N64 DK's Jungle Parkway

DK's Jungle Parkway is a race course in the Special Cup of Mario Kart 64. It is Donkey Kong's home track in the game. The course returns in Mario Kart Wii as the third course in the Leaf Cup.

In Mario Kart 64 the name of the course is written as D.K.'s Jungle Parkway, though in Mario Kart Wii it is written as DK's Jungle Parkway. (Omitting the periods).

Course layout
When racers go off-course, "restless natives", as the instruction booklet calls them, will throw spiky fruits at them. Who these "natives" are is unknown. A cruise boat named Mario floats around the river in the jungle. The race starts off along the shoreline of the river which leads to a massive jump across the river. Players then follow the winding dirt path to a narrow wooden bridge at the edge of a waterfall. The bridge leads to a small cave, which ends at the start of the track.

The N64 version has a glitch where it is possible to jump through the corner in the cave, resulting in as little as a 20 second race if done three times. This was not fixed in the Virtual Console release.

Appearance in Mario Kart Wii
The course returns in Mario Kart Wii as the third race of the Leaf Cup. Hammer Bros., Toads, Goombas, and Shy Guys are now riding the cruise boat (only in single player mode), the water is yellowish-orange instead of blue (to reflect the color of the sunset sky), and the jungle has been pushed back, eliminating the "natives". Another change is that there's mud inside the cave, which will slow down racers that try to cross it, unless using a Mushroom, Golden Mushroom, Star, or Mega Mushroom to cut ahead without slowing down. The Dash Panel at the jump has been modified. In the N64 version, if the player is shrunk by a lightning bolt when approaching the jump, it is possible for the player not to make it over the river. In the Wii version, the Dash Panel acts similar to the Barrel Cannon where the player will always make it across, even when shrunk, also the Dash Panel now forces the drivers to go straight and prevents them from cutting ahead and/or any going anywhere else. Also, the Arrow Signs are now brown with blue arrows instead of cream with red arrows. The course map has been rotated 90° counterclockwise. Also, if you go off the track, the coconuts that usually hit you have been removed.



Tournaments
In Mario Kart Wii, a tournament took place on this track. Players had to do a GP race against Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, who were both riding on bikes. The two Kongs had access to infinite Bananas, which would cause players to spin out. This tournament was the first tournament of August 2008. It was later repeated as the second tournament of December 2009.

Official descriptions
Mario Kart 64
 * Manual: "The home of Donkey Kong, the Jungle Parkway was developed as a tourist facility and equipped with a racing ground for Karts. Carved out of the jungle, the road is mostly narrow. Be careful -- should you leave the course, the restless natives will "voice" their complaints by throwing stones at you."

Mario Kart Wii
 * Official European website: "A paddle steamer slowly meanders its way round the muddy waters as you shift into a much higher gear and tear around dirt tracks, over shaky wooden bridges and through a gloomy cave illuminated by flame torches."

Trivia

 * In the Nintendo 64 version, when the player flies off the ramp that crosses the river, some parts of the ferry boat cannot be collided with.
 * In the Nintendo 64 version, if players fall into the water during the big ramp jump, Lakitu will send the player back to the beginning of the ramp, even if the jump has been completed.
 * In the Wii version, if the players set the camera angle to look behind, the torches inside the cave can be seen lighting up again.
 * This is one of two tracks in Mario Kart Wii where it is impossible to do a trick as there are no trick ramps. The other being SNES Mario Circuit 3.
 * In the Nintendo 64 version, this course has the longest waiting time at the start of the race when compared to other courses.