Royal Raceway

Royal Raceway (Peach Circuit in the Japanese version) is the third track of the Star Cup in Mario Kart 64. It is the sequel to both Luigi Raceway and Mario Raceway and shares its music with them. This track makes a retro appearance in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third track of the Banana Cup, and in Mario Kart Tour as of the Peach Tour.

The course takes place around Princess Peach's castle surrounded by a giant lake, reminiscent of its origins in Super Mario 64.

Layout

Mario Kart 64

As the name implies, the track is intended as Princess Peach's "home" course. The track features many sharp turns that require precise drifting if the player wishes to post good times.

Many of these turns are highly banked and curve around water hazards. This forces the player to maintain a very disciplined path around the track, as going too high on the turns can lead to the player finding him/herself in deep grass, and going too low can result in falling in the water.

The first little bit of track isn't too technical with easy, wide turns. After about 1/4 of the track, the turns get narrower but should not cause too much trouble. Racers then enter a long bridge that leads to a big jump.

If players veer too far to the left or right after the jump, they will hit the two hills and possibly fall into the lake. The second to last turn is rather tight and players should be careful as the banking can easily slide them into the lake, before another S-bend back to the grid.

As an easter egg, Princess Peach's castle (as shown in Super Mario 64) and it's gardens can be found by taking a wrong turn on the track. The player can drive around the field, just as it is displayed in Super Mario 64.

However, there is no way to actually enter the castle, except through a glitch. Even then, all that happens is the kart falling through the front door into a pitch black room, before eventually hitting water. The character is then placed back on the main raceway before the "wrong" turn was taken. There is no known shortcut involving the castle. The Award Ceremony also takes place on the track where the top three drivers will receive their trophy.

Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

Royal Raceway returns in Mario Kart 8 with a new, revamped appearance. No anti-gravitational sections have been added, but the giant ramp that boosts players over the water has been revamped; it's no longer a boost jump, but now a gliding section. The bridge was also made shorter with five wedding like decorative arches with bells that can be heard ringing.

Players can no longer drive around the castle, as there's now a giant black fence surrounding it (likely because they didn't want players wasting time online by checking out Peach's castle). The striped evergreen trees are now replaced with sakura trees. Also, the sky is now turned to normal blue, instead of the original version's pink. The music remains the same, but it is now updated with live instrumental sounds. The glitch has been fixed.

Mario Kart Tour

Royal Raceway returns in Mario Kart Tour as of the Peach Tour. It is reminiscent to the 8 version, but the visuals have been downgraded, yet they still look impressive.

Shortcuts

• After the first hairpin turn to the right, it is possible to jump from the edge of the grass on the left side of the road across the river, and hit the mountainside on the right side of the diagonal road. After falling into the water, Lakitu will put the player down shortly before the big jump. ^{✱ for MK64}
• After turning around the corner of the wall, one can use a Mushroom to reach the ramp on the left. ^{✱ for MK8}
• After passing Peach's castle, the final section of turns and S-bands can be cut through using Triple Mushrooms or a Star.^{✱ for all games}

Staff Ghosts

Mario Kart 64

• A time of 2:39.99 used with Peach.

Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

Game	Character	Recorder	Time	Vehicle Combination
				Body	Tires	Glider
8		Nin★Skip	2:21.371
8 Deluxe 150cc			2:18.307
8 Deluxe 200cc		Nin★Dylan	1:43.120

Trivia!

• In Mario Kart 8, Peach's crown symbol is installed behind the billboards.
• In the Japanese version of both games, Royal Raceway is called Peach Circuit.
  • This might be likely due to the fact that Western gamers weren't familiar with the name Peach yet when she was previously known by Toadstool before the Nintendo 64 era.
• The Mario Kart 64 game cartridge label shows Mario driving around the course, with Peach's Castle in the background and a Piranha Plant.
• This track is one of the few tracks in Mario Kart 8 to have no anti-gravity sections.
• In Mario Kart 64, the POOMP! landing audio is louder than in any course this occurs and sounds more like an explosion than a quick thud. This is due to this course having the highest height that any racer can leap from.
• In Mario Kart Tour, Royal Raceway is one of only 2 tracks that don't re-use their original soundtrack (the other being Sunset Wilds)

Gallery

Mario Kart 64

Royal Raceway's icon.

The twisting roads of the course.

The massive jump.

The castle's cameo.

Mario and Luigi driving around the castle during the award ceremony.

Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

The track's icon.

The Stamp unlocked for beating the Staff Ghost on this course.

Daisy driving with her orange Standard ATV on Royal Raceway.

Pink Gold Peach in her Standard Kart, racing with Peach and Toadette on the track.

Peach posing on the course.

Lakitu, gliding past the princesses' balloons.

Yoshi on Royal Raceway.

Mario Kart Tour

Royal Raceway's icon featuring Wedding Peach!

Music

Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

Previous track: Sherbet Land	Current track: Royal Raceway	Next track: Bowser's Castle

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