How to Unlock Mario Kart

October 24, 1:17 PMGames ExaminerDaniel Nations

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With over 6 million copies sold, Mario Kart is the best-selling game for the Nintendo Wii. And there is a lot more to Mario Kart than meets the eye. From vehicles to characters to playing as your Mii, you can unlock Mario Kart to provide a lot more fun.

The easiest way to go about unlocking Mario Kart is to simply start 50cc races and work your way through the game. When you win a race, you'll be eligible to unlock something in the game. But it doesn't happen every time, so just be patient and keep going through the game.

Unlock Mario Kart - The 50cc Races

If you are working your way through the 50cc races, you are probably new to Mario Kart. It is important to note that the different karts excel in different areas, with each characters starting with three karts. One of these karts has great acceleration and is great for offroading, but doesn't have a great top speed. Another is the fastest, but doesn't doesn't have good acceleration. The third -- the standard kart -- is a good, balanced kart.

When you are just beginning, it is tempting to go with the fastest kart, but it is best to stick with the standard kart until you get used to the game. While it is great going at top speed with that fast kart, you'll be stopping and starting too much, and the low acceleration will kill you.

You should also note that not all characters are created equal. There are some minor differences between the kart types. In general, they smaller characters like Baby Mario and Toad will have karts that accelerate slightly faster but go slightly slower. The medium-sized characters like Mario will have more balance in their karts, and the big guys like Wario and Donkey Kong will have karts that go faster than those medium-sized characters, but they accelerate slower.

When it comes time to choose Automatic or Manual, just choose Automatic for now.

In addition to unlocking the different courses, here is what you will unlock as you go through the 50cc races:

Star Cup: King Boo
Leaf Cup: Turbo Blooper kart
Special Cup: Piranha Prowler kart
One Star in All Cups: Baby Daisy
Win All Cups: Diddy Kong

Unlock Mario Kart - The 100cc Races

Driving a bike is a little different than driving a kart, but you should get used to it by the time you finish the first circuit. Also, having completed all of the courses while working your way through the 50cc races, you should have a much better idea of what to expect in these races.

This is a good time to start experimenting with different types of vehicles. Like the karts, the bikes start out with three basic types: average, go fast but accelerate slow, and the fast-accelerating offroader.

For example, the fastest bike might help you out in the Shell Cup circuit while racing through the N64 Mario Raceway, while the fast accelerating bike might help you in the Flower Cup if you tend to plow into the snow in DK Summit or fly off the tracks in Wario's Gold Mine.

Here is what you will unlock as you go through the 100cc races:

Star Cup: Twinkle Star bike
Leaf Cup: Dry Bones
Special Cup: Mii (Outfit A)
Lightning Cup: Rapide bike
One Star in All Retro Grand Prix Cups: Bowser Jr
One Star in All Grand Prix Cups: Nitrocycle bike

Unlock Mario Kart - The 150cc Races

By the time you get here, you should know most of the tricks and be very familiar with the courses. If you haven't done so already, start choosing Manual over Automatic. Manual gives you control over your slide in turns, and if you do a controlled slide long enough, you will get a slight speed burst.

Here is what you will unlock as you go through the 150cc races:

Star Cup: Qucker bike
Leaf Cup: Royal Racer kart
Special Cup: Daisy
Lightning Cup: Dragonetti kart
One Star in All Retro Grand Prix Cups: Aero Glider kart
One Star in All Cups: Dry Bowser

Unlock Mario Kart - Mirror Mode

Yep, there's something that comes after the 150cc races. If you win all of those 150 cc races, you will be able to race in Mirror mode.

Here is what you can unlock in the Mirror races:

Star Cup: Dolphin Dasher bike
Leaf Cup: Bubble Bike
Special Cup: Phantom Bike
Lightning Cup: Blue Falcon kart
One Star in All Cups: Rosalina

Unlock Mario Kart - Beyond the Grand Prix

Don't worry, there's a lot more to do after you've worked your way through the Grand Prix. For example, playing time trials on 8 different courses will earn you the Magikruiser small bike and unlocking expert staff ghosts on all courses will get you a Mii with a different outfit.

Play Time Trials on...

8 different courses: Magikruiser bike
16 different courses: Birdo
32 different courses: Toadette

Unlock Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials on...

1 Time Trial: Rally Romper kart
4 Time Trials: Funky Kong
8 Time Trials: Baby Luigi
12 Time Trials: Torpedo bike
24 Time Trials: B-Dasher kart