Star Cup

The Star Cup is a cup in the Mario Kart series. It exclusively features new courses, and in most Mario Kart games, it must be completed to unlock the Special Cup. The cup's courses tend to be of slightly increased difficulty compared to the Flower Cup (and Lightning Cup in Mario Kart: Super Circuit), and its emblem is a Super Star.

Mario sports games
The Star Cup also appears in other Mario games, such as Super Mario Strikers and Mario Superstar Baseball.

Mario Tennis series
The Star Cup makes regular appearances in the Mario Tennis series. Usually, it is the third, last cup of the Open Tournament. When players clear the Star Cup, they receive a star ranking, which rewards them with stronger stats while allowing them to participate in the Special Tournaments. In Mario Tennis Open, however, the Star Cup is called the Final Cup, and it is the last cup of the Star Open series and the whole game, with the Champions Cup replacing it as the fourth cup in the game and last cup of the World Open series. This version of the Star Cup is held in the Galaxy Arena morph court, and its matches have three sets for the starting round, three sets for the semifinals, and five sets for the finals. After this cup is played, the credits roll, and they cannot be skipped unless it is not the first time the cup has been played. In Mario Tennis Aces, the Star Cup is the third and final cup of the COM Tournament mode, featuring the highest CPU difficulty of all cups.

Super Mario Strikers
In Super Mario Strikers, the Star Cup has eight teams, seven rounds, and uses the table system. When the player finishes in the top three, the Bowser Cup and The Battle Dome are unlocked. A similar cup is the Super Star Cup.

Mario Sports Mix
The Star Cup appears in Mario Sports Mix as a more difficult cup. It includes the final match against the Final Fantasy team, and it is followed by a battle against Behemoth or Behemoth King. Star Road is also found in this cup, which is an alternate path available once players complete the Star Cup.

Completion awards in the Mario Kart series
Winning the Star 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: Double Dash!!

 * 50cc Star Cup: Para-Wing
 * 100cc Star Cup: Special Cup
 * 150cc Star Cup: Barrel Train
 * Mirror Star Cup: Petey Piranha and King Boo, Piranha Pipes

Mario Kart DS

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

Mario Kart Wii

 * 50cc Star Cup: King Boo
 * 1 star rank or higher on all nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 50cc: Baby Daisy
 * 100cc Star Cup: Shooting Star
 * 1 star rank or higher on all nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 100cc: Sneakster
 * 150cc Star Cup: Quacker
 * 1 star rank or higher on all nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 150cc: Dry Bowser
 * All cups on 150cc: 150cc Mirror class
 * Mirror Star Cup: Dolphin Dasher
 * 1 star rank or higher on all cups on 150cc Mirror: Rosalina

Mario Kart 7

 * All cups on a single cc class: Mii
 * 150cc Star Cup: Rosalina
 * 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 Star 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 Flower 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 non-DLC cups on 150cc Mirror: Gold Standard
 * All non-DLC cups on 200cc: Gold Mario

Profiles

 * Mario Kart 64 website: "The Star Cup is for pros, and each course offers its own unique challenge."
 * Mario Kart Wii trading card: "The action REALLY starts to heat up when you tackle the Star Cup. Four new tracks will test your racing mettle. Daisy Circuit is a very scenic track, while the others (Koopa Cape, Maple Treeway, and Grumble Volcano) offer up some serious challenges and difficult racing conditions."

Trivia

 * Mario Kart 64's Star Cup is the only Star Cup to feature two courses with the same background music.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s Star Cup is the only cup in the Mario Kart series not to feature Dash Panels in any of its courses.
 * Mario Kart 7's Star Cup is the only cup in the game to have all of its courses differ in name between the American English and British English versions.

Trofeo Stella Stern-Cup