Block Stages

History:

The First Block Stage was created by Mario for the second installment of the Kart Games. Named Block Fort, it lay in the heart of the Mushroom Kingdom and provided the greatest Battle Spectacle of the time. Within a few years with Mario busy with other properties it came into the hands of Donkey Kong, who heavily renovated the arena, transforming it into Block City. As it fell into disrepair over the years, Mario eventually won back the rights. This time, though, he decided to share it with Luigi, Peach, and Daisy, who issued joint control of the stage. As such they erected massive statues of themselves in the course to demonstrate their wide control over Battling Interests.

64:

Each Console Mario Kart has a Block Stage, although the first is superior to all others. Block Fort is a multi-leveled splatterfest and one of the more popular stages out there. After a few rounds of Triple Green Shells the lower levels become almost undrivable, and the top most tend to have narrow pathways that are easy to get blown off. There are plenty of tight corners to interrupt the paths of Red Shells and clusters of Item Boxes perfect for drops of Fake Item Boxes. Any ramp can also become deadly with a string of Banana Peels. Also because of its straightaways it's one of the easier courses to ram smaller players and rob them of a Balloon.

The Course returned in DS with much brighter hues than the N64 standard Green, Yellow, Red, and Blue. Not a tremendous has changed besides the addition of a few items, most notably the Bob-Omb.

Double Dash:

Block City is one of the simplest courses in Mario Kart History, but that also makes it one of the most effective. It is small and essentially flat, although there is a slight incline leading up from the dead-end corner by the Blue Sector. There isn't really anything fancy about each sector, besides the pathway through the Yellow Blocks and the ability of the Blue Block to shadow some portions of the course. There isn't a safe part of this track, and items like Bowser Shells and Giant Bananas can devastate the narrow corridors. Because of the confined nature of the Stage you may have more success with smaller players, but ultimately a Red Shell will find its target no matter who you are.

Wii:

Block Plaza essentially combines bits from both Block Fort and Block City. Like Block Fort it has multiple levels connected by ramps and boardwalks. The block structure, notably the cut through the yellow path, though, and its low, confined nature is reminiscent of Block City.

Unlike either of these though, after a few minutes of play parts of the stage descend into the abyss, creating dangerous gaps for players to descend to their doom. It also has quadrants of each colour like Block City, but the main ramps lead to big bases with statues of Mario, Daisy, Peach, and Luigi that offset these quadrants, as well as a central purple base in the center. This makes for very different gameplay than the other cutthroat Block Stages. The High ground is essential here, using Shells or even Bananas, one can pick off doomed players. The Center Ring tends to be deadly, while the outer rims are where much of the killing can take place if you corner players one-on-one.