Grumble Volcano is a track in Mario Kart Wii and is the last track of the Star Cup. The track returned in Mario Kart 8 as the third track of the Lightning Cup.
Layout[]
Grumble Volcano starts right outside of a volcano, which you can go inside. After going through a rocky path across some lava, you head into a cave where the track splits into 2.
Both tracks join together right before you head outside the volcano, where you will see a rocky road with pieces starting to fall, several more volcanoes erupting to the beat of the music, some fire, and trees that are dead from the heat.
After taking some hazardous turns, you head towards a small volcano with a dangerous fire snake in front of it. This volcano actually will fall into the lava in lap 3. The track splits into 2 around the volcano, then joins together right before the finish line.
In Mario Kart Wii[]
Grumble Volcano is one of the two tracks to have Fire Snakes as hazards (the other one being Desert Hills.) The track's layout is going around a Volcano.
During the second lap, the track starts to fall apart, and by the last lap, there is barely any track left. Most of the track will fall into lava and gets very tricky. Additionally, Lava Plumes erupt from the lava where the fallen ground was adding an additional obstacle.
There are Lava Fireballs and Fire Snakes shot from the volcano. Gliding plates also appear, as in Bowser Castle from Mario Kart DS, but this time they are stone instead of metal. You actually go inside part of the volcano for part of the course.
This track features many "forks in the road" (there are two places where the track splits but then meets back up again) and two huge optional jumps.
In Mario Kart 8/Deluxe[]
Grumble Volcano returns as a retro course in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third track in the Lightning Cup. The clouds in the sky appear to be more orange than purple as opposed to in the original version. The volcano that the players drive through as well as the volcanoes in the background now have lava running down them. The course itself maintains its layout from the original, though both the first platform after the cave and the jump from the uphill left path now have Glide Ramps. Additionally, near the end of the course, at the right side of the fork, a portion of rock that serves as a trickable ramp has been added, allowing for a shortcut. To accommodate this, an additional segment of the track has been added that meets up with the main route right before the finish line. In laps 1 and 2, there is a rock blocking the shortcut, but at the start of lap 3, it will sink into the lava, letting the player use it on lap 3. Lava Fireballs falls more slowly than in the original course, the crumbling pieces of road crumble and sink much quicker (with an additional sinking piece of land added in the Lava Fireball section of the course), and the starting banner has been changed, now resembling a slightly deteriorated structure with torches added and the modern Mario Kart logo. Similar to DK Jungle, Neo Bowser City and Mushroom Gorge, the music remains unchanged, but it has been given an echo effect.
Unlike in Mario Kart Wii, when the player crosses the finish line to begin the next lap, Lakitu is shown on the left side of the player holding the lap count signs, instead of the right side (when holding the start signal, he’s also shown on the left side of the player.
Staff ghost[]
In Mario Kart Wii, the staff ghost for this track is Dry Bowser in the Offroader. In Mario Kart 8, the staff ghost is Roy on the Badwagon, with a time of 2:18.305. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's 200cc mode, the staff ghost is Morton with a time of 1:44.284.
Trivia[]
- This track is oddly very similar to Bowser's Castles, in both music selection and track layout. In fact, the ghostly purple trees in many Bowser's Castles are features on the edge of the track here.
- This track is also famous for its ultra shortcut which can make players finish under one minute or even 30 seconds.
- Some of the notes in the music are shared with Super Mario Galaxy's Freezeflame Galaxy.