N64 Luigi Raceway: Difference between revisions

|image=[[File:Luigi Raceway MK64.png|300px|center]]

|online_play=Available ([[Nintendo 3DS|3DS]] until early April 2024)

'''Luigi Raceway''', alternatively named '''Luigi Circuit'''<ref name="nmsuk">''Nintendo Magazine System'' (UK) issue 51. Page 28.</ref><ref>''Nintendo Magazine System'' (Australia) issue 49. Page 40.</ref> (which is also its Japanese name) or '''Luigi's Circuit''',<ref name="nmsuk"/> is the introductory track of ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'', serving as the first course of the [[Mushroom Cup]]. It is [[Luigi]]'s home track of the game and shares its music with [[N64 Mario Raceway|Mario Raceway]], [[Wario Stadium]] and [[N64 Royal Raceway|Royal Raceway]]. This song received an arrangement for the [[Figure-8 Circuit (stage)|Mario Circuit stage]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', which returns in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' under the name "Figure-8 Circuit". In the latter game, the song is able to be played on any ''Mario Kart'' stage as well as on [[Battlefield]], Big Battlefield, Small Battlefield, and [[Final Destination]] as of the version 8.1.0 update. The course is reminiscent of various NASCAR-style speedway tracks with large, broad corners allowing for high-speed racing. It is the longest introductory course in the [[Mario Kart (series)|''Mario Kart'']] series.

The course begins near a grand stand full of cheering audience, atop which is a large model of the [[Luigi Cap]]. Its layout is very simplistic compared to most other tracks. There is first a long straightaway followed by the first set of [[Item Box]]es, after which racers take an incredibly long U-turn to the left and reach the entrance of a tunnel. They take a slight right turn as they enter the tunnel, pass another item set in the middle of it, and take another slight right turn as they exit. A four-sided display with [[Luigi]]'s face on it can be seen in the background. There is then a second long U-turn to the left, with the last item set placed close to its end. A straightaway then brings racers to the finish line. During the race, a [[hot-air balloon]] depicting Luigi's face dips onto the course at the start of the second and third laps, hanging an Item Box beneath. The Item Box always contains a [[Spiny Shell (blue)|Spiny Shell]] and may be hit if the player hops at the right time just as the balloon reaches its lowest point of descent.

Luigi Raceway makes its classic course debut in ''[[Mario Kart 7]]'' as the first race of the [[Shell Cup]]. In this version, the Luigi hot air balloon has been moved and a Mii character is inside the basket, and the item box hanging below it that always gave out a [[Spiny Shell (blue)|Spiny Shell]] has been replaced with a regular item box. An alternate way has also been added on the platforms next to the curves that were inaccessible in ''Mario Kart 64'', and it has [[Dash Panel]]s on them. This is one of two Luigi courses that appear in the Shell Cup, the other being {{classic-link|DS|Luigi's Mansion}} from ''[[Mario Kart DS]]''.

This course and {{classic-link|SNES|Rainbow Road}} are the only courses not to use either gliding or [[underwater driving]] features in ''Mario Kart 7''.{{br|right}}

[[File:MKT N64 Luigi Raceway Bend.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Luigi Raceway in ''Mario Kart Tour'']]

For this course's tour appearances, see [[List of N64 Luigi Raceway tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour|List of N64 Luigi Raceway tour appearances in ''Mario Kart Tour'']].