Bowser Castle 2 (SNES)

Bowser Castle 2 is a track that debuted in *Super Mario Kart.* It has never been remade in a future game until Mario Kart Reunion. In Mario Kart Reunion, it is the first track of the Cape Feather Cup.

## Changes in Mario Kart Reunion

### Visuals

Mario Kart Reunion has completely remade SNES Bowser Castle 2, alongside its other variations. The track takes even more inspiration from *Super Mario World's* castles, as well as from King Koopa's Neon Castle (or as Mario called it, Coney Island Disco Palace) from the *Super Mario World* cartoons.

The starting line takes place outside of a dull brown castle, adorned with neon lights and posters of Bowser. A moat of lava connects the main ground and the castle entrance, with the lava casting a devious red ambiance to the track. Bowser's minions cram the balcony and standings of the castle, much like fans would in a stadium, including Dry Bones, Hammer Bros, Shy Guys, and much more. Above the castle's door is a poster with glowing letters that say "Bowser Castle 2!", with the number 2 and exclamation point being larger than the other letters for comedic effect.

Unlike the other variations of this track, there are no special weather effects by default. Bowser Castle 1 has rain, while Bowser Castle 3 is in a thunderstorm.

### Layout

Upon entering the castle on a straightaway, players will find themselves driving on a grey brick bridge. They will turn a sharp right, where the first set of Item Boxes are. After the item boxes, the ground curves cylindrically, while three large wooden pillars smash down into the hole sequentially. Players can be squished by the wooden pillars if they happen to drive under one at a bad time. After this, the track twists to the left and players enter the antigravity section, where there are three small ramps as well as two pairs of Thwomps.

Another sharp right turn follows that leads into a glider section, where the next item box set is located. These item boxes are held up by balloons designed to look like Amps. Afterwards, another right turn leads players to a misaligned corridor, where the crowd of minions above them begin to occasionally throw items. The items that can be thrown are Hammers, which will bounce off of the ground once, and Bones, which will bounce around for three times before breaking. Both of these items can cause hitstun, however you can know when an item is coming by the Bowser-shaped spotlight that hovers over the spot it will land in. From here, players drive straight through this corridor and are intended to turn at the second left.

If a player turns left before the end of the wall, they will run into a dead end, where the minion crowd cheers next to a large Bowser statue with a poster above it saying "Dead End!". This statue will breathe fire if it detects a racer has driven into the area. This fire will not hurt players, but will push them back onto the main road and leave the racer in ashes, slowing them down.

Players who do turn left at the end of the wall will enter a dark corridor, only being lighted by the neon strips and arrows across the area. Players will run into their third item box set, before having to dodge three neon-glowing Thwomps. After taking a left turn, Bowser Statues will line the corridors, shooting laser beams at nearby racers, all while the minion crowd begin to drop items again. After taking two rights, the antigravity section concludes, and the last section of the track comes into view, where the darkness will slightly fade away.

Players will leap off of a glider ramp and trick off rocks above a pool of lava, while dodging Lava Bubbles and Blarggs that jump or rise out of the lava. After a final right turn, the players exit the castle through a large hole in the wall, and the next lap starts.

### Dynamic Lap Changes

On Lap 2, there is a rare chance that the minion crowd may throw actual Mario Kart items that lay on the ground in a dropped state. These can be Bananas, Green Shells or Red Shells.

Bowser Statues will shoot laser beams more often on Laps 2 and 3.

On Lap 3, the glider section at the end of the track will be darker, and the lava, Lava Bubbles, and Blarggs will all glow blue instead of orange.