Spiny Shell (blue)
Not to be confused with its non-spiny counterpart, the Blue Shell.
The Spiny Shell (previously referred as the Blue Shell) is an item from the Mario Kart series, making its first appearance in the Nintendo 64 game Mario Kart 64 that was previously named Blue Shell. The general purpose is to knock out the 1st place driver of the race when the player uses it.
In Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Super Circuit, the Spiny Shell tended to slide along the track, knocking over other karts that found on its path, to finally knock over the first place kart. Sometimes, obstacles as walls caused the shell to flip over and fall off of the screen. In this game and also in Mario Kart Super Circuit, the Spiny Shell had a distinctive siren, but it was later changed to a whoosh.
In Mario Kart: Double Dash! for the Nintendo GameCube, the Spiny Shell gained a pair of wings, making it today's appearance. Upon being shot, the Spiny Shell goes flying , at very fast speed, to the header racer. Once locked on its target, the shell hovers briefly above the kart and explodes then, causing the kart to fly, as well as destroying the items held by the racer. Other drivers that cross the impact zone, would be blown up as well in the explosion or spun around.
The Spiny Shell has later appeared in the Nintendo DS game Mario Kart DS, and the Wii game Mario Kart Wii, as well as in certain Mario sport games.
Dodging the Spiny Shell
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!! The Spiny Shell could be dodged by charging a mini-turbo (Blue Sparks) and letting it go just as the shell was about to hit the Player. You had to release the Control Stick at the same time as releasing the mini-turbo. The shell would carry on going in a straight line for about 2 seconds then blow up. This same technique could be used to dodge a Red Shell and a Yoshi/Birdo egg.
In Mario Kart DS the Spiny Shell could be dodged by charging a mini-turbo (orange sparks) and jumping (Pressing R) just as the shell briefly pauses. The shell would explode where the player jumped, by which time, they would be out of the blast radius.
In Mario Kart Wii the Spiny Shell could be dodged by using a mushroom as the shell briefly stops. The shell would blow up where the player was when using the mushroom.
In all of the games mentioned above the Spiny Shell could be dodged by entering a cannon at the right moment.
Gallery
- MKii Blueshell.jpg
