Baby Peach

History:

Like Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, Baby Peach currently exists displaced from her original time period. After the events of their battle with Princess Shroob, it was decided that even in the past, Princess Toadstool's life was in constant danger. Her major adviser of the time, Toadsworth has placed the infant Peach into the safer, future time period until he deems it proper for her to return and live out her life in accordance with proper fate.

Wii:

Mario Kart Wii really went overboard with the Baby Characters in an effort to boost the amount of Small Class Drivers. Within each Class in Wii, each character has access to six bikes and six karts of various stats. In addition, each character adds his or her own bonuses to each of these stats. Baby Peach actually has a ridiculous amount of bonuses, the best in the game. That said, while she is awesome amidst the other Small Characters, she may still be knocked around by the bigger racers. Her specific stats for each Kart are as follows:

She gets a decent Speed, Acceleration, and Handling boost as well as a Weight boost identical to Baby Daisy but lower than either Baby Mario or Baby Luigi. There are other Small Characters with better bonuses in each of these areas but Baby Peach is the only one with all four categories getting a prop.

Baby Peach appears as a Staff Ghost only on the retro Peach Gardens track. She pulls a 02:34.894 in the Magikruiser while the Expert version does a 02:16.777 in the Mini-Beast. The Mini-Beast is one of her best Kart options, although the Jet Bubble may be her best option at a Bike, depending on your play style.

Royal Tracks

History:

Soon after the young Princess Peach was thrust into the Rule of the Mushroom Kingdom in 1983 after the death of her Father, the Kingdom fell into Financial Ruin. Since the Mushroom People are not naturally capitalistic they remained mostly ignorant however, and their simple farming and trading ways were hardly affected. Some of the larger Banks of Mushroom City and beyond were launched into Crisis though, and many foreclosed. It wasn't until the Racing Grand Prix that began in the early 90s did the economy get a shot in the arm. Not only did more people pay huge sums of cash to see the races, many different parties developed Tracks across the Kingdom, which led to massive Population Movements. It wasn't long then, until with the advice of Toad, her Consigliere, that Peach developed the Royal Raceway on what used to be her Personal Grounds. While later her suitor Mario would develop his own tracks on Private Royal land, Peach also founded the Peach Circuit immediately South of her Official Lands as well as her expansive Private Gardens, the Peach Gardens, which were full of tamed Chain Chomps.

In addition to all this, Daisy, Princess and Ruler of Sarasaland also recently developed a course on the Isle of Delfino, which has proved incredibly popular with both the native Piantas and residents of the Mushroom Kingdom on vacation. We've included it here as the only other Circuit Track sponsored by a Royal Princess.

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The Royal Raceway is mostly known for two things: 1) The Enormous Jump and 2) Access to Peach's Castle. This was an early direct link to a previous Mario Adventure Game, in this case, Super Mario 64, where the Castle is identical and that game's primary setting. It's fitting that the final Award Ceremony also takes place here, giving some Center to the Races in the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach's course is also the center for the Award Ceremony in Double Dash, at Peach Beach.

As the third course in the Star Cup, it's one of the more-advanced Circuit tracks, and it proves it. This course has tons of deceptively dangerous turns, taking any too wide on the slopes towards the lake results in instantaneous failure. If the Big Jump is misjudged it may also lead to a crash into the Mountains. Some grassy sections actually prove nice cut-through spots if you have a Mushroom or Star, but ultimately you need trustworthy handling here to succeed.

Super Circuit:

Super Circuit broke tradition by making Peach Circuit the First Course in the Mushroom Cup.Every game since has featured a Luigi Circuit or something very similar. That said, this isn't a whole lot like Royal Raceway. The Castle is close but inaccessible and there is a ton of grassy corners to cut. There isn't really a character who is poor here. It's very straightforward. This track came back in DS along with the first track from SMK, Mario Circuit 1 and the first track from Double Dash, Luigi Circuit to make up the Shell Cup. It was all a conspiracy to not have an all-Luigi Circuit Cup, for sure. The Ghost here is Peach driving the Royale with a time of 1:12:011.

DS:

Peach Gardens is a unique course with lots of possible turns and paths along with some of the nicest Chain Chomps to be found in a Mario Kart game. It's also in the Special Cup, which is extremely tame in DS. There are some hills that aren't too difficult and not a whole lot of danger outside of some moles, a water hazard that is very easy to avoid and the aforementioned Chomps, who don't chase you but rather stay on their own path. There are plenty of right-angle turns, but the path is actually so wide in these places that it's never that difficult. The same goes for weaving between the large Southern Hedge. Go for someone like Bowser with speed here with impunity. The Ghost is Peach in the Royale again with a time of 1:52:989.

This track also came back in Wii without a whole lot of difference. The Ghost here is Baby Peach this time, clearly loving playing in her Big-Ass Garden. The Normal does a 02:34.894 in the Magikruiser, the Expert pulls a 02:16.777 in the Mini Beast. Again, you can take speed here, Funky in the Spear is perfect.

Wii:

Like I said, I've lumped the Daisy Circuit in here because it's one of the only Circuit Tracks in Wii (actually every Original Cup except for the Special opens with a Circuit Track) and it's more similar to be lumped in here than any place else. It does have some unique elements though. Its seaside village aspects may make it more similar to Delfino Plaza and its Sunset Time recalls Waluigi Stadium. It's a Royal Road, though so it ends up here. It opens up the Star Cup here and is pretty straightforward besides some city twists and gentle curves. Actually the more I look at it the more I realise this is a hodge-podge track. The "8" midway through comes back in Wii's Rainbow Road, and the two sections of track right next to each other looks like an Early Luigi Circuit. Like the other recent Royal Tracks though, someone with tons of Speed can make it through here. It's pretty well suited to Daisy herself in the Mach Bike.

The Ghost is exactly that. Daisy goes a 01:56.822 in the Royal Racer, then the Expert does a 01:41.362 in the Mach Bike.

Princess Daisy

History:

Daisy hails from the far-off Sarasaland where she rules with peace and justice, although she may hardly be found on her throne, instead she continually trounces off with her Mushroom Kingdom friends, leaving the actual Governance of Sarasaland to more capable people. She is more of a Figurehead than Princess Peach and her Royal Duties lessened, she has embarked on many Entrepreneurial Opportunities. Her biggest venture has been her Cruise Line, which jets across the wide Seas of Mushroom World and has made her independently wealthy. She recently used some of this money to purchase a spot of land on Isle Delfino opposite Peach Beach where she has made a very popular Seaside Racecourse.

Daisy has some interesting relationships among the other racers. As she was casual friends with Peach, seeing her at Mushroom World Leaders Conferences and so forth, it was only natural that she'd meet her beau Mario and be introduced to his brother, Luigi, which was a natural fit. Waluigi, however, also obsesses over her, although Wario's involvement in using the Alien Tatanga to attempt to conquer Sarasaland puts a strain on their relationship. Still, Daisy Circuit and Waluigi Stadium are the only Sunset Courses named after a character. Just sayin'.

Double Dash:

Daisy is a playable character from the outset of Double Dash and is Peach's default partner. She is identical to Peach in every way, but still makes for some interesting Partnerships. Like the Daisy/Bowser? What the hell is going on there? Anyway, Double Dash didn't put as much emphasis on the Drivers as it did on individual Karts. Drivers basically determined the Weight Class along with the Special Item while Karts determined the rest. Daisy drives the Bloom Coach, which is pretty decent.

The Bloom Coach has the best shocks and nearly the best Turn Speed of all the Middle Karts. It's also on the faster side at 57 mph. It also has the Best Acceleration of all Middle Karts although it's 8th over all. Its only issues is that it's also the lightest Middle Kart (14th over all) and its Offroad is terrible. Still, it's about as close to a Light Kart as a Middleweight is going to get, so that's worth something.

Daisy's Special Item is the Heart, which is pretty unique. It's purely defensive. Once activated, two Hearts will circle the Vehicle and pick up any item the Driver runs over. This includes Giant Bananas and Bowser Shells. It will however, also pick up Mushrooms and Stars lying on the track instead of instantly boosting from them. It's also tough because you'll only acquire the Item if neither racer has one already, otherwise a Heart is used but you get nothing. Except you don't spin out. So it's pretty good.

There were Secret Staff Ghosts in Double Dash. Daisy appears behind her partner Peach on Peach Beach with a time of 1:20:404 and then takes the lead on Daisy Cruiser at 1:52:207. Both utilize Peach's Heart Coach.

DS:

Daisy appears as an unlockable Character in DS. The major difference between characters here are their weights and Daisy adds 1 to each of her rides, tied with Peach in being in between the lightest characters and Mario and Luigi as Middleweights. DS featured an insistence on Karts rather than Drivers, although their weights still influenced who could push around who. Each Character initially had two Karts with another unlockable, but eventually any Character could use any Kart, which is staggering. The Stats for Daisy's Vehicles are as follows:

Her Karts naturally have excellent Drifting abilities and fair Speed and Acceleration but below-average Handling. Daisy has some interesting Ghosts in this game. Her Nitro Track is on Tick-Tock Clock at 1:54:903 in her Light Dancer. I really think they just ran out of Courses for Characters and so they stuck her here, she has no other connection to Tick-Tock Clock, a course based on a game she had no part of. She's also in the Retro Sky Garden from Super Circuit at 1:44:400 in the Power Flower. Again, she didn't appear in Super Circuit and has no real place in Sky Garden. Then again, that Track is weird enough that any connection to it is a bit strange. Really that could be a Paratroopa Course and nothing else.

Wii:

Wii compiled the DS idea of Kart-Specific Stats with the earlier ideas of Character-Specific Stats and debuted Six Karts and Six Bikes for each Size Class, each with different statistics along with Stat Bonuses that adjusted all of these for each Character. Daisy is actually one of the better Racers in the game. She gets +2 Handling and +3 Drift which are decent but she really flies with her +4 Speed Bonus, one of the highest in the game. The stats specifically tuned to her are as follows:

Her best ride is probably the Mach Bike or the B Dasher Mk 2, two Rides that really take advantage of her ability to Zoom. Wii also has some Staff Ghosts here that are a bit more fitting for her character. She races the Coconut Mall in 02:30.764 (wait...is that really a Shopping thing?) in the Sugarscoot and then her own Daisy Circuit with the Royal Racer in 01:56.822. The Expert Ghosts go 02:13.333 in the Wild Wing and 01:41.362 in the Mach Bike respectively.

Princess Peach Toadstool

History:

Peach is the last in a line of a long Royal Dynasty of Humans who have benevolently ruled over the Mushroom Kingdom for centuries. The House of Toadstool came into power in 1901 and after the death of Peach's Father in 1983 she has been the single Heiress to the Thrown. Why she hasn't become Queen Peach is a mystery, sources speculate it's due to a long standing issue of arrested development. During her reign security in the once-prosperous Kingdom has been laughable. Bowser the King of the Koopas and Lord of Dark Land has easily managed to penetrate her Castle's deepest chambers on many occasions and may have been able to terminate her and seize power if not for two things 1) His unrequited love of her and 2) The actions of the wealthy and influential Plumber-Adventurer Mario and his allies.

It is likely that while Peach is clearly infatuated with Mario she rebukes his attempts to win her favour and become the King of the Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps Peach knows that he will be able to easily override her futile ruling efforts and become a great dictator.

Super:

In SMK each of the eight racers were separated into four distinct classes. Peach (known as Toadstool here) is statistically identical to Yoshi. Naturally the game called this pair "The Dino and the Lady." They possess the highest acceleration and lowest speed in the game but with average weight and handling. Peach always teetered between the Middle and Lightweight categories, mostly just for the benefit of any particular game - if it was running low on Lightweights she ended up there, if it had tons of Babies or Koopas, she became a Middleweight. The SMK Rival System, which ranked how other Racers would finish in conjunction to Peach was Bowser, Toad, Mario, DK Jr, Luigi, Yoshi then Koopa. The Bowser rivalry here is obvious, there are definitely some gulfs in that relationship.

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Peach is a pure lightweight here, with high top speed and acceleration, making her a ridiculously good choice for this game. She does slip out a lot and can get knocked around, but slightly less than Toad does. Toad just takes the Lightweight Class to the extremes, Peach barely holds back. This game also featured her Castle adjacent to her signature course, the Royal Raceway. It's the most accessible the Castle is in these games as well as one of the biggest Extra Easter Egg Areas anywhere. Her Kart is pink.

Why is she always terrified? Trying to drive in that dress?

Super Circuit:

Peach is slightly different in Super Circuit, more identical to Toad than Yoshi. She has a very high speed but no weight at all, making her liable to getting knocked around, but excellent for Time Trials and a Grand Prix where she can get out in front early. She hasn't stopped being one of the biggest teases on the Circuit, either. Especially in these early days when she was just the token useless chick, the boys all turned their heads. The Boys, the Apes, the...turtles. They all turned heads. She still got out in front though.

Double Dash:

Double Dash didn't rely as much on drivers besides their item and weight class, instead it focused on different Karts, that anyone in that class while paired with someone equal or smaller could drive. Peach was upped to a Middleweight here and her default Kart is the Heart Coach, which she shares with her default partner, Daisy. Around this time they had really started pairing Peach with Daisy as a buddy, which is cool but also makes Daisy a weird combination with anyone else anywhere. Anyway, I think the Heart Coach is one of the better Karts in the Game.

It has good shocks as well as the least speed lost during Turns. It has the 9th fastest Acceleration and 2nd among Medium Karts. It is one of the slower Medium Karts but its weight is 11th in the game, near perfectly average. Peach herself is decent, the Heart Item is one of the more unique in Double Dash. She creates two Hearts that circle the Kart and pick up any item that might be lying dangerously on the course. This is great defensively but works more to keep your position rather than advance it.

The Hearts are tricky. They will work on Bowser Shells and Giant Bananas, so if you're clumsy and like Bowser or Bowser Jr., he might be a good combo with Peach or Daisy. They also pick up stray Stars and Mushrooms, essentially wasting a Heart on something that would otherwise be beneficial to run over. Furthermore if both characters already have an item and you have a Heart activated and run over a third, the third is completely negated at the expense of one of the Two Hearts. This includes boosters like Stars and Mushrooms. Like I said, they're beneficial but tricky. It's also pretty rare to get on when out in first, and if you're in last they aren't going to boost you up. It is a nice middle of the pack Item that can help you avoid some nonsense as you surge ahead. There is no difference between Peach and Daisy in this game.

Double Dash also had Secret Staff Ghosts for each track, piloted by only the starting Characters and Karts. Peach appears on three different tracks. She drives the Heart Coach with Daisy in the backseat on Peach Beach in 1:20:404, Daisy takes over steering duties on her Daisy Cruiser for a time of 1:52:207. She also rides with Mario in his Red Fire on Rainbow Road in a time of 3:16:476.

DS:

Peach is back to being a Lightweight Driver in this game. DS featured a more individualistic approach to Karts, giving each Character three specific Karts of varying stats. The only difference between characters is weight, and Peach adds 1 to the weight of all her Vehicles, making her lighter than Mario and Luigi, but heavier than Yoshi, Toad, Dry Bones, and Shy Guy. Peach excels at drifting in all of her rides, which is useful for the more complicated curvy tracks. She also generally has pretty good acceleration although her Speed and Handling is terrible. In the hands of a good Player though Peach can be fearsome. Tricky Grand Prix can be won through acceleration and drift although she's not a great Time Trial candidate. Here are her Karts:

Her best is definitely the Light Tripper even with its lower Item Ranking. Despite this all three of Peach's Staff Ghosts use the Royale. She finishes Delfino Square in 1:54:601, Peach Gardens in 1:52:989 and the Retro Peach Circuit from Super Circuit in 1:12:011. It's interesting that both Delfino Square and Peach Gardens returned in Wii, though Peach isn't the Staff Ghost there in either of them.

Wii:

Wii really went nuts with the individualistic Vehicle Statistics. Each Size Class of Kart and Bike has its own stats and the Drivers themselves add certain additional bonuses to each as well. Peach is back in the Middle Class here and she again adds great drift and acceleration to all her Vehicles along with a slight boost in speed. Actually her bonuses roughly align with the same ones Toad receives. Here is a chart specifically tuned towards Peach's qualities:

I think her best Kart is the Classic Dragster and her best Bike is the Mach Bike. It's interesting that she has some kind of connection with Moonview Highway, her picture is plastered like LeBron James in the city and she also has a Staff Ghost on the track. Her Normal Ghost is 02:16.802 in the Standard Kart M, the expert uses the Mach Bike in 02:04.163. She also has a ghost on the Retro Peach Beach, the Normal of which is 01:34.233 in her signature ride, the Royal Racer. The Expert clocks in at 01:23.140.