Piranha Plant Cove

Piranha Plant Cove is a race course from Mario Kart Tour. It debuted in the 2023 Exploration Tour as its featured course. It is set on an archipelago containing underwater ruins with a Piranha Plant motif. Along the course are various hieroglyphs depicting 8-bit Piranha Plant sprites from Super Mario Bros., and various engravings on Falling Pillars are seen glowing bright turquoise. Thwomps, Maw-Rays, Clampys, Cheep Cheeps, Jellybeams, and Bulbers are featured as course and background elements. The underwater ruins of this course bear similarities to popular depictions of the fictional island of. The music for this course is in a 6/4 time signature.

It has three routes: Piranha Plant Cove, Piranha Plant Cove 2, and Piranha Plant Cove 3, making it the second course in Mario Kart Tour to have numbered re-routes without being a city course, after N64 Kalimari Desert; it is the only new course with this distinction. The first two routes debuted together in the 2023 Exploration Tour, while the third route debuted later in the 2023 Mii Tour. All three routes are vastly different regarding the environments racers drive through; the first route focuses on the ruins, the second route takes racers on a nearby island, and the third route takes racers into a cave, passing shipwrecks. It is the third new course in Mario Kart Tour to have a re-route with a different starting line placement, after Los Angeles Laps and Berlin Byways, although unlike said courses, the starting line has a completely different appearance between variants. Piranha Plant Cove 3 is the first course in the Mario Kart series to take place entirely underwater.

Piranha Plant Cove
Similar to Dolphin Shoals from Mario Kart 8, this course's starting line is located underwater. When the race begins, racers are immediately met with a brief fork in the road; here, there are pillars that, throughout the race, may fall on to the road, similar to Dry Dry Ruins from Mario Kart Wii and in Mario Kart 8. When the two branches are connected again, racers drive up a large staircase with currents, decorated with stone Petey Piranha heads, that takes them up to the surface. Afterwards, racers drive along the ruins, beneath stone arches with the option to drive on top of one of them, taking 90-degree bends before diving back into the water, and driving down a straightaway and into a cavern featuring Thwomps to be avoided, with Dash Panels placed in front of them. This section has raised portions of the road with slanted sides, allowing for multiple Tricks to be performed depending on the lines being taken. Racers take a few more turns before reaching the finishing line.

The course also appears as Piranha Plant Cove R (reversed), Piranha Plant Cove T (with ramps), and Piranha Plant Cove R/T (reversed with ramps)

This route is the first instance of a course starting completely underwater in Mario Kart Tour, and the second course in the Mario Kart series overall after Mario Kart 8's Dolphin Shoals.

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of Piranha Plant Cove tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § Piranha Plant Cove.

Piranha Plant Cove 2
The second variant begins in a part of the course completely separate from the first variant, at the edge of an island overlooking the ruins. Racers are promptly launched off a glider ramp into the water below, which features Jellybeams that can be hit for points, before making a tight turn followed by a slight S-bend towards the starting area of the first variant, where the currents now appear before the split path. After driving along a brief portion of the ruins from the first variant, instead of turning left racers keep heading straight and then make a gradual right up the bank of the island. Here, the path splits into two wooden paths around a small pier, before meeting up and making another sandy S-bend to the finish line past a biting Piranha Plant.

The course also appears as Piranha Plant Cove 2R (reversed), Piranha Plant Cove 2T (with ramps), and Piranha Plant Cove 2R/T (reversed with ramps).

Piranha Plant Cove 2's map includes a road only accessible in the course's R and R/T variants, making it the third course to include a road from an alternate variant on its map, after Berlin Byways 2 and GBA Boo Lake.

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of Piranha Plant Cove tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § Piranha Plant Cove 2.

Piranha Plant Cove 3
Racers start at the exact same place they start in the first route. When the race begins, racers follow a group of Fish Bones and take a sudden sharp left turn to enter a crystal cave before serpentining round numerous shipwrecks. A large left turn is taken following the wreckages, taking racers through a rocky section decorated with numerous glowing corals. Here, racers can drive over Water Geysers and avoid Clampys containing coins, similar to ones seen in 3DS Cheep Cheep Lagoon. Taking another left turn, racers go underground beneath Piranha Plant Cove 2 to enter a sunken ruin filled with dilapidated sculptures of Petey Piranha after avoiding a giant Maw-Ray that lunges out and attempts to bite any nearby racers. Underground, there are many ramps players may use for jump boosts; however, it isn't long until a final right turn is taken, taking racers back to the finish line. On the first lap, racers are accompanied by a giant, fast Maw-Ray when they reach the starting line again. Racers follow this Maw-Ray into the cave during the opening of the second lap.

The course also appears as Piranha Plant Cove 3R (reversed), Piranha Plant Cove 3T (with ramps), and Piranha Plant Cove 3R/T (reversed with ramps). This is the only course in the Mario Kart series (not counting Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit) to take place underwater entirely, although players can briefly jump above the water in the T variant.

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of Piranha Plant Cove tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § Piranha Plant Cove 3.

Trivia

 * In Piranha Plant Cove 2, the Clampys can contain Item Boxes, as is the case with 3DS Cheep Cheep Lagoon, but in Piranha Plant Cove 3, they exclusively contain Coins like in GCN Daisy Cruiser.