List of Mario Kart Tour pre-release and unused content

This is a list of pre-release and unused content for Mario Kart Tour.

Closed beta
On April 23, 2019, Nintendo opened applications for participating in a closed beta test of Mario Kart Tour to users in North America and Japan, which began on May 22, 2019 and ended on June 4, 2019. The following lists the features included in the beta version of the game. Several of the characters, karts, and gliders listed were not made available in the final game at launch.

General

 * Rubies were originally emeralds.
 * An element seen in other free-to-play games that was included in the closed beta was a stamina bar consisting of five hearts total. One heart would be consumed every time a player raced, and once the stamina was depleted, players would not be able to play until it recharged. Players would replenish hearts when they leveled up, if they waited out the timer, or if they purchased hearts with emeralds. This element was removed in the final game at launch, with players instead being able to play indefinitely.
 * Originally, there was no way to speed up the unlocking process for the cups restricted by timers. In the final game, this can be done using quick tickets.
 * The classes "Common", "Rare", and "Super Rare" were renamed to "Normal", "Super", and "High-End", respectively.
 * The names of the four bonus challenges "Rocket Start!", "Race through the rings", "Don't crash", and "Beat Up Goombas" were changed to "Ready, Set, Rocket Start", "Ring Race", "Steer Clear of Obstacles", and "Goomba Takedown" respectively.
 * The Daily Selects Shop had only six items, as opposed to nine.
 * Players could receive Metal Mario, the B Dasher, and the Gold Glider in the final tour gift, which was the first spotlight pipe.
 * Combo bonuses were not implemented.
 * Higher tier karts originally increased speed, while higher tier gliders only increased item-luck.
 * The items on the character selection were Mushrooms. In the final game, they are Green Shells instead.
 * The maximum level for each driver, kart, and glider was 10, while in the final game, it was decreased to 6.
 * Music and sound effects were different from the final game.
 * The menu music had a different arrangement.
 * The jingle when acquiring a Normal item or a Grand Star was different.
 * The countdown sound effect was taken from Mario Kart DS (this was also the sound effect used in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7). In the final game, the sound effect is instead taken from Mario Kart 8.
 * The text signifying the last lap originally read "FINAL LAP!"; in the final version, it instead reads "2/2" (or "3/3" for 3DS Rainbow Road).
 * The rear view button was placed in the top right corner, below the options button.
 * In the Coin Rush menu, the description read "Speed through a course containing over 400 Coins! Gold Mario can really rake them in."; in the final version, it instead reads "Over 300 coins are waiting for you on this course! Gold Mario will draw them in as he gets near."
 * Completing a bonus challenge originally rewarded three Grand Stars immediately, and reaching certain requirements granted bonus coins.
 * Tour gifts are immediately claimed when it reaches the amount of Grand Stars required.
 * In the beta, each challenge from the Tour Challenges set gave out three to five Grand Stars when completed. In the final version, each challenge from the Tour Challenges set only gives out one or two Grand Stars when completed.

Drivers
Most of the drivers retain their special items in the final game; however, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina, and Lemmy's special items are replaced by the Bubble, Morton's special item is replaced by the Giant Banana, Larry's special item is replaced by the Boomerang Flower, King Boo's special item is replaced by the Lucky 7, and Ludwig's and Rosalina's special items are replaced by the Dash Ring. Additionally, in the beta, both Rosalina and King Boo were classified as High-End drivers, whereas in the final version, they are classified as Super drivers instead. The Triple Bananas, which were Larry and Lemmy's special item, went unused until the London Tour, where they were properly introduced as Waluigi (Bus Driver)'s special item. Additionally, Daisy's artwork used in the beta is taken directly from Mario Kart 7, whereas in the final version, she uses new artwork that resembles her artwork from said game, but with darker hair and different shading.

Karts
Most of the karts retain their rarities in the final; however, in the beta, the Soda Jet, Super Blooper, and Bolt Buggy were all classified as Normal karts, and the Blue Seven was classified as a High-End kart, whereas in the final, they are all classified as Super karts. The Koopa Dasher had a sprite used in the beta with Pipe Frame tires equipped instead of the tires the Turbo Yoshi had. In the beta, the Gold Standard was a selectable kart to race with, whereas in the final, it is only used when playing the Coin Rush mode.

Gliders
None of the gliders' rarities changed from the beta to the final game.

Cups
The beta only featured one tour, named Beta Test (Beta Test Tour in the news section). There were no T variant or R/T variant courses featured in the beta and only four of the thirteen courses in the beta had R variants.

Spotlights

 * Names in other languages

Multiplayer betas
Nintendo held two multiplayer beta tests: one exclusive to Gold Pass members from December 18, 2019, 11:00 p.m. (PT) to December 26, 2019, 9:59 p.m. (PT), and one for all players from January 22, 2020, 11:00 p.m. (PT) to January 28, 2020, 9:59 p.m. (PT), the latter of which allowed players to play with each other in their immediate vicinity based on their device's location data. The player could either join a random lobby or create their own to play with friends. The cup played rotated every 30 minutes instead of 15.

The music playing in the multiplayer's menu was the same music as the game's menu in the two betas. The icon was also different, being a globe instead of Toads.

Drivers
After Red Koopa (Freerunning) was added in the London Tour, there was an additional texture set for the Green Koopa.

Karts
Some karts have specific files for their positions on certain karts. Most of these karts are in the game, but there are references to several unused karts, including the Mario Kart 8 appearance of the Blue Falcon (BFalcon8). Several models can be found in the game's files, including a light-blue Comet Tail with a yellow stripe in the middle.

Courses
Several text strings referencing objects of courses not in the game can be found in the files.

Items
Despite Gold Mario being playable only in Coin Rush, he has an unused special skill item known as "Coin Vacuum" with the description "Vacuum up nearby coins while racing on favorite courses." When hacking Gold Mario to be playable in the normal game, the item can only be used on favorite courses and will act similar to when attracting coins in Coin Rush but with a smaller radius. The frenzy for the item is also similar to a coin frenzy but with the coins being attracted. The item's icon is also missing from the item roulette and it uses the coin icon during a frenzy.

Sprites
When the Para-Wing was added in the London Tour, a sprite was added in the files which appears to be identical to the kart, except it had the Pipe Frame's tires on it, which were also used by the Koopa Dasher. Starting with the Super Mario Kart Tour, sprites of every colored variation of the Pipe Frame with the Gold Blooper's tires equipped can be found in the files.

Icons
Some unused icons known as BoostItem, ItemExchange, PartsScoreUp and PartsSkillUp can be found in the game's files. The BoostItem icons also have icons of them on a ticket.

Sounds
Several unused voice clips when a driver finishes 5th or below indicating that drivers were originally going to have voice clips for losing. Some drivers from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe retain their losing voice clips, while Peachette and Pauline had new recordings of their losing voice clips. Later non-Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe drivers added in the game lack losing voice clips at all.