Cups:
Unlock the following Cups by performing the corresponding tasks:
CUP – HOW TO UNLOCK
Leaf Cup – Win a Gold trophy in the Shell Cup and Banana Cup
Lightning Cup – Win a Gold trophy in the Leaf Cup
Rainbow Cup – Beat all the Staff Ghost Data on the Retro tracks
Star Cup – Win a Gold trophy in the Mushroom Cup and Flower Cup
Special Cup – Win a Gold trophy in the Star Cup
150cc Mirror Mode:
To unlock 150cc Mirror Mode, win all Gold trophies in all cups in the Retro Grand Prix 150cc class.
Mission Mode mission 7:
To unlock mission 7, get a 1 Star or greater rank on each level of missions 1 through 6.
Bonus karts:
To unlock a third bonus kart for all characters, win a Gold trophy in all cups in the Nitro Grand Prix in the 100cc class. To unlock seven karts for all characters, win a Gold trophy in all cups in the Nitro Grand Prix in the 150cc class. To unlock all karts for all characters, win a Gold trophy in all cups in Nitro Mirror mode in the 150cc class.
Unlockable Characters:
Unlock the following characters by performing the corresponding tasks:
CHARACTER – HOW TO UNLOCK
Daisy – Win a Gold trophy in all cups in the Nitro Grand Prix in the 50cc class
Dry Bones – Win a Gold trophy in all cups in the Retro Grand Prix in the 50cc class
R.O.B. – Win a Gold trophy in all cups in Retro Mirror mode in the 150cc class
Shy Guy – Play a Download Play game against another player to have the option to play as Shy Guy. Shy Guy can only be used in Download Play mode.
Waluigi – Win a Gold trophy in all cups in the Retro Grand Prix in the 100cc class
Alternate ending sequence:
To unlock an alternate ending sequence, win all Gold trophies in all cups and classes.
Star next to name:
To get a star to appear next to your name in Multiplayer mode and on the “Records” screen, win all cups in all classes with a 1 Star or greater rank.
Easy Staff Ghost wins:
To improve your time, learn to use SSMTS (Snaking).
Development team ghost times:
To unlock the development team ghost racers for the following circuits, beat the corresponding times:
CIRCUIT – TIME
Nitro Cup: Airship Fortress – 2:10:000
Nitro Cup: Bowser Castle – 2:20:000
Nitro Cup: Cheep Cheep Beach – 1:45:000
Nitro Cup: Delfino Plaza – 1:55:000
Nitro Cup: Desert Hills – 1:35:000
Nitro Cup: DK Pass – 2:15:000
Nitro Cup: Figure-8 Circuit – 1:38:000 (1:36:481 best time)
Nitro Cup: Luigi’s Mansion – 2:00:000
Nitro Cup: Mario Circuit – 1:57:000
Nitro Cup: Peach Gardens – 1:53:000
Nitro Cup: Rainbow Road – 2:17:000
Nitro Cup: Shroom Ridge – 2:06:000
Nitro Cup: Tick-Tock Clock – 1:55:000
Nitro Cup: Walugi Pinabll – 2:24:000
Nitro Cup: Wario Stadium – 2:15:000
Nitro Cup: Yoshi Falls – 0:58:000
Retro Cup: Baby Park – 0:55:000 (0:50:920 best time)
Retro Cup: Banshee Boardwalk – 2:15:000
Retro Cup: Bowser Castle 2 – 1:53:000
Retro Cup: Choco Island 2 – 1:02:000
Retro Cup: Choco Mountain – 2:16:000
Retro Cup: Donut Plains 1 – 1:09:000
Retro Cup: Frappe Snowland – 2:09:000
Retro Cup: Koopa Beach 2 – 0:55:000
Retro Cup: Luigi Circuit – 1:37:000 (1:29:759 best time)
Retro Cup: Mario Circuit 1 – 0:51:000
Retro Cup: Moo Moo Farm – 1:18:000
Retro Cup: Mushroom Bridge – 1:31:000
Retro Cup: Peach Circuit – 1:13:000
Retro Cup: Sky Garden – 1:45:000
Retro Cup: Yoshi Circuit – 1:49:000
Skip credits:
To skip the credits to the congratulations screen, press Select Start.
Starting Boost:
To get a boost at the start of a race, hold A about a half of a second after the number “2” appears during the countdown.
Extra boost while driving:
Press R to hop while turning or when making a turn. While you are sliding, keep pressing Left then Right to get a blue flame behind your kart. Release it to get a slight boost. You can get a red/orange flame which gives an even better boost by continuing to press Left then Right while you have the blue flame.
Drafting:
If you are in second place or worse, tail the opponent ahead of you. You will see lines on the sides of your kart. Follow close for long enough, and a large air wave will appear in front of you. This will increase your car’s top speed and allow you to push aside other karts.
Higher jump:
To jump higher when you are going over a jump, press R.
Save time with sandy pits:
On sandy pits on a curve that would normally slow you down, use a mushroom to cross it.
Inflate balloons faster:
To inflate balloons faster, instead of holding Select, blow into the microphone. If you stop or go slow in balloon battle, you can blow up your kart’s balloons; however there is a limit on the top right. If you whistle into the mic it works even better.
Stealing balloons:
When playing in Balloon Battle mode, you can steal balloons from another kart by getting a Speed-Up Mushroom from a mystery box and ramming another player.
Throw a banana peel forward:
To throw a banana peel forward, press up when throwing.
Hold items behind you:
To hold throwable items behind you in order to prevent being hit from enemy attacks, hold L or X. You can also store another item in your inventory while holding your throwable item behind you.
“?” boxes:
When you have a “?” box, plant it on another item box. The other players will not be able to tell it is fake.
Lighting bolt:
On the DK Jungle Parkway, Royal Raceway, or Wario Stadium courses, use a lightning bolt just before someone reaches the jump. They should fall off the jump.
Dodging turtle shells:
To dodge red and green turtle shells, drop another item trap behind you just before its about to hit you. To dodge blue turtle shells, turbo boost just before it lands.
Upside down track:
In Time Trials mode, select the Rainbow Road track. When you reach the part that is only boosts, crash into a wall and jump. It will appear as if the stage has flipped upside down.
Shortcut in Bowser’s Castle:
When you get to the rotating floor, go around it all the way until you see the small entrance.
Shortcuts in Delfino Square:
Near the middle of the course, use a mushroom to cross the water and land on a dock. Additionally, after the track is on again after it splits, go over the bridge and follow the course as usual. Slightly before you make the right turn to go across the bridge, make a right turn to go in an alleyway and cut the corner and be ahead on the track slightly.
Shortcuts in Mario Circuit:
In Mario Circuit 1, get two mushrooms. On the third turn there are two pipes. Use the mushrooms in the dirt part. Another shortcut is in Desert Hill. There is a small gap in the part with the big “pyramid”. Use a mushrom to go through it.
Shortcut in Sky Garden:
When you reach the second green bridge, look left to see a cloud that goes across to the other track. Hop over it to get to it, then hop back off to avoid falling off.
Shortcut in Waluigi Pinball:
After shooting up the slot at the beginning of the race, get a mushroom and wait until the first ramp on the track. Aso you approach it, use the mushroom to ramp off and go over your opponents on the track.
Shortcut in Wario Stadium:
You can jump over the wall to the left of the starting line by using any one of the four small jumps there. Approach the wall at a high speed so that you are driving directly at it as you reach the peak of the small hill. Jump right before you hit the wall and you will soar over it.
Shortcuts in Yoshi’s Circuit:
Just after the first two turns, go straight and you will see a gap in the wall. Hop over the gap. Additionally, drive straight until you see the two cloud signs that read “Nintendo” in red. Just after you pass the second sign, you should see a hole in the wall. Use a mushroom to cross it.
Shortcut in Yoshi’s Valleys:
When you reach the maze part, immediately go left and stay towards the left. The first shortcut is to stay left on the narrow part of the course. After doing that, you will hit a little checkered ledge, and see a large red and white sign on the left pointing to the right. Accelerate as fast as possible and stay to the far right. As soon as the rail on the left side ends, pull a hard left powerslide off the road. You will continue the powerslide onto the upcoming road after you land.
Retro mode courses:
Banana Cup
Donut Plains 1 – SNES
Frappe Snowland – Nintendo 64
Bowser Castle 2 – Game Boy Advance
Baby Park – GameCube
Leaf Cup
Koopa Beach 2 – SNES
Choco Mountain – Nintendo 64
Luigi Circuit – Game Boy Advance
Mushroom Bridge – GameCube
Lightning Cup
Choco Island 2 – SNES
Banshee Boardwalk – Nintendo 64
Sky Garden – Game Boy Advance
Yoshi Circuit – GameCube
Shell Cup
Mario Circuit 1 – SNES
Moo Moo Farm – Nintendo 64
Peach Circuit – Game Boy Advance
Luigi Circuit – GameCube
Enemy attacks:
The following symbols will appear when the corresponding enemy attacks are imminent:
SYMBOL – ATTACK
Banana Peels – A yellow banana peel on the ground.
Blue Shell – A blue turtle shell rushing at you or a blue dot following you until it hits you.
Green Shell – A green turtle shell rushing towards you.
Red Shell – A red turtle shell homing in on you.
Mystery Box – A red checkered box on the ground.
Turbo Missile – A black missile homing in on every player from seventh to first. Note – This is another player that was in eighth place.
How to “Snake”:
Snaking is when you boost on straightaways by turbo sliding. First, get on one side of the track, then turbo slide to the other side of the track. Before you reach the other side of the track, begin holding the opposite direction. For example, if you were turbo sliding to the left, hold Right. Once you are turbo sliding in almost a straight line, start tapping Left and Right until gold sparks begin shooting from your tires. Then, stop. If done correctly, you will get a speed boost. You need to be able to do it very quickly, or you will reach the end of the straightaway before you get the boost. Make sure you stop turbo sliding when the gold sparks shoot from your tires, and not blue ones.
Great items while in first place:
Select the “DK Pass” level, then select any character and vehicle (one that is suited for offroad driving is recommended). When you reach the top of the mountain, drive off the road and climb the steep snowy bank covered with trees. At the top of the hill is a single item block that, no matter what place you are in, you willget either three mushrooms or a star. This also works while playing online.
Fly on Luigi Circuit GCN:
Go to Time Trials and select Luigi Circuit GCN. Do a U-turn and face the middle of the arrow line while facing left slightly. Then, use a mushroom and jump when you are about to tilt. If done correctly, you will fly through the invisible wall and fall through the grass before landing back on the course. Note: This doesn’t save time.