Toad's Turnpike, (called Toad Highway in the Japanese version (written as Kinopio Haiwei, or キノピオハイウェイ in Katakana; literally Kinopio Highway), is the first course of the Flower Cup appearing in Mario Kart 64. It is city-themed, being much like Mushroom Bridge, Mushroom City (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!), Shroom Ridge (Mario Kart DS), and Moonview Highway (Mario Kart Wii). It is Toad's track.
This course takes place at nighttime on a Highway, with many trucks and cars which are very harmful. If hit, the player flips out. Like later city courses, not only will the Engine Class affect how fast the player goes, but also how fast the vehicles go on the road. If on 150cc, not only do players and CPU go faster, but so do the hazardous vehicles on the road. On some cars there are ramps. The course is shaped like a figure-eight, despite its name coming from a turnpike, which is another term for a toll road.
The racers start on an on-ramp that leads onto a highway, with the finish line right next to their starting location, south of a bridge. After they merge onto the main road, they continue north and cross the bridge. The road turns left, at which point the racers go onto a wide 180-degree left turn in which the road turns from west to south and then east. Following this is a dip in the road as the racers go under the bridge that they crossed close to the start of the race. They continue east until they are forced to turn right. When the racers are heading south, the road gets narrower, with the leftmost lane merging into the middle lane. This is followed by another 90-degree right turn, followed by a straightaway that ends in a right turn as the racers approach the finish line from the south, right next to the starting line.
There are four alcoves with Item Boxes: the first is north of the bridge that the racers cross after they start the race, two are on the straightaway under said bridge, with one being right after the road starts going east and another being right before it starts to curve south, and the last one is at the straightaway at the far south going west; these are all on the left side of the road. If the racers attempt to drive backwards from the starting line, they will enter an out-of-bounds zone, making this the only course in Mario Kart 64 that cannot be driven backwards. Additionally, racers can fall out-of-bounds from getting knocked over the walls at the sides of the course by certain items.
The course returns in Mario Kart 8 as a Retro Track. The course now features cars with Jump Panels and Glide Panels, along with certain walls featuring the Anti-Gravity feature; these walls can be used to dodge traffic, but are slower. The item boxes also now will appear along the race track, and not in the alcoves, with coins taking their place. The vehicles here have had their design updated to a more modern look. Damage from the vehicles only comes from high-speed collision this time. Some have glider ramps installed on their backs, which can be used to drive over the south-to-north bridge, but if the racers land on the bridge, they will be declared out-of-bounds and the Rescue Lakitu will be summoned. The course is the fourth race course of the Shell Cup.
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Trivia[]
- This map is similar to the track Moonview Highway from Mario Kart Wii.
- Toad's Turnpike is the first course from the mainline Mario Kart series to have a separate starting line and finish line. It is also the only course in Mario Kart 64 that does not have the characteristic Mario Kart goal gate at the finish line; however, the starting line has a gate.
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