Wii Dry Dry Ruins

Dry Dry Ruins is the first racecourse of the Special Cup coming from Mario Kart Wii, based on an area of the same name from Paper Mario. The course bears certain resemblances to the Dry Dry Desert racecourse from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Yoshi Desert course from Mario Kart Super Circuit as the starting line, down a solid arch, and the Yoshi sphinx, seen in the background, respectively. The course's music is similar to Desert Hills.

The course has Egyptian-themed structures, like obelisks, temples and pyramids. Certain obelisks fall into the track within the race, which drivers can take advantage of them by passing on the structures and perform a trick. Then, players will find a temple which they get in: Inside the temple, the sand creates some traps where players cannot accelerate efficiently if they pass on them (the sand traps will spread over during the race). After going out of the temple, there is a Boost Pad just after the exit, and near to the finish line. Pokeys serve as obstacles in the course, and Swoopers appear inside the temple.

Shortcuts

 * Although very small, there is a shortcut in Dry Dry Ruins. After getting a Turbo Boost start, the player should drive forward on the right side until the road starts to curve to the right. If they take the first passage to the right, it will save them some time and get them an Item Box to boot.
 * Before the bridge, if the player goes to the left, where the oasis is, there is a piece of sand where they can cut offroad; however, a Mushroom or a Star is needed to do this.
 * On the third lap before the Ruins' exit, the center of the last room may be filled with sand and the player can use a Mushroom to pass over it in a straight line
 * There is a big shortcut in Dry Dry Ruins that requires a Golden Mushroom. After exiting the temple and using the boost pad, the player can use the second ramp to go to the hill on the side. They should start following the path while using their Golden Mushroom. The truncated lap will still count and the racer will shoot off to the bridge at the oasis at the end of the path.

Trivia

 * The theme for when the player is inside the ruins sounds like an Egyptian-styled remix of the Yoshi's Story theme.
 * When playing as a Mii, Miis from the player's gallery replace the Yoshi heads.
 * At a certain point in the course after the oasis, there is a shadow that looks like Mario's silhouette on the ground.
 * The Obelisks have a Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad,and Yoshi's symbol
 * The course is very probably based on the Paper Mario's Dry Dry Ruins.