London Loop is a city track based around the city of London, England, of which debuted in the London Tour for Mario Kart Tour. It would then go on to receive two other variants over the next 3 years, the second first appearing in the Baby Rosalina Tour, and the third appearing in the 2021 Halloween Tour. It eventually reappears in Wave 3 of the Booster Course Pass DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as the first track in the Rock Cup.
Layout[]
Mario Kart Tour[]
London Loop 1[]
This variant of the course starts out right next to Big Ben, facing St James's Park. After the start you are sent to the right, and into a small straightaway where you bypass Nelson's Column. You take a few slight turns where some more landmarks can be seen; shortly afterwards you proceed to enter the Leadenhall Market. Once you exit the Leadenhall Market, you take a hard left into a large right turn, where there is plenty of off-road to your left, along with a Chain Chomp that is present, ready to spin out racers. Shortly after the long right turn, players will encounter the Tower Bridge, where the bridge will be raised or suspended depending on how far back you are. You then take a sharp right, where you will be able to see the London Eye in the distance. The sharp right is then continued by a small straightaway, which eventually takes you left into a section with a small overhang, followed up by a ramp, where after another right you will find yourself back at the Finish Line.
London Loop 2[]
The course starts out just like the previous variant, with Big Ben to your left. Right after the start, you sent straight into St James's Park, where there is a lot of off-road, and there is a few Chain Chomps present. Buckingham Palace can be seen in the distance as well. You then take a long turn down through a red pathway, where you will bypass the Admiralty Arch, and take a left up onto some stairs. Players will then take a few more turns, where some Barrels are present, all before jumping off a ramp toward Trafalgar Square. You will then go across the Waterloo Bridge, into a right turn, a straightaway, then another right turn that takes you toward the finish line.
London Loop 3[]
Unlike the other variants, this variant has you facing the opposite direction, away from St James's Park. Racers start by going through a small portion of London Loop 2 backwards, though it ends after the racers bypass the Waterloo Bridge. The race continues into a new section that is right next to the River Thames, before heading up towards a small U-turn into the Tower Bridge, where on the second lap it will gain a glider ramp. The racers will then go through the section with the Chain Chomp from London Loop 1 in reverse, where they will then bypass the Leadenhall Market instead of going inside. Players will then drive past The Walkie-Talkie, and into another path besides the River Thames, where afterwards they will drive by the roundabout and take a long left turn towards the finish.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]
London Loop reappears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 3 in the Booster Course Pass DLC. The course has received substantial visual and texture enhancements, along with the sky now being overcast. The track now has integrated variants for each lap, much like other city tracks in this game, although many paths that went unused previously are utilized in this version, especially on the third lap. The London Eye also moves now, unlike its Mario Kart Tour appearances.
The first lap plays out much like the first variant, with you facing the St James's Park, and proceeding right just after the start. The roundabout shortly after the start is now completely open, as opposed to its original versions. After a few turns, you will reach the Leadenhall Market, where just like Tour Paris Promenade and Tour New York Minute, both paths are now opened up, with the path going inside the Market being slower, and the one around being faster, though the former will grant Item Boxes. The rest of the lap plays out just like London Loop 1, with you going around the Chain Chomp and going over the Tower Bridge.
The second lap is much like London Loop 2, with you going into St James's Park, and racing around the Chain Chomp, though one of the Chain Chomps has been moved to the turn just before the stairs. Barrels that were present in the section before the ramp have been removed. The lap then concludes after going over the Waterloo Bridge and traveling through the last turns before the finish line.
The third lap is a unique combination of London Loop 2 and London Loop 3's reverse variant. Players will once again drive through St James's Park, although now the Chain Chomp present in that section will break loose, and will now roam around much like how they do in DS Peach Gardens, which was also in the same wave of DLC as this course. Once exiting St James's Park, players will race by where the Chain Chomp before the stairs once was, who has freed himself also and has gone under the Admiralty Arch and is pacing around the Charing Cross. After racers pass by the Charing Cross, they will go down and ride beside the River Thames, where another unchained Chain Chomp can be seen swimming in the river. You then go back up to where the giant right turn is, where the Chain Chomp on that turn has broken loose too. After navigating through the Chain Chomp, players will go over the London Bridge once again, where they then take a 180 degree right turn back down beside the River Thames. They will then take a left back up to a straightaway we see shortly after the start of London Loop 3, though in reverse, which then leads into a right turn before the finish.
Variants each lap takes from[]
| Lap | Variant |
|---|---|
| 1 | London Loop 1 |
| 2 | London Loop 2 |
| 3 | Combination of London Loop 2 & 3R |
Shortcuts[]
- There is a giant off-road shortcut present just after the Leadenhall Market. You might need at least 2 mushrooms if you're preforming this shortcut on 150cc.✱ for MK8
- There are multiple large off-road shortcuts in St James's Park, be sure to use a mushroom to save some time.
Staff Ghosts[]
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]
| Character | Recorder | Time | Vehicle Combination | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Tires | Glider | |||
| 150cc | |||||
 |
Nin★Frank | 2:20.500 |  |
 |
 |
| 200cc | |||||
 |
Nin★Alice | 1:38.896 |  |
 |
|
Gallery[]
Mario Kart Tour[]
.png "London Loop - Daisy (Holiday Cheer).png (83 KB)")
.png "London Loop 2 - Baby Rosalina (Detective).png (129 KB)")
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]
.png "London Loop Icon (8 Deluxe).png (125 KB)"){kind=icon}
Trivia![]
- The Leadenhall Market has a second path that leads deeper into it during the first lap of the course's Booster Course Pass incarnation. If the racers go down this path, they will be counted out of bounds. This is similar to what happens when the racers try to follow the highway on Mushroom City in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
- London Loop is the third Tour city course in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass to utilize a reverse variant of a route, the others being Tour Paris Promenade (Paris Promenade 2; second lap) and Tour Sydney Sprint (Sydney Sprint 1; final lap). It would later be followed by Amsterdam Drift (Amsterdam Drift 2; eastern half of Amsterdam Drift 3).
- This is the second time a City Course's first lap is not entirely based on the first variant due to a shortcut outside the Leadenhall Market.
- Paris Promenade's first lap amalgamates all three routes.
- The first lap of Rome Avanti has both sides of la Piazza del Campidóglio accessible; Rome Avanti 1 originally blocked off this Piazza's western half.
- Berlin Byways does not count due to Berlin Byways "2" technically being that track's first route.
- Los Ángeles Laps actually has a single lap that amalgamates all three routes, despite the course's name, so that technically does not count.
- This is the only Tour city course in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to lack a Glide Panel.
- London Loop is the first city course in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass to have multiple paths, roads or exits that haven't been used in Mario Kart Tour (due to the aforementioned shortcut outside the Leadenhall Market on the first lap and London Loop 3R being rerouted through the Admiralty Arch). It would later be followed by Berlin Byways (The south path at the intersection just to the west of the Brandenburg Gate is used to transition to the final lap.).
- The course's music is a reference to British rock and the "British Invasion" as it heavily utilizes electric guitars for the main melody.
Current track:
London Loop 1 London Loop 2 London Loop 3 |
|---|
Previous track:
Sky-High Sundae |
1st reappearance:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Next track:
GBA Boo Lake |
|---|