Wii Dry Dry Ruins

Dry Dry Ruins is the first racecourse of the Special Cup in Mario Kart Wii. The course contains certain resemblances to the Dry Dry Desert racecourse from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Yoshi Desert course from Mario Kart: Super Circuit, which are the starting line being a solid arch, and the Yoshi Sphinx seen in the background, respectively.

Description
This course takes place in the desert, under a midday sun. An oasis is found near the start of the course, with several trees and some water. Another part of the course is the ruins, which has Swoopers, Pokeys, and some falling sand in it. Cacti and some more Pokeys are on the outer places on the course and coming on contact with the them will spin the player out of the course.

The course has Egyptian-themed structures such as obelisks, temples and pyramids. These descriptions similarly match the structures as seen in the Birabuto Kingdom of Sarasaland from Super Mario Land. When any player is playing as a Mii, the Yoshi Sphinxes will be replaced by Mii heads. On the falling pillars, there are markings showing the respective emblems of (from up to down) Mario, Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Toad, and Yoshi.

Course layout
The course starts out under some ruins, very similar to the aforementioned Mario Kart: Double Dash!! course. There is a left curve. The player can take a right turn at the pillar and save time, but the player also has the option of going to the left of the pillar, which will fall down from time to time. A Pokey acts as an obstacle after several more pillars and it will slow down the player and spin them out if the player makes contact with it. After the Pokey is a narrow road through the oasis and another Pokey at the end of the road. There is a left turn past the Pokey, which has two pillars which will fall down from time to time as well. There is a right curve which leads into a straight road with three more pillars from there to the entrance of the ruins. The pillars usually start falling as soon as the player gets there. If the pillar happens to fall on the player, the player will flip over and lose their items. Then, the fallen pillar is available for usage as a ramp for performing a Trick to gain speed.

After the pillars is the entrance to the ruins. The first part of the ruins is a road that cuts through a dark abyss, with Swoopers flying across to slow the player down. After the straight road is a right turn, with half-pipes to help the player go through the sand that is gathering in this straight road. After the half-pipes is a 90 degree left turn which leads into another short and straight path, after which comes a 90 degree right turn into another straight path. Arrows on the wall here have a Pokey drawing on them.

Another 90 degree turn is present and it leads to a large room, with a center filled with Pokeys and sand coming from the ceiling. In the first lap, the player may navigate directly through the center of this room; in the second lap, it has some big sand piles; but in the last lap, it will be almost completely covered with sand, forcing the player to go around the sand covered areas.

The next thing after this room is a ramp with Dash Panels and Swoopers flying out. The Swoopers can lead the players into the extreme right or left, which will cause the player to go off course and stop on the spot, similar to falling off. Another ramp with a single Dash Panel is present and after that is a twist to the left and then to the right. After the twist is the starting line, which will start the course again.

Shortcuts

 * After getting a Rocket Start, players should drive forward on the right side until the road starts to curve to the right. If they take the first passage to the right, it will save them some time and earn them an Item Box.


 * Before the bridge, if players go to the left, where the oasis is, there is a section of sand where they can cut off track; however, a Mushroom, Star, or Mega Mushroom is needed to do this. During the third lap, a pillar will fall down and act as a ramp to trick off of.


 * A glitch shortcut can be performed with the half-pipe in the temple. By going off the half-pipe on the wall directly opposite the temple entrance, it is possible to stick to the wall around the corner, skipping the turn and therefore not having to go through the sand on the floor.


 * At the very end, there is a twist to the left and right around a cactus and a patch of sand. Players can cut across this patch with some sort of speed boost, or a high off-road stat vehicle, to save a few seconds. In addition, it is possible to get a high enough angle from the start of the shortcut to reach a raised part of the track on the right to cut the first turn and end up at the bridge on the oasis, though three Mushrooms, Golden Mushroom or a Star is required to do this.


 * On the third lap before the Ruins' exit, the center of the last room may be filled with sand, and players can use a Mushroom to pass over it in a straight line.


 * If the player takes the right path at the start, they can release a Mini-Turbo just before they hit the sand and then jump to clear all of it. This can be done without a Mushroom.

Tournaments
The November 2009 tournament 1 took place in Dry Dry Ruins. It was a VS Race, in which all Item Boxes contained Mushroom items; Mushrooms, Triple Mushrooms, Golden Mushrooms, and Mega Mushrooms. Also, some Pokeys were added on some of the usable shortcuts.

Mario Kart Wii

 * European website bio: "As you race around these ancient ruins you'll have to avoid falling pillars and steer clear of the sand slowly filling up a ruined temple."

Names in other languages
Staubtrockene Ruinen Rovine Desertiche