Fake Item Box

A Fake Item Box is an item found in the Mario Kart series. They resemble regular item boxes, but will cause a kart or bike to roll on contact. They usually have an ¿ instead of an ? in Mario Kart 64 but the occasional ones are red or do not have ? at all. Nevertheless, they still release the same effect if the player happens to stumble upon one.

Fake Item Boxes are different than Bananas and Shells in that other items can go through them. This makes them useless for protection of the rear of a Kart, as they will not block incoming attacks. However, Fake Item Boxes do block incoming attacks in Mario Kart 64, but the player can't throw that item forward; in all the other games, the player can throw the Fake Item Box forward or backward.

Mario Kart 64
The Fake item box's first appearance was Mario Kart 64 along with the item block as well. They looked exactly like regular item boxes except they have an ¿ instead of a ? inside the diamond-like shapes. They will cause the player to fly up in the air, more similar to the effect of a Red Shell rather than a Green Shell. They can also be used as shields against other shells, since they will take the hit of a shell, leaving the player protected. However, the player cannot throw the fake item box forward.

Mario Kart Double Dash!!
Fake item boxes were absent in Mario Kart Super Circuit, but they returned in Mario Kart Double Dash!!. Here, not only they had ¿ symbol in their cube appearance, but were also red, making them more different than the ones in Mario Kart 64. They cannot be used to defend against shells; the shells would rather go through them. They can, however, be thrown forward. They tend to be very bouncy and are more bouncy than bananas are. They are one of the few items a chain chomp cannot destroy; the chain chomp would go directly through them, making it a dangerous item for the player wielding the chain chomp.

Mario Kart DS
A fake item box's next appearance was in the next game in the Mario Kart series, Mario Kart DS. They retain the exact same look as an item block from Mario Kart Double Dash!! except they lack the ? sign, unlike the other fake item box's other appearances. They do not tend to spin around, unlike normal item boxes and they appear red in the bottom screen of the DS map. Some missions require the player to run through real item boxes, but avoiding fake item boxes.

Mario Kart Wii
The fake item boxes get their look back from Mario Kart Double Dash!! in Mario Kart Wii except they get a texture change, along with its counterpart, the item box. Both sport rainbow-dot texture patterns now instead of a checkerboard texture. They also behave in the same manner as in Mario Kart Double Dash!! and even spin around like normal item boxes.

In battle/team race mode, the fake item boxes will become blue in the blue team, but retain their original color in the red team. At first glance, fake item boxes in the blue team look vaguely similar to regular item boxes, but if the player happens to look closer, the fake item boxes don't have a rainbow pattern on them and sport a ¿ like regular fake item boxes.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Strangely, fake item boxes don't make an appearance in Mario Kart Arcade GP. Rather, they appear in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2. They look exactly like regular item boxes, except they have a ¿ symbol rather than a ? symbol. This makes them similar to the Mario Kart 64 appearance, because the item boxes in that game also just have a ¿ symbol inside their shapes.

Trivia

 * Not counting the Arcade series, the fake item box is only usable in 3D Mario Kart games.

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