Mario Kart 8 Walkthrough: Unlockables

Gamers have long been gluttons for unlockables, and modern games haven't changed a whole lot. You'll almost never have the same game when you start than when you finish. Mario Kart 8 is no exception, and this rough-and-tumble racer sports a rather large number of unlockables for players to discover.

This walkthrough will help you discover all of the unlockables in Mario Kart 8. Don't worry - the best of them are hardly taxing to unlock, and the others will probably just come in time.

Unlockable Characters

Mario Kart 8 has a sizable roster to start off, and it only grows as you begin to win races. Each time you take the gold in a trophy race (meaning no Versus or Battle Modes, though two player is fine) you will unlock a new player for your roster. This means that, eventually, you will unlock everyone simply by playing through the game's eight cups. The character you receive each time is random.

There's one caveat to this: You cannot unlock more than one player per cup, per CC. Once you've landed a gold on a particular cup you won't unlock any more new characters by beating it. That said, you can beat it again on a higher or lower CC and earn a new character.

There are fourteen unlockable characters in Mario Kart 8. They include:

• Baby Rosalina
• Iggy
• Lakitu
• Larry
• Lemmy
• Ludwig
• Metal Mario
• Morton
• Pink Gold Peach
• Rosalina
• Roy
• Toadette
• Wendy
• Your Mii(s)

Note that, in the case of your Mii collection, you'll open a small submenu whenever you choose the Mii option. This will allow you to scroll through your various Miis and select whichever one you like. The Mii category is the only one which multiple players can choose.

Unlockable Vehicles and Parts

As with past Mario Kart titles, Mario Kart 8 features three different types of vehicles: karts, bikes, and ATVs. Each vehicle can be outfitted with a set of tires and a parachute. You begin with a small selection of vehicles, and the selection will grow as you collect coins while playing the game. The more coins you collect, the more you'll typically need for the next unlockable.

Like the characters, the vehicles and the parts are unlocked entirely at random. There's no way to tell what you'll get. The items you'll unlock are listed below; you'll need 2,700 gold coins to get them all. The only one that's way out of the ballpark is the Gold Glider, which you'll unlock at a whopping 10,000 coins.

There are two other categories of unlockables in Mario Kart 8: gold items, mentioned earlier, and special modes.

Gold Items

There are three special gold vehicles and parts in the game which you can unlock by completing special conditions. The Gold Glider, mentioned above, is unlocked by collecting a hefty 10,000 coins. The Gold Standard, a kart-type vehicle, is unlocked by getting a gold on every Grand Prix track on every CC, including Mirror Mode (mentioned below). Last, the Gold Tires, are unlocked by beating every staff ghost on Time Trial mode.

Mirror Mode

A return from the older installments, Mirror Mode inverts the tracks of Mario Kart 8 like a mirror. If you would normally turn left, you'll now turn right. The last available CC, Mirror Mode is unlocked by getting a gold on all eight cups on 150 CC.

Alternate Ending

Whenever you get through the last of the four cups (either the new tracks or the rehashed ones) you'll be treated to a credits sequence with a lot of fancy driving. You can change the look of this ending by getting gold on all 150 CC and Mirror Mode tracks. Enjoy!