Lightning Cup



The Lightning Cup (referred as the Thunder Cup in Mario Power Tennis and in the Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart 7 instruction manuals) is a cup in the Mario Kart series, as well as Mario Power Tennis. Its first appearance is in Mario Kart: Super Circuit where it was placed between the Flower Cup and Star Cup. It is absent in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, but since Mario Kart DS, it makes its reappearance as a retro cup with tracks from past Mario Kart games. Thus, the Lightning Cup's history as a nitro cup in Mario Kart: Super Circuit makes it the only cup in the entire Mario Kart series to be both a nitro cup and a retro cup. The emblem of the cup is the Lightning. It mainly features courses from the Star Cup and the Special Cup, though Mario Kart DS featured a sole course from the Mario Kart: Super Circuit Lightning Cup and Mario Kart Wii featured a sole Flower Cup course. The length and difficulty of the courses in this cup tend to be on par with those in the Special Cup. In Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, the final course of the Lightning Cup is a past Rainbow Road, very similar to how Special Cup's final course is a new Rainbow Road. The table below lists every course in the Lightning Cup by course order and game installment.

Completion rewards in the Mario Kart series
Winning the Lightning Cup in the Mario Kart series can award the player with various bonuses, depending on the game. Additional cups unlocked are excluded from this list.

Mario Kart DS

 * All retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) on 50cc: Daisy
 * All retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) on 100cc: Waluigi
 * All retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) or all nitro cups (excludes Lightning Cup) on 150cc: Seven karts for each playable character
 * All cups on 150cc: 150cc Mirror class
 * All retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) or all nitro cups (excludes Lightning Cup) on 150cc Mirror: R.O.B.
 * All cups on 150cc Mirror: All karts for each playable character

Mario Kart Wii

 * 50cc Lightning Cup: Diddy Kong
 * 1 star rank or higher on all retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) on 50cc: Cheep Charger
 * 100cc Lightning Cup: Zip Zip
 * 1 star rank or higher on all retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) on 100cc: Bowser Jr.
 * 150cc Lightning Cup: Honeycoupe
 * 1 star rank or higher on all retro cups (includes Lightning Cup) on 150cc: Jetsetter
 * All cups on 150cc: 150cc Mirror class
 * Mirror Lightning Cup: Blue Falcon
 * 1 star rank or higher on all cups on 150cc Mirror: Rosalina

Mario Kart 7

 * All cups on a single cc class: Mii
 * 150cc Lightning Cup: Lakitu
 * All cups on 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc: 150cc Mirror class

Mario Kart 8
Most unlockable characters in Mario Kart 8 are unlocked at random upon winning Grand Prix cups (separate cups must be played to unlock characters), which includes the Lightning Cup. Characters that can be unlocked include Rosalina, Metal Mario, Lakitu, Toadette, Baby Rosalina, Pink Gold Peach, Iggy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Larry Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Ludwig von Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., and Mii. Mii is unlocked upon the eighth Grand Prix cup victory, unless an amiibo is used to unlock Mii beforehand.

In addition, the Gold Standard body can be unlocked by getting a 1 star rank or higher on all non-DLC cups (including the Shell Cup) on any one engine class, and the 150cc Mirror class can be unlocked by winning all 150cc cups.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 * 1 star rank or higher on all cups on 150cc Mirror: Gold Standard
 * All cups on 200cc: Gold Mario

Trading Card info
"You'll be glad to see that all four tracks in the Lightning Cup have made a big comeback! All feature updated graphics and all the fun you can handle. And two of them,  GCN DK Mountain and  N64 Bowser's Castle, offer up all the challenge you can handle!"

Trivia

 * In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, this is the only cup in the game to not feature a Bowser's Castle course.
 * Mario Kart 7's Lightning Cup is the only retro cup not to have at least one course from Mario Kart 64.
 * It's also the only Lightning Cup to have more than one course from the Special Cup.
 * Similarly, Mario Kart 8's Lightning Cup is the only retro cup not to have at least one course from either Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Trofeo Fulmine Blitz-Cup