Mario Circuit



Mario Circuit is the name of various race courses attributed to Mario as his own in the Mario Kart series. Indeed, these courses bear some features ligated to the hero, as his red Cap, the Mushrooms he uses; Princess Peach's Castle, where the hero sets out his adventures in many games; Warp Pipes, and sometimes, enemies like Goombas and Piranha Plants, Mario's common enemies, with no mentioning the banners that say his famous name. It is usually found in the Flower Cup. Apart from Mario Kart, the Mario Circuit has presented in other series such as Itadaki Street DS and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it can be considered a stage held for other various purposes.

Super Mario Kart
In Super Mario Kart, four Mario Circuit race tracks appear, looking similar to typical standard race courses, aside from having some obstacles such as Warp Pipes, located normally on the road, blocking the vehicles' path and Oil Slicks that cause vehicles to spin out of control while running over one.

Each Mario Circuit appears numbered by the time it appears: two Mario Circuits in the Mushroom Cup, another in the Flower Cup, and one more in the Star Cup. The first course of the Mushroom Cup, Mario Circuit 1, is the most basic and simple track in the game, having open corners and few obstacles. In contrast to that circuit is Mario Circuit 2, the fifth and last course of the same cup. This stage is notable by its great jump before the finish line, where the racers need to cross the zone by getting a speed boost over Boost Pads and jump over speed humps to reach the other side, finally passing the line. The third circuit, Mario Circuit 3, is the last track of the Flower Cup. This course contains dangerous curves, a zone when a racer attempts to turn around and sticks into a wall or a pipe, or getting into dirt, slowing down the kart. Finally there's Mario Circuit 4, the longest of all Super Mario Kart ' s Mario Circuits. This track contains more sharp bends and obstacles scattered around the track.

The Mario Circuit courses, along with the other tracks from Super Mario Kart, reappear in the Game Boy Advance installment Mario Kart: Super Circuit, as hidden classic race courses. However, in the recent Mario Kart games, three of these stages reappear. Mario Kart DS features Mario Circuit 1, which is the first course of the Shell Cup from Retro Grand Prix, known as SNES Mario Circuit 1. In Mario Kart Wii, Mario Circuit 3 (also known as SNES Mario Circuit 3) appears in the Lightning Cup, bearing an enhanced graphical look compared to its portable counterpart. In Mario Kart 7, Mario Circuit 2 appears as the second course of Banana Cup.

Later games
Since Super Mario Kart, Mario Circuit has appeared as multiple iterations in the Mario Kart series:


 * Mario Raceway - Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Wii
 * Mario Circuit (GBA) - Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart 8
 * Mario Circuit (GCN) - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii
 * Mario Circuit (DS) - Mario Kart DS
 * Mario Circuit (Wii) - Mario Kart Wii
 * Mario Circuit (3DS) - Mario Kart 7
 * Mario Circuit (Wii U) - Mario Kart 8

Itadaki Street DS
The Mario Circuit also appears as a playable stage in Itadaki Street DS, in the form of a board. It is loosely based on the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart DS versions.

In Tour Mode, the player must get first or second place to clear the board. The competitors are Luigi, Birdo and Toad. Clearing this board unlocks Birdo.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A Mario Circuit stage based upon the Figure-8 Circuit appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The stage has two platforms meant to resemble a jump platform and a road pavement in the center. Shy Guy racers will appear and damage players from both the jump and the central road. However, they themselves can be damaged causing them to spin out and be harmless. This stage is banned in competitive play.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
A version of Mario Circuit appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games which is heavily based on the version in Mario Kart Wii and is used for the Dream Ski Cross event with the road now being covered entirely with snow and more ramps being carved out of the snow on the track itself. While the general layout of the first half of the course is identical to it is in the aforementioned game albeit with a much steeper descent, the second half of the track is entirely different, where they are linked by two Warp Pipes which split the track into two, the path on the left has a more wavy shape while the path on the right is filled with Coins but a Goomba and Piranha Plant serve as obstacles. Once the paths join back up together there a few tight downhill turns and Piranha Plants until the racers reach a DK Cannon taking them back to the starting line for a second lap.

Fortune Street
Mario Circuit makes a return as a playable board in Fortune Street, but its design is based on Mario Kart Wii. However, the route of the track is identical to its appearance in the previous game. In Tour mode, the player has to get at least 2nd place against Mario, Daisy, and Diddy Kong. Mario Circuit is also the only Mario series board in which the layout of the board doesn't change between the Easy and Standard rules.

Trivia

 * Mario Circuit appeared in all cups with the exception of the Special Cup, as Super Mario Kart has at least one Mario Circuit in Mushroom, Flower and Star cups. Every installment except Mario Kart DS have a Mario Circuit in their Flower Cup. Mario Kart DS has it's Mario Circuit in the Star Cup and SNES Mario Circuit 1 in the Shell Cup, Mario Kart Wii has the N64, GCN and SNES (Mario Circuit 3) versions in Shell, Leaf and Lightning cups respectively and Mario Kart 7 has SNES Mario Circuit 2 in the Banana Cup.
 * Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 are the only games in the series to feature retro Mario Circuits other than SNES Mario Circuit. In fact, Mario Kart 8 doesn't even have a Mario Circuit from Super Mario Kart.