Car (obstacle)

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This article is about the obstacle in the Mario Kart series. For the standard vehicles from Diddy Kong Racing and Diddy Kong Racing DS, see Car. For the Yoshi transformation from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, see Car Yoshi.
See also: Truck, Bus
Model of a car from Mario Kart 8.
Model of a car as it appears in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Cars in the Mario 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, in Mario Kart DS and Mario 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 a Super Star, Bullet Bill, Chain Chomp, or Mega Mushroom, or by hitting them with a Super Horn, Super Bell, Giga Bob-omb, Spiny Shell, or Bowser 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

Mario Kart 64

Moving cars first appear in Mario Kart 64, exclusive to Toad's Turnpike. All cars are white and share the same engine sound as Toad's kart. 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!!

Mushroom Car
A Mushroom-shaped car at Mushroom Bridge in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Cars also appear in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, on Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City. Both courses feature red, yellow, and blue cars, with "POW" on their license plates, as well as Bomb-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 most Super Mario games.

Mario Kart DS

Cars also appear in Mario Kart DS, on Shroom Ridge and the returning retro course GCN Mushroom Bridge. Both courses feature red, yellow, and blue cars. However, in GCN 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 on Prince Skylines, with minor differences.

In Mission 4-3, Mario must race against a red car to the finish line on Shroom Ridge. This car moves much faster than cars normally move.

Mario Kart Wii

Models of the cars from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
Model of the cars from Mario Kart Wii.
Cars from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (left) and Mario Kart Wii (right)

Cars also appear in Mario Kart Wii on Moonview Highway. The course features blue, red and yellow cars, with "POW" on their number plates, and are nearly the same as the cars from Mario 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 by Miis appear on Coconut Mall. These behave differently from other cars in the series, driving back and forth across the width of the track.

Mario Kart 7

Cars also appear in Mario Kart 7 on Wuhu 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 on Maka 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 a pickup truck.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Moving red cars also appear on the retro tracks N64 Toad's Turnpike in Mario Kart 8 as well as DS Shroom Ridge, Tour Berlin Byways, and Wii Moonview Highway in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Black cars also appear on the aforementioned courses except Wii Moonview Highway. The new design of the cars resembles the typical styling of real-world cars from the 1980s and 1990s, specifically the Toyota Comfort. Yellow taxis with blue details and Green 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 and Urchin 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 by Shy 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 than Time 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 on Tour New York Minute and Tour 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

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Several white cars in Mario Kart Tour

Moving cars also appear in Mario Kart Tour on GCN Mushroom Bridge and its R variant, DS Shroom Ridge and its R variant, Wii Moonview Highway and all its variants, and Tour 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 in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The new design of the red and green cars resembles a real-world subcompact car from the 1980s, specifically the fourth generation Toyota 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 previous Mario 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 on Mushroom 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 a trick if the player lands on top of them. The taxi version also retains its model and appears on New 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 on Wii Coconut Mall, which are occupied by Shy Guys like in the course's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe rendition; in the regular variant, they move back and forth across the track like in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, while in the R variant, they are bigger and completely stationary, similarly to version 2.0.0 of 8 Deluxe, though they now lie parallel to the course's borders rather than diagonally, and invisible boundaries redirect drivers away from them when approached.

Mushroom-shaped car in Mario Kart Tour

The Mushroom-shaped cars from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! also return on Mushroom Bridge and its R and T variants, as well as Moonview 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 a Banana, 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".

Gallery

Names in other languages

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