Half-pipe (object)

A half-pipe (also known as a halfpipe-style boost ramp) is a structure signaled by vertical dash panels  (also known as half-pipe boost pads) that appears in the Mario Kart series, first appearing in Mario Kart Wii. It allows players to jump off the side of a course and perform a Jump Boost to gain a speed boost upon landing. Its panels are cyan, blue, and purple with scrolling white arrows on them and stripes across them, resembling those of a Glide Ramp, and despite the half-pipes' former North American name, they have only a signaling function, not giving any speed boost when touched. Said speed boost rather happens when the player lands after the jump, regardless of whether the vehicle landed on the half-pipe or not. Half-pipes may sometimes cause the player to be sent backwards.

Mario Kart Wii
Half-pipes are introduced in Mario Kart Wii, in which they are known in North America as halfpipe-style boost ramps. They appear in the new courses DK Summit, Wario's Gold Mine, Koopa Cape, Maple Treeway, Dry Dry Ruins, Bowser's Castle, and Rainbow Road, as well as the retro courses and. They also appear in the battle courses Funky Stadium and Chain Chomp Wheel. When a player jumps off of one of these ramps, it is possible to perform a trick to receive a longer speed boost. The trick performed is the same one that is performed when the player jumps off a Dash Panel.

Mario Kart Tour
After being absent from Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, half-pipes return in Mario Kart Tour, first appearing on Wii Maple Treeway and later appearing on Wii DK Summit, Wii Koopa Cape, N64 Yoshi Valley, and GCN DK Mountain. In this game, their mechanics are slightly altered in that the Jump Boost is automatically performed as soon as the vertical jump starts, but if the jump is high enough, a second trick, named a special trick, is performed. When this happens, the speed boost received upon landing is longer.

A different type of half-pipe, known as a super half-pipe, is introduced in this game and appears only in Merry Mountain. It visually differs from a regular half-pipe with its magenta color. Compared to a regular half-pipe, a super half-pipe leads to a longer boost upon landing without the need of a special trick, which cannot be performed when a player jumps from a super half-pipe. The super half-pipe also has a unique sound effect.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, half-pipes appear exclusively in courses added in the Booster Course Pass DLC. They appear on Merry Mountain (replacing the super half-pipe present in the Mario Kart Tour version of the course) and Wii Maple Treeway, in the same positions as in the previous versions of these courses. In this game, half-pipes are represented as Antigravity Panels, as they very briefly enable anti-gravity before going back to normal as the player lands.