GCN Mario Circuit

Mario Circuit is the second race course of the Flower Cup in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. This version of the course features many of the typical elements of a Mario Circuit, such as Warp Pipes, Piranha Plants and giant mushrooms, visually similar to World 1 in various games from the Super Mario Series. It also introduces the new element of Princess Peach's Castle around which the course takes place, an element that appears in all later Mario Circuits, and also features Goombas Piranha Plants and a Chain Chomp as obstacles. This course appears at the end of the credits in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, as well as in the "Thanks for playing!" image seen after completing All-Cup Tour. This course was originally going to appear as a retro track in Mario Kart DS but was removed from the final game, later appearing as the final course of the Leaf Cup in Mario Kart Wii.

Course layout
The starting line for the course is situated alongside Princess Peach's Castle, from which the player drives straight for a short distance to a left turn, followed by a hairpin bend towards the right. This is followed by a long and gentle left turn around a patch of grass with a Chain Chomp, which will occasionally come out and attack the player, who will spin out if hit. This is followed by a gentle S-curve within a tunnel, followed by a straight level bridge. This then leads to another short stretch of straight road with a pair of Piranha Plants on each side, which will attempt to bite the player and cause them to flip over if caught. The player must then drive around a left hairpin bend and a right turn, where they will approach a bumpy section of road with Goombas, which follows another gentle S-curve shape. After another left turn the player will then jump over an arched bridge towards the finish line, where there is another Piranha Plant on each side of the road.

Shortcuts

 * Part of the circular curve can be skipped and the Chain Chomp avoided by using a Mushroom or speed-boosting Item to cut across the grass behind it.

Mario Kart DS
This course was originally going to appear as a retro track in Mario Kart DS, but was removed prior to the game's release. The track would have used the textures "BeachTree1", "kuribo", and "mario_tree", which still remain in the game's files. There were no Goombas present toward the end of the track, and had reduced graphics due to the limitations of the console. It can still be accessed in the game's data, and can be found by Action Replay without textures or through ROM Hacking with textures.

Mario Kart Wii
The course reappears in Mario Kart Wii as the fourth track of the Leaf Cup. Although no major changes have been made, apart from a slight design update, the player can now perform Tricks off of the bumps in the road and the arched bridge approaching the finish line.

Tournaments
The tournament for this course was a time trial race, with an increased number of Piranha Plants and Chain Chomps. It was the first tournament of October 2009, and was repeated as the second tournament of July 2011, the first tournament of October 2012 and the second tournament of December 2013.

Official descriptions
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
 * Instruction booklet: “This is the main circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Familiar denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom can be spotted here and there. The road’s filled with curves, so this is a good place to practice drifting.”
 * Official website: “Mario Circuit features lots of tight corners, a Chain Chomp, Piranha Plants, Peach’s Castle, and several Goombas, not to mention seven other racers trying to upend your kart.”
 * Official European website: “Dodge the waddling Goombas and snapping Piranha Plants, and say hi to Peach as you cruise by her castle.”

Mario Kart Wii
 * Official European website: "With pipes rising out of the surrounding hills and Goombas and giant Chain Chomps littering the track, this is classic Mario Kart action in all its glory."

Trivia

 * The Mario Kart from the game Nintendogs plays the theme from this course when used.
 * This track shares the same music with Luigi Circuit and Yoshi Circuit.
 * An arrangement of the music for these courses appears as one of the selectable songs in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo DS version) and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.