Bowser's Castle (3DS)

Bowser's Castle
Information
Cup(s)	Special Cup
First appearance	Mario Kart 7 (2011)
Appearance(s)	Mario Kart 7 Mario Kart Tour
Map(s)	An overview of the castle.
Music	Template:Track-music

For a listing of other courses with the same name, see Bowser's Castle.

Mario Kart 7's version of Bowser's Castle brings back the usual horrors that plague Bowser's fortresses: Thwomps, Lava Pillars, and sharp turns. However, new perils await, including many split pathways and the new Gliding and underwater mechanics. Bowser's Castle is the third track in Special Cup.

This course reappeared in Mario Kart Tour on December 29, 2021, starting with the New Year's 2022 Tour.

Layout

Yoshi enters Bowser's Castle well equipped with Triple Mushrooms.

The course starts out on a piece of land stranded in the middle of a customary sea of lava encompassed by lines of fortified walls. Huge, flowing walls or orange melted rock run slowly along the edges. Platforms raised on either side of the pathway will come in to use later, on the second lap. The intimidating castle gates, marked by the usual laughing Bowser-sculpted doorway lies directly ahead, although the driving to it is impossible- the channel of lava has to be crossed by an angled Boost Pad/Glider Strip to enter into the fort.

There are primarily two entry points, stacked on top of each other. For the bottom route, the player has to land upon a rocky path that leads into the castle. The entrance is lit by torches, quite unnecessary, as an abundant source of light comes from the glowing lava surrounding the edges of the room. Once again, the flooring is decorative red carpet, and ornate green stained-glass windows line the walls. Fencing splits the path into a fork, and just above is the road for upper-entry players. The top path flows through "Bowser's" maw into an arrow laden hallway that slopes downward gradually. Eventually, it meets with the upward sloping forks, one on either side, and the now recombined road shoots upwards via Boost Pad into a medieval style hallway.

The wooden tunnel, sort of reminiscent to the spinning bridge from Mario Kart DS's Bowser's Castle.

A staircase has players turn left a whole 180 degrees, crossing into a rocky hallway steaming with lava. Bowser banners adorn the right wall, and a small ramp with a Coin on the left allows players to gain some speed with a Jump Boost, so long a lava plume doesn't sprout up in their faces. A couple of Coins to the right can help the player out a bit with funds, but keeping left produces faster times. Next up, racers have to take a sharp right through a cave, taking care not to be intercepted by the Thwomp waiting there. Another 90 degree turn, this one going right, takes players past a second Thwomp and sends them into a rotating wooden cylinder. Constant steering is needed to go as straight as possible, so as to not flip over and to pick up a few delectable Coins.

A nice Drift around an underwater water plume.

A drop-off suddenly splashes players into an underwater room of the castle, which surprisingly cooperates well with the lava flanking the rocky pathway. So, avoiding science, a right turn away from an impossible Lava Plume is followed by a short straightway, lava column obstructing the middle, and then a left corner. Don't cut it too left, though, as it's brimmed with another lava pillar. Three Coins and a fourth lava column come up next, and a small gap on the left of the path can be crossed with a Boost Pad (with Coin), sending them straight past the final lava pillar and out of the pool.

A Coin welcomes the players back into the fresh, fiery air, with a right curve bordering a mountain. The other side of the road is not accessible either, but Lakitu will pull drivers out of lava if he needs to. Another small ramp with a Coin to the left can be risked, lava shooting out from the crack every few seconds. A rocky outcropping divides the road in two for a short while; taking the left keeps closer to the mountain on the incoming left turn, but going right opens up a better path to get to another risky ramp (and another bonus...). The track zigzags right and left upwards past large piles of stones and eventually takes a huge hairpin past a lavafall (a waterfall with lava instead of water).

With the Swooper, Yoshi moves towards the finish ring.

After circling around the rocky slope, a pit of molten rock far down below, the last stretch of track, or rather air, appears. A Boost Pad-Glider Strip combo bolts players forward, and its here that they can go several ways: fly straight through a Mario Kart ring/finish line, take a nose dive to meet back up at the starting point, or soar either left or right, past the finish line, and onto one of the aforementioned platforms. Each curves back towards the castle entrance and has a split in the path, the inward one leading to the first floor and the outer to the second. Both are laden with Coins and tipped at the ends with Boost Pads.

Shortcuts

A secret pathway filled with riches, just for Yoshi.

• Turn left just meters away from the left corner into the wooden tunnel. Players have to aim for a small platform surrounded by lava into a secret, even narrower tunnel. Three Coins are provided, and it empties racers out on top of the usual cylinder. Drive straight along the spinning road, watching out for the fins at the end, and then a large fall will reunite the shortcut at the water area.
• Just after the split in the road on the mountain ridge, head right onto the ramp and pull off a Jump Boost. If you've avoided the lava pillar, a well placed leap onto a sunken blue metal platform can save you from going around a rock, which saves time. This can be done without the use of booster Items, but a Mushroom or Star helps a whole bunch.

Staff Ghosts

Staff Ghost

• Ret★Matt M (2:34.815) (Standard Kart, Monster Wheels, and a Super Glider)

Expert Staff Ghost

• Ret★Tom (2:15.244)

Trivia!

• The music is very similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s Bowser's Castle.
• It's standard for Bowser's Castles to have lava, but this one introduced a new liquid to the tested track: water. It is so far unique in that manner.
• This is the only course from Mario Kart 7's Special Cup to not reappear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

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