Music Park

History:

The inspiration for Music Park derives from Toadette's Music Room. As conniving as she is, Toadette sought to extrapolate her interests into an entire Course and exploit its profits as part of her own bid for power within the Mushroom Kingdom. She contacted Rosalina, the only figure she knew with Galaxy and Reality-Warping powers. Rosalina and her Army of Lumas constructed the Music Park in the stars above the Mushroom World, but once she found out Toadette's true corrupt intentions she retained control of the Park and raced it herself rather than give it up to the machinations of evil.

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Music Park is a bizarre track. It comes in as the Third Course in the Flower Cup and has a lot going on. It seems like a closed-in track, but it has patches of offroad that pop up here and there, some big drums that act as trampolines (similar to the Big Mushrooms on Wii's Mushroom Gorge), and a long Air portion. What's more is that while there are no especially difficult curves, many of the winding turns are driven over keyboards that play notes as racers drive over them. The air portion is also full of big bouncy animated notes that threaten to upset any careless players.

The Ghost here is Rosalina, which may be a nod to the course's mystical yet positive nature. The Normal version uses the Birthday Girl, Roller Wheels, and Super Glider in 02:19.336. The Expert switches completely, to the Soda Jet, Slim Wheels, and Paraglider in 02:07.551. With the amount of Air dodging one needs to do along the Air Section the Paraglider or Swoop Glider are probably the best option. The Birthday Girl / Roller Wheel combo pushes handling to the extreme at the total expense of speed, you can find a better balance. The Soda Jet and Slim wheels are a really good option here, but the Mushroom Wheels may be a better option that doesn't lose so much Speed on land, yet maintains handling.

Wuhu Tracks

History:

In the late 2000s Wuhu Island grew in popularity as a Sports Resort. As more and more residents of the Mushroom Kingdom became interested in visiting the Island, it became obvious that it would be a perfect spot for a couple of Courses. Princess Peach was the first to wield her vast power and influence to negotiate the rights to a Track with the King of Wuhu. Thus she created the Wuhu Loop, a long, expansive track that is completed in a single lap.

After Peach laid claim to the Island's rights she enacted a bidding war for another track, Maka Wuhu. Surprisingly, Yoshi emerged victorious over Mario, who, Like Luigi, had become more preoccupied with the upkeep of his own Circuit Tracks which held popularity through the Retro Cup.

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Both Wuhu Tracks present a unique concept for Mario Kart 7 - they are completed in a single lap. That single lap is enormous however, with three clearly distinct sections. They join Baby Park (7), Wario Colosseum (2), and 7's Rainbow Road (1) as the only tracks that aren't completed in three laps (Besides all the courses in SMK, which were done in 5 laps). Wuhu Loop opens the Flower Cup, and as such it is of moderate difficulty. There is an overriding circuit aspect, with mostly pavement and stretches of grassy offroad fields. There are also some mountainous aspects, though, winding through perilous edges before heading back to the town you start in. Additionally there is a bit of Traffic to deal with, but none nearly as severe as the Highway Tracks.

The Staff Ghost here is Peach, for some reason, who goes 01:44.287 using the Standard Kart, Sponge Tires, and Peach Parasol.The Expert Ghost switches to the Pipe Frame and Slick Tires, keeping the same Glider in 01:32.854. There isn't really any significant Air portions here and the Sponge Tires' boost of drifting is helpful here but there's better options that don't sacrifice so much speed (The Slick Tires for one), but there are better Kart options to emphasize this style. Try the Bumble V or Soda Jet with either Sponge or Slick and Peach is going down.

The Maka Wuhu Course concludes the Star Cup and earns this distinction by being one of the more complex courses in the game. Like the Wuhu Loop it is only one lap long, divided into three distinct sections. There are many alternate paths throughout the course, starting with options of dirt and pavement that weave through the first section's vast fields. The incredibly wide offroad sections are perfect for boosting over. There are also tunnel portions, an option for a quick underwater portion, a huge castle with a quasi-drivable section, and it all leads to a monster Air Jump down to an Island Finish. There are also some steep uphill parts with tremendous boulders crashing down on hapless drivers.

The Ghost here is Yoshi, which is possibly a reference to Double Dash's Yoshi Circuit that has some similar elements being an Island Track, but otherwise it seems fairly random. The Normal Staff Ghost pulls a 01:50.607 using the Bumble V, Sponge Wheels, and Paraglider. The Paraglider is a nice choice here, and there's certainly nothing wrong with the Bumble V / Sponge combo - it doesn't detract too much and adds boosts in some nice areas. The speed is fairly lacking though, the Gold or Slick Tires would be a better option. The Expert does just that and goes for speed, using the Standard Kart with Monster Tires and Super Glider. The Monster Tires have their own problems with acceleration and handling that the Standard doesn't absolve, so it can be countered.

Shy Guy Bazaar

History:

By 2011 the popularity of the Grand Prix had spread to nearly every corner of the Mushroom World. The Shy Guys, long spectators of the Races entered a Track they created in one of their towns on the Reaches of Dinosaurland, the Shy Guy Bazaar. The extensiveness of the track attests to the strong capital of the Shy Guy race and their ability to pool and share resources.

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Shy Guy Bazaar closes the Mushroom Cup as a Course with Desert elements reminiscent of Kalimari Desert from 64 or Double Dash's Dry Dry Desert, although it is significantly different from typical Desert Tracks. It is really a free-flowing track with many alternate paths, including wide portions with some singular obstacles, as in the image below. There is also some wide offroad sections along with some unforgiving gaps, and an air boost.

The Ghost here is Shy Guy, who does 02:31.167 using the Standard Kart, Roller Wheels, and Super Glider, which is a fairly basic combination, even though those wheels give him the handling required to dodge around this track. Still, there are other Karts such as the Cloud 9, Koopa Clown, or Royal Ribbon that can boost handling even further, and for all that his speed is terrible. The Expert on the same track uses the Pipe Frame, Monster Wheels, and Parafoil in 02:14.714, none of which really enhances any bonuses and a little more concise planning towards a racer's strength will give you the edge.

Toad Circuit

History:

After years of dominating the intro to the Grand Prix, Luigi was unable to maintain the distinction for the 2011 installment. He lost the bidding of a new Circuit Track to Toad, whose Factory allowed him the resources to construct a course that wasn't preexisting, unlike some of his other Highway Tracks. Luigi was busy enough renovating some of his other courses for the Retro Prix to really be bothered anyway.

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The Toad Circuit kicks off the Mushroom Cup in Mario Kart 7, and tho Luigi-themed courses have led off the games three times, this is the first time that a Toad-themed course has led off. There are aspects of some of these courses, such as the sand patches that players can boost across to hit a jump, exactly like the Wii Luigi Circuit. There are also giant Toad Balloons, perhaps a callback both to the Balloon in 64's Luigi Raceway and the Giant Luigi Statue in Wii. The course is more of a Figure-8 than a loop, obviously more similar to the Figure-8 Circuit that led off DS than other intros. It is also the first course with some Aerial components, tho it's not essential to the course.

The track is very wide and even with a good amount of turns, none are particularly sharp and there's a fair amount of straightaways as well. The Normal Staff Ghost is Toad, who goes 01:35.135 in the Standard Kart with Standard Wheels and the Super Glider. This is about as basic as you're going to get - feel free to switch it up to fit whatever style of play you like. The Expert is the same except uses Monster Wheels in 01:26.632, which does help some of Toad's weak spots in land speed and weight, but weight isn't important in Time Trials and higher speeds can be achieved here fairly easily.