SMK Battle Course 4

History:

In addition to his Circuit courses, Mario was one of the first innovators to develop Battle Stages. In the throes of the Mushroom Kingdom he put together Battle Course 4 as the high standard for Battle Stages for years to come.

SMK

Battle Course 4 resembles the Mario Circuit tracks in SMK. It is notable for its complexity. The open center, which is fair game in many of the other Battle Stages in SMK, is filled with sand here, making Battlers perilously slow down if they traverse it. There are also many more barriers than any other Battle Stage, making it more difficult to find and attack other players.

This course returned in Wii as a Retro Battle Stage. It's largely similar but the greater amount of Items change gameplay a bit. The middle is still dangerous, as is the outer rim, although to avoid these areas are to avoid getting hits as well as getting hit. Generally scores are fairly low here, but the pathways are narrow enough that fake item boxes, bananas, and especially well-timed Bob-ombs can be effective. Red Shells must be used with precision because there are many places they can be cut off.

Baby Mario

History:

Baby Mario is the same Character as Mario, merely a younger version. In the late 60s Mario and Luigi were attacked by Kamek, Major Domo to Lord Bowser. Kamek was a very powerful Wizard who foresaw (correctly) that the Brothers would spell doom for the Koopa Kingdom and their aspirations of dominating the Mushroom World. When he was still a baby flying over Dinosaur Land Kamek struck and managed to kidnap Luigi, but Mario fell to earth and eventually found Yoshi. Through their teamwork they eventually managed to rescue his brother, but Kamek, seeking to displace them in time launched Baby Mario far into the future. Now Baby Mario has spent time playing sports with his Older Self and has proven to be nearly as adept of a Racer as he would grow to be. He's still seeking a means to travel back to the past in order to avoid a Paradox.

Double Dash:

Baby Mario first appeared in Double Dash, which had a huge cast of new characters to fill out its promise of tons of wacky Partner possibilities. Baby Mario and Waluigi? Yes please. Despite this Double Dash had more insistence on Kart differences than character differences to determine how well they could drive. Each character merely chose the player's weight class and Special Item, but everyone did have a specific Kart, though it could be used by anyone in their weight class. Baby Mario drives the Goo Goo Buggy, a fairly useless Vehicle.

The Goo Goo Buggy actually handles pretty nicely, its turn speed is fairly high and it has average shocks. However, there are so many better Light Karts to choose from. Its Acceleration is 7th in the Game, which seems great until you realise that it's 6th among Light Karts. Despite this it also has one of the worst Top Speeds in the game at 55 mph. It's average in weight for a Light Kart but 17th overall, meaning it's going to get rocked. Its only other outstanding stat may be its High Offroad Speed, which is necessary only because it's going to be knocked all around the course because it can neither accelerate fast enough to escape other Bigger Karts nor maintain a good speed.

Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in this game both use the Chain Chomp as an Item, which at first seems awesome. It creates a huge monster that tows your Vehicle, destroying all in your path and rapidly pulling you along. It's tough though because when the Chomp lets go is basically up to him and could be straight into a nasty Offroad patch or even off a cliff on a turn, which you'll hit at full speed. It will also only come up if you're deep near the back of the pack, meaning if you're a good racer at all you'll never see it. Sometimes it can be tricky too - if you release it at a funny angle or behind you it's possible that the Chomp will actually take you out and then keep going without you. That's awful. I think it's more trouble than its worth but lots of people enjoy it.

Double Dash had Secret Staff Ghosts. Baby Mario always uses the Goo Goo Buggy and partners with Baby Luigi. He takes the lead on their signature track, Baby Park in 1:11:108. He follows Baby Luigi in Sherbert Land though, with a time of 1:25:904.

Wii:

Baby Mario comes back in the huge cast of Wii. This time each Size Class has Six Karts and Six Bikes to choose from, each of which has a very specific set of stats. In addition, each Character adds his or her own Bonuses to each stat, making everything very customizable, although there are still only a few obvious choices. Baby Mario has some great bonuses. His +6 gives him the Best Handling in the Game and even though his +8 Weight is tied with Baby Luigi as the biggest Bonus possible, it still makes most of his rides only barely equal to the lightest Middle Karts. Still, this makes him a powerhouse amidst the other Lightweights. Here are his stats, the Max of any category is 80:

Fearsome.

When using the Bit Bike Baby Mario has the Best Handling in the Game at 73. His weight boost also makes the Tiny Titan and Mini Beast pretty formidable among some of the Middleweights. Baby Mario is basically the king of the Lightweights, his Kart Design is almost always the default for the Little Guys. There are also some interesting results of his colour schemes - his Magikruiser most resembles his nemesis Kamek and his Blue Falcon most resembles its inspiration, Captain Falcon's F-Zero vehicle. He's also most associated with the Baby Booster, his signature Kart.

Baby Mario has two Ghosts in the game, thanks to there being a ton of Mario Circuits. On the 64 Mario Raceway he does a 02:14.799 in the Bit Bike, then the Expert goes 01:59.053 in the Mini Beast. On the SMK Mario Circuit 3 he does a 01:38.880 in the Standard Kart S and then upgrades to the Bullet Bike in 01:26.659.

Mario Circuits

History:

The Mario Circuit was completed in 1956 by the Italian Motor Architect Enzo Gorlomi. After Enzo disappeared shortly after the Raceway fell into disrepair until purchased by a Plumber who had won tremendous amounts of coin through adventuring in the Mushroom Kingdom in the mid-1980s. It is widely believed that the Toadstool People did not believe in the same capitalist system as the portly Westerner did, so while their coins lay idle across the land, Mario felt no reason not to collect them, making himself fabulously wealthy. This combined with his immense political influence allowed him to become a de facto figurehead in the Kingdom as well as provided plenty of leisure time for pursuits like this. Mario beefed up the track and through its many incarnations has always served as a classy track in the Mario Kart Series.

Super:

The 3rd Mario Circuit

There are no less than four Mario Circuits in Super Mario Kart, each with an increasing degree of complication and difficulty but they all adhere to the same basic Raceway principle. They are the only Raceway-style tracks in SMK and actually the only ones with real roads. Circuit 1 leads off the Mushroom Cup and Circuit 2 closes it. Circuit 3 closes the Flower Cup and Circuit 4 closes the Star Cup. In this sense, besides Rainbow Road, a cup always finishes with a Mario Circuit, a trend that repeated in 64 but no where else. These tracks are pretty simple and have appeared in many other Kart games. Super Circuit recreated the entire SMK experience although it re-organised the tracks from five each in four cups to four each in five cups so their positioning is a little screwy.

Circuit 1 also appears in DS where the Ghost is Mario in the Standard MR at  0:50:688, the shortest in the game. Circuit 3 comes back in Wii where the Ghost this time is instead Baby Mario with a 01:38.880 in the Standard  Kart S. The Expert Ghost with the same Character switches to the Bullet Bike and pulls a 01:26.659. Finally, to round things out, Circuit 2 comes back in 7 with some added air time for the big mid-course jump boost. The Ghost here is Mario again, who uses the Pipe Frame, Standard Wheels, and Super Glider in 01:28.106, which is a fairly basic combination, although there is no underwater advantage for the Pipe Frame. The Expert goes 01:17.777 using the B Dasher, Slick Wheels, and Super Glider, which is an excellent combination for this course. Its only major disadvantage is handling and off-road, neither of which has a huge impact. Using a heavyweight though will push that speed up.

64:

Mario Raceway appears in 64 at the end of the Flower Cup. It is actually a pretty twisty track although there aren't many hazards besides grass, sand and a giant unscalable hill. Mario's personal fetishisation of Pipes is on display here, with a giant one appearing prior to the starting point. It is located in a pleasant part of the Kingdom, with rolling fields, low brick walls to prevent escape and a spot of trees. There are also a few fearsome Piranha Plants that threaten to munch on the more retarded of the drivers (possibly D.K.). It is likely that the Sand was imported from one of the many nearby beaches. This also returned in Wii where the Ghost is again Baby Mario, at 02:14.799 with the Nano Bike, the Expert goes 01:59.053 in the Mini Beast.

Super Circuit:

There is again only one Mario Circuit in the main game here. It actually follows the trend from 64 pretty well. There are a couple tight turns but overall it's relatively short and buffered by pleasant trees and sandy banks. Again, the sand was most likely imported. For both this course and 64 it's tough to choose a racer who may be suited best, there is no clear advantage here for anyone, there are both tight turns and long straightaways, no need for Off-road work or shortcuts. Everyone is fair game.

This course returns in 8 as a Retro Track in the Shell Cup. It has a few major revisions, including some subtle gradients and hills that were absent in the Super Circuit version. Most importantly, though, that long stretched out turn in the northwest corner has been transformed into an anti-gravity section, which makes for slightly crazier gameplay. The Staff Ghost in Time Trials is Baby Mario pulling a 1:49.158 using the Yoshi Bike, Standard Tires, and Super Glider. It's a fun callback to Yoshi's Island, but with a faster Heavyweight this combo can be surpassed.

Double Dash:

The Mario Circuit again makes an appearance here, this time smack in the Middle of the Flower Cup. Most Mario Circuits are Flower Cup circuits for some reason. It's all part of Mario being the most average Driver ever. The Flower Cup is just advanced enough that it's not a total blowover like the Mushroom Cup is, but it's still pretty simple. The Mario Circuits fit this bill perfectly. We get to drive around Peach's Castle in this one, although it's protected by some high walls, hills and a moat, which make entry difficult. There is again a long sandy stretch, ravenous Piranha Plants, a long tunnel and some tricky but wide curves. There's also a captive Chain Chomp, the second in the game after the one on the Luigi Circuit.

Double Dash also featured some Secret Staff Ghosts. Here Mario and Luigi use the Red Fire in 1:41:384. This track also returned for Wii, the third Mario Circuit to do so, and this time has a Ghost of Mario alone at 01:59.771 in the Standard Bike M. The Expert Ghost once unlocked uses the Wild Wing in 01:49.939. I think handling is the key to winning this track, there are some edges to cut with Offroad boosts with only grass to worry about as well as a tricky bit at the end with mini-hills and Goombas. I think a small combination with the Toad or Toadette Kart (probably Toad due to its slightly better speed) would be key.

DS:

DS is the only game to feature a Flower Cup without a Mario Circuit, it's instead in the Star Cup, almost out of place sandwiched between bizarrely unique courses like Tick-Tock Clock and Airship Fortress. Then again, this Mario Circuit is one of the more convoluted of its incarnations. The first half is pretty typical, wide straightaways, some slight curves, the sand, the goombas, the pipes. Then the second half goes kind of nutty with a big overhead spiral, a clear shot at Peach's Castle and some hairpin turns. It's interesting that the Mario Circuit eventually became home to Peach's Castle instead of incarnations of the Royal Raceway. Is this Mario trying to show off for the Princess? Or is it rather him attempting to assert his masculinity and dominance after she had to save him for once? I actually think with his decent handling, speed and acceleration Luigi's Poltergust 4000 or Streamliner can handle this track. The Ghost, though is Mario in the Shooting Star at 1:56:533.

Wii:

The Wii Edition is actually relatively simple. There are some gentle curves throughout the Castle Court (this game features Peach's Castle extremely prominently, it engulfs the entire horizon for a good portion of the back half of the track, clearly just another example of Mario's futile attempt at courtship. Or perhaps economic dominance of the Mushroom Kingdom isn't satisfying the Italian any more and he's vying for greater political influence? Perhaps even the title of...King Mario? It's always the ones with the moustache). Anyway, the Chain Chomp returns although he's much more fearsome with a longer reach, still a nice callback to Double-Dash and outside the Castle Court is a nice romp through the requisite sand, trees and Goombas. I think the flexibility of the Mario Circuits is interesting while maintaining the same basic themes. The courses can be in any shape of the imagination but only adhere to the same motifs.

The Ghost here obviously is Mario. He uses the Zip Zip in 01:44.777 while the Expert goes 01:33.702 in the B Dasher Mk 2. While Funky on most bikes dominates courses (in this case the Spear), this is one of the few courses in which Daisy driving the Wild Wing is your best Kart Option. According to this Records Chart there are only a handful of characters to recommend on a given course. I say like any of the Mario Circuits this can be won with just about any competent driver.

7:

The rendition of the Mario Circuit in 7 breaks with tradition somewhat while also sticking with a lot of the core elements. There are Goombas and Pipes, including a bendy one to drive through, and of course, Peach's Castle makes an appearance. For the first time though, Drivers actually race through the interior of the castle, tho not all that far and also participate in some huge jumps and valleys, incorporating 7's new air gliding. It also seems very Peach-like with pink trees and pretty flowers every where. The loop is simple enough, but this is also the only Mario Circuit to feature a major water hazard.

The Normal Ghost here is Mario, who uses the Standard Kart, Standard Wheels, and Super Glider in 02:25.001. This is possibly the most boring combination ever. You should be able to find something that fits a more specific playing style to beat him. The Expert, however, upgrades to the B Dasher using the Slick Wheels and Super Glider in 02:10.018. The only thing faster in the game would be the Gold Tires, that match the speed, or a heavier weight class that will have a stronger base. Go for it.

8:

Mario Circuit is a posterchild for Mario Kart 8, and perhaps best exemplifies what that game was trying to do with its anti-gravity elements. It's an impossible mobius strip that's none too complicated, save for its trippy upside down-sections. Peach's Castle is still there, but fully inaccessible. Goombas also make an appearance, this time stacked during an optional air-time section for maximum irritation. There are also plenty of Piranha Plants, although 8 seems full of Piranha Plants, so that's perhaps less a notable trait, but at least reminiscent of a staple of many previous Mario Circuits.

Similar to his Ghost in 7, Mario here drives the Standard Kart, Standard Wheels, and Super Glider. That's about the most balanced, typical combo you're going to get, and even though a lot of this is crazy and upside-down, someone heavier with a higher speed ought to be enough. There isn't a vehicle combo with speed boosts for both Ground and Anti-Gravity travel, and this course is really equal parts both. Some Slick Wheels, though, will help those stats. Beat a 2:07.436 and it's yours.

Mario

History:

Mario has always been the go-to-guy in the Mushroom Kingdom. From rescuing Princesses to defeating Giant Turtles, this guy can do everything. Well, he can do both of those things. Throughout his adventures and continuous Coin Collection Mario was eventually able to purchase an old Racetrack built in 1956 and re-shape it in his image, the Mario Circuit. It was once the proudest of all Raceways. Mario began his life as a simple plumber, but after he realised he was one of only a handful of Humans in a Kingdom populated by Tiny Talking Mushrooms he found a chance for Glory. In these Racing Games he's typically the first choice in the Menu and one of the more well-rounded Drivers.

Super:

Just happy to be alive.

Mario is statistically identical to his brother, Luigi and classified as one of "The Bros." SMK ranked its eight drivers in four categories - Acceleration, Top Speed, Handling and Weight. Mario is in the middle of all these categories, neither having an advantage or disadvantage. Through the Rival System of SMK Mario's chief opponents in order of fastest to slowest are: DK Jr, Peach, Yoshi, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, then Koopa Troopa. Clearly there is some bad blood leftover between him and DK Jr after what he did to his father. It's interesting that he doesn't have much of a rivalry with Bowser. As a computer player he uses the Invincible Star a ton.


64/Super Circuit: 

Mario also appeared here and his Kart was red. Yippee. He's identical in both of these games, a Middleweight, a distinction he again shares only with his brother, Luigi. He's average in just about everything. His primary goal, obviously, is to win the Gold in each Cup, thus allowing him an easy segue into Peach's castle so he can bury his shroom in her garden, if you get my drift. C'mon, a Cake for all that work? Gimme a break. This man's got a Moustache Ride with that Blonde's name on it.

Double Dash:

Double Dash is a unique Mario Kart game not only for the obvious reason that you picked two drivers, but the only difference between the 20 Characters was the weight class. Otherwise Karts made up the distinction, along with what Special Item you'd be likely to receive. Mario's Item is the Red Fireball, which can be used equally effectively as an Offensive Weapon thrown in front or a Defensive one thrown behind. Its advantage over shells is the same as its disadvantage: It attacks a wide path but there is equally wide gaps in between each. So while there's a ton, there's a ton that isn't difficult to dodge. They also don't survive that long.

That's more like it.

Mario uses Middleweight vehicles except when paired with Kong, Wario, Bowser, Petey and Boo. Thus the fastest Karts he may use are the Green Fire, DK Jumbo, Koopa King and Piranha Pipes, the Best Accelerating Karts he may use are the Boo Pipes, and the Best Offroad he may find is the Waluigi Racer and Boo Pipes. The Least bounciest he may use is also the Boo Pipes, the narrowest is the Bloom Coach, and the most Turn Speed is the DK Jumbo.

Mario's Signature Kart is the Red Fire. For a Middle Kart it's one of the fastest, but also the second-slowest to accelerate. It also has the slowest Offroad of all the Middle Karts. It has one of the worst Turn Speeds of all the Middle Karts, and is one of the more bouncier Karts overall, but is still beaten by the Waluigi Racer, Turbo Yoshi and Turbo Birdo in this regard. It's size is average. In general it's only beneficial nature is really its speed, overall it's not that great, and handles more towards a Heavy Kart would but without the necessary weight.

There were secret Staff Ghosts in Double Dash, through which Mario is involved on three tracks. He's a passenger on Luigi Circuit with Luigi in 1:26:277, he drives Luigi on his own Mario Circuit in 1:41:384 and comes back on Rainbow Road with Peach in the back at 3:16:476. He steers the Red Fire for all of these.

DS:

DS further pushed the idea of Karts making the ride, not the driver. Mario's specific Karts include the B Dasher, the Shooting Star and of course the Standard MR. The only stat that varies between drivers is their weight. Mario adds about 1.8 to the weight of all his vehicles. The stats for his signature Karts are as follows:

DS started this idea of having something for everyone. While the Standard MR is just about in the middle the Shooting Star has much better Speed, Acceleration and Handling at the expense of a terrible Item ranking. The B Dasher is the other side of the spectrum. While it looses stats from the MR in every category, its Item goes way up. If only the Shooting Star looked cooler, it'd be a hot Kart to pick. It also suffers from very low weight while the B Dasher is a bit heavier.

His Ghost Courses are the Figure-8 Circuit in the Standard MR in  1:36:481, the Mario Circuit in the Shooting Star in  1:56:533 as well as the SMK Retro Mario Circuit 1 in  0:50:688.

Wii:

Cruisin' on his Turf

The Wii took DS' simple Kart-specific idea and went absolutely insane with it. Whereas characters made the difference in games like SMK, 64 and SC, and Karts made the difference in DD and largely DS (besides weight factors), Wii races are decided by both Drivers and Karts. Each Kart has a very specific stat and each Driver adds different bonuses to each. Mario adds a lot of weight to each Kart (he needs to lay off the cannolis), along with modest Acceleration, Handling and Drift boosts. Here is a nifty Mario-Specific Chart to memorize for you Plucky Plumber Fans out there:

His fastest vehicle is the B Dasher Mk 2, he gets best Acceleration out of the Classic Dragster, best handling out of the Sugarscoot, best drift and Mini-Turbo from the Mach Bike, best weight from the Wild Wing and the best Off-Road from the Zip-Zip. All of these Best Stats are in the high fifties or low sixties, so there's no Kart for Mario that's terrible in all areas. I think the Classic Dragster, despite its low speed is the best fit for Mario.

For Normal Staff Ghosts, Mario is feature on the Mario Circuit with the Rapide at 01:44.777 and on the GCN Version with the Standard Bike M at 01:59.771. The Expert Staff Ghosts upgrade to the B Dasher Mk 2 at 01:33.702 and Wild Wing at 01:49.939 respectively.