N64 Royal Raceway

Royal Raceway, known as Peach Circuit in Japan, is the third racetrack of the Star Cup in Mario Kart 64. The race takes place around a giant lake and it is easy to fall into the water. There is a big jump over the lake in one section of the track. If the racer goes off track after the jump, they can see and drive around Princess Peach's Castle, as it appeared in Super Mario 64, though there is no way to enter the castle. The Award Ceremony also takes place in this racetrack at the end of the cup, where the top three drivers receive various trophies, and confetti for the big winner along with the gold trophy. The course returns in Mario Kart 8 as the third course in the Banana Cup.

Course layout
First the driver will race around a wall. Then, the player will drive onto a bridge that ends with a jump back to the regular track. The player can see Princess Peach's Castle from here. After driving around in the hills the players drive around a sharp right turn with slippery mud on one side so if the player misses the turn, they will probably fall into the pond.

Mario Kart 8
Royal Raceway reappears in Mario Kart 8 as the third course in the Banana Cup. The sky is now blue with pink clouds, instead of pink with white clouds, both the starting banner and the bleachers have been redesigned to look more related to Peach's Castle and the iconic crown is now more detailed. A board that lists the names of the fan teams and a pit-stop area, where an MKTV van and several Toad mechanics are located there, has been added before the starting banner. The wall, which the racers drive around, still has red and white checker pattern but it now has some design related to Peach's Castle, and subtle heart details have been added. The road markings are also made up of hearts. There are now swan boats in the lake, with Toads riding in them. MK8-Course-N64 RoyalRaceway-startingline.png

The ramp now has evenly spread out five grass arches with ringing bells, which the player can hear when passing by them, hanging on them and the rails on the ramp are redesigned to make it related to Peach's Castle. The long jump section has been shortened and is also a glider segment, which allows players to glide over the large gap and then land gently at the next section. There are hot-air balloons based on Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and Rosalina's dresses, similar to the balloons present in Daisy Hills from Mario Kart 7. There are also cherry blossom trees like in Mario Circuit from Mario Kart 7 in place of the striped evergreen trees. At the final turns, the grassland areas has been narrowed down to make it less possible for players to slip off the track and end up in the grassland compared to the original.

The road leading to Peach's Castle is now blocked off, meaning it is unable to be driven around compared to the original. Furthermore, the design of Peach's Castle and the area around it have been revised from the original Super Mario 64 version, to look more like a modern interpretation of it's design.

Of the four N64 tracks brought back for 8, Royal Raceway is the only one to not close out its Retro cup.

Official descriptions
Mario Kart 64 Instruction manual description: ''Of the three speedway-type courses, this one covers the greatest distance. The big jump after the dash zone is very dramatic. Without guardrails along the lake, it can be very easy to overshoot the corner and fall in!''

Mario Kart 8 Facebook Page: ''Princess Peach welcomes you to the blossom-lined roads of Royal Raceway in Mario Kart 8. She has even baked a cake for you!''

Trivia

 * In Mario Kart 8, the hot air balloons also appear in the far background of the remade GCN Baby Park.
 * This course shares the same music as Luigi Raceway, Mario Raceway, and Wario Stadium. In Mario Kart 8, it is enhanced with live recorded instruments and given a slight jazz-funk feel.