Bowser's Castle (Mario Kart Wii)

Bowser's Castle is a race course in Mario Kart Wii. It is the third race of the Special Cup. It resembles the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! iteration of the course, as it has Thwomps, the same castle entrance designed to resemble Bowser's face, and Bowser's famed laugh playing upon entry to the castle.

Elements of the castle music from the original Super Mario Bros. can be heard in the beginning portion of the music for this course. Additionally, despite the tracks sharing little similarity, the main theme for the course is based on the theme for Maple Treeway, albeit rearranged into a slower, lower-pitched, and more sinister version.

Course layout
The race starts with a straight dirt road that leads to a bridge that curves into a Ramp with a Dash Panel, which then leads into the entrance of the castle. When entering the castle, Bowser's laughter is heard as the player approaches a wavy hall, filled with pillars and Item Boxes. The player can perform tricks in the hallway, as the shifting floor creates small ramps. After the hallway is a left turn followed by a right turn under some Thwomps, then another left turn past some lava. The track then takes a left turn past another Thwomp and leads to a boost ramp into a large room facing Mecha Bowser. Two more Dash Panels appear on the floor, with two sets of half-pipes on each wall to avoid the Mecha Bowser's fireballs and patches of mud on the floor. A small ramp can also be used to jump over the second patch of mud. The player can then go around either side of the Mecha Bowser where both routes lead to a Fire Bar and a boost ramp to a right turn with meshed flooring, which Lava Geysers come through. The course then takes another right turn with a single Thwomp and a left turn with three Thwomps that drop alternately. A ramp with a Dash Panel over a giant Fire Bar follows, with a left turn past a Showtime! billboard to a straight section with more Lava Geysers, erupting from the ground instead of from the lava. These geysers swap positions and the player can perform tricks around the edge of them, before returning to the start line (with Lakitu shown on the right side of the player, holding the lap count signs to start another lap).

Like on, Thwomps utter a laugh when crushing drivers.

Shortcut
In the half-pipe area after the Mecha Bowser, players can boost up the right side of the half-pipe on the right, and glitch through the un-textured wall onto the higher platform as a shortcut.

Tournaments
The second tournament of August 2009 took place at Bowser's Castle. It was a Time Trial race containing several hazards, such as Swooper swarms, more Lava Geysers, and scattered boxes. Thwomps were also placed at different spots, preferably spots that were more likely to hinder the players. The spinning firebars also moved faster than before. The player starts out with a set of Triple Mushrooms. The tournament was later repeated as the first tournament of July 2011, the second tournament of September 2012, and the first tournament of December 2013.

Mario Kart Wii

 * European website bio: "Only some skilful stunt driving will enable you to dodge the huge fireballs spat out by the stone statue of Bowser. Moving hallways, a river of lava, and eleven other racers gunning for first place make the task even trickier."

Names in other languages
Bowsers Festung Castello di Bowser (Wii)