Amsterdam Drift is a city track that first appeared in Mario Kart Tour, via the Amsterdam Tour. The course is directly based on Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.
This track has three variants, the second being introduced in the Metropolitan Tour, and the third in the November-December 2022 Peach vs Bowser Tour.
Amsterdam Drift reappears as a retro track in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass DLC, as the first course of the Fruit Cup.
Layout[]
Mario Kart Tour[]
Amsterdam Drift 1[]
At the start of this variation, players face towards the Amsterdam Centraal Station in the middle of Damrak street between the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and De Bijenkorf. Once after the beginning, players will take a 90 degree right turn before taking a 90 degree left turn where they proceed to go through a tunnel beneath the NEMO Science Museum. Afterwards, racers take a glide ramp over a river, acting as either IJ or the Zaan rivers, all while gliding over an elevated train track. Moving forward, the racers then land in between some windmills, whilst entering the Zaanse Schans area. Players then proceed to make a prolonged left turn, heading toward some Monty Mole hazards before taking a small bridge that later leads to an optional wooden small ramp before a mandatory Dash Panel. After jumping off the Dash Panel ramp, similar to Sydney Sprint, the racers head through a small ferry boat to make their way back to the main land, followed by another ramp back onto the asphalt road. This all leads to them going down Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal street, where a moving tram is present, along with a Dash Panel off to the right of it's track. Afterwards, the player then takes a gradual 180 degree turn along Rokin street before heading back toward the Finish Line.
Reverse, Trick, and Reverse-trick Variants[]
The reverse and trick variants incorporate the roof of the NEMO Science Museum into the layout, and the latter replaces the Monty Moles with Goombas. In the reverse-trick variant, the glide ramp and ferry have swapped spots.
Amsterdam Drift 2[]
In this variation, the racers once again start on Damrak street, although unlike the previous variant, the player faces the opposite direction, away from the Amsterdam Centraal Station. After the start, the players go down a small straight before taking a slight right turn through a portion of Rokin street before jumping off a ramp into the canals below. Once the racers plunge into the canal, they take a sharp left turn toward a straightaway with a large dip in the middle, before taking a slight left while maneuvering between the supports of the bridge above. Afterwards, players take a 90 degree right down a straight before taking a 90 degree left into another straight with a pipe on the right wall blowing water currents out of it. After that, the player takes a slight left into another set of supports before taking a ramp over some more wind pipes that aid you to the upper portion of the canal. Here, you are greeted with a split path, where one will take you left under a bridge, and the other will lead you straight to an optional water current that blows you up on top of a boat on the canal, before taking a ramp that leads you back down. All paths eventually link back up at a ramp, which leads out of the canal and back onto the main road. After this, the player goes down a straight before taking a sharp left back onto Damrak street, thus leading them back to the Finish Line.
Reverse, Trick, and Reverse-trick Variants[]
The trick and reverse-trick variants remove the inside path in the canal areas to the south. The latter also incorporates a glide ramp.
Amsterdam Drift 3[]
This variant starts very similarly to the second variant, with you facing away from the Amsterdam Centraal Station. After the start, you take the same path you took on the second variant until you reach the canal section, where instead of taking a sharp left, you continue heading straight down a ramp. You then head through a large half-submerged tunnel, all while taking a prolonged turn to the left. At the end of the tunnel, there is a ramp similar to the one at the end of the canal section on the second variant, of which leads you out onto the Keukenhof tulip fields. Here, many ferocious Piranha Plants guard the winding road, all while surrounded by thousands of vibrantly blooming tulips. After winding through the tulip fields, the racers then approach the Rijksmuseum, and proceed to drive through it, leading them toward the Bloemenmarkt before taking a sharp right turn followed by a sharp left. Players continue to race through the winding road before finding themselves in the heart of Amsterdam, where yet another tram is present. A Dash Panel is also present off to the right of the player before a sharp left turn, of which leads you to a small straight before another sharp left, which leads you back towards the finish.
Reverse, Trick, and Reverse-trick Variants[]
The reverse variant replaces the Piranha Plants with goats, and the trick variant replaces them with Monty Moles and adds a glider ramp just before the tram. In the reverse-trick variant, the moving tram has been removed.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]
Amsterdam Drift returns as the first track of the Fruit Cup in Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC. Much like other returning city courses from Mario Kart Tour, this course's routes and variants have been combined to form one large course. Along with that, the visuals and overall graphical quality have been improved for this version. The train seen at the start of the course has also been altered to be passing through once the players reach the first glide section.
The first lap is a mostly unchanged version of the first variants layout, taking you through the Zaanse Schans fields and having you race through Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal street, only real changes are the removal of the wooden ramp before the Dash Panel ramp onto the ferry, and the fact that now you are able to spin out if you hit the tram.
The second lap is a bit more interesting, as since you enter the Finish Line facing the opposite direction you face at the start of the second variant, this means that the entirety of the second variant has to be done backwards. Therefore, now you enter the canal section where you previously would've came out, and so on. Due to this change, the split path at the end has been removed, with one of the paths being blocked off once you enter the canal. Along with this, the boat on the optional route has been rotated 180 degrees to face the other way to accommodate for this change. Other than that, the canal route is mostly unchanged apart from being driven backwards, and thus, you exit out of the path the way you entered previously, which of course, leads you to the Finish Line to begin the final lap.
The third lap is a hybrid of the third variant and it's backwards counterpart. You begin by going down the third variant in the opposite direction, with you passing the tram along with the National Monument, before taking a previously unused path in order to reroute you to the start of the third variant, via a sequence of turns forming a U-turn. Afterwards, you head back toward the canal where you may or may not head into oncoming traffic, similar to GCN Luigi Circuit. After that, the section plays out just like the third variant, taking you through the underwater tunnel before shooting you out onto the Keukenhof tulip fields. It plays as normal until after you pass through the Rijksmuseum and the Bloemenmarkt, where instead of heading back through Central Amsterdam, you are diverted back toward the Finish Line through a set of small consecutive turns.
Variants each lap takes from[]
| Lap | Variant |
|---|---|
| 1 | Amsterdam Drift 1 |
| 2 | Amsterdam Drift 2R (inside path blocked) |
| 3 | Amsterdam Drift 3R until the racers go through the tram area, then they use an unused road to divert onto Amsterdam Drift 3 going forwards until they reach the intersection with the unused road again; there they take that road and head back to the finish line. |
Shortcuts[]
- There is a small patch of grass after Finish Line if facing toward the Amsterdam Centraal Station. Use a mushroom or power item to take this cut.
- In the Zaanse Schans section, multiple grass cuts could be pulled off. Use a mushroom or power item can help you cut off some time.
- In the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe version of the course on 200cc, you can cut a sizeable gap just before the bridge if using a mushroom to do so.
- Two small grass cuts are present in the Keukenhof tulip fields, use a mushroom or power item to utilize them.
Staff Ghosts[]
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]
| Character | Recorder | Time | Vehicle Combination | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Tires | Glider | |||
| 150cc | |||||
|
Nin★Mark | 1:48.580 |  |
 |
 |
| 200cc | |||||
|
Nin★Rie | 1:19.135 | 
|
|
|
Gallery[]
Mario Kart Tour[]
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]
.png "Amsterdam Drift Icon (8 Deluxe).png (157 KB)"){kind=icon}
Trivia![]
- The formula that Amsterdam Drift uses for the Booster Course Pass matches Tokyo Blur, New York Minute, London Loop, and Vancouver Velocity. It is the eighth such course to do this.
- As with Vancouver Velocity, Amsterdam Drift has its second route driven completely in reverse.
- Out of these five courses, Amsterdam Drift is the only course to have the third route driven partially in reverse, as London Loop 3 was driven completely in reverse and the other three had their respective third variants driven normally.
- Amsterdam Drift was spotted on a promotional banner, of which was data-mined from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe prior to it's reveal in Mario Kart Tour.
- This course was also the first city course that debuted after the announcement of the Booster Course Pass DLC, of which would be including many of these city tracks.
- This is the second time a City Course loses part of a layout in the Booster Course Pass, as the racers are locked out of the inside path when they go through the canals on the second lap, even though they had the option to take that path in Mario Kart Tour's version of Amsterdam Drift 2.
- The southwestern quadrant of the roundabout with the Luxor Obelisk was closed off in Paris Promenade even though Paris Promenades 1 and 2 used it.
- Rome Avanti would later do this with the section of the roundabout at la Piazza del Pópolo that Rome Avanti 2 used between the southern and southeastern exits.
- Amsterdam Drift is the third city course of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass to have multiple paths, roads or exits that haven't been used in Mario Kart Tour.
- The first being London Loop and the second being Berlin Byways.
- Amsterdam Drift is the first city course from Mario Kart Tour to have a multiple path, road or exit cut off in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass.
Current track:
Amsterdam Drift 1 Amsterdam Drift 2 Amsterdam Drift 3 |
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Previous track:
3DS Rainbow Road |
1st reappearance:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Next track:
GBA Riverside Park |
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