Mario Kart Stadium

Mario Kart Stadium is the first race track in the Mushroom Cup of Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It is a basic circuit taking place in an autodrome stadium full with advertisements and banners of the players with fireworks in the background. The course also has a big city in the background. This is the first course to be named after the Mario Kart series itself. This course also makes Mario Kart 8 the only game in the series (excluding the arcade games and Mario Kart 64) where the first course in the game is not named a "Circuit", despite the overall design is still a circuit-type track.

Course layout
The course begins with a short pit straight followed by a right hander. The track then turns right with three colored paths that stay together: an inner blue path, a yellow path in the center that says "Mushroom Cup" on it, and an outer red path with Dash Panels and coins. The track then approaches the anti-gravity zone followed by a left hander. Next, the course goes up and down a raised hairpin turn, followed by a gliding area, and one more left hander to the finish line.

Shortcuts

 * Just before the path splits in three, the player can use a boosting item to make a sharp turn between the pipes
 * After the first split path anti-gravity section, there is a dirt section that the player can boost through.
 * Right after the first anti-gravity strip, on the left, there is a ramp that cuts off the corner just before the huge turn.
 * Near the end of the course, just after the gliding ramp, a boost can be used across the sand to bypass the final turn. It is easy to notice the shortcut because there are pipes in the sand.

Staff ghost
The staff ghost for this track is Mario on the Sports Coupe, with a time of 1:59.781. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 200cc Time Trials, the staff ghost is Gold Mario with a time of 1:21.984.

Trivia

 * This is the only track in the Mushroom Cup to not have an underwater section.
 * Part of this course's music is reused for the theme of Mario Circuit.
 * However, as they're not the same exact song, this is the first time that the first track in a Mario Kart game doesn't share its theme with a Mario Circuit nor any later track.

Mario Kart-Stadion Stadio Mario Kart