Item Box

Item Box
The Item Box in its Mario Kart 8 appearance
First appearance	Mario Kart 64 (1996)
Latest appearance	Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020)
Effect	Gives an item when broken

“Touch an Item Box to break it open!”

—Lakitu, Mario Kart Tour

Item Boxes (or item boxes) are boxes featured mainly in the Mario Kart series. Item Boxes look like ? Blocks but are transparent and often multicolored, and in more recent games, they have an iridescent checkerboard pattern. When a character passes through them, they get a random item. These blocks also appear in Mario Tennis and Mario Power Tennis. They have appeared in all the Mario Kart games, except Super Mario Kart, where ? Panels are used instead. Fake Item Boxes appear as items from the real Item Boxes and can be used in a similar way to Bananas, but they have a bigger impact by making racers flip over instead of spinning out. As seen in Toad's Factory in Mario Kart Wii, Item Boxes can be made out of Brick Blocks.

The positions in which players are in a race determine what kinds of items they will get. For example, someone in first place may get a Green Shell or a Banana, while someone in last place may get a Super Star, a Golden Dash Mushroom, Lightning, or a Bullet Bill.

By holding and not releasing the "use item" button on a controller, players can hold some items behind them, such as Bananas and shells, referred to as "dangling." This allows players to protect themselves from rear attacks or collisions with other racers.

History

Mario Kart series

Mario Kart 64

The octahedron shape of an item box in Mario Kart 64

A sideways item box from Luigi Raceway

Mario Kart 64 is the first game to utilize Item Boxes, replacing ? Panels from Super Mario Kart. Instead of being flat, square, and yellow like ? Panels, they have an octahedron shape with a ? in the center, and are multicolored and translucent. Colliding with an Item Box will provide the character with a random item; the item received is determined based on the place of the character - the farther back they are, the more powerful items they will get. Unlike ? Panels, Item Boxes respawn almost immediately after being used.

Throughout the game, there are two item boxes that provide only Spiny Shells; they are marked with a sideways "?" and appear hanging from the Luigi Raceway balloon and atop a large rock on Koopa Troopa Beach.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

An item box in Mario Kart: Super Circuit in an isolated location of Mario Circuit 1

Item Boxes take on a different appearance in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Here, they look like cubes that change color instead of their previous octahedron shape. Most are found in groups of 3 but some boxes are isolated in uncommon locations in the track. Other than appearance and location changes, no functional changes have been made. Item Boxes in this game usually rotate, but in Single-Pak Multiplayer they simply shrink and extend slightly without rotating.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

The Double Item Box, which first appeared in Mario Kart Double Dash!!

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Item Boxes make a reappearance, along with a new variety named Double Item Boxes. Unlike regular Item Boxes, Double Item Boxes grant both the driver and the thrower items. Item Boxes in Mario Kart Double Dash!! take on a different appearance from their previous appearances: they are still shaped like cubes, but they have a checkerboard texture, similar to a race flag.

Double Dash!! is the first game where Item Boxes can move independently around the track - some in Mushroom Bridge or Mushroom City will follow the track like the other cars, while some in Peach Beach or Sherbet Land will move back and forth along a piece of track. Moving Item Boxes respawn where they were last broken, except in Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City, where they respawn in the pipe shortcut and in alleyways, respectively.

In split-screen mode except for Battle Course stages, Item Boxes are brighter checkerboard texture than the normal checkerboard texture. In the mini-game Bob-omb Blast, Item Boxes and Double Item Boxes only grant players the Bob-omb item, and have their "?" replaced with a Bob-omb to show this.

Any Double Item Boxes are replaced with single Item Boxes when a Mario Kart: Double Dash!! course appears in a later game.

Mario Kart Arcade GP subseries

The hexagonal item boxes from Mario Arcade GP 2

Item Boxes in Mario Kart Arcade GP and its sequel, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 have an identical function. However, they are depicted with a honeycomb-like hexagonal structure instead of cubic.

Mario Kart DS

In Mario Kart DS, the boxes have a similar appearance to the boxes in Mario Kart Double Dash!!, though they are slightly more square with white borders and including transparent areas. They serve a similar function, though Double Item Boxes do not return and characters return to not physically holding them. Like in the previous games, they still grant the player an item depending on the player's place.

In DK Pass, there is an item box sitting on top of a large hill that gives the player, regardless of their current standing, a Star, Triple Mushrooms, a single Mushroom, or (rarely) a Red Shell. This is the only location of such in the entire game, but it also appears in missions where the player must beat an opponent (like Yoshi, a Chain Chomp or a red car).

In multiplayer battle mode, defeated players have an unlimited supply of item boxes (though there is a delay time for each use) and can deploy them similar to a banana. These help other players get items. The ghost item boxes disappear after a while.

To match the theme of Waluigi Pinball, the item roulette sound in that course has an arcade-like sound to it.

Mario Kart Wii

Artwork of an item box in Mario Kart Wii

In Mario Kart Wii, the item boxes lose their checkerboard textures and gain rainbow dot textures. They act in a similar manner as in the previous games and nothing has been changed relating to function when an item is received. However, they do reappear at a slower rate than its precedents. It is seen that Item Boxes are created out of Brick Blocks in Toad's Factory.

In Chain Chomp Wheel, some item boxes float in the center of a large ring, bearing in shape of a star. If players can aim correctly and touch the item boxes, they mostly receive a Star or the occasional Mushroom.

In multiplayer modes, Item Boxes have spinning question marks inside them as opposed to being static in single-player mode.

Mario Kart 7

Item Boxes in Mario Kart 7

Item Boxes return in Mario Kart 7 with the same design and purpose as Mario Kart Wii, with a rainbow-colored texture slightly less biased against the red area. Unlike in Mario Kart DS, they do not appear on the bottom screen's map.

While the "super Item Box" of DS DK Pass remains intact, the Spiny Shell-only Item Boxes from N64 Luigi Raceway and N64 Koopa Troopa Beach have been replaced with a regular Item Box and a Coin respectively. DS Waluigi Pinball also retains its unique item roulette sound.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Item Boxes reappear in Mario Kart 8, holding the same function as in previous encounters. The appearance remains about the same from Mario Kart 7, except it is a crystalline grey instead of a rainbow color and the ? is slightly larger. One difference between the games is that players can no longer hold two items at once (like in Super Mario Kart), and items will appear in the drivers' hands (like in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!), or in the case of the triple items and the Crazy Eight, automatically activate by themselves. Unlike previous games, it now has a new sound effect, for both the Item Box itself and the item roulette. In Mario Kart 8, the items players can receive are solely determined by their distance behind the leader, rather than position. In Animal Crossing, there are Item Boxes after the glider segment that are held up by balloons, which can be obtained by either gliding through the Item Box or by breaking the balloon. The Item Boxes in certain stages have special sound effects from their respective games, as opposed to the normal sound; Animal Crossing's play a variant of the music when a profile is loaded or saved, Hyrule Circuit's play the chest opening jingle from The Legend of Zelda games, and Urchin Underpass's play the stat slot sound from Splatoon. DS Waluigi Pinball also retains its unique item roulette sound.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features the return of Double Item Boxes. Like in Double Dash!!, players can once again hold up to two items at once, even if they do not equip the first item. However, unlike in Double Dash!!, Deluxe uses the same arrangement as previous games in that the second item is merely held in reserve while the first item is in play, and the player can get a second item from a standard Item Box if they have one in their main slot. Additionally, Double Item Boxes are no longer randomly generated; rather, they appear in the same spot every time. There are two courses in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that do not have Double Item Boxes: GCN Baby Park and DS Shroom Ridge. In this game, the item given is now determined by both distance and position.

Mario Kart Tour

A Frenzy Item Box found in a Mario Kart Tour Goomba Takedown challenge, giving the player a Bob-omb Frenzy

Item Boxes return once again in Mario Kart Tour with similar design and functionality to Mario Kart 8. Replacing the Double Item Box is a feature allowing each character to hold two or three items on certain courses. When the racer drives through an Item Box, an item will be rolled in all empty item slots; if the Auto-Item feature is turned on, the remaining items will be used and all slots will be rolled. When all three item slots (if available) show the same item, Frenzy mode is activated, granting the player invincibility and allowing infinite uses of that item for a short time.

In general, if a racer drives through a spot where an Item Box that was broken by another driver is supposed to be, they will still obtain items even if the Item Box has not respawned yet; this is contrary to previous appearances, where racers would miss getting an item from an Item Box in the time it took to respawn. A Mario Kart Tour feature on the App Store stated that players can miss an Item Box if it has not physically reappeared after breaking; this is only true for Item Boxes found within Clampies, which do not reappear until a Clampy closes and reopens its valves to produce another Item Box, or when traffic breaks the Item Boxes.

Some bonus challenges contain Item Boxes with the question mark replaced by the image of an item, such as a Bob-omb. These will immediately give the player one of that item, regardless of how many item slots the driver has. The player also cannot activate a Frenzy with such Item Boxes, even if three are collected. Another special type of Item Box introduced in the Valentine's Tour has a pink appearance with a rainbow outline on the question mark, and immediately activates a Frenzy of a given item. This special Item Box appears in the Goomba Takedown bonus challenges held at SNES Mario Circuit 2, SNES Vanilla Lake 1 and Wii Mushroom Gorge, as well as the Take them out quick! bonus challenge held at N64 Frappe Snowland.

Like in previous appearances, DS Waluigi Pinball retains its unique item roulette sound.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

Item Boxes appear once again in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, where they act identically to Mario Kart 8. Here, they act as a gate customization option. Any racer who drives through the customized gate will trigger an item roulette.

Mario & Sonic series

An Item Box in Dream Race, a Dream Event in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

In the Mario & Sonic series, Item Boxes appear in various Dream Events, functioning identically as in the Mario Kart games, but the items that they give vary, depending on the event or even position of the player. In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Item Boxes only appear in the Dream Race and Dream Platform events. In the Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Item Boxes appear in the Dream Race, Dream Canoe, Dream Shooting and Dream Long Jump events. The items that can be obtained from these boxes vary depending on the event being played and in some events, the position of the player when they collect the Item Box. In the Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Item Boxes appear in Ski Cross Racing, Rocket Ski Jumping, Extreme Snowboarding and Ski Shooting. In the game's Wii version, Item Boxes appear in both the Individual and Team versions of Dream Alpine, the Individual and Team versions of Dream Ski Cross, the Individual and Team versions of Dream Snowboard Cross, Dream Short Track, Dream Bobsleigh, Dream Ice Hockey, Dream Curling and Dream Snowball Fight. Additionally, in Dream Ice Hockey, one of the events that may occur when collecting a Wild Ball is a large number of Item Boxes appearing on the rink.

Mario Party: Star Rush

Item Boxes in Bowser's Shocking Slipup, a minigame in Mario Party: Star Rush

Item Boxes make an appearance in the minigame, Bowser's Shocking Slipup in Mario Party: Star Rush. Here, depending on the timing hit, they can deliver Lightning Bolts to Bowser or cause Banana Peels to spawn, which can stun players. Double Item Boxes appear and give out twice the number of items. During the second phase of the battle, Item Boxes spin faster.

Profiles and statistics

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sticker Item Box
	Artwork from: Mario Kart Double Dash!!
	Effects in The Subspace Emissary: [Freezing] - Attack +8
	Usable by: Anyone

Mario Kart Wii

Trading card information: Usually found strung out in a single line across the track, Item Boxes contain all of the Power-Ups, offensive and defensive items that make the Mario Kart series so interesting and enjoyable. From Bananas to Bob-ombs, don't miss your chance to hit an Item Box because you're definitely going to want what's inside. And if you use the Items to your advantage, they'll help you win!

• Game Tip!
  Item Boxes aren't always found in obvious locations. On some tracks you'll find them being pulled behind moving objects. Grab them anywhere you can!

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Item Box.

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  Mario Kart: Double Dash!! artwork

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  Mario Kart DS appearance

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  Mario Kart 8 LINE sticker

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  Mario Kart Tour badge

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  Mario Kart Tour screenshot

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	アイテムボックス[?] Aitemu Bokkusu	Item Box
Chinese	道具箱[?] Dàojù Xiāng	Item Box
	问号方块 Wènhào Fāngkuài	Question Block	Chinese release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Dutch	Voorwerpdoos[?]	Item Box
	Voorwerpkist[?]		Mario Kart 8 electronic manual
French	Boîte à objets[?]	Item box
	Boîte à bonus[?]	Bonus box	Mario Kart 64 instruction booklet
German	Itembox[?]	Item Box
Italian	Cubo oggetto[?]	Item cube
	Riquadro Oggetti[?]	Item Square	Mario Kart 64 instruction booklet
	Blocco "?"[?]	"?" block	Mario Kart: Double Dash!! website
	Scatola[?]	Box	Mario Kart DS website
	Scatola oggetto[?]	Item box	Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 websites
Korean	아이템박스[?] Aitem Bakseu	Item Box
Portuguese	Caixa de itens[?]	Item box
Spanish	Caja de objetos[?]	Item box
Swedish	Objektlåda[?]	Item box