Berlin Byways

Berlin Byways
Information
First appearance	Mario Kart Tour
Latest appearance	Mario Kart 8 (Booster Course Pass in Nintendo Switch version)
Cup	Moon Cup (In Mario Kart 8 for Nintendo Switch)
Retro Cup	Appears in the Moon Cup in Mario Kart 8 (Booster Course Pass in Nintendo Switch version)
Next track	Peach Gardens (In Mario Kart 8 for Nintendo Switch)

Berlin Byways is a track from Mario Kart Tour that was featured as part of the Berlin Tour. It would later become a Retro Course for Mario Kart 8 for the Switch, being featured in the Booster Course Pass, appearing as the first course of the Moon Cup. As its name implies, Berlin Byways takes place in Germany's capital city, Berlijn.

Layout

Berlin Byways' main road is the Straße des 17. Juni, which in this course starts at a three-way junction at the east end and goes southwest. Afterwards, it makes a slight right, going due west and passing beneath the Brandenburg Gate, with its western terminus being a roundabout where the Berlin Victory Column resides. The north exit of the roundabout leads to a train station, a loop is formed from the south and west exits, and the east exit leads to the Straße des 17. Juni. The first and third routes use the roundabout, and the third route uses all four exits while the first route only uses the east and north exits (The east exit is where the racers get into the roundabout in both layouts, and the west exit is also used as an entrance for the third layout.), but all three routes use the Straße des 17 in some way.

North of the Straße des 17. Juni lies the train station mentioned earlier. It is visited only in the first route, Berlin Byways 2. Its north exit leads to a train track and is blocked off, as is its west exit, but the south exit is where it is entered. To the east, the racers exit via a brick road. South of the station is a side-road that branches off slightly northeast of the roundabout; this side-road connects to the Straße des 17. Juni from the north, west of the Brandenburg Gate. As with the loop formed by the south and west exits of the roundabout that bears the Berlin Victory Column, this side-road is only visited for Berlin Byways 3.

South of the Straße des 17. Juni lies the Tiergarten, where a path branches off the main road to the south and curves to the east, arriving at the Schiller Monument, south of the Brandenburg Gate. The road bulges here and the Schiller Monument resides in the middle of a sexagonal gap on the map. East of that is the Oberbaum Bridge, where the racers drive underneath. The Berlin Wall lies east of the Brandenburg Gate, next to the road, although there are gaps in the wall. These areas are only visited in Berlin Byways' second route, Berlin Byways 1.

In Berlin Byways 2, a Glide Ramp resides at the Brandenburg Gate, pointing towards the roundabout with the Berlin Victory Column. This ramp is absent in Berlin Byways 1.

In Mario Kart 8 (Switch)

Berlin Byways appears in the Booster Course Pass as the first course of the Moon Cup in Mario Kart 8 for the Switch, where its routes are combined. It also has the course map rotated 120 degrees clockwise. Berlin Byways starts with its first layout (Ironically labelled "Berlin Byways 2."), which starts with a slight right as the racers pass under an archway. Single Item Boxes appear here. After this section, the racers enter the roundabout, taking the north exit and then taking a slight left at a fork in the road, where they enter a train station. The racers can enter a train that was parked there for a Double Item Box. Afterwards, they follow a brick road back to the Start/Finish line.

The second lap starts out identical to the first lap (except with Glider Ramps at the archway) until the racers reach the roundabout, whereupon they will be forced down the first exit, which is the south exit. They then follow the Berlin Byways 3 Route, where they go through a road with traffic followed by entering the roundabout again from the west, where they go down the same exit that they did on the first lap. This time, they head right at the fork to go down a slightly curvy side road. They are then directed down a side road. The race continues as Berlin Byways 1 from there, so the racers end up completing the second lap in the opposite direction.

For the final lap, the racers head right at the fork and make their way past the Berlin Wall, where Whomps that fall down to attack them fill the gaps. The racers are then directed around the Shiller Monument and then past the small side road. After a right U-tern, they rejoin with the Berlin Byways 2 route in reverse, going under the arch and crossing the finish line in the opposite direction they started in.

Trivia

• This is the first instance of the routes of a course being released with the wrong numbering, with the first layout being Berlin Byways 2 and the second layout is Berlin Byways 1; Los Angeles Laps would repeat this, though the first route is properly labelled, while the second and third labels have their numbers mixed up.
• Sydney Sprint also had the final lap start in the opposite direction to the first two, something that would be repeated in Bangkok Rush, although in Bangkok Rush, the racers will be turned around to finish the race in the same direction they started in.

Gallery

To view Berlin Byways's image gallery, click here.

See also

Note: Berlin Byways 2 is technically this track's first layout, while Berlin Byways 1 is technically the second layout.

For the separate routes, see:

• Berlin Byways 2
• Berlin Byways 1
• Berlin Byways 3