? Panel

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? Panel
A ? Panel seen in Mario Kart World
A ? Panel in Mario Kart World
First appearance Super Mario Kart (1992)
Latest appearance Mario Kart World (2025)
Effect Releases an item or coin when touched or hit
Variant of ? Block
Related

? Panels (originally known as Question Blocks)[1] are the ground-based version of the ? Block. While ? Blocks hover in midair, ? Panels lie flat against the ground. These objects first appear in Super Mario Kart. ? Panels are replaced by floating Item Boxes in Mario Kart 64 and future Mario Kart installments, though they return in Mario Kart World with a different role.

History[edit]

Mario Kart series[edit]

Super Mario Kart[edit]

Yoshi racing at Mario Circuit 3.
Yoshi about to drive over a Question Block in Super Mario Kart

In Super Mario Kart, Question Blocks litter the racetracks of the game. Each course contains one set of twelve Question Blocks, though two courses contain ten in one set, and one contains fifteen. In some courses, one or more Question Blocks can be found far from these sets, such as in Ghost Valley 1 and Koopa Beach 1. When a racer drives over a Question Block, they receive an item. Although normally orange with a black question mark, Question Blocks turn red with a smiley face after driven over, signifying they are deactivated. Red blocks remain deactivated through the rest of the race (unless every Question Block in the course is deactivated, in which case every Question Block turns orange and once again offers items).

Mario Kart World[edit]

A used ? Panel seen in Mario Kart World
A ? Panel in Mario Kart World after being activated

? Panels return in Mario Kart World's Free Roam mode. They have a new outline design resembling their promotional artwork from Super Mario Kart while retaining their in-game colors and designs from that game.

Driving over a ? Panel will activate it and award a sticker to the player, similarly to Peach Medallions. When revisiting an area with an activated ? Panel, it will be gray, and will reward the player with coins when activated again. Some ? Panels are intended to be activated by using a Wall Ride. Each course has its own set of ? Panels, whose completion status can be checked by hovering over the course on the map screen.

There are 150 ? Panels in total, with ten in Crown City and five in every other course (with the exception of Rainbow Road, which has none as it is unavailable in Free Roam). The total number of activated ? Panels (along with collected Peach Medallions and completed P Switch missions) is also displayed on the map screen.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3[edit]

Fake ? Panel
Diddy Kong near a ? Panel in Mario Hoops 3-on-3

? Panels reappear in Mario Hoops 3-on-3, now with an updated design matching the current design of ? Blocks. They are found all over every basketball court. When a player on offense dribbles the ball over a ? Panel, they typically acquire Coins used to boost points, in which case the ? Panel glows when each coin is collected per dribble on them; they may also receive an item that pops out from them. Unlike Super Mario Kart, a ? Panel disappears when it is deactivated. A player on defense always receives a special item if they run over one of these panels. Fake ? Panels also appear in the game and can be used to trip up other players. Purple ? Panels appear in the Jr. Street stage when one of the spotlights shines on the ? Panel, and they contain Slot Coins.

Mario Sports Mix[edit]

Behemoth King battle from Mario Sports Mix
Princess Daisy running towards a ? Panel in Mario Sports Mix

? Panels return in Mario Sports Mix. They have the same effect as in Mario Hoops 3-on-3.

Mario Party 9[edit]

Fungi Frenzy
? Panels in Mario Party 9

? Panels reappear in Mario Party 9. They appear in Fungi Frenzy where the players try to earn the highest score by ground-pounding panels with Mushrooms in them. Before each of the three rounds, the panels will briefly show what they contain. Some panels will contain one Mushroom, others contain two, and the rest contain three. Deactivated ? Panels are updated matching the current design of Empty Blocks.

Paper Mario: Color Splash[edit]

? Panels reappear in Paper Mario: Color Splash in the mini-game Flippin' Cards! In it, Mario uses his hammer to flip the ? Panels to find matching pairs of Battle Cards. The ? Panels appear in a rectangular card shape with brown borders.

Profiles[edit]

Mario Kart World[edit]

  • In-game manual:
    • English:
      You may find ? Panels hidden away in unexpected places. See how many you can find!
    • Other languages:
      • French:
        Des panneaux ? sont cachés dans les recoins les plus inattendus. Essayez de tous les trouver ![2]
        (Translation: ? Panel are hidden in the most unexpected nooks and crannies. Try to find them all!)

Gallery[edit]

Artwork and scans[edit]

Sprites[edit]

Screenshots[edit]

See also[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese ハテナパネル[3][4]
Hatena Paneru
? Panel
アイテムパネル[5]
Aitemu Paneru
Item Panel Super Mario Kart
Chinese ?板[4]
? Bǎn
? Plate
Dutch ?-paneel[4] ?-panel
French Panneau ?[2] ? panel
Point d'interrogation[6] Question mark Super Mario Kart
Case ?[7]:51 ? square Mario Hoops 3-on-3
German ?-Platte[4] ? plate
Fragezeichen[8] Question mark Super Mario Kart
?-Feld[7]:13 ? field Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Italian Pannello ?[4][9]:89 ? panel
Blocco di domande[10]:12 Question block Super Mario Kart
Blocco delle domande[10]:16
Korean ?패널[4]
? Paeneol
? Panel
Portuguese Painel ?[4] ? panel
Russian Панель «?»[4]
Panel' "?"
"?" panel
Spanish Panel ?[4][9]:13 ? panel

References[edit]

  1. ^ 1992. Super Mario Kart instruction booklet. Page 12 and 16.
  2. ^ a b Mario Kart World in-game manual from French European localization. (Archived 12 Jun. 2025 via Imgur.)
  3. ^ Nintendo. マリオバスケ3on3とは? - マリオバスケ3on3. www.nintendo.co.jp (Japanese). Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Manual › Free Roam (2025). Mario Kart World by Nintendo EPD et al. Nintendo.
  5. ^ Nintendo. VC スーパーマリオカート. www.nintendo.co.jp (Japanese). Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  6. ^ 1992. Super Mario Kart French instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (French). Page 12 and 16.
  7. ^ a b 2006. Mario Slam Basketball German/French instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (German, French).
  8. ^ 1992. Super Mario Kart German instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (German). Page 12 and 16.
  9. ^ a b 2006. Mario Slam Basketball Spanish/Portuguese/Italian instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian).
  10. ^ a b 1992. Super Mario Kart Italian instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (Italian).