Wii Koopa Cape

Koopa Cape is the second racecourse of the Star Cup in Mario Kart Wii. The course takes place on an isle of sort, where racers begin the race near to a cliff. The isle in this course also contains a river cutting through a forest and an underwater tunnel for racers to dive into, with a Warp Pipe at both ends. This course is owned by Koopa Troopa, as signs of him and the name of the course itself reveal.

Koopa Cape returns in Mario Kart 7 as the first course of the Lightning Cup and in Mario Kart Tour, debuting in the May 2022 Peach vs. Bowser Tour. It also returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Cherry Cup in the Booster Course Pass. It, alongside Mushroom Gorge, Coconut Mall, and Maple Treeway, have appeared in four games in a row (every game since their debuts) if one counts the two Mario Kart 8 titles as the same game.

Course layout
The player first starts out on a cliff. To the right side is a place where the player can fall off into the water, while the left side runs against a cliff wall. The player proceeds to a Kanaami Road ramp with two Dash Panels plus a row of floating Item Boxes. After driving off the ramp, the player lands on a bigger cliff with some wooden ramps and Goombas, with a patch of grass that allows for a shortcut. Then, drivers go into a forest filled with trees and Green Shell-like stones, with a brook serving as the main road (though there are stretches of asphalt and gravel off to the sides). On the very right is a cyan Koopa shell tunnel with Item Boxes inside of it. Koopa Troopa and Koopa Paratroopa billboards can be seen along turns in the brook section of the course, holding a flag and using New Super Mario Bros. artwork, respectively. The river speeds up the player and there are some Item Boxes that go with the current of the river. After the first turn left is a small split path around a rock formation. One side features a ramp that allows the player to perform a Trick, while the other is positioned by another offroad shortcut. The player then turns around a buried Red Shell before the river dives off the cliff as a waterfall into an underwater tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, some aquatic creatures such as Unagi and Big Cheep Cheeps can be seen, while the players must dodge certain obstacles such as Koopa Zappers which briefly shrink drivers that hit them. The tunnel starts out straight before turning to the left, where another stream of water similar to the brook begins. It goes straight until a U-turn to the right, where more Koopa Zappers appear. After the river ends, there is a ramp directly after a row of Item Boxes and out of the tunnel via a large pipe. The player comes back to the cliff area. There is a turn right after this. Two paths can be taken, but one is covered by a waterfall which pushes the player into the water. A half-pipe is to the left of this curve on the normal route. After the curve, the player reaches the road to the finish line.

According to tiny advertising signs on the island, Koopa Cape seems to be located on an island known as Shell Island. In Mario Kart Wii, the Koopa head at the start of the small cave will be replaced by a random Mii's head if there is a Mii in the race, and the body is also changed to be a Mii outfit for Mii Outfit A.

The music for Koopa Cape has four variants. The cliff part of the course has a tropical sound, the brook part has a country-styled remix, and the submerged glass tunnel part is ambient-sounding. A wub is played alongside the cliff and brook parts.

Shortcuts

 * There is a small patch of grass on the left of the ramp which can be cut through with a Mushroom for a minor time save.
 * In the rushing water section, there is a tree at the left turn and behind the tree is another patch of grass that can be cut across using a Mushroom, although it can be done without a Mushroom by releasing the Mini-Turbo just before going into the patch and then hopping.
 * There is grass behind the giant Green Shell stone just before the pipe, which can be cut across with a Mushroom.
 * After the pipe, the waterfall just before the finish line can be cut across with a Mushroom.

Tournaments
The second tournament of August 2008 required players to pass through a total of 25 gates. It was later repeated as the second tournament of August 2010 and January 2012, and the first tournament of April 2013.

Mario Kart 7
Koopa Cape makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart 7 as the first course of the Lightning Cup. Most of the course remains unchanged, though the course itself was significantly shortened. However, there has been an added wall on the right at the starting line. The ramp into the brook has become a Glide Ramp. The most significant change is that the underwater glass tunnel has had its top removed and the player can now drive underwater in it. Cheep Cheeps now serve as obstacles in this area, replacing the Koopa Zappers. The "Turn Left" sign does not have a flag in the Koopa's hand, as it uses its New Super Mario Bros. artwork instead. The sign at the beginning of the track now says Lightning Cup instead of Star Cup, due to the course being in the Lightning Cup, and the large Koopa Shell in the background has also been removed. The brook section now uses the first variant of the course's theme, as the second variant has been removed.

When playing either locally or online, the Cheep Cheeps and the Unagi in the tunnel are absent.

Glitches

 * If the player drives up to the top of one the walls at the start of the underwater pipe at a turn, then hops at the very moment they reach the top, they spring high enough into the air to jump out of the water.
 * A difficult glitch shortcut can be performed at the end of the rushing water section in order to skip the pipe entirely. By driving towards the entrance of the pipe, drifting left and using a Mushroom early, it is possible to clip through the fence to the left and land by the finish line. The player must then go backwards to around the beginning of the waterfall to hit the last key checkpoint of the course, and therefore make the lap count. If done fast enough, this glitch saves approximately three seconds.
 * A respawn shortcut can be performed near the beginning of the course by using a Mushroom to gain air time off of the edge of the fence on the right, after the first Dash Panel. If the player gets enough distance, they will activate the out-of-bounds plain for the next key checkpoint and respawn before the Glide Ramp, saving about two seconds.

Mario Kart Tour
Koopa Cape returns in Mario Kart Tour starting in the May 2022 Peach vs. Bowser Tour. The track overall has a more mountainous appearance, with the cliff sides being taller and the color of the mountain being changed from gray to tan. The starting banner's design has been changed, now being a large, red metal sign with the modern Mario Kart logo and a Green Shell on top of it that bounces back and forth. The starting banner is also supported by two Warp Pipes. Both the large green Koopa Shell in the background and the half-pipes from the original Mario Kart Wii version of the course have been re-added, whilst the Koopa Troopa head at the entrance to the cave has been removed. The cup sign has been removed due to the track appearing in different cups. The "Turn Left" sign has been replaced with a Sunshine Parts advertisement, while the "Turn Right" sign has been replaced with a Red Shell Strike Equipment advertisement. An additional half-pipe was implemented in the underwater section, allowing racers to jump out of the water. The water currents are noticeably weaker in this version of the track, likely to accommodate the controls of the game and the reverse version of the course - which adds hot-air balloons. The Maw-Rays in the background of the underwater section have been removed, though there are now more plants in the background. The course uses its original music from Mario Kart Wii, but the second variant of the theme for the brook section remains absent like in Mario Kart 7.

The course also appears as Koopa Cape R (reversed), Koopa Cape T (with ramps), and Koopa Cape R/T (reversed with ramps); the first two debuted alongside the normal variant in the May 2022 Peach vs. Bowser Tour, while the last debuted in the 2023 New Year's Tour.

In the game files for Mario Kart Tour, there is an intro to the underwater version of the course's music that is not present in the Mario Kart Wii or Mario Kart 7 version of the course. It is not heard anywhere in-game, not even in the Glider Challenge on Koopa Cape, which starts underwater but uses the normal intro.

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of Wii Koopa Cape tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Koopa Cape returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass. It appears as the third course of the Cherry Cup. It is based on its Mario Kart Tour appearance, only with significant visual enhancements. Toads, Yoshis, Shy Guys, and Koopa Paratroopas have been added as spectators as well as the Toads with scuba diving gear in the underwater section. The buried Red Shell now has a more metallic look. The Maw-Ray returns in this version after being removed from Mario Kart Tour, now considerably smaller. The manta that appears in Dolphin Shoals can be seen swimming near the U-turn in the underwater section.

The brook section of the background music returns after having been absent from Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour, now featuring a fiddle countermelody and an intro compared to the Mario Kart Wii arrangement. The alternative music for the underwater section also features an intro, similar to Mario Kart Tour.

The course has been downscaled in size compared to its past appearances. The jump into the brook section is now a regular ramp, rather than a Dash Panel or Glide Ramp (like in Koopa Cape T). The ramp to the left of the rock arch has been removed. A Dash Panel has been added before the waterfall drop. The underwater section has been converted into an anti-gravity section, complete with Spin Boost Pillars, making it the first course to feature an anti-gravity section that is entirely underwater. The Cheep Cheeps now swim below the tube and cannot directly interact with racers. The additional half-pipe underwater now contains Item Boxes as well as coins, and it is now more difficult to jump out of the water.

Koopa Cape is one of two courses in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to not mark the beginning of an anti-gravity section with an Antigravity Panel, the other being.

It is also one of two courses from Mario Kart Wii to appear in Wave 5, alongside. Excluding Mario Kart 8's Rainbow Road theme, which is used in all trailers for the Booster Course Pass, was the only course whose music was used for the second trailer for Wave 5.

Before its official reveal, screenshots of the Mario Kart Tour iteration of Koopa Cape were included among the many pictures used in an for the Booster Course Pass, located within internal data present in version 2.0.0 of the game. Internally, the course is referred to as "Cnsw_52", implying it may have originally been intended to be the second course of the Feather Cup.

Mario Kart Wii

 * European website bio: From the initial ascent up a steep mountain path to the moment you plunge below the ocean into a glass tunnel, your speedy passage round Koopa Cape will leave you breathless.

Mario Kart Wii / Mario Kart 7

 * Shell Island (trackside banners)

Mario Kart Tour / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 * 100% Organic Antifreeze (trackside banners)
 * BaNaNa Boy (trackside banners)
 * Green Shell Taxi (trackside banners)
 * Propeller Toad Transport (trackside banners)
 * Red Shell Strike Equipment (signs, trackside banners)
 * Sunshine Parts (signs)

Trivia

 * The course was mistitled "Koopa Cave" in the official live stream of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Championship 2023 tournament.