Special Cup

File:Mario Kart 8 - Special Cup logo.svg

The Special Cup logo in Mario Kart 8

The Special Cup is the final cup in Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, as well as the last of the Nitro cups since Mario Kart DS. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit is it the last of the "standard" courses, with the Extra Cups being unlocked afterwards and Extra Special Cup being the final cup.

Aside from Mario Kart 64 where the cup is available from the start, the criteria to unlock the Special Cup varies by game. In Super Mario Kart, the player may unlock it by winning all three cups in 100cc (though it will be unavailable for the 50cc class); in Mario Kart: Super Circuit it is available by winning the four previous cups, each by class; in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, it appears after the player finished first in the Star Cup in 100cc; from Mario Kart DS onwards, it is unlocked once the player claims a trophy in the Star Cup.

The Special Cup consists of long, challenging courses with lots of gimmicks and harder difficulties. It always ends with Rainbow Road as the game's climactic course. Starting in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Bowser's Castle is the penultimate course before Rainbow Road. The emblem of the Special Cup is currently a crown (seen to the right), although in Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit it is represented by the letter "S", the initial of "special." In Super Mario Kart it is a combination of the three emblems used for the Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, and Star Cup respectively.

List of courses

Game	Course 1	Course 2	Course 3	Course 4	Course 5
Super Mario Kart	File:SNES Donut Plains 3.png Donut Plains 3	File:SNES Koopa Beach 2.png Koopa Beach 2	File:SNES Ghost Valley 3.png Ghost Valley 3	File:SNES Vanilla Lake 2.png Vanilla Lake 2	File:SNES Rainbow Road.png Rainbow Road
Mario Kart 64	File:DK'sJungleParkway.png DK's Jungle Parkway	File:YoshiValley.png Yoshi Valley	File:BansheeBoardwalk.png Banshee Boardwalk	File:RainbowRoadMK64.png Rainbow Road	N/A
Mario Kart: Super Circuit	File:LakesidePark.png Lakeside Park	File:BrokenPier.png Broken Pier	File:BowsersCastle4.png Bowser Castle 4	File:RainbowRoad.png Rainbow Road	N/A
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!	Wario Colosseum	Dino Dino Jungle	Bowser's Castle	Rainbow Road	N/A
Mario Kart DS	File:Estadiowario.PNG Wario Stadium	File:Peach GardensDS.PNG Peach Gardens	File:Castillo Bowser.PNG Bowser Castle	File:Rainbow RoadDS.PNG Rainbow Road	N/A
Mario Kart Wii	File:Dry Dry Ruins.PNG Dry Dry Ruins	Moonview Highway	File:BowsersCastleMKW.jpg Bowser's Castle	File:RainbowRoadwiiview.png Rainbow Road	N/A
Mario Kart 7	DK Jungle	Rosalina's Ice World	Bowser's Castle	Rainbow Road	N/A
Mario Kart 8	Cloudtop Cruise white	Bone-Dry Dunes Bone Dry Dunes	Bowser's Castle white	Rainbow Road white	N/A

Mario Tennis Open

Mario winning the Champions Cup.

The Special Cup reappears in Mario Tennis Open. In this game it is called the Champions Cup. It is the last cup in the World Open tournament series. Players can unlock this cup when they clear the Banana Cup. When players clear this cup, their character earns a star rank, which boosts their stats and grants them access to the Star Open tournament series. The Champions Cup takes place in Mario Stadium, with the hard, clay, and grass courts being used for the starting, semifinal, and final rounds respectively.

Gallery

Emblems

• SMK-SpecialCup.png

  Super Mario Kart

• MK64-SpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart 64

• MKSC-SpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart: Super Circuit

• MKDD-SpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

• MKDS-SpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart DS

• Special Cup.png

  Mario Kart Wii

• MK7-SpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart 7

• MK8 SpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart 8

Trophies

• MKDDSpecialCup.png

  Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

• SpecialcupDS.PNG

  Mario Kart DS

• SpecialCupWii.PNG

  Mario Kart Wii

• SpecialcupMK7.png

  Mario Kart 7

• SpecialCup MK8.jpg

  Mario Kart 8

Trivia

• Disregarding the combination of the three emblems used for the three previous cups in Super Mario Kart, the Special Cup is the only cup that does not feature an item usable in the Mario Kart series as its emblem. Previously, the Leaf Cup and Flower Cup used emblems that were not available as Mario Kart items until Mario Kart 7 was released.
• Mario Kart 64's Special Cup is the only Special Cup to have all of its tracks remade.
• In the Chinese version of Mario Kart 64, the Special Cup is called the "iQue Cup", named after of the home console iQue Player, which is not available outside China.
• If the player selects Grand Prix mode in Mario Kart Wii, the Special Cup trophy from that game can be seen in the background.
• Every course in Mario Kart 8's Special Cup aside from Rainbow Road involves Bowser in some manner: Cloudtop Cruise has a Bowser airship the player navigates through, Bone-Dry Dunes has the player gliding into a Dry Bowser-shaped cave opening, and Bowser's Castle is themed after Bowser himself.