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Baby Park might just be the most infamous track in Mario Kart – a simple, NASCAR-style oval with very short laps that ensure the entire field is in constant chaos. It was first introduced in Mario Kart: Double Dash on the GameCube, and a recently translated interview on the game's development suggests that Nintendo knew just how controversial the track was going to be from the start.
"We knew fairly early on that we wanted to make a course like that," producer Shinya Takahashi said of Baby Park in an interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, which was published ahead of the game's launch and was recently translated by Shmuplations.
"We were designing the courses right at the time the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were underway," chief director Kiyoshi Mizuki said. "I saw the short track they'd prepared for the ice skating and thought, 'We should make a track like that!'"
One quick look at any of the speed skating events from those Olympics would make the comparison to Baby Park pretty obvious, but I think the inspiration might be even more clear if you look at Australian skater Steven Bradbury's legendary win in the 1000 meter event. From a distant fifth place, Bradbury snatched the gold medal when every single one of his competitors crashed into each other in the final lap. It is perhaps the most Mario Kart thing you'll ever see in a real-life race.
With that in mind, it's easy to see why the Olympics could've inspired Baby Park, but a short-lived indoor kart racing fad in Japan was also an influence. "Do you remember the 'slick kart' attractions they used to have?" Shinya Takahashi, also a producer on Double Dash, added. "They were only popular for a brief time, but you'd race your kart around a short, very slick indoor track. That was our image for Baby Park."
"We made a quick little test track and tried it out, and it was really fun, so we used it as-is," Mizuki said. "The idea was a simple course where everyone can use their items aggressively."
Baby Park has been controversial from the start, since it's chaotic even by Mario Kart standards. Nonetheless, following its Double Dash debut it's also appeared in Mario Mart DS, 8, and even the mobile game Mario Kart Tour. It remains to be seen if it'll appear in Mario Kart World, but some fans have already taken note of a spot on the map that looks like it could house the track, and players were already bracing for Baby Park's return from the instant it became clear the new game would let a massive number of racers on-track all at once.
But Nintendo always knew it was going to be a controversial track, even during Double Dash's testing. "There's players who don't like it too," Mizuki concluded. "It's a love-it-or-hate-it kind of course."
Find out where Mario Kart: Double Dash ranks among the best GameCube games of all time.
