Cup

"Keep on racing and soon you'll conquer every cup!"

- Lakitu

A Cup is a representation of a certain number of courses in the Mario Kart series. In Super Mario Kart, a Cup consists of five courses, whereas in the later games the number was reduced to four (due to the single tracks being longer). When racing the Grand Prix mode, players race through all the tracks from a Cup. Cups are usually named after items from the Mario franchise, e.g., the Mushroom Cup and the Star Cup. The names are not associated with the tracks in the Cup, so consequently Cup names reappear throughout the series hosting different tracks. The Cups in the arcade Mario Kart games contain only two courses each and are named after the playable characters, aside from the Rainbow Cup. In Mario Kart Tour, the Cups are also named after the playable characters, but contain three courses and a bonus challenge.

In Super Mario Strikers, a Cup consists of a number of matches against varying enemies. Each cup has more enemies than the last, and thus, there are more rounds played. The table system is used. Players score three points when winning, one when losing by a Golden Goal, and zero when losing. In the end, the player with the most points wins. The Bowser Cup features semifinals and finals after the regular phase is over. The unlockable Super Cups are the same as the original cups, but with no Rookie setting available and return matches.

Trivia

 * In Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the player can rotate the cup manually by controlling the Circle Pad/ Control Stick.