Cannon (Mario Kart series)

A Cannon or Launch Cannon is a track feature seen in various tracks in the Mario Kart series. It is a somewhat uncommon feature that appears in a few courses throughout the series. It launches racers at very high speeds to another section of the course. Cannons take on different forms, such as pipe cannons and the more common barrel cannons. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart DS, and Mario Kart Wii, all cannons start with a Dash Panel and make racers immune to the effects of Lightning Bolts, POW Blocks and Spiny Shells, while in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, all cannons use gliding panels instead. In the latter games, players are no longer immune to the effects of items.

Mario Kart 64
In Mario Kart 64, Dash Panels serve as a predecessor of the Cannon, which actually have the same purpose. They appear in two courses, Royal Raceway and DK's Jungle Parkway.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Cannons make their first appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! where they are featured on three courses: DK Mountain, Daisy Cruiser, and Rainbow Road. In DK Mountain, the cannon takes the form of a barrel cannon, most likely to suit the Donkey Kong theme of the track. In Daisy Cruiser, the cannon takes the form of an orange exhaust pipe. In Rainbow Road, the cannon takes the form of a long, vertical tube going straight upward.

Mario Kart DS
Cannons return in Mario Kart DS, Once again having two appearances; one in Waluigi Pinball and another in Airship Fortress. In Waluigi Pinball, the cannon takes the form similar to that of a pinball launcher. In Airship Fortress the cannon takes the form of an actual cannon rather than a barrel cannon seen in many other courses.

Mario Kart Wii
In Mario Kart Wii, Cannons are a bit more commonplace, as they appear in three Nitro courses (DK Summit, Maple Treeway, and Rainbow Road) and one Retro course ( GCN DK Mountain). Also, in the retro track N64 DK's Jungle Parkway, the Dash Panel acts like a cannon. Both DK Summit and Maple Treeway use a barrel cannon, both of which are located near the beginning of the tracks, while Rainbow Road uses a Launch Star design, to fit the Super Mario Galaxy theme of the track. In DK Summit and GCN DK Mountain, the cannons have the initials "DK" on the sides, while in Maple Treeway, the cannon has no designs on the sides. In this game, during the time the player is flying through the air from a cannon, they will be immune to certain items, such as the Spiny Shell and Thunder Cloud.

Mario Kart 7
In Mario Kart 7, cannons appear less frequently due to the introduction of gliding. However, the returning DS Waluigi Pinball, Wii Maple Treeway, and DS Airship Fortress all retain their cannons, though now use gliding panels instead of Dash Panels. When a player goes through one of the cannons, they are unable to steer while gliding.

Mario Kart 8
Mario Kart 8 uses Cannons occasionally and is the first Mario Kart game to add a Cannon to a retro track ( N64 Yoshi Valley). Aside from the aforementioned Retro track, Sweet Sweet Canyon uses a doughnut themed cannon near the beginning of the track, while Cloudtop Cruise uses an actual cannon at the end of the airship section, similar to that of Airship Fortress.

The second gliding section in Rainbow Road works similarly like a Cannon as it launches racers at a straight line and the gliders can barely be controlled. Additionally, the first gliding section in Sunshine Airport works similarly like a Cannon as it launches racers up to the hovering anti-gravity platform from the runway.

Other appearances
Cannons also appear in some Dream Events in the Mario & Sonic series, commonly in the events taking place in Mario Kart locations. One appears in Dream Ski Cross, which takes place in Mario Circuit and another in Groove Pipe Snowboard which takes place in Mushroom Bridge.