Mario Kart Online

Mario Kart Online is a spin-off entry in the Mario Kart series available on PC and most mobile tablets. This entry in the series relies almost entirely on the online races and tournaments.

Licences

When booting up the game for the first time, the player is asked to create an account so their online statistics can be recorded. In this game, accounts are referred to as "Licenses".

Characters

Weight classes

• Super Light
• Light
• Medium
• Heavy
• Super Heavy

Benefits for lighter characters include better acceleration and the ability to lose less speed when they go off-road.

Benefits for heavier characters include better top speed and the ability to knock lighter characters aside.

Character abilities

• Boost characters gain a bigger burst of speed from boost panels and items.
• Flight characters can release gliders from certain trick panels.
• Power characters can break through and destroy certain hazards. These hazrds will stun other characters.
• Swim characters can drive underwater. Other characters will have to be rescued by Lakitu if they fall into water.

Starter

Character (Kart)	Status
Mario	Weight: Medium Ability: Boost Palette Swaps Fire Mario Tanooki Mario Metal Mario Baby Mario
Luigi	Weight: Medium Ability: Flight Palette Swaps Ice Luigi Raccoon Luigi Metal Luigi Baby Luigi
Peach	Weight: Light Ability: Boost Palette Swaps Fire Peach Cat Peach Pink Gold Peach Baby Peach
Yoshi	Weight: Light Ability: Flight Palette Swaps Red Yoshi Orange Yoshi Yellow Yoshi Turquoise Yoshi Blue Yoshi Purple Yoshi Pink Yoshi Black Yoshi White Yoshi
Birdo	Weight: Medium Ability: Swim
Toad	Weight: Super Light Ability: Boost Palette Swaps Red Toad Blue Toad Green Toad Yellow Toad
Koopa	Weight: Super Light Ability: Boost
Bowser	Weight: Super Heavy Ability: Power
Donkey Kong	Weight: Heavy Ability: Swim
Wario	Weight: Heavy Ability: Power
E. Gadd	Weight: Super Light Ability: Swim
Marty	Weight: Super Heavy Ability: Power

Unlockable

Character (Kart)	Status
Bowser Jr.	Weight: Light Ability: Boost Palette Swaps Iggy Koopa Larry Koopa Lemmy Koopa Ludwig Koopa Morton Koopa Jr. Roy Koopa Wendy O. Koopa
Daisy	Weight: Medium Ability: Flight
Diddy Kong	Weight: Light Ability: Boost Palette Swaps Donkey Kong Jr.
Dry Bones	Weight: Super Light Ability: Power
Funky Kong	Weight: Heavy Ability: Swim
Hammer Bro.	Weight: Medium Ability: Power
King Boo	Weight: Super Light Ability: Flight
King K. Rool	Weight: Super Heavy Ability: Swim
MC Ballyhoo	Weight: Medium Ability: Swim
Mini Bowser (Koopa Kid in North America)	Weight: Light Ability: Power Palette Swaps M. Bowser B M. Bowser G M. Bowser R
Paratroopa	Weight: Super Light Ability: Flight
Petey Piranha	Weight: Super Heavy Ability: Flight
Pianta	Weight: Heavy Ability: Swim Palette Swaps Noki
Raphael	Weight: Heavy Ability: Swim
Robo Mario	Weight: Medium Ability: Power
Rosalina	Weight: Heavy Ability: Flight
Shy Guy	Weight: Super Light Ability: Boost Palette Swaps Orange Shy Guy Yellow Shy Guy Green Shy Guy Turquoise Shy Guy Blue Shy Guy Purple Shy Guy Pink Shy Guy Black Shy Guy White Shy Guy
Tatanga	Weight: Medium Ability: Power
Toadette	Weight: Super Light Ability: Boost
Waluigi	Weight: Medium Ability: Swim

Non-playable

• Announcer: Provides commentary for the race.
• Brighton: Guide for the offline modes.
• Twila: Guide for the online modes.
• Lakitu: Acts as the referee.
• White Koopa Troopa: A racer that can only be used by computer players. They have the same properties as Koopa.

Announcer

Mario Kart Online features an announcer, just like Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 and Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. He acts similarly to the announcer in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - he sometimes comments on who is in first place, what is happening in the race, or when a racer has received a powerful item (such as a Spiny Shell).

Tracks

The Thunder Cup and Special Cups are unlockable cups, whilst the other five are available from the start.

Cup Name	Tracks
Mushroom Cup	Mario Carnival Yoshi's Island Toad Gardens Peach's Castle
Fire Cup	Luigi's Power Plant Pokey Desert DK Swamp K. Rool's Volcano
Star Cup	Platinum Palace E. Gadd Lab Funky Disco Retro Arcade
Shell Cup	Koopa Kingdom Shy Guy Subcon Bandit Caves Tatanga Skies
POW Cup	Marty's Roulette Party Central Baby Funland Trick Tunnel
Thunder Cup	Bowser's Castle Bullet Bill Heights Waluigi's Nightmare Illusion Mansion
Special Cup	Wario Colosseum Clockwork Castle GameCube Vortex Rainbow Road

Themes

Each of the seven cups appear to be based off a certain theme:

• Mushroom Cup is based off areas where Mario and his friends live.
• Fire Cup takes place in hot areas.
• Star Cup features futuristic courses.
• Shell Cup's tracks take place where a selection enemies live.
• POW Cup features party and carnival-themed courses.
• Thunder Cup contains courses with a scary nature.
• Special Cup, however, doesn't appear to have a specific theme.

All Cup Tour

The All Cup Tour is a special cup unlocked after getting a gold trophy in all seven cups on all four difficulties. A true test of skill, it pits the player in a grand prix consisting of all 28 tracks in the game. Tracks are raced in a random order, with the exception that Mario Carnival is always the first track and Rainbow Road is always the last track.

Offline Modes

Grand Prix

Grand Prix features the player racing on four different tracks against up to ten computer players.

Default difficulties

• 50cc - Easy. Races feature 7 racers, and are slow-paced. Computer players have a limited selection of items, such as Banana Peels, Green Shells and certain special items. They are also inconsistent in their driving ability - any computer can take the top position each race.
• 100cc - Normal. Races feature 9 racers, and move at a normal pace. Computer players have a slightly larger selection of items, such as Red Shells and Bob-Ombs. Typically, three random computer players will take the top positions.

Unlockable difficulties

• 150cc - Hard. Races feature 11 racers, and are very fast-paced and chaotic. The computers now have access to all the items, including the devastating Spiny Shell, and act much more aggressively.
  • On 150cc, the player will be assigned a random "rival", which is usually an "evil" character (such as Bowser, Wario, King K. Rool, Petey Piranha or Robo Mario). This computer will nearly always take the top spot. Additionally, the player will be assigned three random "sub-rivals", who will usually finish every race in 2nd to 5th place.
• Mirror - Very Hard. Acts just like 150cc, but all the tracks are mirrored.

Point System

	50cc	100cc	150cc	Mirror
1st	+8	+10	+12	+15
2nd	+6	+8	+10	+12
3rd	+4	+6	+8	+10
4th	+3	+5	+7	+8
5th	+2	+4	+6	+6
6th	+1	+3	+5	+4
7th	0	+2	+4	+3
8th	–	+1	+3	+2
9th	–	0	+2	+1
10th	–	–	+1	0
11th	–	–	0	-1

A player’s point count will never drop below zero.

Sandbox Race

Sandbox Race features the player and five White Koopa Troopas. Here, the player has access to unlimited supplies of every normal item in the game, and, in the pause menu, can change the behaviour of the White Koopa Troopas. The mode is supposed to be used to practice racing.

Battle Mode

• Balloon Battle - Everybody has three balloons, with each item they hit taking a balloon away. Lose all your balloons, and you are out!
• Score Battle - Everytime you hit an opponent, you gain a point. Have the most points when time runs out to win.
• Coin Battle - Coins are scattered around the arena! Hoard the most when time runs out to win.
• Ghost Battle - One player is infected by a ghost! The ghost player has a minute to catch as many opponents as possible, turning them into ghosts. Anybody who is not infected when time runs out is the winner! The original ghost wins if they manage to infect everybody.
• Gate Battle - A gate will spawn randomly on the stage. Players must race through the gate, and get points depending on how fast they make it through. This continues for a few minutes.

Mission Mode

Main article: Mission Mode (Mario Kart Online)

Unlockables

Cup	50cc	100cc	150cc	Mirror
Mushroom Cup	Online Mode	Toadette	Pianta	N/A
Fire Cup	Dry Bones	Diddy Kong	King K. Rool	N/A
Star Cup	Daisy	Bowser Jr.	Funky Kong	N/A
Shell Cup	Hammer Bro.	Shy Guy	Paratroopa	Petey Piranha
POW Cup	Waluigi	Thunder Cup	Mini Bowser	MC Ballyhoo
Thunder Cup	King Boo	150cc	Special Cup	Tatanga
Special Cup	Rosalina	Raphael	Mirror	Robo Mario

Additionally, collecting all 28 cups in the game unlocks the All Cup Tour.

Online Modes

Online Grand Prix

Online Grand Prix features 6-13 players competing in four different tracks. Everybody votes for which track to race on, which is chosen randomly by the "Race Roulette".

After four races, the top five will receive "Online Cups".

If there are less than six racers, the empty slots are filled up by White Koopa Troopa CPUs set to Easy. These will also replace players who disconnect in the middle of an Online Grand Prix.

Occasionally, players will be sent to a Team Online Grand Prix, which can include two, three or four teams. Players can be assigned to Team Red, Team Blue, Team Green or Team Yellow. There is also never an uneven amount of players on each team.

Online GP Point System

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th
6P	+8	+6	+4	+3	+2	+1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
7P	+10	+8	+6	+4	+3	+2	+1	–	–	–	–	–	–
8P	+10	+8	+6	+4	+3	+2	+1	0	–	–	–	–	–
9P	+10	+8	+6	+5	+4	+3	+2	+1	0	–	–	–	–
10P	+12	+10	+8	+6	+5	+4	+3	+2	+1	0	–	–	–
11P	+15	+12	+10	+8	+6	+5	+4	+3	+2	+1	0	–	–
12P	+15	+12	+10	+8	+7	+6	+5	+4	+3	+2	+1	0	–
13P	+15	+12	+10	+9	+8	+7	+6	+5	+4	+3	+2	+1	0

Quick Race

Quick Race assigns up to thirteen random players to a random track on a random engine class.

Quick Battle

Quick Battle assigns up to thirteen random players to a random battle track. A random battle game is also chosen.

Special Race

Special Races include new elements to regular races. There are several different types of Special Races, including:

• Competitive Race - No items at all, most hazards turned off, simply pure racing goodness!
• Chaotic Race - Any character can get any item in any place!
• Coin Race - Winning the race is not the only thing important now, as you now must collect coins on the track!
• Indefinite Race - Nobody knows how many laps there are, so finishing every lap in first is important!
• Speedy Race - Everybody has an unlimited supply of Dash Mushrooms! There is no way for characters to lose their Dash Mushroom, as they have infinite supplies, and hazards which usually cause players to lose their items now don’t.
• Backwards Race - Race on the tracks as usual, only in backwards! Due to the nature of this type of race, some tracks cannot be raced on.
• Elimination Race - A typical race, except the last person to finish each lap (or part of a track) is eliminated from the race entirely! This continues until there is only one person left.

In Elimination Race, players who are eliminated turn into ghosts, and are able to place item boxes about the course.

Friend Room

Friend Room allows the player to play with up to twelve of their friends. Here the group can do a variety of things include:

• Friend Grand Prix - Compete with your friends in a four-track Grand Prix!
• Team Friend GP - Team up with your friends so you can win the trophy together!

Tournaments

Tournaments are competitions hosted by Nintendo about twice or three times a month.

Slot Machine

In the Online Modes menu, one can see a slot machine. The player can use coins they collected in races (the player will only gain the amount of coins they finish with) to spin the slot machine. Getting a three in a row will give the player a Power Orb.

The player actually only needs to put in one coin to spin the slot machine. However, putting in more coins will decrease the speed of the slots.

Battle Tracks

Difficultly	Track
Beginner	Garden Gate Block Metropolis
Amateur	Frost Factory Cola Falls Ghost Train
Expert	Airship Fleet Explosion Battlefield Mario Maze

Items

Normal Items

All characters can receive normal items.

Item Name	Description
Boo	Steals an item from a random opponent and gives it to the player. During the process that the player is stealing an item, they are invisible, and immune to all items and hazards.
Bob-Omb	Tossed forward or backwards. Causes a large explosion a few seconds after landing, sending anybody in its blast flying.
Dash Mushroom	Gives its user a short burst of speed. During the burst of speed, the player can pass through all types of terrain without losing speed.
Double Dash Mushroom	Gives the user two Dash Mushrooms to use.
Triple Dash Mushroom	Gives the user three Dash Mushrooms to use.
Banana Peel	Can be either placed behind or thrown added by its user. Any player who touches the peel spins out. The peel also vanishes if it collides with a player or another item.
Mini Banana Bunch	Gives the user three Banana Peels to use.
Green Shell	Can be thrown in a straight line in front or behind its user. The shell will bounce off walls until it hits a player, causing them to get stunned. The shell breaks apart if it hits a player or another item.
Double Green Shell	Gives the user two Green Shells to use.
Triple Green Shell	Gives the user three Green Shells to use.
Red Shell	Can be thrown in front of or behind its user. Acts similarly to its green counterpart, with the main difference being that, if it is thrown forward, it will lock onto another player.
Double Red Shell	Gives the user two Red Shells to use.
Triple Red Shell	Gives the user three Red Shells to use.
Spiny Shell	Once released, it will target the player currently in first. That player and anybody around them will be caught in a exploding surprise!
Heart	Allows the player to collect an item on the ground and use it.
Mario Coin	Holding this coin will allow the player to use it to "buy" shortcuts, allowing them to skip portions of a track. Alternatively, the player can use up the coin for a speed boost (which is about half the burst of a Dash Mushroom).

Special Items

Only certain characters can receive special items, though characters who generally cannot receive these items can still steal them using the Boo item.

Item Name	Description
Bomb Shell	Acts as a normal Green Shell, but once it hits a player or item, it explodes! Bowser, Bowser Jr., Mini Bowser, Wario, Waluigi, King K. Rool and Tatanga can receive this item.
Explosive Peel	Acts just like a regular Banana Peel, but explodes once it collides with something! Wario, Waluigi, Mini Bowser, King K. Rool and Robo Mario can receive this item.
Fireball	Thrown forward in a straight line, bounces off walls, and stuns anybody who it hits for a short period of time. Mario, Luigi and Robo Mario can receive this item.
Golden Mushroom	Acts just like a regular Dash Mushroom, but has unlimited uses for a short period of time. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad and Toadette can receive this item.
Hammer	Thrown forwards or backwards, sending a shockwave stunning any opponents in its radius. Wario, Hammer Bro, E. Gadd and Tatanga can receive this item.
Hoover	For about 5 seconds, the player can suck up any items in their way. Luigi, E. Gadd, King Boo and Robo Mario can receive this item.
Magic Hat	Turns itself into an item another player is currently holding. Waluigi, King Boo, Mini Bowser and MC Ballyhoo can receive this item.
Mega Banana Bunch	Gives the user five Banana Peels to use. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Funky Kong can receive this item.
Mega Heart	Allows the player to collect up to three items on the ground and use them. Peach, Birdo, Daisy, Petey Piranha and Rosalina can receive this item.
Mushroom Dice	The player hits a dice which can give them 1-6 Dash Mushrooms. Daisy, Waluigi, Dry Bones, Hammer Bro., MC Ballyhoo, Mini Bowser, Robo Mario and Marty can receive this item.
Rainbow Shell	Gives its user three Green Shells and three Red Shells. Koopa, Paratroopa, Dry Bones, Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Mini Bowser can receive this item.
Volcano Seed	Can be thrown forwards or backwards. Causes a miniature volcano to appear for a few seconds, which emits a few fireballs onto the field. Bowser Jr., Pianta and King K. Rool can receive this item.
Yoshi Egg	Locks onto an enemy and gives the player a common item on contact. Yoshi, Birdo, Shy Guy and Raphael can receive this item.

Power Orbs

Players are asked at the start of every online race if they want to use any of their Power Orbs.

Whilst there is no limit to the amount of Power Orbs the player can have in their inventory, they can only bring up to four Power Orbs into an Online Grand Prix.

Power Orbs disappear from the player's inventory once they are used in a race.

Power Orb Colour	Description
Red	Gives you a Dash Mushroom at the beginning of the race.
Orange	Slightly increases the speed of your items.
Yellow	Gives you a Banana Peel at the beginning of the race.
Lime	Causes your item roulette to stop faster for the entire race.
Green	Makes items stun you for slightly less time.
Turquoise	Makes you immune to the Boo item.
Blue	Gives you a Boo at the beginning of the race.
Pink	Gives you a Heart at the beginning of the race.
White	Gives you a Mario Coin at the beginning of the race.

Music

Athletic Lane

A remix of the Athletic Theme from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, with a few elements of the Subcon theme from Super Mario Bros. 2.

Plays on Yoshi's Island, Pokey Desert and Shy Guy Subcon.

Circuit 2

A remix of SEQ_CIRCUIT2, an unused song in Mario Kart DS.

Plays on Mario Carnival, Koopa Kingdom and Baby Funland.

Clockwork Castle

A fast-paced remix of Clockwork Castle from Mario Party 6, with a few elements from E. Gadd's Garage. heard throughout.

Plays on Toad Gardens, E. Gadd Lab and Clockwork Castle.

Dark Castle

A Bowser's Castle-esque theme.

Plays on K. Rool's Volcano and Bowser's Castle.

High in the Sky

Plays on Luigi's Power Plant, Tatanga Skies and Bullet Bill Heights.

Into the Dark

A dark jazz instrumental with elements of industrial music.

Plays on DK Swamp, Bandit Caves, Trick Tunnel and Waluigi's Nightmare.

Round the Fort

Plays on Peach's Castle, Party Central and Illusion Mansion.

Stadium Rock

An electronic rock instrumental.

Plays on Funky Disco, Marty's Roulette and Wario Colosseum.

Starry Night

A eurodance-esque instrumental similar to Rainbow Road themes from other Mario Kart games.

Plays on Platinum Palace and Rainbow Road.

The Future Has It All

A electronic instrumental with retro-esque sound effects.

Plays on Retro Arcade and GameCube Vortex.

Trivia

• This game features the return of many characters in the Mario series who have been absent for many years:
  • This is Marty's first appearance since Mario Kart Wii in 2008.
  • This is MC Ballyhoo's first appearance since Mario Party 8 in 2007.
  • This is Mini Bowser's first appearance since Mario Party 7 in 2005.
  • This is Brighton and Twila's first appearance since Mario Party 6 in 2004.
  • This is Tatanga's first appearance since Super Mario Land 2: The 6 Golden Coins in 1992.
• Finishing from 2nd to 6th triggers the "Moderate" results, whilst finishing from 7th to 13th triggers the "Losing" results.
  • Coming in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th can also trigger "Losing" results if that is the lowest possible rank in the race.
• This is the first Mario Kart game in which none of the tracks have their own unique music - every music piece is used in at least two tracks.