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.

Although they are referred to as "half-pipes", most of them are technically quarter-pipes as they only appear on one side of the track. A true would be two ramps on opposite sides of the track, like on DK Summit or Waluigi Stadium.

Mario Kart Wii
Half-pipes are introduced in Mario Kart Wii, in which they are known in North America as halfpipe-style boost ramps. 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. 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 as curved Antigravity Panels, and briefly enable anti-gravity while the player is airborne, unless the player is already in anti-gravity mode. On Merry Mountain, normal half-pipes replace the super half-pipe present in the Mario Kart Tour version.

Courses with half-pipes
Courses with required half-pipes are marked with an asterisk (*), and battle courses are marked with a caret (^). A dash (–) indicates that the course cannot appear as a classic course in a previous game (unless noted otherwise), due to it being present as a new course in its respective game.