Sunshine Airport

History:

In the aftermath of Bowser Jr's invasion of Isle Delfino, tourism surged, so much so that the meager Delfino Airstrip could no longer handle the passenger load. The Piantas sought to craft a new, larger, more modern airport, and naturally Mario wanted in on the deal. Seeing that this vested interest could destabilize the industry, though, what with his heavy bias towards the Mushroom Kingdom as well as there existing an already corrupt monopoly on transportation in the Mushroom World exemplified by Toad, the one being who could out-finance Mario bought the rights to build the airport: Rosalina. Rosalina remains a co-owner while letting most of the profits go directly to the people of Isle Delfino, to Mario's chagrin.

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To me Sunshine Airport reeks of Coconut Mall: a race course through a heavily domestic institution, bright colors, multiple paths, and large air portions. But these similarities are really only cosmetic. Sunshine Airport is a pretty original track, consisting of what should be a simple loop that's complicated by subtle turns, navigating around and at times inside of a functioning airplane, as well as steep anti-gravity sections sandwiched by Air Jumps. For a Star Cup course it's not all that difficult, though it looks imposing. A careful hand to dodge the tires and boxes that get in the way along with an eye for those turns will bring success.

The Staff Ghost here is Rosalina with the Circuit Special, Standard Wheels, and Super Glider in 2:24.429. Rosalina is an interesting pick here, I suppose with Music Park going to Baby Daisy, both Rainbow Road courses going to Metal characters, and no signature track, this course with its fantastic air travel was the best fit. The Circuit Special, in its only Time Trials appearance, is going to be tough to beat, especially because Rosalina is naturally pretty fast. If you throw on some Slick tires though, you don't have to worry about any Water hazards here, you can get both the Ground and Air speed necessary to come out in first.

Toad Harbor

History:

Toad was always heavily involved in the Mushroom Kingdom's Highway System, and it was only natural that he eventually pulled some of these connections in the transportation department to get into the Trolley business. He installed the Trolleys in a small Harbor town, which he named after himself. Once he had a firm footing in the region he erected a giant Statue dedicated to Princess Peach, though some believe it was given to him by the French. The next step of course was to build a race track through the town. At this point Toad gave complete control of both the course and the Trolley system over to his lover, Toadette, who ran the show with such ruthless cunning and expertise it became immediately clear that it had been her plan all along.

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Toad Harbor is this real amalgamation of DS's Delfino Square, Wii's Daisy Circuit, 64's Toad's Turnpike, and 7's Shy Guy Bazaar. The course is cosmetically similar to Delfino Square with its tight, building-locked paths and steep hills and geographically similar to Daisy Circuit by the bay, particularly the starting line. The Trolleys replace the traffic from Toad's Turnpike but they function the same way. Finally the multiple routes and canvassed paths are reminiscent of Shy Guy Bazaar. These multiple paths make the course pretty interesting, like a streamlined Yoshi Valley but with paths taking up multiple levels vertically instead of a crisscrossed maze.

The course is also notable for being the only course without air and water sections, as well as anti-gravity sections that aren't mandatory. So it's really old school, pure Mario Kart racing. You know, like the first six installments. The Staff Ghost is Toadette in the Cat Cruiser, with the Retro Off-Road Wheels, and Plane Glider in 2:31.066. It's kind of strange that Toadette is the Ghost for a course named after Toad, but he's tied up on the Retro edition of his eponymous Turnpike. It's also the only Ghost appearance of the Cat Cruiser. This combo actually adds nothing beyond the standard stats, so there is plenty of room to customize here. The track is decently twisty, but the terrain is pretty stable, so someone with great handling is going to be solid at the expense of traction. Bikes in the Sport Bike vein with some slick tires make a good combo.

Thwomp Ruins

History:

An ancient civilization thrived millennia ago on DK Island, leaving scores of ruins across the country. Even though Thwomps aren't native to the Island, they were introduced as travel between the realms increased as Donkey, Diddy, and even Kremlings like Kritter and K. Rool found themselves more often hanging out in the Mushroom Kingdom. The Thwomps found a natural home in the Monkey Mines and took over the ruins deep within the jungle. Obviously off put by this foreign influence, Kong sought to fund a Race Course through the ruins, to both expel the Thwomps, and to bring attention away from his Jungle Home.

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It is unclear whether or not the ruins were caused by the Thwomp presence, the ruins of the actual Thwomp civilization, or if they simply intruded upon the wreckage after whatever incident doomed the people living there. Considering the course's similarity to Millstone Mayhem, and obscure Donkey Kong Country level, I suggest the latter. I'd say this is also why Kong is the Ghost here, although it being a pretty jungly track also supports this idea.

The layout is simple enough, although the addition of deadly Thwomps, millstone wheels, and a wide section with multiple paths complicates things. There are nice anti-gravity sections along the walls to avoid a lot of this junk, as well as underwater portions that could be avoided if your Kart / Wheel combination can't handle it. It's therefore a course well-suited to many different playing styles, and with a wide track and lots of off-road portions to boost over and other secrets to find, there's a lot to open up here.

The Ghost, as mentioned, is Kong in the Varmint, using Monster Wheels and the Super Glider in 2:11.157 . There's a lot of speed there as long as he stays on the ground, but everything else almost counters each other, with handling suffering a bit while the traction stays up. Speed, speed, speed here, and with a lot more anti-gravity sections than water sections, wheels that favor that like the Slim, Slick, or Metal families will be great. Then again, if you just stay on the road, that's probably going to be a faster path.