Bowser's Castle (race course)

Bowser's Castle (also called Bowser Castle in some games) is a common race course found in the Mario Kart series. The course features usually hazards such as lava pits, Thwomps, fireballs and sharp turns. Due to these hazards, it is one of the most difficult course in each game, similar to Rainbow Road. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit and its succeeding games, Bowser's Castle is the penultimate course of the Special Cup. However, in Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, there were multiple new versions of this track, similar to the Mario Circuit courses in Super Mario Kart.

History
Bowser's Castle has appeared as multiple iterations throughout the Mario Kart series. In Super Mario Kart, three Bowser Castle courses appeared in the Mushroom, Flower and Star cups. The stages had the same appearance and features such as lava pits and Thwomps. The later Bowser Castles have more obstacles and turns than the first Bowser Castles.


 * Bowser Castle 1 (SNES) - Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Bowser Castle 2 (SNES) - Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Bowser Castle 3 (SNES) - Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Bowser's Castle (N64) - Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Wii
 * Bowser Castle 1 (GBA) - Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart 7
 * Bowser Castle 2 (GBA) - Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart DS
 * Bowser Castle 3 (GBA) - Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart Wii
 * Bowser Castle 4 - Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Bowser's Castle (GCN) - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
 * Bowser's Castle (arcade) - Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
 * Bowser Castle (DS) - Mario Kart DS
 * Bowser's Castle (Wii) - Mario Kart Wii
 * Bowser's Castle (3DS) - Mario Kart 7
 * Bowser's Castle (Wii U) - Mario Kart 8

Trivia

 * Bowser's Castle, Mario Circuit (named Mario Raceway in Mario Kart 64), and Rainbow Road are the only courses that appear in each Mario Kart series game to date.
 * Among all courses, Bowser's Castle is the only course to appear in all Mario Kart series so far, including Arcade GP series.
 * The theme for Bowser's Castle in the game Super Mario Kart bears a striking resemblance to the Bowser battle's music in Super Mario World.
 * The Bowser Kart from the game Nintendogs plays the Bowser's Castle theme from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! when used.
 * The Bowser's Castle in the game Mario Kart 8 is the only Bowser's Castle in the series that does not feature Thwomps.
 * Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 8 are the only games in the series to feature a single Bowser's Castle course.
 * Every Bowser's Castle on a home console has a Bowser statue as on obstacle.