WLCVGR — Video Game Radio
Playlist: Mario Kart — Desert Tracks (Environment Collection)
Video Link: https://youtu.be/kQFez_JbuvI
Subject: Curator's Commentary
 
 
🎵 General WLCVGR Playlist Notes 🎵
♪ This playlist contains minor–major spoilers, depending on your tolerance for "spoiler-tier" content.
 
♪ In order to best preserve the sound and feel of the music as it was originally intended to be heard, this playlist consists only of music that can be found within official "Mario Kart" video games.  Tracks of the following categories will not appear in the playlist: Officially sanctioned arrangements found outside of the games, Unofficial fan-created arrangements, & Unofficial fan-created original soundtracks for fan-created games/mods.
 
♪ Exhaustive comprehensiveness was the goal of this playlist.
 
♪ Future "revised" playlists may include relevant music from new "Mario Kart" titles.
 
🎵 "Mario Kart" General Playlist Notes 🎵
♪ "Final Lap" renditions of tracks will not be represented on this playlist.  "Final Lap" renditions can be described as the "sped up versions" of background tracks that play when the player enters the final lap of a race or when time is running low (usually in the case of "battle mode").

♪ While tracks in the playlist have been arranged in chronological order (according to release date) to best give the listener a "feel" for how the hardware technology evolved over time, an exception was made in regards to how "retro" courses were presented.  Rather than being grouped together with their respective games, the "retro course" renditions of tracks were arranged to play directly after their originally appearing counterparts to help create a logically smooth and consistent listening experience.
  ♪ (For example, "Mario Kart DS" remade a course from "Mario Kart 64."  The newly-arranged Nintendo DS version of the track will appear after the original heard in the Nintendo 64 release, rather than being grouped with the other "original" DS tracks.)

♪ "Battle Arena" tracks have been handled on a game-by-game basis.  Battle arenas that feature original background music will be included in the "Environment Collection" and "Character Collection" playlists.  Battle areas that share background music with other battle arenas (in the same game) will be excluded from the aforementioned playlists.
  ♪ To simplify the above explanation, only "Mario Kart Wii" and "Mario Kart 7" will have their original battle arena themes represented in these playlists.
    ♪ "Super Mario Kart" through "Mario Kart DS" typically feature a single "battle mode" track that is played across all arenas.
    ♪ "Mario Kart 8" does not feature original battle arenas whatsoever.
    ♪ "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" does feature original battle arenas, however, these tracks will not appear in the playlist due to the reasons explained below.

♪ Nintendo Switch's "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe," an enhanced port of Nintendo WiiU's "Mario Kart 8," currently has no representation on this playlist due to a lack of an official soundtrack from Nintendo.  Normally, a gamerip would be pursued as an alternative option.  However, due to how recently "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" was released in relation to this playlist's creation, the curator is giving Nintendo more time to offer an official release.  If no official soundtrack is provided in reasonable time, future revisions of this playlist may include tracks sourced from gamerips.
  ♪ Additionally (as of crafting these playlists), "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" is actively receiving new content in the form of the "Booster Course Pass," a paid DLC pack that will include a total of 48 "new" courses (most, if not all of the featured courses are returning remade/"retro" racetracks).  With this in consideration, it feels morally wrong to represent new content from "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" without waiting for an official soundtrack release.
 
♪ "Mario Kart Arcade GP VR," a virtual reality-based, arcade-exclusive "Mario Kart" title produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment, will not be represented on this playlist due to the following reasons:
  ♪ The game's soundtrack largely reuses music from "Mario Kart Arcade GP DX."
  ♪ No official soundtrack exists for this title (and likely never will).
  ♪ No unofficial audio gamerip of sufficient quality was able to be found by this curator.  If one is discovered in the future, then tracks from the game may be added into future/"revised" playlists.
 
♪ "Mario Kart Tour," a mobile-exclusive "Mario Kart" title, will not be represented on this playlist.  This is due to the following reasons:
  ♪ The game's soundtrack reuses much music from other "Mario Kart" titles (heavily leaning on "Mario Kart 8").
  ♪ As of crafting these playlists, "Mario Kart Tour" is actively and regularly receiving new content and updates.  With this in consideration, it feels morally wrong to represent content from "Mario Kart Tour" without waiting for an official soundtrack release.
    ♪ That said, if no official soundtrack is provided in reasonable time once the game is "completed"/abandoned, future revisions of this playlist may include tracks sourced from gamerips.
 
♪ Nintendo Switch's "Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit," a hybrid physical toy/virtual reality-based video game experience developed by Velan Studios, will not be represented on this playlist, largely due to this curator being unable to find an unofficial audio gamerip of sufficient quality.  If one is discovered in the future, then tracks from the game may be added into future/"revised" playlists.
 
🎵 Playlist-Specific Notes 🎵
♪ The "Desert" playlist theme was quite easy to define and represent in "Mario Kart."  The majority of the selected tracks should be self-explanatory.

♪ In "Super Mario Kart," the course "Choco Island" (all variations) could be arguably set in some sort of desertified landscape.  However, the deep brown of the environment and the large presence of mud (water) suggest that the terrain is primarily dirt, not sand.