin the player out unless they have a projectile item like a Shell, or using a Star, which will knock the Shy Guys apart. On the right of the ice rink is a large opening in the ice, which will lead the player directly into frozen water. Falling into the water, Lakitu appears to take them back to the ice, whilst unfortunate racers remain within an ice cube before touching ground. In Mario Kart 8, racers can now dive inside the ice opening to a secret underwater cavern and an anti-gravity section. A couple of red Shy Guys skate around in front of the entrance of the ice tunnel which players enter after crossing the ice pond.

Inside the tunnel, there is a twisted road, containing some item boxes in it. Racers first take a turn to the right to happen upon an ice column in the middle of the road. Players surround the ice pillar taking the left or the right. The left side has an item box while the right side of the column has two. After the ice pillar is a very slight twist to the left that leads outside.

Outside, the player will swerve left and then right in and S-turn. The road is less slippery here since the player races in the snow rather than ice. Just after this turn, the player go in a short straight piece of the road, with some item boxes there until turn to the right to enter another zone covered in ice.

In this zone, the Freezies stay still on the road, but when the player makes contact with one, it will freeze the kart that touched them and slide around, either freezing solid any other unaware player nearby or move towards a wall, breaking into pieces. Once frozen, the kart cannot move briefly and the items in possession drop on the road. Certain items just bounce off them, though some powerful items can budge or destroy them completely, such having the star in effect.

Following the twisting ice road first to the right, left and then right, players leave the ice road and run straight over solid ground to the finish line and the start of lap two.

This track counts with one shortcut located in the Freezies' ice road. Just before taking the first turn, a player can get into a secret path behind the ice tower and so skipping a part of the road infested of Freezies. A Mushroom on hand is needed, as the path is covered by rough snow that decreases the kart's speed.

Mario Kart 8
Sherbet Land returns in Mario Kart 8, as the second track in the Leaf Cup. The course has been visually upgraded, and now takes place on a aurora-filled night. The course layout is generally the same and still features the ice-skating Shy Guys and the Freezies, but there are now two underwater sections; one of which is the pond near the ice-rink, which doubles as an anti-gravity section and a shortcut to the ice cave, while the other goes underneath the ice field with Freezies. A hang-glider ramp has also been incorporated near the Freezie area.

Official descriptions

 * Instruction booklet: “A beautiful course covered in a blanket of white snow. Don’t be lulled into complacency though—the ice is very slippery! Careless driving may result in multi-kart pileups.”
 * Official website: “Race across the frozen tundra of Sherbet Land as you avoid ice-skating Shy Guys and Flash-Freezing icebergs. Be sure to bring your mittens!”
 * Official European website: Brrr. It’s so cold in the sh-sh-shivering Sherbet Land, even the sh-shu-Shy Guys need ice skates to get around.