The Shell Cup is a cup in the Mario Kart series, introduced in Mario Kart DS. It exclusively features classic courses; these tend to be from the Mushroom Cup and Flower Cup of previous games, and are thus usually simple with few hazards, akin to the Mushroom Cup. The emblem of the cup is a Green Shell.
The Shell Cup also appears in Mario Tennis Open as the third cup in the Star Open tournament series, but the shell is a Red Shell instead of the usual green. The trophy is designed as a Red Shell on top of a tower that resembles a feature from Bowser's Castle. This cup is held in the Bowser's Castle court, with the matches having three sets for the starting round, three sets for the semifinals, and five sets for the finals.
Winning the Shell Cup in the Mario Kart series can award the player with various bonuses, depending on the game. Additional cups unlocked are excluded from this list.
In addition, the Gold Standard body can be unlocked by getting a 1 star rank or higher on all non-DLC cups (including the Shell Cup) on any one engine class, and the 150cc Mirror class can be unlocked by winning all 150cc cups.
"The first of four Retro Cups, the Shell Cup is made up of four great blasts from the past. One track from GameCube, one from DS, one from Super NES, and one from N64. It's a great mix, and they all get a face lift with the graphics boost in Mario Kart Wii."
* - Indicates downloadable content in Mario Kart 8 • ** - Indicates content available in version 1.6.0 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe • *** - Indicates content available in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass • - Indicates exclusivity to Mario Kart 8 • - Indicates exclusivity to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe