Battle Mode

Playing Battle Mode courses in race modes has some odd effects. In Time Trial, players start in the middle of nowhere and get towed to Player 1's starting point, then can explore the track. In Mario GP, the game won't initialize properly (the same as if you use Gameshark codes to skip round 1), so every player will be Mario. If at least one track is played in GP mode first, the effect depends on the course:

• Big Donut and Skyscraper: Players start in the middle of the course and fall to their doom before the race has started, which makes the game hang.
• Block Fort: The race starts, but the AI characters just drive straight ahead, right through the wall, and just keep going.
• Double Deck: Players start below the floor and fall. For some reason this doesn't break the start sequence like it does in Big Donut and Skyscraper. The AI characters respawn in unusual places (which look as though they might be item box locations), and don't move, but animate as if they were driving. They can be attacked, but shells tend to become confused. Some characters contiuously respawn. The finish line can be seen floating in the sky, but it's not possible to finish a lap.

Race courses can be played in Battle Mode, but they will not intialize the battle mode variables, so players will start with no balloons and the game will end immediately. The solution is to start a battle course and quit before playing a race course. The only issue is in some courses players will start out of bounds, causing them to fall and lose a balloon.

Note that starting any track other than Luigi Raceway, Toad's Turnpike, Wario Stadium, or DK's Jungle Parkway in GP mode does not initialize GP mode variables, and starting any non-battle course in battle mode does not initialize battle mode variables. However, when the order of tracks is rearranged, the game works fine. This suggests that the initialization is performed when the track being loaded is the first in a cup.