DS Shroom Ridge

Shroom Ridge is the fourth and last race course of the Flower Cup in Mario Kart DS. The course takes place on a public road with traffic and runs on a mountain ridge, hence the name. For about half of the course, the right hand side has no railing and is a sheer drop. Shroom Ridge is the first traffic course to have cars moving in opposite directions, as opposed to the same direction as in all previous road tracks. Specifically, the cars not involved in the race drive on the left side of the road, as done in real life in various countries including Japan, India, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In Mirror Mode, however, they take the right side of the road, as done in the Continental Americas or Mainland Europe. The hills and trees in the background resemble those of Giant Land in the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Due to the DS's limited 3D graphics capability, vehicles cannot be seen from a far distance. Unlike the previous game, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, they will disappear from a player's sight if far enough. Some of the trucks contain advertisements for Fruits or for "Fresh Cheep Cheep", though in pre-release versions, the "Fresh Cheep Cheep" advertisements read "Flesh" instead of "Fresh", likely a translation error.

Shroom Ridge returns as the second course of the Lucky Cat Cup in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the Booster Course Pass, and in Mario Kart Tour starting from the 2023 Doctor Tour.

Course layout
The race starts on a part of the road near to the cliff. Players go straight to encounter the first corner that turns to the left. The road becomes slightly wider and the racers leave the ridge going in between two hills. The road makes another abrupt turn to the right crossing the hills and then turns to the left. The road passes through an expansive meadow with trees in the background behind one of the hills of the road that leads the racers uphill in a S turn that ends inside a tunnel traversing a hill bordering on the road. Racers go through the tunnel to make a slight turn to the left. The tunnel ends leading the racers again to the ridge. During the turn, the road tilts slightly downhill and then makes an S turn to the right. Racers must take now another turn to the left and lastly another to the right. The road ends in a straight line towards the finish line to complete the lap.

Missions
There are two missions that take place on Shroom Ridge:


 * Mission 3-7: The player controls Donkey Kong, who must perform 10 power-slide mini-turbos.
 * Mission 4-3: The player controls Mario, who must reach the finish before the red car speeding around the course. This car is much faster than normal and drives erratically.

Both missions involve the player driving in a single-lap race.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Shroom Ridge makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the first wave of the Booster Course Pass. It appears as the second course of the Lucky Cat Cup. Excluding courses from Mario Kart Tour, this is the only course in the first wave that had never appeared outside of its debut game before, and is one of two classic courses so far to make their classic course debuts in the Booster Course Pass, the others being. Out of all the courses that debuted in the Booster Course Pass before Mario Kart Tour, Shroom Ridge is the course with the longest period of time between the two appearances, with it debuting in Tour in the 2023 Doctor Tour almost a year after it appeared in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The course has received many visual improvements. There is now fog over the woodland below, a lake is added in the background, most of the trees before the tunnel have been removed, making this part more open, and the vehicles have been replaced by the ones found in (with the exception of the dash panel ramp truck). The vehicles also now all move in the same direction. The signpost over the finish line now has the modern Mario Kart logo. Guardrails have been added in spots along the final stretch of the track, though they do not cover the entire length of the cliffside. Yoshis and Toads also appear as spectators on this course. Additionally, two shortcuts were added. For the first, a glide ramp was added in the large patch of grass before the tunnel, accessible via a Mushroom. In addition, a fan that blows out wind was added over the edge of the S-turn, allowing racers to skip it with a Mushroom. The minimap was turned around 60 degrees counterclockwise compared to the equivalent in Mario Kart DS; this course is one of three in the Booster Course Pass to not have its minimap rotated so that drivers start facing straight up on it, the other two being and  from Wave 4. Shroom Ridge is also one of two tracks in the game to not have Double Item Boxes, the other being.

On the American official webpage for the Booster Course Pass, Shroom Ridge was erroneously listed as a 3DS course rather than a DS course. This was later corrected. Additionally, the car in the course icon is driving backwards, making this the second course icon with this oddity, after in Mario Kart DS. It is also driving in the middle of the road. Another error is found on the Nintendo Switch's newsfeed in the United Kingdom, where an article describes the course as having two-way traffic.

As with all other courses from Wave 1, this course's icon and lighting were adjusted slightly in the 2.1.0 update.

Mario Kart Tour
Shroom Ridge reappears in Mario Kart Tour starting from the 2023 Doctor Tour. While it debuted first in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, its course renders date back to June 2021, indicating it was made for Tour first. Despite this, there are several differences between it and its 8 Deluxe incarnation. The environment is overall less hazy than in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with the skybox featuring cartoony clouds, and the fog along the main cliff no longer being present. The walls now have a white and gray pattern, instead of being entirely gray. Both shortcuts added in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe have been altered - the Glide Ramp design has been changed into a wooden ramp and was moved further ahead and closer to the main road with an arrangement of Coins in front of it as well. The fan blowing air has also been replaced with a second Glide Ramp. Item Boxes and Coins are now in some fixed positions, in addition to a handful that still move with the track. The vehicles are the same as the ones that appear in Berlin Byways 3, including the truck with a Piranha Plant in its truckbed. This also makes Shroom Ridge the first classic course in Mario Kart Tour to feature traffic. The course is a favorite of Light-blue Yoshi, Luigi (Golf), Dr. Luigi, Cat Luigi, Kitsune Luigi, Toad (Astronaut), Toad (Tourist), and the Purple and Para-Biddybud Mii Racing Suits. Like the original version of the course, the vehicles move in different directions based on the side of the road they are on. The minimap also matches the one from the DS version of the course.

The course also appears as Shroom Ridge R (reversed), Shroom Ridge T (with ramps), and Shroom Ridge R/T (reversed with ramps). In the R variant, there are two additional Glide Ramps on the road which lower to the ground whenever vehicles are approaching them. In the T variant, the vehicles are replaced with Wigglers as obstacles. In the R/T variant, the vehicles remain stationary.

The Mario Kart Tour rendition of DS Shroom Ridge is visible in an for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, while its R/T variant is shown in an  present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's files as of version 2.0.0; both instances predate any official announcement of DS Shroom Ridge being added to Mario Kart Tour.

For this course's tour appearances, see List of DS Shroom Ridge tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart DS

 * Fresh (Cargo trucks)
 * Mario Racing (Billboards)
 * Super Mario (Trackside banners)
 * Super Mario GP (Billboards)
 * Wario Racing (Trackside banners, billboards)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe / Mario Kart Tour

 * Boomerang Bros. International Airlines (Signs)
 * Bullet Bill Speed Trial (Signs)
 * Coconut Cafe (Signs)
 * Fun Flower (Signs)
 * Galaxy Air (Buses, signs)
 * Green Shell Taxi (Taxis)
 * Mario Work Gear (Signs)
 * Moo Moo Meadows Milk (Signs)
 * Propeller Toad Transport (Trucks)
 * Red Shell Strike Equipment (Stickers)
 * Shy Guy Metals (Signs)
 * Sunshine Parts (Signs)
 * Super Marine World (Car decal)
 * Tropical Grocery (Signs)

Mario Kart DS

 * European website bio: "In the great tradition of Toad's Turnpike and Mushroom Bridge, this race takes place on real roads packed with traffic. Shroom Ridge is downhill all the way, so make sure your breaks are in tip-top shape. There are no crash barriers either, so you'd better have perfected those power-slides..."

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 * Nintendo Switch Newsfeed (US):
 * This course first appeared in the Mario Kart DS game.
 * Many buses and cars drive on this mountain ridge. (Where are they all going, I wonder?!)
 * You'll flip over if you bump into any cars, so be sure to dodge them.
 * Nintendo Switch Newsfeed (UK): Race through two-way traffic on Shroom Ridge! Shroom Ridge made its debut in Mario Kart DS on Nintendo DS, and takes place on a mountain road, which you'll share with regular passenger vehicles like buses and cars! Drive carefully, because you'll wipe out if you smash into the traffic.