Koopa Freerunning
Koopa Freerunning is a minigame featured in Super Mario Odyssey. Upon completing the main story, a Koopa Troopa wearing a green hat appears in the various kingdoms and challenges Mario to a race against him and three other Koopa Troopas (red, blue, and purple—known as the Roving Racers) across the kingdom's landscape for a Power Moon; these races are known as Regular Cups. The kingdom's landscape often changes to how it was before the kingdom's Multi Moons were collected during the race, such as Snow Kingdom being under a blizzard and Seaside Kingdom being in the daytime. Upon destroying the respective kingdom's Moon Rock and clearing the Regular Cup, the purple Koopa Troopa is replaced with a gold Koopa Troopa, who is much smarter than the other racers and uses advanced shortcuts and techniques; these races are known as Master Cups and award another Power Moon. Mario and the Roving Racers can capture enemies in their environment to speed themselves up; however, the Roving Racers rapidly spin inside of their shells and move rather than possess the enemy. After collecting both Power Moons from a specific race, Mario can keep racing to beat his high scores; every time Mario beats the gold Koopa Troopa afterwards, the Koopa Troopa awards fifty to one hundred coins depending on the kingdom in which the race takes place. The Roving Racers appear in every kingdom besides Cloud Kingdom, Ruined Kingdom, Dark Side, and Darker Side.
Next to the Koopa Troopa who starts the race is a Rankings Board for the race, which shows global and friend leaderboards for all of the minigames when connected to the Internet.
List of Koopa Freerunning races[edit]
| Kingdom | Image | Starting location | Ending location | Shortcuts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cap Kingdom | 
|
Top of Top-Hat Tower | Tallest hill near the Odyssey | Long Jumping off the top of the tower towards the bridge and breaking the fall by Ground Pounding or throwing Cappy just before landing can save Mario several seconds. |
| Cascade Kingdom | 
|
Near the Odyssey | In front of the 8-bit section near Stone Bridge | Wall Jumping and then diving onto the ledge in front of the bridge over the waterfall saves Mario time by not having to go around it. |
| Sand Kingdom | 
|
In front of the building in Tostarena Northwest Reaches (Green Koopa Troopa and Rankings Board) Roof of the building in Tostarena Northwest Reaches (actual race) |
Entrance of Tostarena Town | Mario riding Jaxi across the desert and not braking makes the race much faster. Mario can also travel through the series of spark pylons from the start to the Inverted Pyramid, then to the Round Tower, and finally to Tostarena Town. |
| Lake Kingdom | 
|
Near the Odyssey | Water Plaza Terrace | Triple Jumping and Cap Diving onto the ledge with the Goombas at the start of the race allows Mario to skip most of the underwater segment and clear the race much faster than even the Gold Koopa Troopa. |
| Wooded Kingdom | 
|
Forest Charging Station | Iron Road: Halfway Point | Mario can Long Jump and then Cap Dive to skip the entire maze, saving lots of time. |
| Lost Kingdom | 
|
Near the Odyssey | Rocky Mountain Summit | Mario can jump and dive around the side of the two Trapeetle segments to save a few seconds each. |
| Metro Kingdom | 
|
Rooftop north of the park by Main Street Entrance | Rooftop pool to the left of New Donk City Hall | Mario can capture two spark pylons on the right side of New Donk City Hall, travel up them, then Long Jump off of the top to reach the pool much faster. |
| Snow Kingdom | 
|
Northwest corner of the kingdom | Near the Odyssey | Removing the stakes in the water and riding the resulting whirlwinds can immediately take Mario to the bridge in front of the goal, saving a lot of time. |
| Seaside Kingdom | 
|
Island above Ocean Trench East (Green Koopa Troopa and Rankings Board) Underwater area in front of Sphynx (actual race) |
Above Rolling Canyon | Mario can capture a Gushen above the water and use it to move much faster across the water than normal swimming. It can also be used to surmount the cliff by landing in the elevated pool to the left of Rolling Canyon's entrance, then flying over to the cliff and releasing the Gushen to get on top of the cliff. |
| Luncheon Kingdom | 
|
Outside Volcano Cave | Top of the Peak Climb | Long Jumping and Cap Diving from the beginning to the cliffside gives Mario a good headstart. There is also a hidden staircase towards the last area of the race that takes Mario immediately to the goal. |
| Bowser's Kingdom | 
|
Beneath the Keep | Near the Odyssey | Mario can Long Jump from the edge of the roof at the start of the race all the way down to the underwater area, skipping a significant amount of the race. |
| Moon Kingdom | 
|
Wedding Hall | Tall plateau to the west of the Odyssey | Mario making multiple Long Jumps and Triple Jumps at the beginning of the race can save time. Using the Rocket Flowers found on the surface will shorten Mario's time even more. |
| Mushroom Kingdom | 
|
Mushroom Pond | Peach's Castle Main Entrance | Mario using the Rocket Flowers scattered around the area and not crashing into walls will make the race shorter. |
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ノコノコレース Nokonoko Rēsu |
Koopa Troopa Race |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 喏库喏库赛跑 Nuòkùnuòkù Sàipǎo |
Koopa Troopa Race |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 慢慢龜賽跑 Mànmanguī Sàipǎo |
Koopa Troopa Race |
| Dutch | Koopa-parkoers | Koopa Parkour |
| French | Course Koopa | Koopa Race |
| German | Koopa-Freerunning | Koopa Freerunning |
| Italian | Corsa dei Koopa | Koopa Race |
| Korean | 엉금엉금 레이스 Eonggeum'eonggeum Reiseu |
Koopa Troopa Race |
| Russian | Купа-кросс Kupa-kross |
Koopa Cross |
| Spanish (NOA) | Carrera de koopas | Koopa Race |
| Spanish (NOE) | Carrera de Koopas | Koopa Race |
