Tour London Loop

London Loop is a race course in Mario Kart Tour. It is set in London, England, and makes its debut in the city’s namesake tour, the London Tour. London Loop has three routes, named London Loop, London Loop 2, and London Loop 3, each with its own R, T, and R/T variants. The second route made its debut in the Baby Rosalina Tour, due to Baby Rosalina's detective outfit, which is a reference to, a fictional resident of London, while the third route debuted in the 2021 Halloween Tour. The course features various landmarks from the cities of London and, with the first route focusing on the main metropolitan areas, the second route focusing on the outskirts, and the third route focusing on the. The first and second routes have the racers go around London clockwise; however, the third route has them go around counterclockwise instead.

The music for this course bears similarities to that of Rock Rock Mountain, as well as being a reference to 1960s British rock music.

London Loop appears in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass as the first course of the Rock Cup.

London Loop
The course begins to the right of Big Ben, followed by a gradual right next to a double-decker bus. The road then weaves its way around, then makes another gradual right through and a part of  before making a sharp left at. The player then reaches, which they exit after making a single slight right. After another sharp right with a Chain Chomp in a green space in front of the Tower of London, the player crosses Tower Bridge, then takes another sharp right past and  with the  in the background. After a left sigmoid curve, the player returns to the finish line.

The course also appears as London Loop R (reversed), London Loop T (with ramps), and London Loop R/T (reversed with ramps).

This specific route was the only European city course route that was not brought back in the Metropolitan Tour.

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of London Loop tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § London Loop.

London Loop 2
The course begins to the right of the Big Ben on. Players take a slight right to enter in front of. A few Chain Chomps are located in the green space, one in the very center and one outside the palace. Racers drive down a long street shortly afterwards, driving past the, eventually leading to a ramp with visible in the far background. Racers take a right to before eventually driving across, passing the. A U-bend to the right is taken, which leads racers back on to Westminster Bridge before arriving at the finish line.

The course also appears as London Loop 2R (reversed), London Loop 2T (with ramps), and London Loop 2R/T (reversed with ramps).

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of London Loop tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § London Loop 2.

London Loop 3
The course starts on the, though it faces away from Big Ben, the opposite direction of London Loop and London Loop 2. Racers take a left turn and travel past the before taking a right by the, passing  and the. Two boats can be seen floating on the river. Shortly after, the racers must take a U-bend to the left to cross Tower Bridge. A wide bend to the left around the green space of the Tower of London follows, with a Chain Chomp in the center. Players then drive back to The Walkie-Talkie before taking a right to access a path besides the River Thames. After driving below a bridge, the player takes one last left to reach the finish line, passing Big Ben.

The course also appears as London Loop 3R (reversed), London Loop 3T (with ramps), and London Loop 3R/T (reversed with ramps).

Appearances
For this course's tour appearances, see List of London Loop tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour § London Loop 3.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
London Loop returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the third wave of the Booster Course Pass. It is the first course of the Rock Cup. The course has received significant visual upgrades, and is now set in cloudy weather. The now moves, unlike in Mario Kart Tour. The various barrels and crates on the course have been removed. The minimap is rotated 90 degrees clockwise and features multiple paths that are unused in Mario Kart Tour, such as one to the right of Leadenhall Market and one going beneath the Admiralty Arch. This makes London Loop the second/third Mario Kart Tour city course to include roads that were unused at the time of their appearance in the Booster Course Pass, after Sydney Sprint and alongside Berlin Byways. Like Berlin Byways, the previously unused roads in this course were never used in Tour prior to new content for it concluding.

The first lap is based on the first London Loop route. Racers begin on, facing Big Ben. An arrow field immediately directs them to turn right and drive through. Unlike in Mario Kart Tour, racers can perform tricks off of the center of the roundabout. They can also drive the long way around the roundabout, though there is no benefit to doing so. Either way, players then drive around the front of and come to. They can still drive through it, but there is now also the option to drive on a straighter path to its right, which is unused in Tour. From there, they drive through a right curve past a Chain Chomp chained outside the Tower of London, across Tower Bridge, and back to the starting line taking the route past.

The second lap is based on London Loop 2. As such, racers go straight ahead and enter. There is another Chain Chomp there, and an additional one chained near the left side of the gate. After leaving the park, an arrow field directs racers left through a long road, with exits with a ramp pointed toward the front door of the Bush House. Players then drive across before taking two right turns to reach the starting line again.

The third and final lap is a combination of London Loop 2 again and London Loop 3R. Players once again drive through St James's Park. However, the Chain Chomp has broken loose and is now roaming around, occasionally crossing onto the road. The Chain Chomp outside the park's gate has also freed itself and gone through the to circle the Charing Cross. Racers, too, drive under the Admiralty Arch and go straight through Charing Cross towards the (where an unchained Chain Chomp is swimming, of no consequence to the player). Players drive along the Thames and under the Waterloo Bridge before taking the right turn near the Tower of London again, whose Chain Chomp has also broken loose. They drive over the Tower Bridge again (although there is no Glide Ramp like there is in Mario Kart Tour), turn right to drive on the other side of the Thames, and then head for the finish line to end the race.

In the first lap, the second path of Leadenhall Market is blocked off with red arrows, implying the player would drive there in a later lap. However, the player never visits that area in the race again, so the route, like in Mario Kart Tour, remains unused, making it the only route in the Booster Course Pass with this distinction. (Note that the route only leads into a void.)

This course being positioned in the Rock Cup may be a reference to the course's music, which is based on British rock music from the 1960s and 1970s. It is also one of two courses in the third wave to utilize rock music for its theme, alongside. Both of these courses are in the Rock Cup. During the beginning of this course's music, a second guitar plays a few notes, panned to the left; this guitar is absent in all subsequent loops of the song.

Unlike other courses using arrow fields in the Booster Course Pass aside from, London Loop can be driven in reverse from the beginning without Lakitu picking up the player. However, this loads the third lap layout with the unchained Chain Chomps, meaning that if the player turns back around and resumes following the course normally, the Chain Chomps will rechain themselves, only to be unchained again once Lap 3 is triggered properly.

London Loop is one of three Mario Kart Tour courses in the third wave overall, alongside and Merry Mountain.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 * Official Nintendo social media accounts: Take a tour of London Loop, coming in Wave 3 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass. Every lap is a new route through the city, each with its own sights to see: the London Eye, Tower Bridge and more!
 * Nintendo Switch News app (US):
 * This course first appeared in the Mario Kart™ Tour game.
 * As you can guess from the name, it's modelled after the city of London in jolly ol' England. If you look around, you can see familiar buildings lining the course.
 * The course will change depending on the lap and there are also different routes you can take. Explore around and choose wisely!
 * Nintendo Switch News app (UK): Find a roundabout route to victory in London Loop! Race through the streets of London and enjoy the mix of historic and modern architecture this charming city course, which debuted in the smart device game Mario Kart Tour, has to offer! How many landmarks can you spot? Thankfully you'll have plenty of opportunities to see the sights from different angles, as one of the highlights of the course is the fact that the route you'll take changes from lap to lap. If you're keen-eyed enough, you might even find some special paths to the top of the podium!
 * Nintendo Magazine 2023 Summer: A city course inspired by London, U.K. Besides the famous palace and bridge, you can also see the characteristic double-decker bus.

Sponsors

 * Boomerang Bros. International Airlines (posters)
 * Chain Chomp Racing Chains (signs)
 * Coconut Café (signs)
 * Fountain Café (signs)
 * Galaxy Air (signs)
 * Mario Kart TV (vans) (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
 * Mario Work Gear (buses)
 * Mushroom Piston (signs)
 * Peach & Daisy Royal Patisserie (buses)
 * Princess Orange (posters)
 * Princess Peach Jewels (signs)
 * Race (flags)
 * Racer's (posters)
 * Roy Smooth Sounds (posters)
 * Sunshine Parts (signs)
 * Toad Shopping Plaza (posters)
 * Tropical Bakery (signs)

Trivia

 * In the course icons and promotional pictures posted on social media by Nintendo for Mario Kart Tour, Big Ben is depicted with extra details, such as windows and spires. These details are absent in both Mario Kart Tour's gameplay and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
 * This course shares its name with a walk located in Outer London, the (also known as the London LOOP).
 * This course is one of two Tour city courses whose postcard promotional art does not depict a character in a corresponding alternate costume. The other course is Madrid Drive.