Spiny Shell (blue)

Not to be confused with its non-spiny counterpart, the Blue Shell.



The Spiny Shell (previously referred as the Blue Shell) is an item from the Mario Kart series, making its first appearance in the Nintendo 64 game Mario Kart 64 that was previously named Blue Shell. The general purpose is to knock out the 1st place driver of the race when the player uses it.

In Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Super Circuit, the Spiny Shell tended to slide along the track, knocking over other karts that found on its path, to finally knock over the first place kart. Sometimes, obstacles as walls caused the shell to flip over and fall off of the screen. In this game and also in Mario Kart Super Circuit, the Spiny Shell had a distinctive siren, but it was later changed to a whoosh.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash! for the Nintendo GameCube, the Spiny Shell gained a pair of wings, making it's today appearance. Upon being shot, the Spiny Shell goes flying, at very fast speed, to the header racer. Once locked on its target, the shell hovers briefly above the kart and explodes then, causing the kart to fly, as well as destroying the items held by the racer. Other drivers that cross the impact zone, would be blown up as well in the explosion or spun around.

The Spiny Shell has later appeared in the Nintendo DS game Mario Kart DS, and the Wii game Mario Kart Wii, as well as in certain Mario sport games.

Evading the Spiny Shell
Although it was originally thought that the winged versions of the Spiny Shell were unavoidable, because no weapon can be thrown into the air, The are actually a number of ways to avoid the Spiny Shell when it is after you.

 In Mario Kart: Double Dash! 


 * In the course, DK Jungle, The Spiny Shell will not harm you if you jump into the cannon right before it reaches you. There is also a large fan in the storage room on the course, Daisy Cruise, which will also stop the Spiny Shell from reaching you if you go into it.

 In Mario Kart Wii 


 * In this game, any course that has a large cannon or such that blows you out will prevent the Spiny Shell from reaching you.


 * There are 2 ways the dodge the Spiny Shell that is exclusive only to this game, and both require items and for you to know how the Spiny Shell moves when it approches you.

The first way is to shoot up a ramp when the Spiny Shell is near you. When it is about to hit you, throw the banana as the shell ducks under you. If successful, the shell will be hit by the banana, and will be destroyed.This is slightly difficult to preform at first. Click this link to see a demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7NfjmJRrw&feature=related
 * For the First way, you will need a Banana.


 * For the second way, you will need a Mushroom, which are very rare if you are in first place, but can still happen.


 * When the Blue shell ducks under you, use the mushroom for the boost. If done at the right time, you will be blasted foward, and out of the Spiny Shell's exploding range.

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