DS Waluigi Pinball

Waluigi Pinball is the third race course of the Flower Cup in Mario Kart DS. As its name implies, this course takes place in a giant pinball machine themed after Waluigi and contains many sharp turns and curves.

The course reappears as the fourth and final course in the Banana Cup in Mario Kart 7 and in Mario Kart Tour debuting in the 2019 Halloween Tour. It also appears as the fourth and final course of the Turnip Cup in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass.

Mario Kart DS
Soon after the countdown ends and the race begins, the kart drivers are launched into the pinball machine. After that, the racers start a descent down the machine, encountering numerous pinballs on the way. Colliding with one of these causes drivers to be knocked backwards. Additionally, a racer loses any items they may be carrying. While the racers are in the pinball launcher, they are immune to all items, including Lightning. Later on the track, inside the pinball table, there are flippers and bumpers. Bumpers push and speed up drivers, but flippers, when moving, can cause them to get electrocuted and spin out. This is the longest Nitro course in the game.

This course shares its Grand Prix introduction fanfare with Figure-8 Circuit, Mario Circuit and. It is the only non-circuit course with this distinction.

Staff ghost
The staff ghost for this course has a time of 2:23:288 using Waluigi in the Gold Mantis.

Missions
There are two missions involving this course: 3-1 and 4-7. In mission 3-1, Wario must break 5 item boxes and in mission 4-7, Toad must drive through the 10 gates in any order. The latter is the only mission involving driving through gates to have the player drive through the gates in any order as opposed to numerical order. Both missions also take place in the pinball area.

Mario Kart 7
MK7-DS-WP.png The course returns as a classic course in Mario Kart 7 as the fourth and final course in the Banana Cup, despite Waluigi not being playable in the game. The layout remained the same, but with enhanced graphics and the Dash Panels are now orange.

The launch after the starting line now encompasses a Glide Ramp, although like Maple Treeway and Airship Fortress, players cannot aim their flight. Players are also no longer immune to items while in the launcher, and being hit by anything (or stowing their glider) results in having to be rescued by Lakitu. Additionally, the glider section is now shown on the minimap. The jumps after turn 1 and after turn 6 can be used to perform a trick and gain a boost. An extra Dash Panel is added in the small drop near the circular turn that comes after the 2nd jump.

The pinballs, bumpers, and flippers on the table behave the same way as in the DS version of the course, with the exception of the bumpers in the center of the lower part of the table rotating clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. While playing local or online multiplayer, only one pinball traverses the main table as opposed to two.

The staff ghost for this track is Wario.

Mario Kart Tour
Waluigi Pinball returned in Mario Kart Tour beginning in the 2019 Halloween Tour, and featured a major visual upgrade. The image of Waluigi's head now rotates from left to right and is surrounded by several brightly-lit buildings and large stacks of coins, the slots below them now have a Las Vegas theme to them, the bumpers have a brighter color, the Mario Kart logo is a flashing yellow light and uses a modern design, and there is a new sign after the pinball launcher with Waluigi's art from Mario Party: Star Rush, the track name, a metal ball, two flippers, and scrolling text below that reads "Waluigi No. 1". The rotating bumpers now move far more slowly. This course is a favorite of Baby Mario, Waluigi, Blue Yoshi, Peach (Kimono), Pauline (Party Time), Luigi (Golf), Donkey Kong Jr. (SNES), Lakitu (Party Time), Meowser, and the Donkey Kong Mii Racing Suit. It is also a favorite of Mario (Hakama), Dry Bowser (Gold), and the King Bob-omb Mii Racing Suit if they reach level 3, and Metal Mario and Luigi (Lederhosen) if they reach level 6. As with other courses in the game, Waluigi Pinball has an R version, a T version, and an R/T version referred to as Waluigi Pinball R, Waluigi Pinball T and Waluigi Pinball R/T respectively; the former two were introduced alongside the regular version, while the latter was added in the Valentine's Tour.

The course icon for the R/T variant has an error within it. It features a trick ramp next to the red bridge despite not appearing in-game.

The course's R/T variant appeared in four consecutive tours from the Bowser vs. DK Tour to the 2021 Paris Tour, making it, along with N64 Royal Raceway and its R and T variants, the course that has appeared in the most tours in a row. As of the Samurai Tour, the course has also appeared in 28 separate tours, the most out of any course in the game.

For this course's tour appearances, see List of DS Waluigi Pinball tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Waluigi Pinball appears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 2 of the Booster Course Pass. It is the fourth and final course in the Turnip Cup. The course uses its design from Mario Kart Tour, albeit with graphical updates. The rotating bumpers have been reverted to a faster speed. Like its debut game, the course shares its music with, making these courses the only courses to share the same music in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Other appearances
Waluigi Pinball makes a cameo appearance in the 2006 release of the Nintendo Monopoly board game. It can be seen in one of the screenshots making up the montage of images from various Nintendo games.

Mario Kart DS

 * European website bio: "Wario's weird sibling constructed this high-speed track inside a giant pinball table; complete with bumpers, flippers, ramps, and enormous steel spheres that bounce you around like - well, like a pinball. Make sure to bring plenty of aspirin for this race."

Mario Kart Tour

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter: "Waluigi Pinball, a course stocked with all the lights and sounds of a pinball machine, bumps its way into blue in the next tour! Can you weave your way past the bumpers and flippers? Just try not to tilt!"

Mario Kart DS / Mario Kart 7

 * Super Mario (Trackside banners)
 * Waluigi Sport (Trackside banners)

Mario Kart Tour

 * Fuzzy Battery (Trackside banners)
 * Lemmy's Tire Service (Trackside banners)
 * Princess Orange (Trackside banners)
 * Mushroom Piston (Trackside banners)
 * Mario Automobile Association (Trackside banners)

Music
Waluigi Pinball shares its music with Wario Stadium. An arrangement of the music is also featured in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on the Mario Circuit stage, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for any Mario Kart-series stage, arranged in an enhanced electronic rock style by Kentaro Ishizaka. The arrangement also incorporates Wario's victory theme from the same games.

Trivia

 * The course has several unique sound effects that evoke pinball machine scoring noises. These sounds are retained in its retro course appearances in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour:
 * A unique item roulette sound, making it one of four courses in the series to have this feature, along with Hyrule Circuit, Animal Crossing, and Urchin Underpass, making it the only course not based on a crossover series to do so.
 * An additional "rolling" sound played when traversing a Dash Panel. No other course in the series has this feature.
 * A unique set of sounds for when the player's position changes. No other course in the series has this feature, though similar sounds for when the player's position changes are used in Mario Kart Wii onwards.
 * A "ball lost" sound is heard when exiting the pinball table.
 * Except in Mario Kart Tour, where the second lap is the final lap, a unique jingle plays when the player enters the second lap. No other course in the series has this feature.