Ring (Mario Kart series)

"Passing through a ring gives you a slight speed boost. Zipping through a bunch in a row is quite a rush!"

- Lakitu

A ring is an air-based, speed-boosting object that first appeared in Mario Kart Wii. They are typically found on longer gliding segments and provide a boost of speed when the player drives through them, but can also be found on regular jumps and act as air-based Dash Panels. While the design of the rings varies between games and courses, they all share the same unique sound when glided through, similar to the ones made by the Launch Stars in Mario Kart Wii's Rainbow Road. There are many types of rings, being the normal rings, Star Rings, Boost Rings, and the Dash Ring item. They function almost identically to the Plane Zippers from Diddy Kong Racing and its remake.

Mario Kart Wii
Star Rings first appear in Mario Kart Wii, where they are paired with Dash Panels throughout the Rainbow Road course. They provide speed boosts for players.

Mario Kart 7
Star Rings later appear in Mario Kart 7, where they only appear in Rainbow Road and resemble golden Launch Stars and the ones seen around Dash Panels on the track. A total of seven appear in the course, one in the gliding segment off of the planet's rings during the second section of the track, and the other six appear in the section after the spinning tunnel in the third section. The rings on the third set can either be reached by gliding through them or jumping off certain boosted Ramps within the segment.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Star Rings appear in almost every course of Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. They appear paired with a Dash Panel in the courses Kingdom Way, Splash Circuit, Tropical Coast, Bon Dance Street, Omatsuri Circuit, DK Jungle, Aerial Road, Sky Arena, Bowser's Factory, and Bowser's Castle. They also appear in the gliding section of Peach Castle, Kingdom Way, and Bowser's Castle.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Rings also appear in several different courses in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Three appear in the jump section near the start of Dolphin Shoals, which are yellow and have four pointed sections coming off them. These rings are reached by jumping from the ramps beneath them, and the Dolphins will occasionally jump through these rings. Another three appear on the ski-jump like gliding section towards the end of the third section of Mount Wario. These rings are silver with orange parts which say "Mount Wario" in white writing and a propeller on the top which is attached to the ring by an orange exclamation mark in a blue oval. Four Star Rings have been added in ; two in the first gliding segment in the first section of the track, and two others before the final stretch positioned on the ground. Another pair of rings appear in Big Blue, where they appear on the second jump of section two, and are similar to the Mount Wario ones in design, except now reading "Big Blue", lacking the exclamation mark and using a more futuristic looking design, with the blue antigravity glow due to the section being in anti-gravity.

In the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Star Rings appear on, Boost Rings appear on , and normal rings appear on. These last rings have an appearance similar to the Mount Wario rings, but with more saturated colors, no writings, a yellow glow, and an Item Box in the center.

Mario Kart Tour
Yellow rings appear in Mario Kart Tour in the Ring Race bonus challenges. They provide a small burst of speed when passed through, and the player is required to pass through a certain number of rings in order to pass the challenge. These rings also make an appearance in some Break Item Boxes bonus challenges, where passing through them makes more Item Boxes appear.

Several different types of rings appear in regular races. Star Rings appear in RMX Rainbow Road 1, SNES Rainbow Road R/T, 3DS Rainbow Road, RMX Rainbow Road 2T, RMX Rainbow Road 2R/T, and Wii Rainbow Road, usually found in gliding sections or near ramps (in Wii Rainbow Road, they are paired with Dash Panels like in the course's original appearance); they award bonus points when passed through, in addition to providing a brief speed boost like the bonus challenge rings. The entry and exit points of the glider tunnel in Wii Rainbow Road also give points marked as "Star Ring", although they do not provide bursts of speed. Boost Rings appear in the gliding section of Singapore Speedway, Singapore Speedway 2T, and Singapore Speedway 3T, also providing points and some speed when passed through. Another type of ring, known as the Dash Ring, appears as the special skill of several drivers; when used, three rings travel forward (five if Dash Ring+ is activated), and any player who passes through them will receive a small boost and earn points.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
In Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a Star Ring with a similar design to the ones seen in in Mario Kart 8 appears in the "Rainbow" environment.