Bowser's Castle (race course)

The Bowser Castle is one of the common race courses found in the Mario Kart series. The course takes place on the castle of Bowser and surroundings, usually featuring hazards as lava pits, Thwomps, fireballs and tight turns.

Super Mario Kart

 * For more info, see Bowser Castle 1, 2 and 3.

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.

Mario Kart 64
In Mario Kart 64, the course has a lot of Thwomps that block drivers from preceding to further areas. If the Player gets crushed by a Thwomp or drives into the cage holding the green Thwomp, an eerie laugh can be heard. It will crush them into the ground, making Lakitu get them in the only way out of the cage. In further corridors there are pictures of Bowser and large stone statues that shoot flames from their mouths, but they are harmless. At the end of the track racers will race on the roof of the castle. On the last lap, or when the player gets too close to the Bowser statue at the start of the track, Bowser's famed laugh plays.

This course reappears as the fourth and last course of the Lightning Cup in Mario Kart Wii. Notorious changes have been remade for such console. In this version, lava columns spring out from the pits to cause the drivers to bowl over, specially when racers attempt to jump. The green Thwomp now is just one of the new Thwomps, and is not significant. It is also impossible to go in the cage. Also, in the cage, one can see a Thwomp. If the player gets too close the Thwomp will get angry-looking. The flame-shooting statues are still harmless. Bowser's laugh is still heard on entry on the final lap, or when the player gets too close to the Bowser statue at the start of the track.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
For the Mario Kart Super Circuit Tracks, see Bowser Castle 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Racers start out outside of the castle and enter through a large doorway shaped like Bowser. As they precede through the hallway, Thwomps will try to spin them out or squish them. Racers will then travel over a pit of lava and through a circular room filled with Podoboos. During the final stretch of the course a statue of Bowser will shoot fireballs at oncoming cars. If the player has any trouble, Bowser's famed laugh will emit.

Mario Kart DS
In Mario Kart DS the players start by passing through a metallic doorway of Bowser (which plays his laugh on entry) and then pass through a hallway with Thwomps. After climbing stairs and crossing a thin but walled bridge, drivers will enter another circular room like in Mario Kart: Double Dash. However, this one doesn't have a Firebar, and instead spins. A path with a Thwomp and then a spiral bridge follows. If racers aren't careful, they can fall a long way down into lava or even back to the beginning of the spiral. It is possible there to Bob-omb someone out the tower's windows. racers will encounter a spinning log in which the driver must navigate across, or they will fall into a garden and lose time. The final stretch of the map consists of moving platforms that must be jumped over. If the player goes all the way around the circular room, they will take a shortcut. However, the shortcut has fire and a moving Thwomp.

Also, Bowser Castle 2 from Mario Kart: Super Circuit appears.

Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart Wii's Bowser's Castle resembles to the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Castle track. It has Thwomps and the same entrance design to the castle (Bowser's face) and also has Bowser's laugh playing on the entry to the castle.

Mario Kart Super Circuit's Bowser Castle 3 and Mario Kart 64's Bowser Castle, also reappear with changes in term of gameplay. GBA Bowser Castle 3 now has mud on some place while N64 Bowser Castle features lava geysers on some places.

Course Layout
The race starts out in a straight road that leads into a bridge that curves downhill and uphill, which has boost panels in it. The player may perform a trick to gain speed. After the ramp is the entrance to Bowser's Castle. On the entrance, the player hears Bowser's laugh. After the entry is a wavy hall, filled with pillars and item boxes. The player can perform tricks on the wavy hallway, since this sends the player in the air a little.

After the wavy hallway is a 90 degree turn left and another turn right. After the turn is a road that leads straight to the lava unless the player turns right again to avoid falling in the lava at the left. In this area, the player has to avoid Thwomps constantly pounding the ground, smashing any player who gets caught underneath the Thwomps blow. After that is a turn left and a ramp with a boost panel in it, which leads to a room full of lava with a large straight path over the lava.

In this room, the road is very straight. However, there is a giant Bowser machine who spits out large fireballs towards an area where there are explosion marks, to show the area where the ball will explode. After the explosion mark is a mud covered area. The player must use the left and right half-pipe ramps to avoid the mud in order to keep him/her from slowing down. After the player gets past that, he/she will see another area covered in mud, but there is a ramp near the beginning of the mud, in the center. Taking that ramp is a risky maneuver, however, since the large fireballs bounce off this ramp as well. Another option is to take the half-pipe ramps again, which is safer, but adds more time. The path splits into two, left and right, in this part, but both are identical, just the directions are mirrored. Both paths lead to three spinning firebars that can burn the player on contact. After the firebars is a ramp with a boost panel in it. The player may use it to speed up and perform a trick on it. The path merges again after this part.

After the ramp is a short straight road until a large curve to the left. The player can see that the tighter area of this curve has fire pillars coming out of the road, so the player may take the path to cut time when there are no fire pillars present. If the player turns too sharply, to the extreme right of the fire pillars, he/she will find himself/herself in the lava. After this area, the path is still curving and there are more Thwomps in this area. After the large curve upwards, there are three Thwomps that are hovering over the path. The left and right ones slam down at the same time while the center one will be still hovering in the area while the two slam the ground and vice versa. After the three Thwomps is a very large firebar that the player must avoid while using a ramp with a boost panel in it. If the acceleration of the car is too low, the player will fall into the lava.

After the firebar part is the exit of the castle and a turn to the left. Here, there are lava pillars erupting from the ground, with a small hill around them for the player to perform a trick. However, the firepillars may mess up the player while he/she is performing a trick and slow the player down by flipping him/her over. After this part is the starting line again, which starts the cycle and another lap again.

Competitions
The August 2009 Competition 2 took place in Bowser's Castle. It was a time trial race containing several hazards, such as Swooper swarms, more lava springs, and scattered boxes. Thwomps were also placed at different spots, preferably spots that were more likely to hinder the player. The spinning firebars also moved faster than before. The player started out with a set of Triple Mushrooms.

Trivia

 * The Bowser statue that shoots fireballs in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! only moves from side to side, spinning drivers out and catching them aflame. However, the statue of Mario Kart Wii seems to breathe, always positioned in the center, and to wait for the fireball to explode.
 * In the Wii version of Bowser's Castle, a billboard displaying an image of Boo and Dry Bones can be seen. That artwork was first used in Mario Party 7.
 * The Bowser statue at the start of N64 Bowser Castle's eyes will light up while Bowser's laugh is playing.
 * Bowser's Castle, Mario Circuit and Rainbow Road are the only courses that are in each Mario Kart series games.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games features Bowser Castle from Mario Kart: Super Circuit. The event is Dream Ice Hockey.