N64 Luigi Raceway

Luigi Raceway is a race course first featured in Mario Kart 64. The course is called Luigi Circuit in Japan. This is the first racecourse of the Mushroom Cup. The course features no special hazards, save for small rough terrain areas that are located all over the track. This course reappears in Mario Kart 7 as the first race course in the Shell Cup. It is mostly unchanged, except the hot air balloon that has been moved, and an alternate way has been added on the platforms next to the curves that were inaccessible in Mario Kart 64. This course and SNES Rainbow Road are the only courses not to use either gliding or underwater features in Mario Kart 7.

The music of this course is used as a remix for the Mario Circuit stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

This course marks the first appearance of a screen which mimics the player's view; this concept has reappeared in several courses from later installments.

Course layout
The course is simple, featuring open turns through which the racer may employ powersliding. The race begins near a stand full of fans, atop which is a large model of Luigi's green cap. Following a long straightway and a wide banked turn to the left is a long road to a long overhang, followed by another long curve to the left and a short straightway leading back to the starting line, which happens to be part of the longest straightway in the course. During the race, a balloon portraying Luigi's head dips onto the course at the end of the first straightway, hanging an Item Box beneath. The item is always a Spiny Shell and may be obtained if a racer hops just as the balloon reaches its lowest point of descent. The course doesn't have any notable shortcut, but it's possible to save seconds by cutting across the grass and sand on the turns while using a Mushroom or a Star.

Staff ghost
If a player beats the time of 1:52:00 on this course in Time Trial mode, he or she unlocks a Luigi Staff ghost.

Instruction manual description
Long straightaways and easy corners -- the perfect course for beginners to practice their sliding.

Mario Kart 7
While there is no new Luigi Circuit in Mario Kart 7, a port of Luigi Raceway in Mario Kart 64 appears in the game. This is one of two Luigi courses that appear in the Shell Cup, the other being Luigi's Mansion. In the Mushroom Cup, Toad Circuit replaces Luigi Circuit as the first course of the game.