Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii
Game box art Wii Wheel bundle box
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Wii
Release date	Wii (original release) April 10, 2008 April 11, 2008 April 24, 2008 April 27, 2008 July 12, 2008 July 12, 2008 April 30, 2009 Wii (Nintendo Selects) October 18, 2013 November 7, 2013 August 28, 2014
Genre	Racing
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages ACB: - General
Mode(s)	Single Player, Multiplayer, Online Play
Media	Wii: Optical disc
Input	Wii: Wii Remote Wii Remote and Nunchuk Wii Classic Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Wii Wheel

Mario Kart Wii is a multiplayer-oriented racing game for the Wii console, developed by Nintendo EAD. It is the sixth installment in the main Mario Kart series and the eighth overall. Mario Kart Wii retains the traditional item-based weaponry familiar with the franchise, where players can select a Mario franchise driver and themed vehicles. As with most racing games, the overarching goal is to place first among other competitors, through the usage of such items and taking the fastest routes to secure the leads. Several new key elements introduced to Mario Kart Wii include increasing the number of racers to 12 racers from 8 racers from previous entries in the series, as well as introducing a new type of vehicle to the franchise: bikes. The game takes advantage of features unique to the Wii, most notably its motion control capabilities. A Wii Wheel is included in most Mario Kart Wii packages, though the game is still compatible with other controllers such as a regular Wii Remote held sideways, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Nintendo GameCube controller, and the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro. Game modes are also present such as the traditional Grand Prix, Versus, Battle, and Time Trial modes, many of them made use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection before its discontinuation for worldwide online play.

This game requires 23 blocks of storage on the player's Wii system to save game data. Also, the game data cannot be copied onto another Wii. The game also includes its own Wii Channel, called the Mario Kart Channel, which allows players to play in special tournaments and trade their racing profile with other players around the world. This channel uses 74 to 88 blocks (depending on the game's region), but unlike the game data, players can copy the channel onto their SD cards.

With over 36 million copies of the game sold, Mario Kart Wii is the second best-selling Wii game (after Wii Sports) and the best-selling Mario game for the Wii console.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was terminated by Nintendo starting on May 20th, 2014, therefore making it no longer available to play Mario Kart Wii (as well as Mario Kart DS and other games that support WFC) online.

Gameplay

The game's main title screen. If one or more profiles have gotten first place on every Mirror Mode cup, the title screen will change from Mario and Luigi using the Wii Wheel to individual pictures of Mario, Luigi, Peach or Bowser.

This map shows all the countries listed in the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in Mario Kart Wii. Not all regions registered on the Wii system are registered in the game. Some countries that have lost their independence, such as Aruba, Sint Maarten and Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles), as well as others that have disappeared or disintegrated, are still registered as separate regions on the Wii system or the game. In addition, South Sudan and Sudan are still registered together as "Sudan", even though they split.

Mario Kart Wii retains most of the elements from previous Mario Kart games, especially Mario Kart DS. Players select a racer from a cast of Mario characters, who are all divided into size categories in relation to their stats, and they need to select a vehicle from the class they belong in, all with their own stats. All races start with players at a line corresponding to their proper position, where Lakitu signals the countdown time. Once the time is finished, players race three laps around a race course in an attempt to be first of the pack. Once the third lap is completed, players are ranked points depending on how well they placed in the race. While every previous Mario Kart game allowed for a maximum of eight racers on each course, up to twelve are on the course at a time in Mario Kart Wii. In Grand Prix and VS mode, player characters always start out on the latter positions; once they finish the race, their position is saved as they move on to the next race. Like Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii shows a rating of how well a player performed after the trophy presentation: ★★★, ★★, ★, A, B, C, D, and E (E being the lowest ranking and ★★★ being the highest).

Integral to the Mario Kart series is the usage of Mario-themed items to use as weapons against other racers in the track, either directly benefiting the player or hurting another player's progress. Players can receive these items at random from Item Boxes scattered around the track. The quality of the item received depends on the position of the racer: racers who are further down the line receive stronger items to help compensate their poorer performances. For examples, lower racers receive Mushrooms as speed boosts, Stars for faster invincibility, etc. while higher-placed racers receive weak items such as Green Shells and Banana Peels. When players receive an item, they can stop the item roulette faster by pressing the corresponding item button.

Several advanced techniques are retained in Mario Kart Wii from prior Mario Kart titles, although several tweaks have been made to them. Players can drift through tougher curves to maintain speed; players can perform a Mini-Turbo when players receive color-coded sparks from drifting, which depends on how long players can hold the button for drifting and the angle at which they drift. Introduced in Mario Kart Wii are two drift modes: Automatic and Manual. Automatic drifting allows players to automatically drift when turning very sharply, though players cannot perform Mini-Turbos regardless of how well they drift. Manual mode requires players hold down a button to drift, but releasing the button may release a Mini-Turbo, the strength of it depending on the color of the sparks. Players are now able to perform tricks when they driver over specific types of ramps. When drivers perform a trick and land successfully, they gain a momentary boost of speed. Tricks consist of mid-air acrobatics and are performed by shaking the Wii Wheel upward, shaking the Wii Remote in the Wii Remote + Nunchuk combo, pressing the on the Classic Controller, or pressing the on the GameCube controller.

Motorbikes are introduced in this game, alongside having a wider variety of karts to select from. Motorbikes can perform wheelies to increase top speed on straights, though motorbikes cannot perform the most powerful Mini-Turbo that karts can. Motorbikes also come in two classes: drift type and hang-on type. Drift type bikes drift in a similar way to karts, while hang-on type bikes commit to the turn instead.

Prior to discontinuation of online services, Mario Kart Wii featured a text chat in Online Multiplayer Mode when racing or battling against Friends. Users can send pre-written phrases to other users before the series of races starts. However, there is no facility for a user to type custom messages.

Another new change is the point system used for Grand Prix races. With twelve racers competing in each race, the point value has increased from 10/8/6/4/3/2/1/0 points for first to eighth place respectively to 15/12/10/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1/0 points for first to twelfth place respectively. Also, 4th and 5th place are not losing positions. The following chart shows the difference of the point spreads from previous games to this installment.

Point Spread Comparisons (GP)
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th
Super Mario Kart Mario Kart 64 Mario Kart: Super Circuit	9	6	3	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Mario Kart DS	10	8	6	4	3	2	1	0	—	—	—	—
Mario Kart Wii	15	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0
Grove-green bg signifies victory results (great clapping, character(s) cheering), best after-race music Yellow-limegreen bg signifies moderate results (mild clapping, moderate character reaction), same music in Wi-Fi as winner (different in MKDS GP) Normal bg signifies losing results, losing music; - means not available In Super Mario Kart, and Mario Kart Super Circuit, 5th or worse forces the player to retry the race. If the racer fares this badly four times, the Grand Prix must be started over. In Mario Kart 64, 5th or worse forces the player to retry the race, but without the restrictions on how many times the player can retry a race. In Mario Kart: Double Dash and other installments after that game including this installment, the Grand Prix normally goes forth.

Controls

Controllers that can be used in Mario Kart Wii.

Mario Kart Wii takes advantage of the Wii Remote's motion-sensing ability. By tilting the remote, players can steer their karts. Since the Wii Remote is designed to be inserted into the Wii Wheel for better grip, players can also play without the Wheel if they choose to. Mario Kart Wii can also be played by connecting the Nunchuk Controller or the Classic Controller, or using the GameCube Controller. Controlling the vehicle is divided up into two sections: Basic and Advanced.

Basic controls and actions

• Accelerate: When drivers hold down the corresponding button, the vehicle goes forward. Accelerating time depends on the type of karts: Lightweight karts have a high acceleration, but low speed. Heavyweight karts tend to have a low acceleration, but a high top speed. Middleweight karts tend to have an average top speed and acceleration.
• Steer: Steering lets drivers move around corners.
• Brake: Braking slows the vehicle to an abrupt stop.
• Reverse: The driver's kart goes backwards if the driver continues holding the brake button after the vehicle comes to a stop. If a vehicle reaches maximum top speed, the vehicle will drift instead. If the player tries to accelerate while going in reverse, the vehicle will start to build momentum. When blue sparks start to appear, the player can release the brakes to get a small speed of boost.
• Look Behind: Drivers can look behind their vehicle. In this way, drivers can be alert from other drivers incoming to steal their place. Drivers can also use this feature to see where they are going while backing up, or to aim a weapon at an opponent following up. This feature once appeared in Super Mario Kart.
• Drift: Drivers drift to keep the vehicle's speed and take corners more easily, with the benefit of getting mini-turbos. The feature can be set to happen automatically or when a button is held.

Advanced control modes

Koopa Troopa performing a successful Rocket Start at Koopa Cape.

• Rocket Start: Drivers can perform a speed boost when a race begins. If drivers hold down the corresponding acceleration button right after the countdown timer displays the number 2, then they will receive an extra speed boost when the word GO! appears on the screen. However, if drivers hold down the button for too long, when the final beep is heard, their engine bursts and they get an even worse start than a regular one and take a few seconds to recover.
• Mini-Turbo: When drivers Drift for a reasonable amount of time varying on the vehicle used, blue sparks erupt from the vehicle's rear tires. Releasing the drift button gives them a short burst of speed. In a kart, drivers can keep drifting for longer periods to get orange sparks and a longer boost. However, orange sparks cannot be created on bikes. The amount of time the player must drift also depends on the vehicle's drifting stats. Drivers can also perform a "standing mini-turbo" by holding the brake/drift and acceleration buttons at the same time. This is helpful for vehicles with slow acceleration, as it will get the vehicle to top speed. A mini-turbo can't be performed when drifting is set to automatic, but the standing mini-turbo can.
• Jumps: If players jump over ramps or mushrooms, the length of the jump can be controlled by (shorter jump) and (longer jump).
• Tricks: Drivers can pull off a trick when they jump in order to gain a momentary mini-turbo. Drivers can perform a trick by flicking the Wii Remote, pressing the on Classic Controller, or on the GameCube Controller in any direction when going off a ramp or hill. They obtain a speed boost when landing.
• Wheelie: Wheelies can be performed only when drivers are riding Bikes. Drivers can increase their speed by lifting up the front of their bike. While drivers perform a wheelie, the bike cannot be easily steered. The wheelie can be ended by braking, hopping, waiting for the wheelie to end, or simply setting the Wii Wheel or Wii Remote back down or pressing . If drivers are bumped into while they are performing a Wheelie, they lose most of their speed.
• Bullet Bill: If flying as Bullet Bill, its route can be controlled a little bit with and . The range may differ for every part of a track.

Game modes

Luigi in SNES Mario Circuit 3.

• Grand Prix (1 player) In this mode, the player races against eleven other CPU players to finish in first. There are eight cups to choose from, ranging from the most to the least difficult. Drivers earn points by placing within twelve positions (see chart above). A driver with the most points at the end of the four races wins the cup. The driver will be awarded a grade for their racing performance at the end of the cup.
• Time Trial (1 player) Drivers race for the fastest time on a selected course. The fastest record is saved as a Ghost and can be raced against at a later time. Drivers can also race staff records, Regional Records/Champions, World Records/Champions (Wi-Fi must be used), and Friend Records (Friend must be registered and must send the Ghost for Ghost Races, and Wi-Fi also must be used.)
• VS Race (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Drivers can race with their own custom settings, but it is otherwise relatively the same as Grand Prix, other than the fact that drivers can see the other racers' character's names. The driver may choose a Solo Race, where they try to win for themselves, or Team Race, where two teams, red and blue, try to win by gathering the most points and beating the other.
• Battle (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Drivers team up in two teams of six in a battle for the most points within a 3 minute time limit. Items work only against the opposite team and have no effect on the team that uses them. Players can select only the Standard Kart or Bike, color-coded for the team they are on. There are two ways to battle:
  • Balloon Battle: All drivers get three balloons and must use the items to hit the opponents to pop their balloons and get one point for every hit. If drivers lose all their balloons, one point is deducted and remain out for a while to be brought back to the battle with three balloons once more.
  • Coin Runners: The goal for drivers is to obtain more coins with their team than the other. In the top right corner of the screen, the score shows, which are the coins obtained altogether for each team. If drivers hit opponents, opponents drop their Coins. The number of Coins dropped depends on the item that hits the player and the number of coins that the player has already gathered.
• Ghost Race (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) A Time Trial race with Ghosts made by players around the world with relatively the same skill level to the actual player.
• Tournament (also known as Competition) (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) Drivers would compete in a timed competition with specific goals (see list below). This mode served as the replacement of Mission Mode from Mario Kart DS. New tournaments were posted twice a month. The tournaments were discontinued after the first tournament in May 2014 was over.

Grand Prix Mode initially allows only Karts in 50cc and only Bikes in 100cc; if all the Grand Prix's are won in a single engine class, the other vehicle type will become available for it. Mirror Mode is unlocked by scoring first place on all 150cc Grand Prix.

Other information

• Additionally, in this game, both normal races and battles are playable online through the use of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC). This is the second game in the series to utilize the WFC, the third to support online connectivity, and the first to allow for online battles. Races and Battles will now cater up to 12 players via Wi-Fi connection.
• Just like in Mario Kart DS, it is not possible to play Grand Prix with multiple players. Players can now only win cup trophies by playing alone.
• In Battle Mode, the player can only play in teams. Also, the Spiny Shell makes its first appearance in Battle Mode. It chases the player of the opposite team with the most points. Also, Lightning is an item in Battle Mode. It shrinks the drivers of the opposite team and makes them lose their items, but does not take a balloon or drop coins.

Tournaments

A list of Tournaments up to the most recent one can be found here.

Baby Mario collecting coins in Tournament Mode.

Mario Kart Wii introduces a new mode for the Mario Kart series, entitled "Tournament Mode" (also known as Competition mode in the European version). Tournament Mode is somewhat similar to Mission Mode from Mario Kart DS. Tournaments can be played on the Mario Kart Channel, as long as the Mario Kart Wii disc is in the Wii. Tournaments require an Internet connection and WiiConnect24 to be turned on before they can be played. After a while, a tournament is retired to make room for a new one. However, the rankings of older tournaments can still be viewed on the rankings table. The tournaments began in May 2008 and continued even after all WiiConnect24 services were discontinued on June 28, 2013. The tournament service itself was later discontinued on May 20, 2014, the date on which the Nintendo WFC servers shut down.

The varieties of tournaments include the following:

• VS Race - A standard VS race; however, race courses were somewhat altered.
• Time Trial - A standard Time Trial; however, race courses were somewhat altered.
• Numbered Gates - The player had to drive through ordered gates as fast as possible.
• Coin Collecting - The player had to collect the coins on the stage as fast as possible.
• Boss Battle - The player had to fight against a special boss.

Licenses

An example of a Mario Kart Wii license.

Licenses replace normal save files. It is the first Mario Kart game to feature more than one save file.

Each license contains each player's data, their Mii, nickname, Friend Code, and a table including all categories and cups with an empty space. After a cup is won, the corresponding space is filled in with a colored square: gold for first place, silver for second, bronze for third. If at any time the Mii being used for Mario Kart Wii is deleted from the Mii Channel, the in-game Mii is also deleted.

Friend roster

A friend roster.

Players can add different people around the world on to their Mario Kart Wii Friend Roster. Two people need to add the Friend Codes on their licenses. A player can have up to 30 people on their Friend Roster.

If two people are friends on a roster, one can open a room, which allows who is ever friends with the person to join that room. In the room, the players who joined can send messages. If a player who added the person who created the room, and another person joins and the player has not added them, they have an ability to do so. The host of the room can choose a VS Race, Team VS Race, Balloon Battle, and Coin Runners.

If a player joins a race when another player is online and friends with them, the player who added the player in the race can join that race and race with the friend.

Characters

Drivers

The complete roster.

Mario Kart Wii features 12 starting characters, while 14 (if both Mii outfits are counted as separate characters) more can be unlocked for a total of 26 playable characters. Unlike with the past Mario Kart titles, however, the characters are categorized under a size class system, instead of the usual weight class system. Excluding the Mii, each size class has 8 characters, making Mario Kart Wii the only game in the Mario Kart series where the weight/size classes have an equal amount of characters, if including Shy Guy from Mario Kart DS.

The size classes are as follows:

• Small: Small drivers will drive small vehicles. They usually have good acceleration, handling, and off-road stats, but low top speed and weight.
• Medium: Medium drivers will drive medium-sized vehicles. Most of the karts show average weight and off-road.
• Large: Large drivers will drive large vehicles. They mostly feature high top speed and weight, but low acceleration, handling, and off-road.

Starting drivers

• 

  Baby Mario
  Small

• 

  Baby Peach
  Small
  New Driver

• 

  Toad
  Small

• 

  Koopa Troopa
  Small

• 

  Mario
  Medium

• 

  Luigi
  Medium

• 

  Peach
  Medium

• 

  Yoshi
  Medium

• 

  Wario
  Large

• 

  Waluigi
  Large

• 

  Donkey Kong
  Large

• 

  Bowser
  Large

Unlockable drivers

• 

  Baby Luigi
  Small

• 

  Baby Daisy
  Small
  New Driver (First Appearance)

• 

  Toadette
  Small

• 

  Dry Bones
  Small

• 

  Daisy
  Medium

• 

  Birdo
  Medium

• 

  Diddy Kong
  Medium

• 

  Bowser Jr.
  Medium

• 

  King Boo
  Large

• 

  Rosalina
  Large
  New Driver

• 

  Funky Kong
  Large
  New Driver

• 

  Dry Bowser
  Large
  New Driver

• Miis are also featured as an unlockable character with two different costumes to unlock – a racing suit and an outfit that varies depending on the gender (Males wear Mario-style overalls, while females wear a Peach-styled short dress). The color of the outfit and the Mii's voice depends on the Mii's favorite color, while their size class is determined based on their height and weight.

Unlocking criteria

Character	Standard criteria	Racing criteria	Wi-Fi criteria
Baby Luigi	Unlock 8 Expert Staff Ghost Data records in Time Trials	Play 3,150 races	Win 100 WFC Ghost races
Baby Daisy	Rank 1 Star or higher in all 50cc Wii Grand Prix Cups	Play 1,950 races	N/A
Toadette	Play Time Trials on all courses	Play 2,550 races	Win 1,000 WFC races
Dry Bones	Win the 100cc Leaf Cup	Play 1,050 races	N/A
Daisy	Win the 150cc Special Cup	Play 2,850 races	N/A
Birdo	Play Time Trials on 16 different courses	Play 1,350 races	Win 250 WFC races
Diddy Kong	Win the 50cc Lightning Cup	Play 450 races	N/A
Bowser Jr.	Rank 1 Star or higher in all 100cc Retro Grand Prix Cups	Play 3,450 races	N/A
King Boo	Win the 50cc Star Cup	Play 750 races	N/A
Rosalina	Rank 1 Star or higher in all Mirror Cups	Play 50 races with a Super Mario Galaxy save file, or play 4,950 races	N/A
Funky Kong	Unlock 4 Expert Staff Ghost Data records in Time Trials	Play 2,250 races	Win 25 WFC Ghost races
Dry Bowser	Rank 1 Star or higher in all 150cc Wii Grand Prix Cups	Play 4,350 races	N/A
Mii Outfit A	Win the 100cc Special Cup	Play 1,650 races	N/A
Mii Outfit B	Unlock all 32 Expert Staff Ghost Data records in Time Trials	Play 5,100 combined races and battles	Win 5,000 WFC Ghost races

Bonuses

All the characters in the game have their own set of bonuses that boost certain stats for their vehicles. Units are out of 80, so a stat bonus of 3 would make a stat three points better than normal. Baby Peach and Large Miis have the most stat bonuses, with a total of 15 each. Bowser Jr. has the fewest stat bonuses, with a total of 6.

Character Bonuses
Character	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo
Baby Mario	-	8	-	6	-	-	-
Baby Luigi	5	8	-	-	-	-	-
Baby Peach	3	6	3	3	-	-	-
Baby Daisy	5	6	-	-	-	-	3
Toad	-	-	6	-	6	-	-
Toadette	3	-	-	-	-	6	-
Koopa Troopa	-	-	-	3	-	-	6
Dry Bones	-	-	3	-	3	-	6
Mario	-	6	2	2	3	-	-
Luigi	2	6	-	-	-	-	-
Peach	2	-	5	-	6	-	-
Daisy	4	-	-	2	-	-	3
Yoshi	-	3	-	-	3	5	-
Birdo	-	3	-	-	-	3	5
Diddy Kong	-	-	3	-	3	-	5
Bowser Jr.	-	-	-	-	-	3	3
Wario	-	3	-	-	-	3	6
Waluigi	-	-	6	-	5	3	-
Donkey Kong	-	3	2	2	-	-	3
Bowser	2	5	-	-	3	-	-
King Boo	-	-	-	5	-	3	-
Rosalina	3	-	-	3	-	-	3
Funky Kong	4	-	-	-	-	3	-
Dry Bowser	-	-	-	-	-	6	6
Small Mii	3	3	-	-	3	-	3
Medium Mii	3	3	-	-	-	3	3
Large Mii	3	-	3	3	3	-	3

Additional enemies, obstacles, and species

These characters and features may either aid the player or act as obstacles and other intractable objects which impede racers if bumped into.

Characters and elements
Character/element	Location	Description
Angry Sun	DS Desert Hills	An enemy that appears as part of the scenery and spawns Fire Snakes onto the course.
Bob-omb Car	Moonview Highway	A car that explodes when driven into or hit by a shell that sends any drivers flying. Any driver who runs into the latter frames of the explosion spins out.
Bowser Statue	N64 Bowser's Castle	A large statue of Bowser that burns drivers if they run into its flame.
Boulder	GCN DK Mountain	Large balls of rock that roll down the course and flip over any driver who runs into them.
Cataquack	GCN Peach Beach	Enemies that flip drivers over when touched. Players can temporarily stun them by hitting them with shells or driving through them while invincible.
Chain Chomp	Mario Circuit, GCN Mario Circuit, DS Peach Gardens	Enemies that knock over drivers by ramming into them. Some Chain Chomps are chained to a stake while others roam freely.
Chomp	Chain Chomp Wheel	An enemy that appears rolling around in Chain Chomp Wheel. Driving under it smashes players, while flying into its upper regions from a ramp causes players to flip over.
Delfino Oak Tree	GCN Mario Circuit	Stationary obstacles that stop players when driven into, serving as a wall.
Fire Snake	Grumble Volcano, DS Desert Hills	Burning, snake-like enemies that spin drivers out when touched.
Goomba	Mushroom Gorge, Mario Circuit, Koopa Cape, GCN Mario Circuit	Small enemies that spin drivers out when touched. If a driver defeats them with a shell or while invincible, they drop Mushrooms.
Koopa Zapper	Koopa Cape	Rotating currents of electricity that temporarily shrink players when touched, similar to the effects of a Lightning, though the duration is shorter.
Lakitu	N/A	The referee of Mario Kart Wii and the entire Mario Kart series, he starts races, keeps track of the laps, announces the winner of the race, and pulls drivers out if they fall off the track.
Lava Geyser	Grumble Volcano, Bowser's Castle, N64 Bowser's Castle	Pillars of lava that either emerge from pools of lava or from cracks on the ground. The hills generated by the geysers can be tricked off of, though coming in contact with the lava pillar causes racers to flip over.
Mecha Bowser	Bowser's Castle	A large Bowser-shaped machine that spits out large, explosive fireballs that detonate on a blast mark in the stage. Drivers who are hit by the fireball flip over, and are sent flying if they are caught in the explosion.
Mecha Piranha Plant	GCN Waluigi Stadium	Piranha Plant-shaped obstacles that act as moving walls, emerging from the pipes and stopping any driver who runs into them.
Mii Drivers	Coconut Mall	Miis from the player's system who drive a car back and forth. Driving into them flips drivers over.
Minecart	Wario's Gold Mine	A four-wheeled vehicle that travels along the rails in the mine which causes vehicles that hit it to flip over.
Moo Moo	Moo Moo Meadows	Herds of cows that spin drivers out if they are driven into. They are first found on the off-road patches of the track but wander onto the road as time goes by.
Monty Mole	Moo Moo Meadows, DS Peach Gardens	Enemies that leap out of holes made of dirt. The holes slow drivers down, and any driver who runs into Monty Moles who leap out of these holes flip over.
Oil Slick	SNES Mario Circuit 3	Patches of oil spills dotted throughout the course which cause drivers who go through them to spin out.
Penguin Slider	N64 Sherbet Land	Small penguins that waddle and slide back and forth that cause drivers who run into them to spin out.
Penguin Waddler	N64 Sherbet Land	Large penguins found circling around a pillar in the cave segment of Sherbet Land that spin out players who drive into them.
Piranha Plant	N64 Mario Raceway, GCN Mario Circuit	Stationary obstacles that spin drivers out when they are touched. The Piranha Plants in GCN Mario Circuit are stationed in Warp Pipes and take bites out of drivers who come nearby, flipping them over.
Podoboo	Bowser's Castle, GBA Bowser Castle 3	Fiery balls that emerge from lava and cause drivers to spin out.
Podoboo Cog	Bowser's Castle, GCN Waluigi Stadium	Solid eyed cogs with three Fire Bars circling them, which cause drivers who touch them to spin out.
Pokey	Dry Dry Ruins, DS Desert Hills	Spiky, cactus-like enemies that spin drivers out when touched. Drivers can temporarily destroy them with shells or by running into them while invincible.
Shy Guy Galleon	GBA Shy Guy Beach	Enemies captaining boats as part of the scenery that launch explosive cannonballs onto the course.
Shy Guy Snowboarder	DK Summit	Snowboarding Shy Guys that spin out drivers when they are touched.
Sidestepper	GBA Shy Guy Beach	Crabs that spin out drivers when they are touched. Drivers can temporarily defeat them with shells or by running into them while invincible.
Spiky Topman	Galaxy Colosseum	Enemies that exclusively appear in Galaxy Colosseum as part of a tournament, where the goal is to knock the Spiky Topmen off the course with Mushroom boosts.
Swooper	Wario's Gold Mine, Dry Dry Ruins	Bat-like enemies that slow players down when they are driven into.
Thwomp	Bowser's Castle, GBA Bowser Castle 3, N64 Bowser's Castle, Thwomp Desert	These enemies smash drivers if they are directly driven under, and act as walls when simply driven into. In N64 Bowser's Castle, some of the Thwomps slide back and forth. The Thwomp in the Thwomp Desert battle course causes the terrain to become uneven, though players can still get smashed by the Thwomp if they are under it when it crashes.
Vehicles: Cars and cargo trucks	Moonview Highway	Cars and trucks on the highway that flip players over when they are driven into and squash drivers that hit them from the front. Characters who are in the Mega Mushroom form can knock cars over, but not trucks, while characters under the effects of invincibility from a Star or using a Bullet Bill can knock all vehicles over.
Wiggler	Maple Treeway	Large enemies that wander around the track and bounce around racers that bump into them.
Volcanic debris	Grumble Volcano	Large balls of fire that spin out any racer who comes in contact with them.

Background characters

These characters appear as part of the audience or do not affect the character, being part of the course scenery served for world-building purposes.

• Birdos
• Boos
• Cheep Cheeps
• Goombas
• Hammer Bros.
• Luma
• Miis
• Monty Moles
• Piantas
• Shy Guys
• Sledge Bros.
• Toads
• Unagi

Vehicles

There are thirty-six total vehicles in this game. There are 18 karts, 18 bikes, each divided into the 3 size classes, making 6 and 6 available to each character, 3 and 3 to begin (thus making half of the vehicles unlockable). Each has 7 stats, which are shown during character selection:

• Speed: How high the top speed of the vehicle is. This does not affect off-road travel.
• Weight: How heavy a vehicle is. With a higher weight, the player can knock lighter characters away by ramming them. Weight also affects the angle that a vehicle goes over a jump at, with heavier vehicles jumping at a lower angle. Finally, heavier vehicles bounce less upon landing from a jump.
• Acceleration: How quickly the vehicle's top speed is achieved from a non-moving position.
• Handling: How tight the vehicles can normally turn. Usually opposes the drift rating.
• Drift: How tight the vehicle turns while using the drifting maneuver. Usually opposes the handling rating.
• Off-Road: How much speed the vehicle retains when off the track. A low rating of this can cause a near-standstill for the vehicle.
• Mini-Turbo: When using the manual drift option, how effective a mini-boost will be. While all vehicles can perform a blue spark mini-turbo, only karts can execute an orange spark mini-turbo. Has no effect on the standing mini-turbo.

The following table includes vehicles in order of class primarily. The last half of each of these six sub-sections is the way the vehicle turns when the player attempts to drift (Drift = the vehicle drifts ; Hang-on = the vehicle commits to the turn) and the unlockable vehicles; the right-hand column describes the requirement to unlock it: if it is a single cup, it must be simply won. The stats are displayed with number values, with the units being out of 80. Names written in small text are names from the PAL regions.

Note: Vehicles with an Off-Road value greater than 50 can drift on normal off-road terrain.

Vehicle Stats
Small Karts	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo	Vehicle Type	Unlock criteria
Standard Kart S	41	29	48	48	51	40	45	Drift	-
Booster Seat (Baby Booster)	27	27	56	64	37	54	59	Drift	-
Mini Beast (Concerto)	55	32	29	32	64	27	64	Drift	-
Cheep Charger	34	24	64	56	59	45	54	Drift	Rank 1 Star in all 50cc Retro Grand Prix Cups
Tiny Titan (Rally Romper)	46	35	43	43	29	64	40	Drift	Unlock an Expert Staff Ghost Data record in Time Trials / Win 50 WFC races
Blue Falcon	60	29	35	29	43	24	29	Drift	Win the Mirror Lightning Cup
Small Bikes	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo	Vehicle Type	Unlock criteria
Standard Bike S	39	21	51	51	54	43	48	Drift	-
Bullet Bike	53	24	32	35	67	29	67	Hang-on	-
Bit Bike (Nanobike)	25	18	59	67	40	56	62	Drift	-
Quacker	32	17	67	60	62	48	57	Hang-on	Win the 150cc Star Cup
Magikruiser	43	24	45	45	32	67	43	Hang-on	Play Time Trials on 8 different courses
Jet Bubble (Bubble Bike)	48	27	40	40	45	35	37	Hang-on	Win the Mirror Leaf Cup
Medium Karts	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo	Vehicle Type	Unlock criteria
Standard Kart M	46	45	40	43	45	35	40	Drift	-
Classic Dragster (Nostalgia 1)	37	43	59	54	54	40	51	Drift	-
Wild Wing	57	51	21	29	59	24	59	Drift	-
Super Blooper (Turbo Blooper)	50	40	35	37	21	54	35	Drift	Win the 50cc Leaf Cup
Daytripper (Royal Racer)	34	45	51	59	32	48	54	Drift	Win the 150cc Leaf Cup
Sprinter (B Dasher Mk 2)	64	48	27	24	37	21	24	Drift	Unlock 24 Expert Staff Ghost Data Records in Time Trials / Win 3000 WFC races
Medium Bikes	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo	Vehicle Type	Unlock criteria
Standard Bike M	43	37	43	45	48	37	43	Drift	-
Mach Bike	55	37	24	32	62	27	62	Hang-on	-
Sugarscoot (Bon Bon)	32	32	54	62	35	51	56	Drift	-
Zip Zip (Rapide)	41	35	45	51	29	62	45	Drift	Win the 100cc Lightning Cup
Sneakster (Nitrocycle)	62	40	29	27	40	24	27	Hang-on	Rank 1 Star in all 100cc Wii Grand Prix Cups
Dolphin Dasher	48	43	37	40	24	56	37	Hang-on	Win the Mirror Star Cup
Large Karts	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo	Vehicle Type	Unlock criteria
Standard Kart L	48	59	37	40	40	35	35	Drift	-
Offroader	39	64	48	54	18	43	45	Drift	-
Flame Flyer	62	59	16	21	48	18	48	Drift	-
Piranha Prowler	55	67	29	35	35	29	27	Drift	Win the 50cc Special Cup
Jetsetter (Aero Glider)	69	56	21	17	27	16	16	Drift	Rank 1 Star in all 150cc Retro Grand Prix Cups
Honeycoupe (Dragonetti)	53	62	27	29	56	24	56	Drift	Win the 150cc Lightning Cup
Large Bikes	Speed	Weight	Acceleration	Handling	Drift	Off-Road	Mini-Turbo	Vehicle Type	Unlock criteria
Standard Bike L	46	54	40	43	43	37	37	Drift	-
Flame Runner (Bowser Bike)	60	54	18	24	51	21	51	Hang-on	-
Wario Bike	37	59	51	56	21	45	48	Drift	-
Shooting Star (Twinkle Star)	50	48	29	32	59	27	59	Drift	Win the 100cc Star Cup
Spear (Torpedo)	67	56	24	18	29	18	18	Hang-on	Unlock 12 Expert Staff Ghost Data records in Time Trials
Phantom	43	51	43	48	17	56	40	Drift	Win the Mirror Special Cup

Actual stats

The stats reported do not correspond to all the actual in-game stats.

Characters' Bonuses

There are 20 different kinds of bonuses, some of them divided in Standard bonuses (relative to when the vehicle is going straight or drifting) and in bonuses obtained While Steering:

• Weight: increase in the weight of the vehicle.
• Speed: increase in the top speed of the vehicle.
  • While Steering: increase in the top speed of the vehicle while steering, expressed as fraction of the top speed.
• Acceleration: increase in the acceleration during each phase.
• Drift: increase in how fast the vehicle can change direction while drifting (angular velocity).
• Handling: increase in how fast the vehicle can change direction while steering (angular velocity).
• Traction: improvement on the grasp of the vehicle.
• Mini-Turbo: increase in the duration of the Mini-Turbo boost.
• Off-Road Speed: increase in the top speed on each of the kinds of off-road sections.
• Off-Road Handling: increase in the Handling on each the kinds of off-road sections.
  

Small Characters' Bonuses
Character		Baby Mario	Baby Luigi	Baby Peach	Baby Daisy	Toad	Toadette	Koopa Troopa	Dry Bones	Small Mii
Weight		0.756	0.756	0.504	0.504	0	0	0	0	0
Speed	Standard (km/h)	0	1.06	0.53	1.06	0	0.53	0	0	0.53
	While steering	0.000474	0.000474	0.000474	0	0.000947	0	0.000474	0.000474	0.000947
Acceleration	Standard	0	0	0.025	0	0.05	0	0	0.025	0
	While Steering	0	0	0.035	0	0.07	0	0	0.035	0
Drift	Standard	0	0	0	0	0.18	0	0	0.09	0
	While Steering	0	0	0	0	0.02	0	0	0.01	0
Handling	Standard	0.00111	0	0.000555	0	0	0	0.000555	0	0.000555
	While Steering	0.00058	0	0.00029	0	0	0	0.00029	0	0.00029
Traction	Standard	0.000529	0	0	0	0	0	0.000265	0	0
	While Steering	0.000444	0	0	0	0	0	0.000222	0	0
Mini-Turbo (frames)		0	0	0	4	0	0	8	8	4
Off-Road Speed	Weak Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.0342	0	0	0
	Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.0368	0	0	0
	Heavy Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.0226	0	0	0
	Slippery Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.01283	0	0	0
Off-Road Handling	Slippery Road	0	0	0	0	0	0.00526	0	0	0
	Weak Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.00736	0	0	0
	Off-road and Heavy Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.00526	0	0	0
	Slippery Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0.00526	0	0	0
Medium Characters' Bonuses
Character		Mario	Luigi	Peach	Daisy	Yoshi	Birdo	Diddy Kong	Bowser Jr.	Medium Mii
Weight		0.504	0.504	0	0	0.252	0.252	0	0	0.252
Speed	Standard (km/h)	0	0.53	0.53	1.06	0	0	0	0	0.53
	While steering	0	0.000474	0	0	0	0.000474	0.000474	0.000947	0
Acceleration	Standard	0.025	0	0.05	0	0	0	0.025	0	0
	While Steering	0.035	0	0.07	0	0	0	0.035	0	0
Drift	Standard	0.09	0	0.18	0	0.09	0	0.09	0	0.09
	While Steering	0.01	0	0.02	0	0.01	0	0.01	0	0.01
Handling	Standard	0.000555	0	0	0.000555	0	0	0	0	0
	While Steering	0.00029	0	0	0.00029	0	0	0	0	0
Traction	Standard	0.000265	0	0	0.000265	0.000265	0	0	0	0.000265
	While Steering	0.000222	0	0	0.000222	0.000222	0	0	0	0.000222
Mini-Turbo (frames)		0	0	0	4	0	8	8	4	4
Off-Road Speed	Weak Off-road	0	0	0	0	0.0342	0.0171	0	0.0171	0
	Off-road	0	0	0	0	0.0368	0.0184	0	0.0184	0
	Heavy Off-road	0	0	0	0	0.0226	0.0113	0	0.0113	0
	Slippery Off-road	0	0	0	0	0.01283	0.00641	0	0.00641	0
Off-Road Handling	Slippery Road	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00263	0
	Weak Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00368	0
	Off-road and Heavy Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00263	0
	Slippery Off-road	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00211	0
Large Characters' Bonuses
Character		Wario	Waluigi	Donkey Kong	Bowser	King Boo	Rosalina	Funky Kong	Dry Bowser	Heavy Mii
Weight		0.252	0	0.252	0.504	0	0	0	0	0.252
Speed	Standard (km/h)	0	0	0	0.53	0	0.53	1.06	0	0.53
	While steering	0	0	0.000474	0	0.000474	0.000947	0	0.000474	0
Acceleration	Standard	0	0.05	0.025	0	0	0	0	0	0
	While Steering	0	0.07	0.035	0	0	0	0	0	0
Drift	Standard	0	0.18	0	0.09	0	0	0	0	0
	While Steering	0	0.02	0	0.01	0	0	0	0	0
Handling	Standard	0	0	0.000555	0	0.00111	0.000555	0	0	0
	While Steering	0	0	0.00029	0	0.00058	0.00029	0	0	0
Traction	Standard	0.000265	0	0	0	0.000529	0	0	0	0
	While Steering	0.000222	0	0	0	0.000444	0	0	0	0
Mini-Turbo (frames)		8	0	4	0	0	4	0	8	4
Off-Road Speed	Weak Off-road	0.0171	0.0171	0	0	0.0171	0	0.0171	0.0342	0.0171
	Off-road	0.0184	0.0184	0	0	0.0184	0	0.0184	0.0368	0.0184
	Heavy Off-road	0.0113	0.0113	0	0	0.0113	0	0.0113	0.0226	0.0113
	Slippery Off-road	0.00641	0.00641	0	0	0.00641	0	0.00641	0.01283	0.00641
Off-Road Handling	Slippery Road	0	0.00263	0	0.00263	0	0	0.00526	0	0.00263
	Weak Off-road	0	0.00368	0	0.00368	0	0	0.00736	0	0.00368
	Off-road and Heavy Off-road	0	0.00263	0	0.00263	0	0	0.00526	0	0.00263
	Slippery Off-road	0	0.00211	0	0.00211	0	0	0.00422	0	0.00211

Vehicles' Stats

The vehicles have 31 stats. Acceleration is divided in four stages, presumably depending on the actual speed relative to the full speed. In each stage, acceleration is determined by two factors, a stage-specific S factor which is affected by the character bonus and a general E factor. These factors change while drifting, that itself can begin once the vehicle has reached 55% of its top speed. Finally, some stats change depending on the drifting method used (either Manual or Auto) and depending on the fact that the vehicle is steering (While Steering) or not (Standard).

• Weight: the weight of the vehicle.
• Speed: the top speed of the vehicle.
  • While Steering: the top speed of the vehicle while steering, expressed as fraction of the top speed.
• Acceleration: how much the relative speed of the vehicle, i.e. the speed expressed as fraction of the top speed, increases over time.
• Handling: how fast the vehicle changes direction over time while steering (angular velocity).
  • Range: how much the vehicle swings while steering.
• Drift: how fast the vehicle changes direction over time while drifting (angular velocity).
  • Range: how much the vehicle swings while drifting.
• Mini-Turbo: the duration of the Mini-Turbo boost.
• Off-Road Speed: the relative Speed in various Off-Road section.
• Off-Road Handling: the relative Handling in various Off-Road sections.
• Tilt: how much the kart tilts in various conditions.
  

Small Vehicles' Stats
Vehicle			Standard Kart S	Booster Seat	Mini Beast	Cheep Charger	Tiny Titan	Blue Falcon	Standard Bike S	Bullet Bike	Bit Bike	Quacker	Magikruiser	Jet Bubble
Weight			3.05	2.84	3.26	2.63	3.47	3.05	2.42	2.63	2.21	2	2.63	2.84
Speed	Standard (km/h)		78.71	75.53	81.89	77.12	79.77	82.95	78.18	81.36	75	76.59	79.24	80.3
	While Steering		0.9957	0.9985	0.9938	0.9933	0.9966	0.9919	0.9962	0.9943	0.999	0.9938	0.9971	0.9947
Acceleration	Not Drifting	S1	0.728	0.866	0.71924	0.4795	0.89094	0.254	0.774	0.75358	0.912	0.5	0.682	0.8566
		S2	0.728	0.866	0.3744	1.668	0.5764	0.766	0.774	0.4148	0.912	1.75	0.682	0.536
		S3	0.5034	0.5448	0.4172	0.4418	0.5182	0.3516	0.5172	0.4374	0.5586	0.45	0.4896	0.498
		S4	0.07034	0.07448	0.05172	0.04418	0.06182	0.03516	0.07172	0.05374	0.07586	0.045	0.06896	0.0598
		E	0.65	0.65	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.65	0.2
	Drifting	S1	0.85	0.85	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.85	0.8	0.85	0.9	0.85	0.8
		S2	0.95	0.95	0.925	0.975	0.925	0.975	0.95	0.925	0.95	0.975	0.95	0.925
		S3	1.95	1.45	2.45	2.25	1.15	1.65	2.05	2.55	1.55	2.35	1.25	1.75
		S4	0.13	0.13	0.15	0.11	0.15	0.11	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.11	0.15	0.13
		E	0.965	0.965	0.98	0.95	0.98	0.95	0.965	0.98	0.965	0.95	0.98	0.965
Handling	Manual		0.024	0.0274	0.0205	0.0257	0.0228	0.0199	0.0269	0.0237	0.0301	0.0285	0.0258	0.0248
	Auto		0.0244	0.0267	0.0222	0.0256	0.0237	0.0219	0.0217	0.0205	0.023	0.0224	0.0213	0.0209
	Range		0.88	0.94	0.82	0.91	0.86	0.81	0.955	0.91	1	0.9775	0.94	0.925
Drift	Manual		0.0186	0.0181	0.0198	0.0191	0.0174	0.0167	0.0135	0.0171	0.013	0.016	0.0136	0.0129
	Auto		0.0209	0.0204	0.0222	0.0214	0.0196	0.0188	0.0146	0.0125	0.0142	0.0119	0.0107	0.0103
	Range		0.94	0.92	0.99	0.96	0.89	0.86	0.95	1	0.93	0.97	0.9	0.88
Mini-Turbo (frames)			29	36	39	33	27	22	31	40	37	35	28	26
Traction			-15	5	-8	-3	4	10	1	1	0	3	3	3
Off-Road Speed	Weak Off-road		0.7039	0.7894	0.6184	0.7381	0.8578	0.6013	0.721	0.6355	0.8065	0.7552	0.8749	0.6697
	Off-road		0.4906	0.5826	0.3986	0.5274	0.6562	0.3802	0.509	0.417	0.601	0.5458	0.6746	0.4538
	Heavy Off-road		0.2867	0.3432	0.2302	0.3093	0.3884	0.2189	0.298	0.2415	0.3545	0.3206	0.3997	0.2641
	Slippery Off-road		0.931	0.9588	0.9032	0.9421	0.981	0.8977	0.9366	0.9088	0.9644	0.9477	0.9866	0.9199
Off-Road Handling	Slippery Road		0.08419	0.09997	0.06841	0.08945	0.07893	0.06315	0.08156	0.06578	0.09734	0.08682	0.0763	0.07104
	Weak Off-road		0.12784	0.14992	0.10576	0.1352	0.12048	0.0984	0.12416	0.10208	0.14624	0.13152	0.1168	0.10944
	Off-road		0.08419	0.09997	0.06841	0.08945	0.07893	0.06315	0.08156	0.06578	0.09734	0.08682	0.0763	0.07104
	Heavy Off-road		0.08419	0.09997	0.06841	0.08945	0.07893	0.06315	0.08156	0.06578	0.09734	0.08682	0.0763	0.07104
	Slippery Off-road		0.05743	0.07009	0.04477	0.06165	0.05321	0.04055	0.05532	0.04266	0.06798	0.05954	0.0511	0.04688
Tilt			0.03	0.035	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.03
Medium Vehicles' Stats
Vehicle			Standard Kart M	Classic Dragster	Wild Wing	Super Blooper	Daytripper	Sprinter	Standard Bike M	Mach Bike	Sugarscoot	Zip Zip	Sneakster	Dolphin Dasher
Weight			4.31	4.1	4.73	3.89	4.31	4.52	3.68	3.68	3.26	3.47	3.89	4.1
Speed	Standard (km/h)		79.77	77.65	82.42	80.83	77.12	84.01	79.24	81.89	76.59	78.71	83.48	80.3
	While Steering		0.9943	0.9924	0.9928	0.9952	0.9976	0.9909	0.9947	0.9933	0.9981	0.9966	0.9914	0.9957
Acceleration	Not Drifting	S1	0.59	0.4385	0.61622	0.254	0.774	0.6849	0.636	0.65056	0.82	0.92528	0.213	0.82226
		S2	0.59	1.504	0.2532	0.766	0.774	0.334	0.636	0.2936	0.82	0.6168	0.602	0.4956
		S3	0.462	0.4254	0.3566	0.3516	0.5172	0.397	0.4758	0.3768	0.531	0.5384	0.3352	0.4778
		S4	0.0662	0.04254	0.04566	0.03516	0.07172	0.0497	0.06758	0.04768	0.0731	0.06384	0.03352	0.05778
		E	0.65	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.2	0.2
	Drifting	S1	0.85	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.85	0.8	0.85	0.8	0.85	0.8	0.9	0.8
		S2	0.95	0.975	0.925	0.975	0.95	0.925	0.95	0.925	0.95	0.925	0.975	0.925
		S3	1.75	2.05	2.25	0.85	1.25	1.45	1.85	2.35	1.35	1.15	1.55	0.95
		S4	0.13	0.11	0.15	0.15	0.13	0.11	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.15	0.11	0.15
		E	0.965	0.95	0.98	0.98	0.965	0.95	0.965	0.98	0.965	0.98	0.95	0.98
Handling	Manual		0.0228	0.0251	0.0199	0.0216	0.0263	0.0187	0.0258	0.0232	0.029	0.0269	0.0221	0.0248
	Auto		0.0237	0.0252	0.0219	0.023	0.0259	0.0211	0.0213	0.0203	0.0226	0.0217	0.0198	0.0209
	Range		0.86	0.9	0.81	0.84	0.92	0.79	0.94	0.9025	0.985	0.955	0.8875	0.925
Drift	Manual		0.0184	0.0186	0.0193	0.0177	0.0177	0.0162	0.0127	0.0164	0.0124	0.0115	0.0119	0.014
	Auto		0.0206	0.0209	0.0217	0.0198	0.0198	0.0183	0.014	0.0121	0.0138	0.0133	0.0097	0.0108
	Range		0.93	0.94	0.97	0.9	0.9	0.84	0.92	0.98	0.91	0.88	0.85	0.91
Mini-Turbo (frames)			27	32	36	24	33	19	28	37	35	29	20	26
Traction			3	-5	0	5	-7	0	-2	3	-9	-4	-11	2
Off-Road Speed	Weak Off-road		0.6697	0.7039	0.6013	0.7894	0.7552	0.5842	0.6868	0.6184	0.7723	0.8407	0.6013	0.8065
	Off-road		0.4538	0.4906	0.3802	0.5826	0.5458	0.3618	0.4722	0.3986	0.5642	0.6378	0.3802	0.601
	Heavy Off-road		0.2641	0.2867	0.2189	0.3432	0.3206	0.2076	0.2754	0.2302	0.3319	0.3771	0.2189	0.3545
	Slippery Off-road		0.9199	0.931	0.8977	0.9588	0.9477	0.8921	0.9255	0.9032	0.9532	0.9755	0.8977	0.9644
Off-Road Handling	Slippery Road		0.07893	0.08419	0.06578	0.07367	0.09471	0.06052	0.0763	0.06315	0.09208	0.08156	0.05789	0.07104
	Weak Off-road		0.12048	0.12784	0.10208	0.11312	0.14256	0.09472	0.1168	0.0984	0.13888	0.12416	0.09104	0.10944
	Off-road		0.07893	0.08419	0.06578	0.07367	0.09471	0.06052	0.0763	0.06315	0.09208	0.08156	0.05789	0.07104
	Heavy Off-road		0.07893	0.08419	0.06578	0.07367	0.09471	0.06052	0.0763	0.06315	0.09208	0.08156	0.05789	0.07104
	Slippery Off-road		0.05321	0.05743	0.04266	0.04899	0.06587	0.03844	0.0511	0.04055	0.06376	0.05532	0.03633	0.04688
Tilt			0.02	0.015	0.02	0.035	0.015
Large Vehicles' Stats
Vehicle			Standard Kart L	Offroader	Flame Flyer	Piranha Prowler	Jetsetter	Honeycoupe	Standard Bike L	Flame Runner	Wario Bike	Shooting Star	Spear	Phantom
Weight			5.36	5.78	5.36	5.99	5.15	5.57	4.94	4.94	5.36	4.52	5.15	4.73
Speed	Standard (km/h)		80.3	78.18	83.48	81.89	85.07	81.36	79.77	82.95	77.65	80.83	84.54	79.24
	While Steering		0.9943	0.9966	0.9919	0.9928	0.99	0.9938	0.9947	0.9924	0.9971	0.9943	0.9905	0.9957
Acceleration	Not Drifting	S1	0.544	0.728	0.54754	0.406	0.1515	0.6849	0.59	0.58188	0.774	0.71924	0.172	0.89094
		S2	0.544	0.728	0.1724	0.406	0.356	0.334	0.59	0.2128	0.774	0.3744	0.438	0.5764
		S3	0.4482	0.5034	0.3162	0.4068	0.3106	0.397	0.462	0.3364	0.5172	0.4172	0.3188	0.5182
		S4	0.06482	0.07034	0.04162	0.06068	0.03106	0.0497	0.0662	0.04364	0.07172	0.05172	0.03188	0.06182
		E	0.65	0.65	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.2	0.2
	Drifting	S1	0.85	0.85	0.8	0.85	0.9	0.8	0.85	0.8	0.85	0.8	0.9	0.8
		S2	0.95	0.95	0.925	0.95	0.975	0.925	0.95	0.925	0.95	0.925	0.975	0.925
		S3	1.55	0.75	1.85	1.35	1.05	2.15	1.65	1.95	0.85	2.25	1.15	0.65
		S4	0.13	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.11	0.15	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.15	0.11	0.15
		E	0.965	0.965	0.98	0.965	0.95	0.98	0.965	0.98	0.965	0.98	0.95	0.98
Handling	Manual		0.0222	0.0251	0.0182	0.0211	0.017	0.0199	0.0253	0.0216	0.028	0.0232	0.0205	0.0264
	Auto		0.0233	0.0252	0.0207	0.0226	0.02	0.0219	0.0211	0.0196	0.0222	0.0203	0.0192	0.0215
	Range		0.85	0.9	0.78	0.83	0.76	0.81	0.9325	0.88	0.97	0.9025	0.865	0.9475
Drift	Manual		0.0174	0.0167	0.0184	0.0169	0.0155	0.0191	0.0121	0.015	0.0112	0.0141	0.0108	0.0107
	Auto		0.0196	0.0188	0.0206	0.0191	0.0175	0.0214	0.0137	0.0114	0.0131	0.0149	0.0092	0.0127
	Range		0.89	0.86	0.93	0.87	0.81	0.96	0.9	0.94	0.87	0.97	0.82	0.85
Mini-Turbo (frames)			24	29	31	20	15	35	26	32	31	36	16	27
Traction			-15	7	0	-13	30	0	0	0	5	27	3	2
Off-Road Speed	Weak Off-road		0.6697	0.721	0.5671	0.6355	0.55	0.6013	0.6868	0.5842	0.7381	0.6184	0.5671	0.8065
	Off-road		0.4538	0.509	0.3434	0.417	0.325	0.3802	0.4722	0.3618	0.5274	0.3986	0.3434	0.601
	Heavy Off-road		0.2641	0.298	0.1963	0.2415	0.185	0.2189	0.2754	0.2076	0.3093	0.2302	0.1963	0.3545
	Slippery Off-road		0.9199	0.9366	0.8866	0.9088	0.881	0.8977	0.9255	0.8921	0.9421	0.9032	0.8866	0.9644
Off-Road Handling	Slippery Road		0.0763	0.08945	0.05789	0.06578	0.05263	0.06578	0.07367	0.05526	0.08682	0.06315	0.05	0.0763
	Weak Off-road		0.1168	0.1352	0.09104	0.10208	0.08368	0.10208	0.11312	0.08736	0.13152	0.0984	0.08	0.1168
	Off-road		0.0763	0.08945	0.05789	0.06578	0.05263	0.06578	0.07367	0.05526	0.08682	0.06315	0.05	0.0763
	Heavy Off-road		0.0763	0.08945	0.05789	0.06578	0.05263	0.06578	0.07367	0.05526	0.08682	0.06315	0.05	0.0763
	Slippery Off-road		0.0511	0.06165	0.03633	0.04266	0.03211	0.04266	0.04899	0.03422	0.05954	0.04055	0.03	0.0511
Tilt			0.015	0.015	0.015	0.01	0.02	0.025

Courses

Wario races towards a steep downhill portion of Wario's Gold Mine.

Race courses are divided into various Cups again: Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup and Special Cup for new courses and Shell Cup, Banana Cup, Leaf Cup and Lightning Cup for old courses. Notably, these are the same as Mario Kart DS.

All thirty-two tracks have three laps, regardless of length and difficulty. At first, only two Wii and two Retro Cups are available, but clearing the former two in first place unlocks the Star Cup, while clearing the latter two in first place unlocks the Leaf Cup; likewise, clearing the Star and Leaf Cups in first place unlocks the Special and Lightning Cups, respectively. This process only applies for the difficulty level the player is in, so it must be repeated for all others to have the secret Cups available in each of them.

This is the first game in the series to have different track names in the American and PAL versions; this applies to DK Summit/DK's Snowboard Cross, Chain Chomp Wheel/Chain Chomp Roulette, and Galaxy Colosseum/Galaxy Arena.

New courses

There are sixteen new courses in Mario Kart Wii.

Mushroom Cup	Flower Cup	Star Cup	Special Cup
Luigi Circuit	Mario Circuit	Daisy Circuit	Dry Dry Ruins
Moo Moo Meadows	Coconut Mall	Koopa Cape	Moonview Highway
Mushroom Gorge	DK Summit DK's Snowboard Cross	Maple Treeway	Bowser's Castle
Toad's Factory	Wario's Gold Mine	Grumble Volcano	Rainbow Road

Retro courses

These are courses that appeared in previous Mario Kart installments, much like in Mario Kart DS. This includes two courses from Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and four from Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart DS. These have been graphically updated and have some new details such as extra trees and ramps, new features such as jumps, pipe tricks, and even added shortcuts. These retro courses appear in the Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning cups. This game has the most retro Mario Circuit courses of any Mario Kart game.

Shell Cup	Banana Cup	Leaf Cup	Lightning Cup
GCN Peach Beach	N64 Sherbet Land	DS Desert Hills	SNES Mario Circuit 3
DS Yoshi Falls	GBA Shy Guy Beach	GBA Bowser Castle 3	DS Peach Gardens
SNES Ghost Valley 2	DS Delfino Square	N64 DK's Jungle Parkway	GCN DK Mountain
N64 Mario Raceway	GCN Waluigi Stadium	GCN Mario Circuit	N64 Bowser's Castle

Battle stages

This game has the most battle courses of any Mario Kart game, and no two courses share the same music.

New Stages	Retro Stages
Block Plaza	SNES Battle Course 4
Delfino Pier	GBA Battle Course 3
Funky Stadium	N64 Skyscraper
Chain Chomp Wheel Chain Chomp Roulette	GCN Cookie Land
Thwomp Desert	DS Twilight House

Other stages

Mario Kart Wii featured one course that was exclusive to certain online tournaments.

Online Tournament
Galaxy Colosseum Galaxy Arena

Ghosts

In Mario Kart Wii, there are Normal Staff Ghosts and Expert Staff Ghosts. Beating the normal staff Ghosts by a certain amount of time unlocks the Expert Staff Ghosts. Unlocking Expert Staff Ghosts can help unlock certain characters and vehicles in the game. Below are two tables: the first shows the Normal Staff Ghosts, while the second shows the Expert Staff Ghosts, and also shows the character and vehicle the Ghost used.

Normal Staff Ghosts

Course	Staff Name	Time	Character	Vehicle	Wii Wheel	Drift
Luigi Circuit	Nin★sato	01:29.670	Luigi	B Dasher Mk 2/Sprinter	Yes	Manual
Moo Moo Meadows	Nin★YuNya	01:37.856	Baby Daisy	Baby Booster/Booster Seat	Yes	Auto
Mushroom Gorge	Nin★Murak	02:16.110	Toadette	Quacker	Yes	Manual
Toad's Factory	Nin★Misa	02:22.480	Toad	Bubble Bike/Jet Bubble	Yes	Manual
Mario Circuit	Nin★==Kony	01:44.777	Mario	Rapide/Zip Zip	Yes	Manual
Coconut Mall	Nin★♪SiMO	02:30.764	Daisy	Bon Bon/Sugarscoot	No	Manual
DK Summit	Nin★mokke	02:34.693	Donkey Kong	Standard Bike L	Yes	Manual
Wario's Gold Mine	Nin★morimo	02:19.585	Wario	Wario Bike	Yes	Manual
Daisy Circuit	Nin★Toki	01:56.822	Daisy	Royal Racer/Daytripper	No	Manual
Koopa Cape	Nin★Rose	03:03.022	Koopa Troopa	Cheep Charger	No	Manual
Maple Treeway	Nin★pico	02:58.633	Diddy Kong	Nostalgia 1/Classic Dragster	Yes	Manual
Grumble Volcano	Nin★Gorin	02:28.237	Dry Bowser	Offroader	Yes	Manual
Dry Dry Ruins	Nin★Kei	02:30.949	Yoshi	Nostalgia 1/Classic Dragster	Yes	Manual
Moonview Highway	Nin★KOZ★	02:16.802	Peach	Standard Kart M	Yes	Manual
Bowser's Castle	Nin★YABUKI	03:04.836	Bowser	Piranha Prowler	No	Manual
Rainbow Road	Nin★Konno	03:05.895	Rosalina	Twinkle Star/Shooting Star	No	Manual
GCN Peach Beach	Nin★HIRO	01:34.233	Peach	Royal Racer/Daytripper	No	Manual
DS Yoshi Falls	Nin★DoTak	01:16.461	Yoshi	Rapide/Zip Zip	No	Manual
SNES Ghost Valley 2	Nin★YOKO	01:06.595	King Boo	Standard Kart L	Yes	Manual
N64 Mario Raceway	Nin★Ichiro	02:14.799	Baby Mario	Nanobike/Bit Bike	Yes	Manual
N64 Sherbet Land	Nin★Sakat	02:48.651	Baby Luigi	Quacker	Yes	Auto
GBA Shy Guy Beach	Nin★Kato	01:45.568	Koopa Troopa	Cheep Charger	Yes	Manual
DS Delfino Square	Nin★iwaco	02:41.807	Wario	Wario Bike	Yes	Manual
GCN Waluigi Stadium	Nin★NARI★	02:32.882	Waluigi	Standard Bike L	No	Manual
DS Desert Hills	Nin★CHIA	02:10.233	Dry Bones	Standard Bike S	No	Manual
GBA Bowser Castle 3	Nin★Fukuda	02:58.304	Dry Bowser	Standard Kart L	Yes	Manual
N64 DK's Jungle Parkway	Nin★Matt	02:58.264	Donkey Kong	Phantom	Yes	Auto
GCN Mario Circuit	Nin★♪Miz	01:59.771	Mario	Standard Bike M	Yes	Manual
SNES Mario Circuit 3	Nin★iwaco	01:38.880	Baby Mario	Standard Kart S	Yes	Manual
DS Peach Gardens	Nin★Ito.y	02:34.894	Baby Peach	Magikruiser	Yes	Manual
GCN DK Mountain	Nin★♪msk	02:57.744	Funky Kong	Wario Bike	Yes	Manual
N64 Bowser's Castle	Nin★GASK2	03:19.323	Bowser Jr.	Standard Kart M	Yes	Manual

Expert Staff Ghosts

Course	Staff Name	Unlock Time	Time	Character	Vehicle	Wii Wheel	Drift
Luigi Circuit	Nin★Uta♪	01:26.394	01:19.419	Luigi	Mach Bike	Yes	Manual
Moo Moo Meadows	Nin★Tkym	01:34.160	01:25.909	Baby Daisy	Bullet Bike	No	Auto
Mushroom Gorge	Nin★Miki	02:10.875	02:01.011	Toadette	Concerto/Mini Beast	No	Manual
Toad's Factory	Nin★GQO	02:17.653	02:05.593	Toad	Blue Falcon	No	Manual
Mario Circuit	Nin★fuyu	01:40.528	01:33.702	Mario	B Dasher Mk 2/Sprinter	No	Manual
Coconut Mall	Nin★MUGI★	02:25.620	02:13.333	Daisy	Wild Wing	Yes	Manual
DK Summit	Nin★KOZ★	02:29.076	02:17.546	Donkey Kong	Flame Flyer	Yes	Manual
Wario's Gold Mine	Nin★♪Ryo	02:15.323	02:04.800	Wario	Flame Flyer	No	Manual
Daisy Circuit	Nin★Taeko	01:51.786	01:41.362	Daisy	Mach Bike	No	Manual
Koopa Cape	Nin★morimo	02:56.867	02:41.370	Koopa Troopa	Bubble Bike/Jet Bubble	No	Manual
Maple Treeway	Nin★MUGI★	02:51.684	02:37.812	Diddy Kong	Nitrocycle/Sneakster	No	Manual
Grumble Volcano	Nin★aki	02:22.856	02:11.852	Dry Bowser	Torpedo/Spear	No	Manual
Dry Dry Ruins	Nin★Akito	02:26.064	02:14.286	Yoshi	Nitrocycle/Sneakster	Yes	Manual
Moonview Highway	Nin★Koh	02:10.509	02:04.163	Peach	Mach Bike	Yes	Manual
Bowser's Castle	Nin★Masa	02:57.382	02:42.098	Bowser	Bowser Bike/Flame Runner	No	Manual
Rainbow Road	Nin★Syun1	03:00.007	02:44.734	Rosalina	Aero Glider/Jetsetter	No	Manual
GCN Peach Beach	Nin★Taeko	01:30.909	01:23.140	Peach	Dolphin Dasher	Yes	Manual
DS Yoshi Falls	Nin★FJ	01:14.072	01:09.175	Yoshi	Super Blooper/Turbo Blooper	Yes	Manual
SNES Ghost Valley 2	Nin★sira〉	01:04.261	00:58.907	King Boo	Torpedo/Spear	No	Manual
N64 Mario Raceway	Nin★Yuuki	02:10.069	01:59.053	Baby Mario	Concerto/Mini Beast	No	Manual
N64 Sherbet Land	Nin★FJ	02:42.536	02:28.356	Baby Luigi	Blue Falcon	No	Manual
GBA Shy Guy Beach	Nin★Matt	01:41.174	01:32.867	Koopa Troopa	Magikruiser	No	Manual
DS Delfino Square	Nin★TARO	02:36.630	02:24.169	Wario	Dragonetti/Honeycoupe	No	Manual
GCN Waluigi Stadium	Nin★♪Ryo	02:26.335	02:12.367	Waluigi	Piranha Prowler	No	Manual
DS Desert Hills	Nin★solami	02:02.358	01:52.686	Dry Bones	Rally Romper/Tiny Titan	Yes	Manual
GBA Bowser Castle 3	Nin★A24	02:53.651	02:39.391	Dry Bowser	Bowser Bike/Flame Runner	No	Manual
N64 DK's Jungle Parkway	Nin★Syun1	02:51.693	02:37.782	Donkey Kong	Flame Flyer	Yes	Manual
GCN Mario Circuit	Nin★Dai8	01:55.907	01:49.939	Mario	Wild Wing	No	Manual
SNES Mario Circuit 3	Nin★Shige	01:35.213	01:26.659	Baby Mario	Bullet Bike	No	Manual
DS Peach Gardens	Nin★==Kony	02:29.793	02:16.777	Baby Peach	Concerto/Mini Beast	Yes	Manual
GCN DK Mountain	Nin★Miyam	02:52.100	02:38.130	Funky Kong	Flame Flyer	Yes	Manual
N64 Bowser's Castle	Nin★Kentan	03:09.228	02:55.933	Bowser Jr.	Nitrocycle/Sneakster	Yes	Manual

Items

For the probability of obtaining each item when an Item Box is opened in the various modes, see Mario Kart Wii item probability distributions.

Mario Kart Wii includes two new items, the Mega Mushroom and the POW Block, and brings back the Thunder Cloud from the Mario Kart Arcade GP installments. (All three items, however, would later be absent in Mario Kart 7 and future installments of the main Mario Kart series.) Items can be earned by driving through Item Boxes on the courses, just like in previous games. Once a player has done so, an item will be selected via the Item Roulette. Players can use items by pressing . In general, players tend to obtain a weak item such as a Banana or a Green Shell when they are in first. However, if players are in a lower place, they obtain a slightly more powerful item such as a Red Shell or Lightning. Usually, the lower the place of the player, the rarer and more powerful the item they get. Stars, Mega Mushrooms, and Bullet Bills are examples of powerful items as they provide speed boosts and invincibility. This is the only game in the Mario Kart series where the drivers do not vocally react to getting inked by a Blooper.

Image	Name	Description
	Mushroom	Gives players a short speed boost that ignores terrain.
	Triple Mushrooms	Gives players three Mushrooms, which give separate boosts. It is the default item in Time Trial mode.
	Golden Mushroom	The driver gets an infinite number of mushroom boosts for 7.5 seconds.
	Mega Mushroom New item	The driver grows bigger, which allows them to squash other racers by running over them, making them lose their items and slow down for a moment. The Mega Mushroom makes the racer invincible to all attacks except those from Stars, Bullet Bills, and Bloopers. It allows the user to destroy items and course obstacles and gives the driver a speed boost. In addition, the player can go off-road without suffering any effect of slowing down. The effect lasts for 7.5 seconds but will be ended prematurely if the player is hit by a Lightning Bolt.
	Item Box	When a driver runs into an Item Box, they will obtain an item, depending on their rank on the current race course.
	Fake Item Box	This item imitates an Item Box but is colored red and has an upside down question mark. At a distance, it appears a similar color to a regular item box, only revealing its true color as the player approaches. It causes opponents to flip over once hit. It cannot block item attacks, but it can be held behind the player's vehicle to block other vehicles.
	Banana	When drivers run into a Banana, it causes them to slip and slow down. It can also be held behind the player's vehicle to block attacks from shells and other vehicles.
	Triple Bananas	This item gives the driver a trail of three bananas.
	Green Shell	A basic green shell that can be thrown forwards and backwards. It bounces off obstacles several times before it hits an opponent or is destroyed.
	Triple Green Shells	Three green shells that surround the racer until released. These can also be thrown forward or backward.
	Red Shell	A fragile shell that tracks the nearest opponent when fired forward. It will break if it hits an obstacle.
	Triple Red Shells	Three red shells that surround the racer until released.
	Spiny Shell	A blue shell that flies directly to the racer in first place and explodes like a Bob-omb.
	Star	The driver obtains total invincibility for 7.5 seconds, allowing them to knock over items, course obstacles, and other players on contact. Also, the driver receives a speed boost and the power to drive off-road with no speed loss. Racers that are hit will lose all items in their possession.
	Lightning	Lightning strikes every racer ahead of the user, causing them to spin out, drop their items, and shrink to very small size, driving more slowly. This item takes no effect on racers with invincibility items activated. The effects wear off from lowest place to first. Any users with the Mega Mushroom in effect shrink to normal size.
	Thunder Cloud	A thundercloud hovers over the recipient and strikes it with lightning after ten seconds. The user shrinks to very small size for 10 seconds, driving more slowly. Before this happens, the user has higher speed and acceleration while not losing speed when driving off-road, and may pass the cloud to an opponent by bumping into them. The Thundercloud can be destroyed if the driver goes into a cannon or uses a Star or Mega Mushroom.
	Bob-omb	Blows up a racer anywhere on the track. It has the same effect as the Spiny Shell, except that it can be lobbed or tossed backwards just like a Banana.
	Blooper	Squirts ink on any racer ahead of the user, partially obscuring vision. It eventually wears off, but it can be immediately removed by a speed boost from a Mushroom, boost tile, etc.
	Bullet Bill	Transforms the racer into a large bullet bill, which rockets down the entire track at very high speeds on auto-pilot. The Bullet Bill provides total invincibility and will knock over any item, any course hazard, and any player that is in the way, making them lose or drop all their items.
	POW Block New item	The POW Block appears above the karts as a 2D image, warning players of its arrival, and causes any racer on the ground ahead of the user to spin out and drop their items. Players who deploy the wheelie button at the moment the POW Block hits mitigate the spinout by retaining their speed. Players can also be airborne to avoid the POW Block, as the POW Block will not affect any racer that is in the air.

Differences in multiplayer modes

As in the previous games in the Mario Kart series, there are several small changes made to the courses in split-screen mode, most likely to preserve the frame-rate.

• At the start of a race, Lakitu is next to the player driver, slightly facing the side of the track. In single player mode, he is in front of the player driver, facing the camera. This only counts for races though, in battles Lakitu always starts next to the player.
• The question marks in the Item Boxes spin around with the box. They are static in single player mode.
• Frame-rate slows to 30 frames per second if the screen is split 4 ways or is in Two Player Online.
• The fourth screen in local three player play displays a dynamic camera that rotates between the three player drivers.
• Computer players do not animate. In Battle Mode, their voices are also absent.
• There are no tourists on the Sunshine cruise ship in GCN Peach Beach.
• Boos do not animate in SNES Ghost Valley 2.
• In GCN Waluigi Stadium, the metal Piranha Plants do not move their jaws, and the moving arrow signs and the Jumbotron are absent as in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
• There are no Miis in the stores in Coconut Mall.
• The crowd in Mario Circuit, Toad's Factory, Daisy Circuit, and DS Delfino Square do not animate.
• No tourists are on the ship in N64 DK's Jungle Parkway.
• The Jumbotron at Funky Stadium does not show the human player; instead it shows a picture of Funky Kong's face with the words "Funky Stadium".
• Star Bits are missing in Rainbow Road.

References to other games

• All past Mario Kart games: Half of the courses are taken from those games in the Retro Grand Prix, while half of the Battle courses are taken from those games under Retro Battle Course.
• Mario Bros.: The POW Block's logo appears in some of the cars in Moonview Highway. It also returns as an item.
• Super Mario Bros.: Various items from said game appear in the background of the Battle course Block Plaza, Super Mario Bros.-style. Additionally, the first seconds of the course Bowser's Castle theme resemble the music played in that game by its instruments. Also, the tune that plays in the award ceremony is a cover version of the tune that plays when Mario/Luigi beats a castle. When it gets bumped into, the kart makes several beeping noises, one of them is the first few notes from the main tune of the game, the other the power-up sound effect.
• Super Mario Bros. 3: The license plates on some of the trucks read SMB3, the abbreviation of Super Mario Bros. 3. They also say POW as a reference to the item that causes earthquakes.
• Super Mario Kart: Ghost Valley 2 and Mario Circuit 3 return as retro courses, and Battle Course 4 returns as a playable battle course.
• Super Mario 64: Unagi appear in the background of Koopa Cape and Chain Chomp Wheel.
• Mario Kart 64: Mario Raceway, Sherbet Land, D.K.'s Jungle Parkway, and Bowser's Castle return as retro courses, and Skyscraper returns as a playable battle course. Also, the course Moo Moo Meadows is based on Moo Moo Farm, and Block Plaza has parts of Block Fort. Also, part of the music that plays during the Award Ceremony (if drivers win a Trophy) is the same as in the same scenario in Mario Kart 64.
• Paper Mario: Parts of Dry Dry Ruins are based off the area of the same name from this game.
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit: Shy Guy Beach and Bowser Castle 3 return as retro courses, and Battle Course 3 returns as a playable battle course. Also, the Yoshi Sphinx from the background of Yoshi Desert returns as a part of the race course Dry Dry Ruins.
• Super Mario Sunshine: The battle stage Delfino Pier is based on Delfino Plaza. Also, the course Coconut Mall is seemingly located on Isle Delfino.
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Peach Beach, Waluigi Stadium, Mario Circuit, and DK Mountain return as retro courses, and Cookie Land returns as a playable battle course, and all of these courses retain their intros as retro tracks. Also, Daisy Cruiser cameos in the background of Daisy Circuit, Block Plaza has parts of Block City, the course Dry Dry Ruins has the same starting point as Dry Dry Desert, and finally, the character icons and the starting race jingle for Grand Prix races was also recycled from that game for VS. and Grand Prix races in this game, along with the 3-2-1 starting countdown, but with "GO!" at the end instead of "START". Some of the animations seen for the driver selection process (excluding the new drivers introduced for this game) are ported character models from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, with only a few characters receiving noticeable changes. On the save file/driver's license screen, the Star Cup uses the same icon.
• Mario Party 7: Dry Bones and Boo's artwork can be seen in Bowser's Castle on the Showtime billboard.
• Mario Kart DS: Yoshi Falls, Delfino Square, Desert Hills, and Peach Gardens return as retro courses, and Twilight House returns as a playable battle course, and just like Double Dash!!, all of the courses' intros return in this game as well. Also, the course DK Summit has derived many elements from DK Pass, and the course Dry Dry Ruins has similar music to that of Desert Hills, and finally, the countdown sound effect for starting races and battles are recycled from that game to signal the start of the race in Grand Prix, Time Trial, and VS mode. The Zipper is a bike that relates to the Shooting Star and the ROB-LGS acts like the Standard Bikes in the game. The opening portion of the theme for Rainbow Road is taken from Rainbow Road's music from this game.
• New Super Mario Bros.: Various features in the game are derived from their New Super Mario Bros.-look. The Mega Mushroom is an item in the game. The mushroom platforms in Mushroom Gorge is based on the mushroom platforms in said game, with the red ones being "bouncy", and the green ones more like solid platforms. Grumble Volcano is similar to World 8 of New Super Mario Bros. Also, Dry Bowser, who first appears in New Super Mario Bros., returns to Mario Kart Wii as his second appearance.
• Mario Kart Arcade GP 2: Princess Peach's profile artwork is reused.
• Super Mario Galaxy: Rainbow Road has several elements from said game, such as Star Bits or a section based on Launch Stars, and portions of the Good Egg Galaxy's music is heard for the course's music. Maple Treeway resembles the Gold Leaf Galaxy. The battle course Galaxy Colosseum is also heavily based on Super Mario Galaxy. Additionally, Spiky Topmen are the enemies in the June 2008 1st Competition. Also, Rosalina, who first appears in Super Mario Galaxy, returns to Mario Kart Wii as her second appearance.

References in later games

• New Super Mario Bros. Wii: The character icons were reused in the Character Selection. Also, some of the voices from this game were reused as well.
• Mario Sports Mix: In Toad Park, the Standard Kart design is used from this game.
• Mario Kart 7: This game's retro selection reuses some courses, Mushroom Gorge, Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway and Koopa Cape, and the cannon section on Maple Treeway now include a glider ramp. Tricks, which are first introduced here, are reused in this game as well as the character icons and countdown timer for starting races and battles. Some voice clips and kart engine sounds are reused.
• Mario Party 9: Some of the characters voice clips, such as most of Daisy's voice clips and some of Toad's, return in this game.
• Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Tricks, Bikes, twelve-player races, and the ability to look behind return. Grumble Volcano, Moo Moo Meadows, and Wario's Gold Mine return as retro courses (Wario's Gold Mine was added via DLC, but is available from the start in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). The Bowser's Castle in this game sees the return of a similar giant moving Bowser statue that players drive around. Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina wear their bike suits again when riding a bike or ATV. Some voice clips are reused. The Launch Star boosters from Rainbow Road also return in the remastered N64 Rainbow Road in this game.
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: Mushroom Gorge is one of the few songs that can be heard at the stage Mario Circuit. The Standard Bike M, Daytripper, Flame Runner, Quacker, and Offroader all appear as trophies. Also, some of Bowser Jr.'s voice clips are reused. The POW Block item causes the Shy Guy racers in Mario Circuit to spin out when used.
• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam: King Boo's voice clips are reused during his boss fight.

Promotion

Main article: List of Mario Kart Wii trading cards

Trading cards were released to celebrate the release of Mario Kart Wii. Trading card packs additionally included tattoos called FunTats.

Reception

Critical reception

Mario Kart Wii has received positive reviews from critics. It has an average score of 82.07% from 74 reviews in GameRankings and an average of 82 based on 73 reviews on Metacritic.

Bozon of IGN gave the game an 8.5 out of 10, praising the online play, the presentation, and the gameplay but criticizing the cheap AI in 150cc, the lack of voice chat, reliance on friend codes, and the random items. He finished off with, "Every player is going to have their own love/hate relationship with Mario Kart Wii, but in the end the game does so many things right that it'd be foolish not to give credit where due. Online seriously raises the bar for Nintendo, trumping even Smash in a big, big way. The sense of community you can get even with random racers online and ghost-supported leader boards is impressive, and the fact that you can head on to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection solo, with a friend via split-screen, or hook up with buddies across the world without worry of lag and never-ending disconnect notices makes Mario Kart Wii a pure joy to play online. It isn't the best Mario Kart in the series, but it's a must-play experience on Wii, and standard-setting offering as far as online, channel support, and connectivity are concerned. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some online stats to obsess over." Sammy Barker of Nintendo Life praised the game for its polished gameplay and being well-thought and brilliant. Though he criticized the presentation, he wrote, "Poor presentation should not be an issue in this generation of gaming, particularly with the other consoles doing it so well, but, thankfully for us (as Wii owners), this game is a living, breathing example of gameplay over graphics." He gave the game 9/10 stars. Oli Welsh of Eurogamer gave the game a score of 8/10. He praised the presentation of the game, the use of the Wii Wheel, and the smooth gameplay while criticizing the Battle Mode and the single player exclusive Grand Prix mode (though this was revised after being informed by Nintendo that four sequences of races with friends is still possible). He wrote, "Ultimately, the sheer sensory pleasure of playing Mario Kart Wii - from the charming animations, to the bopping tunes, to the sugar-rush boosting, to the exquisite steering - far overcomes the few concerns we have about it. It still has to be docked a mark for the awkward structure and compromised battle modes - but it's still unreservedly recommended to anyone for whom Mario Kart is a gaming cornerstone. And really, that should be everyone."

Ryan Davis of Giant Bomb criticized the game for being safe. He wrote, "Mario Kart Wii is a good game stunted by its audience's apparently insatiable appetite for the exact same thing, over and over again. The addition of online play and motion controls are good, but they're also the most predictable choices possible. Personally, I'm completely tired of getting exactly what I expect." He gave the game a 3 out of 5 stars. Edge gave the game 6/10, criticizing the game's compromising local, splitscreen multiplayer for online play. They ended with "Undercutting local multiplayer to benefit the online movement is a grievous error. Of all the multiplayer franchises, we struggle to think of a title in which four friends sat side by side seemed more natural. Having sacrificed racing integrity in Double Dash to side with social silliness, Nintendo has turned 180 degrees into an awkward halfway house. It’s a residence from where it has attempted to regain time-trial credentials with the loosest racing yet, and sees the company finally find its online feet by betraying one of its great pastimes. Perhaps first place in Mario Kart Wii isn’t the least enjoyable location in gaming after all."

Reviews
Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Nintendo Power	9/10	With more features, modes and multiplayer options than ever before, fans should be revved up to get behind the wheel. [May 2008, p.86].
Official Nintendo Magazine UK	9.4/10	A fantastic racer and the best online Nintendo game ever. [Apr 2008, p.58]
Bozon, IGN	8.5/10	There are some things that feel completely out of whack though, such as the uncharacteristically cheap AI in 150cc, the lack of voice chat for an extremely social online game, reliance on friend codes, and "everyone's a winner" feeling you get when random items show up and completely turn the game upside down in an instant.
Bryn Williams, GameSpy	4.5/5	The offline and online content is extremely entertaining and the pursuit of casual and hardcore karting has never been this much fun.
Greg Leahy, Nintendo World Report	8.5/10	Mario Kart Wii is ultimately much the same game as Mario Kart DS, but this is forgivable due to its drastically improved online functionality along with some welcome gameplay additions and tweaks.
Lark Anderson, GameSpot	8.5/10	Mario Kart Wii offers varied multiplayer and thoroughly integrated online modes that will keep you coming back for more.
Oli Welsh, Eurogamer	8/10	Ultimately, the sheer sensory pleasure of playing Mario Kart Wii - from the charming animations, to the bopping tunes, to the sugar-rush boosting, to the exquisite steering - far overcomes the few concerns we have about it. It still has to be docked a mark for the awkward structure and compromised multiplayer modes - but it's still unreservedly recommended to anyone for whom Mario Kart is a gaming cornerstone.
Electronic Gaming Monthly	6.4/10	While Mario Kart Wii is predictably similar to its predecessors, something has changed with this installment. Something that makes it feel subtly unlike other Mario Karts--and not a change for the better. [June 2008, p.73]
Edge Magazine	6/10	Having sacrificed racing integrity in "Double Dash" to side with social silliness, Nintendo has turned 180 degrees into an awkward halfway house. [May 2008, p.86]
Chris Kohler, Wired	6/10	[Mario Kart Wii's Battle Mode] is no longer a last-man-standing contest: Matches now last three minutes each, and if your kart takes too much damage, don't worry! You'll just respawn. Even worse, all battles are now played in teams of two. So while you can still have four human players, they can't all face off against each other -- and what's the point of that?
Ryan Davis, Giant Bomb	6/10	Personally, I’m completely tired of getting exactly what I expect.
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		82
GameRankings		82.07%

Awards

Mario Kart Wii won the "Favorite Video Game" award at the Nickelodeon 2010 Kids' Choice Awards, beating out The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Wii Fit, and Wii Sports Resort. The game won the Best Online Multiplayer Game from IGN in 2008. In the Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer's Edition, Mario Kart Wii won the "Best-selling racing game" accolade.

Sales

In the week of May 4, 2008 in Japan, Mario Kart Wii became the best-selling game for the Wii, having sold over a million copies in Japan, less than a month after its release. In the UK, Mario Kart Wii was the 8th biggest selling video game in British history and the single best-selling Nintendo game in history. In the United States, at the month's release, Mario Kart Wii was the second best-seller at 1.12 million copies, being beaten out by the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV, but outselling the PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV. Mario Kart Wii currently is the second best-selling game on the Wii, beaten out by Wii Sports, and in turn the best-selling Mario game on the system; the game has sold a total of 37.20 million units as of March 29, 2019, making it the best-selling racing video game of all time and the best-selling Mario Kart game.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart Wii.

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  Mario driving his Wild Wing with a Bob-omb

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  Yoshi riding his Mach Bike

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  Toad driving his Cheep Charger

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  Waluigi riding his Standard Bike

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  Bowser driving his Flame Flyer holding a Spiny Shell

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  Luigi Circuit group picture artwork

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Mario Kart Wii pre-release and unused content

Unused graphics have been found depicting icons for a Hammer Bro, a Koopa Paratroopa, and Petey Piranha

• 

  An unused CSS Icon for Koopa Paratroopa as a player

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  An unused CSS Icon for Hammer Bro as a player

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  An unused CSS Icon for Petey Piranha as a player

Glitches

Main article: List of Mario Kart Wii glitches

Note: All names are conjectural unless otherwise specified.

Thirteen players online

Rarely, when a player finishes a race and leaves the results screen, the top left corner will say, "The next match might have 13 players", although it should say 12. It is also possible, although unlikely, to say more than 13 players (i.e. "The next match might have 14 players"). The reason is, that during matchmaking the Wiis are counted, but not the players. A Wii with 2 players uses 2 racing slots of 12 total, but is counted only as one. The next match will never have more than 12 players, though.

Grumble Volcano rock lap glitch

If the player manages to get on top of the large rock to the left of the starting line in Grumble Volcano, each time they drive around it, the game will act as if the player completed a lap, and it will count a lap for the player.

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Kart Wii staff

Consistent with the rest of the console Mario Kart series, Mario Kart Wii is developed by Nintendo EAD. Shigeru Miyamoto is the general producer of the game, with the producer being Hideki Konno, who had been consistently involved with the Mario Kart series since the first installment, except Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and the executive producer being Satoru Iwata. Yasuyuki Oyagi directed the game, having co-directed the series since Mario Kart 64 barring Mario Kart: Super Circuit, though Mario Kart Wii was the first installment he was the sole director of and the last installment he directed, becoming a co-producer later on. Mario Kart Wii was the debut of Kosuke Yabuki as a planner; he would later become key staff and serving a director role in later Mario Kart installments.

Media

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Mario Kart Wii media.

Title Screen - The music for the Title Screen

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Music and Sound

Technically, this is the first game before Mario Kart 8 to feature revamped music for retro courses. In this case, the SNES and GBA tracks received revamped songs, as well as some of the battle stages. Tracks from the N64 and DS had their songs slightly enhanced in sound quality. The GCN tracks, however, remained relatively the same. This trait is also kept in Mario Kart 7 as well. It is also the first and currently only game that cuts off the tracks' intros in the final lap.

Soundtrack

Main article: Mario Kart Wii Platinum Soundtrack

An official soundtrack was released in 2011 by Club Nintendo as a Platinum reward featuring 43 songs from the game itself.

Name in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	マリオカート Wii Mario Kāto Wī	Mario Kart Wii
Korean	마리오 카트 Wii Mario Kateu Wii	Mario Kart Wii
Chinese	瑪利歐賽車 Wii (Traditional) Mǎlìōu Sàichē Wii 马力欧卡丁车Wii(Simplified) Mǎlìōu Kǎdīngchē Wii	Mario Racing Wii Mario Kart Wii

Trivia

• The save data description is "Race for first!"
• For the marketing of Mario Kart Wii in the United States only, Nintendo of America did a series of three commercials starring Cowboy Jed, primarily to promote their slogan for this game: "Get Behind The Wheel!". The slogan focuses on the Wii Wheel, Nintendo's targeted gameplay control, as stated earlier in this article.
• This is the only game in the Mario Kart series where data cannot be transferred between consoles.

External links

• Japanese Official Site
• European Official Site
• North American Official Site