Triple Bananas

Triple Bananas are clusters of three Bananas appearing predominantly in the Mario Kart series, superseding Banana Bunches from Mario Kart 64.

Mario Kart Arcade GP
Triple Bananas first appear in Mario Kart Arcade GP as unlockable basic items during races. The player may throw each Banana one-by-one as they please and can also use the Bananas to block incoming items. A different variant known as the Banana Train also appears.

Mario Kart DS
Triple Bananas reappear in Mario Kart DS. When used, three Bananas are deployed to trail behind the player's kart. The player may throw each Banana one-by-one whenever as they please, and can also use the Bananas to block incoming items. Triple Bananas appear only in the top three positions in Grand Prix and VS modes, usually with slightly smaller probabilities than Fake Item Boxes; in Battle Mode, they are usable only by human players, and usually appear when the player ranks near the middle.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Triple Bananas return in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 as an unlockable item, functioning the same way as in its predecessor. The Banana Train also returns.

Mario Kart Wii
Triple Bananas return in Mario Kart Wii, behaving exactly the same as in Mario Kart DS. They appear only in the top four positions for human players and top three for CPUs in Grand Prix and VS modes; Battle Mode probabilities are stable for CPUs, but do not appear for poorly-performing human players.

Mario Kart 7
Triple Bananas return in Mario Kart 7, behaving exactly the same as in past games. In Grand Prix and VS modes, they can usually only be obtained in the top two positions; in Battle Mode, human players can only obtain Triple Bananas at or near first place, though CPUs have a fixed probability in obtaining them.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Triple Bananas return in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX along with the Banana Train. A new variant, the Triple Gold Bananas, also makes an appearance in this game, being the triple equivalent to the Gold Banana.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Triple Bananas return in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This time, when deployed, the Bananas orbit the player's kart rather than trailing behind it, though everything else functions the same. In Grand Prix and VS modes, all players may obtain Triple Bananas 1000-2000 units from the frontrunner; in Battle Mode, they can only be obtained when the player has only one balloon left one minute into the game.

Mario Kart Tour
Triple Bananas were originally Larry Koopa and Lemmy Koopa's special item in the beta testing to Mario Kart Tour, but they now have the Boomerang Flower and the Bubble respectively in the final release of the game. Triple Bananas are currently the only special item from the beta test that have not yet been carried over to the final game; it is unknown if they will eventually be added to the final game.

Super Mario Strikers
Triple Bananas appear in Super Mario Strikers. They spawn in the player's inventory when they attempt to make a goal, or gets fouled when not holding the ball. Unlike the Mario Kart series, they are all used at once and they will slide out in front of the player.

Mario Strikers Charged
Triple Bananas reappear in Mario Strikers Charged, functioning the same way as in its predecessor.

Mario Kart 7

 * Instruction manual description: "Press or  to equip, and then press  or  again to drop one Banana at a time."

Mario Kart 8

 * Instruction manual description: "Three Bananas that spin around your vehicle. Press to use them one at a time."

Trivia

 * Triple Bananas and Thunder Clouds are the only items from the Mario Kart Arcade GP series that appear in the main Mario Kart series.