DS Tick-Tock Clock

Tick-Tock Clock is the second course of the Star Cup in Mario Kart DS. It is modeled after the course Tick Tock Clock from Super Mario 64, with similar mesh flooring and the familiar yellow pendulum. It takes place inside a grandfather clock.

Course layout
Near the start of the course, the racers will drive around a clock, where they can take a speed boost by running over some Dash Panels. After the clock, an ever ticking pendulum can knock the drivers off if they collide with it. Throughout the course there are rotating gears, which lead the karts in 360˚ arcs around the center. Racers then go to a second clock, smaller than the first one, having Item Boxes moving around. At the end of the course the are many gears protruding from the ground like tires, which spin in opposite directions of each other. If the drivers go up the gear which is turning away from them, then drivers will run slightly faster. All gears in the course change direction every 45 seconds. Clock hands are another obstacle that would spin back and forth, spinning out any kart that touches them. If the player hits the pendulum while racing, it will ring.

Missions 6-7 and 7-3 are located here. In mission 6-7, Toad has to collect 40 coins, and in mission 7-3, Donkey Kong has to complete 2 laps within the time limit.

Mario Kart 8
Tick-Tock Clock is to reappear in Mario Kart 8 as the first track in the Lightning Cup. While the layout of the track doesn't appear to change, it features more detail than the original. The background appears to be redesigned with moving gears and other clock related objects placed around the track. The starting banner is now in an alarm clock shape and Roman numerals replace the Arabic numerals. An extra pendulum was added before the first pendulum of the track and drop offs were added after each pendulum. Toads can also be seen cheering on the sidelines. Clock hands now spin very slowly and don't flip Karts out because they became shorter than they were in the original. The music has also been updated so the beginning sounds more like a real-life alarm clock. Towards the end, the stopwatch has been merged with the track, and the clock hands serve as a tricky shortcut, similar to how they do on the first clock. During the last lap, the gears and even the music operate a lot faster than they originally do.

Official descriptions

 * US website: "It's always race time on Tick-Tock Clock. Sweeping clock hands, grinding gears and a massive pendulum are sure to keep you on your toes."
 * European website: "Whoever designed this course must have had a lot of time on their hands. Race through the workings on an enormous clock as you swerve past swinging pendulums the size of cars and dodge giant grinding gears. Remember: every second counts."

Trivia

 * This is one of nine retro courses in Mario Kart 8 wich doesn't involve anti-gravity. The others being Moo Moo Meadows, Cheep Cheep Beach, Dry Dry Desert, Donut Plains 3, Royal Raceway, Music Park, Yoshi Valley and Grumble Volcano.