N64 Royal Raceway

Royal Raceway, known as Peach Circuit in Japan, is a race track that appears in Mario Kart 64s Star Cup and as a retro course in Mario Kart 8s Banana Cup.

Mario Kart 64
Royal Raceway is the third racetrack of the Star Cup in Mario Kart 64. The race takes place around a giant lake and it is easy to fall into the water. There is a big jump over the lake in one section of the track. If the racer goes off track after the jump, they can see and drive around Princess Peach's Castle, as it appeared in Super Mario 64, though there is no way to enter the castle. The Award Ceremony also takes place in this racetrack at the end of the cup, where the top three drivers receive various trophies, and confetti for the big winner along with the gold trophy.

Course layout
First the driver will race around a wall. Then, the player will drive onto a bridge that ends with a jump back to the regular track. The player can see Princess Peach's Castle from here. After driving around in the hills the players drive around a sharp right turn with slippery mud on one side so if the player misses the turn, they will probably fall into the pond.

Mario Kart 8
Royal Raceway reappears in Mario Kart 8 as the third course in the Banana Cup, where it has taken a dramatic change in appearance. The sky is now blue with pink clouds, instead of pink with white clouds, both the starting banner and the terrace have been changed and there is now an area for a MKTV van. A board that lists the names of the fan teams has been added before the starting banner. The bleachers have been redesigned and is now castle-themed as opposed to being plain, plus the iconic crown is now more detailed. The wall, which the racers drive around, still has red and white checker pattern but it now has some design related to Peach's Castle. There are now swan boats in the lake, with Toads riding in them. The ramp now has evenly spread out five grass arches with ringing bells, which the player can hear when passing by them, hanging on them and the rails on the ramp are redesigned to make it related to Peach's Castle. The long jump section has been shortened and now encompasses a gliding pad, which allows players to glide over the large gap and then land gently at the next section. There are hot-air balloons based on Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and Rosalina's dresses, similar to the balloons present in Daisy Hills from Mario Kart 7. There are also cherry blossom trees like in Mario Circuit from Mario Kart 7 in place of the striped evergreen trees. The road leading to Peach's Castle is now blocked off, making it unable to be driven around compared to the original. Furthermore, the design of Peach's Castle and the area around it are now completely different from Super Mario 64, instead resembling the design from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Also, at the final turns, the grassland areas has been narrowed down to make it less possible for players to slip off the track and end up in the grassland compared to the original.

Official descriptions
Mario Kart 64 Instruction manual description: ''Of the three speedway-type courses, this one covers the greatest distance. The big jump after the dash zone is very dramatic. Without guardrails along the lake, it can be very easy to overshoot the corner and fall in!''

Trivia

 * In Mario Kart 8, the hot air balloons also appear in the far background of the remade GCN Baby Park that is in the Animal Crossing x Mario Kart 8 DLC pack.