Blimp

The Mario Kart Tour blimp in Singapore Speedway

Blimps in the Super Mario franchise are airborne transportation vehicles with varying designs that take Mario and other characters to a different location. However, some blimps just appear as background objects.

History[edit]

Mario Kart series[edit]

Mario Kart: Super Circuit[edit]

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, a Luigi blimp can be seen in Luigi Circuit and Sky Garden, the course that immediately follows Luigi Circuit in Lightning Cup. In Luigi Circuit, the blimp waits until the third lap to take off and fly, whereas it is later seen flying in Sky Garden.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!![edit]

A Luigi blimp also appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s Luigi Circuit floating in the air above the racetrack, this time being a 3D model. This blimp does not appear if the players are racing in split-screen mode. It also appears on Luigi Circuit's logo.

Mario Kart DS[edit]

In Mario Kart DS, the Luigi blimp from Mario Kart: Super Circuit reappears in GBA Luigi Circuit, where it now starts to take off on the second lap, and GBA Sky Garden. In the demo versions of the game, the blimp also appears in GCN Luigi Circuit.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2[edit]

The area in the right of Stadium Arena from Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

The Waluigi blimp floating above the track in Stadium Arena

Blimps appear again in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 in various different styles and colors, sometimes referencing to a certain character. A red blimp and a green one can be seen in Mario Highway and a Waluigi blimp can be spotted floating above the race track in Stadium Arena while following its layout. However, this blimp is not present in Waluigi Stadium even if the track takes place at the same location as Stadium Arena.

Mario Kart Wii[edit]

In Mario Kart Wii, a blimp appears in Luigi Circuit, this time being a Cheep Cheep-shaped blimp and not a Luigi balloon. It can be seen taking off from a landing platform in the middle of a lake located inside the race track and flying overhead afterwards.

Mario Kart 7[edit]

In Mario Kart 7, the Wii blimp seen in Wii Sports Resort, named the Whale Shark, appears in Wuhu Loop and Wuhu Town.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]

In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Whale Shark appears in 3DS Wuhu Town, now featuring the modern Mario Kart logo. In the Booster Course Pass DLC pack, the Mario Kart Tour blimp without the Tour part of the logo appears in Tour Singapore Speedway.

Mario Kart Tour[edit]

A blimp with the Mario Kart Tour logo appears in the background of Singapore Speedway and GBA Sky Garden, where it is flying in the background. It is featured as a course element in the R and R/T variants of the former course, where the player can perform Jump Boosts by bouncing on it. In the Coin Rush variant, the blimp is used to carry a Boost Ring. The Luigi blimp returns in GBA Luigi Circuit, now with the Luigi Raceway logo, and flies over the track throughout the race.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[edit]

Main article: Cheep Blimp

A particular blimp known as the Cheep Blimp appears in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Mario Party 8[edit]

A special blimp appears in Mario Party 8 which can be seen on the boxart and during the opening sequence of the Star Carnival, after having selected the file, while two Paragoombas with a red Mario Party 8 banner are passing through the screen.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team[edit]

Main article: Zeeppelin

A particular blimp known as the Zeeppelin appears in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

Princess Peach: Showtime![edit]

The blimp in The Stolen Statue

The stage The Stolen Statue in Princess Peach: Showtime! takes place mostly onboard a blimp whose Sour Thief pilots have stolen the stage's titular statue. Dashing Thief Peach gets onboard the blimp in mid-flight by making her up through propeller airplanes that fly immediately behind the blimp. Once onboard she makes her way through indoor and outdoor corridors and eventually smashes through the front window of the cockpit, defeating the pilots, followed up by opening up the onboard docking port through its crane system and making her escape from the blimp's rapid self-destruction procedure.

The Ribboner also appears on the blimp, saying he had bought a ticket to the wrong blimp. Once he is rescued by Peach, he states his plans to make his own escape from the blimp with a parachute he had brought with him.