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 today's 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.

Trivia

 * In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, when you are being shot from a cannon, a Spiny Shell will simply wait until you land on solid ground again before taking you out. But on Mario Kart Wii, they forgot to program this and the Spiny Shell will attempt to blow you up regardless. However, it does not effect you, so this is an easy way to avoid them. With a good timing, this trick is also possible in Mario Kart DS.
 * The Spiny Shell is most likely the most annoying item in Mario Kart history.

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