DS Peach Gardens

Peach Gardens is the second course of the Special Cup in Mario Kart DS. The course is located in the gardens of a large country estate that bears a similar design to Peach's Castle. Obstacles in the course include Chain Chomps and Monty Moles, both capable of attacking the player. The course is often blocked by large hedges which cannot be driven through and patches of grass that slow players down. However, a speed booster such as a Mushroom or a Star can be used to get across the grass for a shortcut.

The course contains various gardening elements such as ornamental trees and flowers. Some parts of the road are decorated by trellised arches, like the one standing over the starting line that supports the "Mario Kart" banner on it. The track also includes a pond with a circular terrace that has a large garden topiary of Mario in the center. This is the only part of the track that is not protected by fences and falling into the pond causes Lakitu to put the player back on the track. The rest of the track, however, is protected by fences and tall hedges serving as walls. This Mario topiary resembles his design from Super Mario 64, which in turn makes it resemble the Mario ice sculpture in. An arranged version of this course's music is used for the golf course of the same name in Mario Golf: World Tour.

Peach Gardens reappears in Mario Kart Wii as the second course of the Lightning Cup and in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the third wave of the Booster Course Pass DLC.

Course layout
The track starts with the starting line in the front of the mansion's backdoor. The racers go along a straight piece of road towards a bridge to the pond in a roundabout circling the garden topiary of Mario and a single Chain Chomp running around the topiary. The racers swerve to the left onto another bridge to return to the garden and take a semicircular turn to the right. A patch of flowers in it can be passed through to skip the turn. The road continues uphill to a square terrace with a pair of squared patches of grass and flowers in it. The road turns in a 90 degrees turn to the right; however, any racer can cut the path by going to a narrow portion of flat terrain to the right of the front patch of flowers and go instantly downhill out of the terrace. Racers enter to a maze-like zone, where the main road is split up in multiple paths by square parterres and some stray Chain Chomps wander in the maze with two Item Boxes following after them. The maze ends with the paths gathering again to the main road that leads the racers uphill to another terrace. The road makes an abrupt S bend to the right and around a patch of flowers and goes downhill to a circular path with three high hedges that split the road again in parts into multiple paths, but gathers shortly and sends the racers to a curly path of dark soil with green lawn and some trees scattered in the zone. Among other elements in this section of the track are the Monty Moles hiding below holes found in the corners of the path and, in Mario Kart Wii, a pair of speed ramps found over the lawn to perform Tricks. The path ends near the mansion in a straight walkway that returns the racers to the backdoor, and swerving to the right from this spot, racers find the finish line to complete a lap.

Peach Gardens is the only course in the game whose finish line gate is not placed directly over it, being placed slightly farther ahead instead. The gate is repositioned over the finish line in Mario Kart Wii.

Missions
Peach Gardens is the setting of mission 5-1. The mission involves the player having to finish one lap around the course before a Chain Chomp. Notably, it uses a rearrangement of the Chain Chomp theme from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as its background music exclusive to this mission, having a changed melody and extended bass line and bridge.

Mission 6-8 also takes place here. In this mission, Bowser must finish one lap before Peach in the opposite direction.

Both missions involve racing for one lap.

Mario Kart Wii
Peach Gardens returns in Mario Kart Wii in the Lightning Cup. There are now two new ramps found near the soil path right next to where the Monty Moles jump up. The Chain Chomps that roam around the hedge section now have chains and they move more slowly than their DS counterparts. The Mario Kart sign at the very beginning of the course has also been moved forward to be more aligned with the start/finish line. Additionally, the course map is rotated 180 degrees compared to how it appeared in Mario Kart DS.

Tournaments
In Mario Kart Wii, a tournament took place on this track. It was a time trial race, where players had to get past a larger number of Chain Chomps and Monty Moles. It was the second tournament of April 2009, and it was later repeated as the second tournament of April 2011, the second tournament of July 2012, and the first tournament of October 2013.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Peach Gardens returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the third wave of the Booster Course Pass. First shown in the September 2022 Nintendo Direct, it was one of two courses announced first for the wave, alongside Merry Mountain.

The course has been completely redesigned since its appearance in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii. The course now features fountains, flower stands, more trellises, heart shaped lawn patterns and two gazebos. The mansion has been redone to feature bigger windows, beige walls and pink roofing. The striped hills in the background are taller, as are the walls around the course; they now feature small turrets and crenellations, and there are no longer trees visible over them. In addition to Mario's topiary being redesigned, the first maze section now features topiaries of Peach, Luigi, Toad and Toadette. Toad, Yoshi and Shy Guy spectators have been added across to the course, found sitting on garden sets and park benches. The starting banner seems to have been moved slightly more to the center and is now decorated with rose bushes and topped with Peach's crown. It also utilizes the modern Mario Kart logo instead of the classic one.

The turn directly after the stone bridge was made wider, with the flower patch being smaller. Item Boxes during the first maze section no longer trail behind the roaming Chain Chomps, and are instead set in predetermined spots. The layout of the maze has also changed, as some of the squares are smaller than the others and there appears to only be 3 rows instead of 5. The second maze section near the end has now been turned into a roundabout, sporting a Big Piranha Plant inside of a Warp Pipe in the middle. The Monty Moles now act the way they do in and, digging through the ground and occasionally popping out, as opposed to popping out from a single hole. The ramps added in Mario Kart Wii no longer appear to be present, although players are able trick off of the dirt the Monty Moles create.

Mario Kart DS

 * North American website bio: "Peach's tranquil gardens are the perfect backdrop for a tight race. Don't drive through the flowers, and keep an eye peeled for Chain Chomps on the loose!"
 * European website bio: "After Wario Stadium's dirty tricks, Peach's peaceful gardens are a breath of fresh air. That is, until you run into a Chain Chomp's snapping jaws, plop into the pond water or get stuck in the numerous flower beds. Oh, and keep off the grass or Peach will get most upset..."

Mario Kart Wii

 * European website bio: "Should you really be ripping through a country garden on high-powered karts and motorbikes? Peach's presence on the starting grid suggests she's happy for her lush green facilities to be a part of the Lightning Cup competition!"

Trivia

 * Peach Gardens is one of two tracks in the Mario Kart series to have its music be in 3/4 time, the other being Paris Promenade.