Car (obstacle)
- This article is about the obstacle in theMario Kart series. For the standard vehicles fromDiddy Kong Racing andDiddy Kong Racing DS, seeCar. For theYoshi transformation fromSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, seeCar Yoshi.
- See also:Truck,Bus,Taxi
Cars in theMario Kart series appear as obstacles in urban- or highway-themed courses. They typically travel at a constant speed along with the rest of the traffic. They always follow a set path; when traveling along a multi-lane road with other traffic, they will typically drive in the middle of their respective lanes and use turn signals if switching lanes, making their behavior very predictable. If the player hits a moving car, they will usually flip over and, inMario Kart DS andMario Kart Wii, lose their item. They cannot be destroyed or removed, but they can usually be launched into the air by driving into them while using aSuper Star,Bullet Bill,Chain Chomp, orMega Mushroom, or by hitting them with aSuper Horn,Super Bell,Giga Bob-omb,Spiny Shell, orBowser Shell. Moving cars may also honk their horns if they hit an item or the player. However, some courses may have stationary cars, which display none of the above properties and will merely act as walls when a player runs into them.
History[edit]
Mario Kart 64[edit]
Moving cars first appear inMario Kart 64, exclusive toToad's Turnpike. All cars are white and share the same engine sound asToad'skart. If a player hits a car, they will not lose their item. In this game only, cars will haphazardly drive between lanes and cannot be launched or otherwise moved by any means. The cars seem to take inspiration from a 1971 Nissan Skyline C10 and the 1989 Mazda 121.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!![edit]
Cars also appear inMario Kart: Double Dash!!, onMushroom Bridge andMushroom City. Both courses feature red, yellow, and blue cars, with "POW" on their license plates, as well asBomb-cars. In this game only, if a player hits a car, they will spin out and not lose their item.
Cars with the appearance of a three-wheeled,Mushroom-shaped pickup truck also appear on the main streets of these courses. Although they slow drivers down when bumped into, they do not make them spin out, instead releasing a Mushroom that will pop out and land on the road. This makes the Mushroom-shaped car one of the few obstacles in the game that can help the player in some way. These cars do not appear in Time Trial mode, likely to prevent players from obtaining extra Mushrooms. The sound the Mushroom car makes when bumped is the same sound that is played when a power-up item comes out of a? Block in mostSuper Mario games.
Mario Kart DS[edit]
Cars also appear inMario Kart DS, onShroom Ridge and the returning retro courseGCN Mushroom Bridge. Both courses feature red, yellow, and blue cars. However, inGCN Mushroom Bridge, the Mushroom cars and Bomb-cars have been removed. If a player hits a car, they will lose their item. All three cars are based onPrince Skylines, with minor differences.
In Mission 4-3, Mario must race against a red car to thefinish line on Shroom Ridge. This car moves much faster than cars normally move.
Mario Kart Wii[edit]
Cars also appear inMario Kart Wii onMoonview Highway. The course features blue, red and yellow cars, with "POW" on their number plates, and are nearly the same as the cars fromMario Kart: Double Dash!!, but with a lack of tailfins. However, their speed is dependent on which part of the track they are on, a behavior exclusive to Moonview Highway. If the player hits a car head on, the player will be squashed by the car in the same way as being run over by someone with a Mega Mushroom, and will have a lower speed and drive flat for a short while, and hitting the back or side of a car will cause the player to flip over as usual. In both cases, the player will typically lose their item.Bomb-cars also return, now under the name "Bob-omb Cars."
Additionally, red convertibles driven byMiis appear onCoconut Mall. These behave differently from other cars in the series, driving back and forth across the width of the track.
Mario Kart 7[edit]
Cars also appear inMario Kart 7 onWuhu Loop. The course is only able to feature red and blue cars. If a player hits a car, they will not lose their item.Wii Coconut Mall's red convertibles also return and have the same behavior.
Additionally, the first stationary vehicle appears onMaka Wuhu at the beginning of the track. Unlike all other stationary vehicles, its appearance is chosen at random, meaning it can either appear as a car or as apickup truck.
Mario Kart 8 /Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]
Moving red cars also appear on the retro tracksN64 Toad's Turnpike inMario Kart 8 as well asDS Shroom Ridge,Tour Berlin Byways, andWii Moonview Highway inMario Kart 8 Deluxe. Black cars also appear on the aforementioned courses exceptWii Moonview Highway. The new design of the cars resembles the typical styling of real-world cars from the 1980s and 1990s, specifically theToyota Comfort. Yellow taxis with blue details andGreen Shell Taxi branding also appear on these courses and function identically to the cars, taking their places at random. If a player hits a car, they will not lose their item, and if they were not driving fast enough they will not flip out either.Bob-omb Cars also return on Moonview Highway.
N64 Rainbow Road andUrchin Underpass also feature moving cars, though they are outside the track and thus of no consequence to the player.
Wii Coconut Mall's red convertibles return once again and are now occupied byShy Guys. They behave differently than in prior titles. Originally, they could no longer move, being parked on the sides of the track while facing drivers diagonally. Rather than causing racers to spin out, they merely acted as walls. This was changed in the 2.1.0 update. In all modes other thanTime Trials, the Shy Guys will drive back and forth. Occasionally, they will do donuts, and if a player hits one at that time, they will flip over as usual.
Stationary cars also appear onTour New York Minute andTour Berlin Byways. On New York Minute, they take the appearance of taxis and are found just before the final turn on laps 1 and 2. On Berlin Byways, they are found midway through the track on lap 1 and just after the first turn on lap 3. Several courses also feature stationary cars outside the track.
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
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Moving cars also appear inMario Kart Tour onGCN Mushroom Bridge and its R variant,DS Shroom Ridge and its R variant,Wii Moonview Highway and all its variants, andTour Berlin Byways and its R and R/T variants. The courses generally feature red, green, blue, and white cars; the former two have new designs while the latter two are similar to the design used inMario Kart 8 andMario Kart 8 Deluxe. The new design of the red and green cars resembles a real-world subcompact car from the 1980s, specifically the fourth generationToyota Starlet. In this game, instead of making racers flip over, moving cars simply slow them down as a wall would; they are otherwise similar to those of previousMario Kart games. When taken out by a player, they give "Car" bonus points.Bob-omb Cars also return on the normal and T variants of Moonview Highway and Mushroom Bridge.
Stationary cars also appear onMushroom Bridge R and R/T,Shroom Ridge R/T,Moonview Highway R/T,Berlin Byways and its R and R/T variants, Berlin Byways 2 and all its variants, Berlin Byways 3R,Sydney Sprint T,Bangkok Rush and its R variant, and Bangkok Rush 2 and its R variant. The stationary cars use the same models as the moving cars. Although they act as obstacles to block the player's path, they can always be bounced on to perform atrick if the player lands on top of them. The taxi version also retains its model and appears onNew York Minute T, New York Minute 2T, New York Minute 3T and 3R/T, and New York Minute 4 and all its variants.
Red convertibles appear again onWii Coconut Mall, which are occupied by Shy Guys like in the course'sMario Kart 8 Deluxe rendition; in the regular variant, they move back and forth across the track like inMario Kart Wii andMario Kart 7, while in the R variant, they are bigger and completely stationary, similarly to version 2.0.0 of8 Deluxe, though they now lie parallel to the course's borders rather than diagonally, and invisible boundaries redirect drivers away from them when approached.
The Mushroom-shaped cars fromMario Kart: Double Dash!! also return onMushroom Bridge and its R and T variants, as well asMoonview Highway R and R/T. They act much like in their debut game, releasing a Mushroom when bumped into or hit with an item such as aBanana,Green Shell,Bob-omb, etc. They can additionally be launched into the air by hitting them with a Spiny Shell, Super Horn, or Super Bell, or by driving into them while under the effects of a Frenzy, Mega Mushroom, Bullet Bill, or a Super Star. Interacting with a Mushroom-shaped car in any way grants the player bonus points, with the action being displayed as "Car".
Mario Kart World[edit]
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This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the game was first released.
Moving cars return inMario Kart World. They appear on the highway portion of the "Mario Bros. Circuit" track, once again featuring a new design. They now resemble a 1950s-1960s American convertible, with windows similar to theAMC Pacer.
Gallery[edit]
A car in Toad's Turnpike fromMario Kart 64
Cars at Mushroom Bridge fromMario Kart: Double Dash!!
A car at Mushroom Bridge fromMario Kart: Double Dash!!
A car at Mushroom Bridge fromMario Kart: Double Dash!!
A car at Mushroom Bridge fromMario Kart: Double Dash!!
A car in Mushroom City fromMario Kart: Double Dash!!
Cars in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
Cars in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
Cars in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
Cars in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
A car in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
A car in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
A car in Moonview Highway fromMario Kart Wii
A car in Wuhu Loop fromMario Kart 7
Cars inN64 Toad's Turnpike fromMario Kart 8 andMario Kart 8 Deluxe
Cars inN64 Toad's Turnpike fromMario Kart 8 andMario Kart 8 Deluxe
More cars inN64 Toad's Turnpike fromMario Kart 8 andMario Kart 8 Deluxe
A car inN64 Toad's Turnpike fromMario Kart 8 andMario Kart 8 Deluxe
Cars inN64 Toad's Turnpike fromMario Kart 8 andMario Kart 8 Deluxe
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | くるま[?] Kuruma | Car | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 汽车[?] Qìchē | Car | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 汽車[?] Qìchē | Car | |
| French | Voiture[?] | Veichle | |
| German | Auto[?] | - | |
| Italian | Automobile[?] | - | |
| Auto[?] | Car | ||
| Korean | 자동차[?] Jadongcha | Automobile | |
| Portuguese | Carro[?] | Car | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Carro[?] | Car | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Coche[?] | Car |
