The simple joy of a shell finding its mark
Since the SNES original, the items are what set Mario Kart apart from its more straightlaced competition. And the brand new Mario Kart 8 has players destroying other racers with the iconic power-ups once more (along with new ones), all in glorious HD. That makes now the right time to reacquaint yourself with the many tools of the road. But seeing all 35 in random order wouldn't be too exciting--so we went ahead and ranked them all from worst to best.
We used an elaborate (but foolproof) method to rank the many items, taking into account usability, power, balance, history, and most important of all, how fun and rewarding the item is to use. Where does everything fit? How high does your favorite power-up rank? How do the new Mario Kart 8 items? Lets begin with the absolute worst of the bunch
36. Coins
First appearance: Super Mario Kart (full item in Mario Kart 8)
Thanks to a number of updates in Mario Kart 8, youre looking at the new worst item in the game. Coins appear in many series entries, offering small speed boosts to whoever picks it up, and because every track is lousy with them, an item that grants you two more of gold trinkets is virtually useless. It doesnt help that this is the item youll see the most in first place, and it offers no offensive or defensive options. Nothing will get a racer to groan quicker than getting another couple of Coins from an item box; at least a single Banana Peel can block a shell.
35. Spiny Shell/Blue Shell
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
Blue Shells have been pissing off players for years, and have come to represent the franchises worst aspects. This spiked juggernaut has evolved to its most bedeviling form In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, becoming a winged homing shell that creates a massive explosion when it hits the racer in first place. Its so frustrating, especially if youre not even in the lead but close enough to get caught in the blast radius. To make matters worse, the chaos it causes isnt even all that helpful to the person who uses it. If you get it when you're in seventh place, what good does hitting the lead car do you? The player in third just moves up, while youre still stuck at the back of the pack.
34. Cape Feather
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
This one ends up as second worst (or 30th best) by the simple act of being so briefly inoffensive and basically useless. It isnt annoying like the Blue Shell, just highly forgettable. The Feather's sole appearance was in the original Super Mario Kart, and is a transplant from Super Mario World. Instead of bestowing magical flight, it lets you hop slightly higher than normal. It allows you to avoid obstacles and reach hidden paths, but it also causes more design problems than it solves on the SNES tracks (watch any Mario Kart speedrun to see what we mean). Knowing that, it shouldn't be surprising that the developers dumped the Feather with Mario Kart 64. It remains unmourned and unloved to this day.
33. Poison Mushroom
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
Like the Feather, the Poison Mushroom has rarely been seen in the Mario Kart franchise after the original entry--and even then, it was an item that only CPU racers could use. Toad or Peach can drop them on Super Mario Karts raceways, briefly shrinking anyone that runs into them. The only reason these annoying and exclusionary items arent lower is because theyre redeemed slightly by some clever internal logic: run into second Poison Mushroom while shrunken, and youll revert to normal size. Its like a cute double negative, but for kart racing instead of sentences.
32. Blooper
First appearance: Mario Kart DS
Using the Bloopers ink attack seems like itd be way more helpful than it actually is. Beyond the gross-out factor of a cephalopod sneezing on you to obscure your view, this item's only dangerous to the most novice of players. Even adequate kartists commit most tracks to memory, so a few seconds of obscured vision isnt likely to confuse them on a course theyve played dozens of times before. Plus, the ink flies off immediately with a speed boost, meaning the Blooper is extra ineffectual on stages full of Boost Pads (aka, about a fourth of all Mario Kart tracks).
31. Banana / Banana Peel
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
The Banana seems like the worst of the bunch, what with how easy it is to avoid on the track; even if you actually drive over one, you merely suffer a brief spinout. Its just the type of frustratingly weak item youre given when near the front of the pack. However, despite looking like garbage, the Banana Peel has some value as a shield that prevents most projectiles from blasting you in the tail pipe. And a well-placed peel on a crucial jump can send an unlucky player off the map, making this item particularly useful for sadists.
30. Mushroom
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
For as cutesy as it looks, Mario Karts a serious racing game, and any item that boosts your speed is vital. The standard Mushroom--one of very few items to appear in every franchise entry--gives a brief burst of acceleration that can make all the difference in closing a small gap during the last lap, though its effects are painfully brief. And for as helpful as it may be in some situations, this power-up ranks a bit low because every other version of it is way more useful, making a single Mushroom seem puny by comparison.
29. Green Shell
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
Not to sound prejudiced, but green-shelled Koopas usually arent as smart as their red-shelled compatriots. In the core Mario games, theyre prone to walking in a straight line right off a ledge. That lack of intelligence comes through in Mario Karts standard green shell. It's often better to let one of these trail behind you as a shield instead of flinging it at the racer in front of you, because odds are itll just fly off the track, or hit a fence and then bounce back towards you. Then again, there are few better feelings in Mario Kart then when you actually get a rare Green Shell to hit its intended target, so its not totally without merit.
28. Yoshi/Birdo Egg
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Heres the first of the power-ups that are exclusive to Double Dash!!, and its the most useless of the character-specific abilities. This special item is dedicated to the egg-tossing duo of Yoshi and Birdo, but the spotted egg doesnt seem all that useful to the person that throws it. Sure, its a homing attack in the style of a Red Shell, but this egg is far more fragile: If it cant reach its mark, it simply explodes on its own. Whether it hits or merely breaks apart on the way, it leaves three random items in its wake, which seems more useful to the opposing racers than for the person that used the item.
27. POW Block
First appearance: Mario Kart Wii
Its hard not to enjoy an item like the POW Block, one of Marios earliest and most effective power-ups. It joined the Mario Kart series with the Wii entry and works like a combination of the Lightning Bolt and the Banana. When activated, it automatically targets every racer in front of the POW Block owner, hovering over the victims head until it strikes and causes a spinout. That sounds pretty useful for an item relegated to the bottom half, huh? Well, the downside is that players quickly learned to avoid losing any momentum from the attack with a perfectly timed jump or trick. If this weakness gets removed in Mario Kart 8, then perhaps this powerful cube will move up in the ranks.
26. Crazy 8
First appearance: Mario Kart 8
Every complaint you could make about the Lucky 7 item goes for this one, only its one-eighth worse/better. Mario Kart 8 evolved Lucky 7 just as youd expect, adding one more weapon to an already overstuffed collection. Crazy 8 can occasionally be very advantageous, but this octuplet of Mario attacks more often need to be used very quickly before any of your fellow racers sideswipe and steal your Star or Mushrooms. These end up being more trouble than theyre worth if you can't use them well.
25. Lucky Seven
First appearance: Mario Kart 7
Lucky Seven was the marquee item of the franchises seventh entry, but seeing the numeral appear in your item box during a race isnt as helpful as it seems. The promise of surrounding yourself with seven different power-ups may sound useful, but youve got to be quick about using them, lest you risk losing it all. Get hit once, and you drop all your precious items on the track. Youre better off forgoing strategy and spamming the attack button as fast as possible, letting the items fly where they may. All that power ultimately ends up being a burden.
24. Boo
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
The Boo power-up, sometimes referred to as a Ghost in Mario Kart terminology, was once a top-of-the-line item. In Mario Kart 64, this boon would steal a random item from another racer while making you transparent and invincible. Its defensive abilities were so strong that stealing a great power-up from another racer was just icing on the cake. Unfortunately, Boo is held back by sporadic use and inconsistently defined powers across games. Sometimes it takes the item from the person nearest to you; other times it slows down the victim of the attack; sometimes it doesnt do any of those things (if it even appears in the game). Maybe this one can move up the list if it gets a little more dependable in its next appearance.
23. Fake Item Box
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
The Fake Item Box cruelly betrays a drivers natural urge to grab any item they can, only to blow up in the face of the unobservant racer that cant distinguish a decoy from the real thing. But randomly dropping them anywhere on the track just wont do. Experienced players know that its best to hide these among the real blocks, obscuring their true purpose. The Fake Item Boxs main weakness is the number of times Nintendo has redesigned it, making it blend in less and less with each iteration. It totally undermines the point of a decoy when its the complete opposite color of the real thing.
22. Fireball
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Not to be confused with the Fire Flower, the Fireball is that weapons more powerful precursor. Exclusive to Mario and Luigi, the fireballs in Double Dash!! are larger and more durable, bouncing around the track and off of walls long after being thrown. The Fireball is red or green depending on which brother throws it, and it transforms into five smaller projectiles as it travels down the track, making this a tough item for all but the best drivers to avoid. True, its unbalanced compared to the now standard Fire Flower, and that lack off kilter design is why the Fireball is behind its more common brother.
21. Red Shell
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
Some might complain that this item is too simple, homing in on your nearest opponent with little strategy required. To us, that just sounds like the whining of someone who just got hit with a Red Shell. Having a single Red Shell in your inventory gives you the confidence of knowing that youve got a good chance of messing with the person in front of you, and that can give you a brief edge over the competition. Its also one of the most useful common items, appearing frequently even when youre near the front of the pack. It isnt a killer item, but a Red Shell packs just enough of a punch to make it useful even in small doses.
20. Bullet Bill
First appearance: Mario Kart DS
When you arent racing your best and trailing far behind the rest of the pack, youve probably wished that the game would just take over at some point and rocket you forward a couple places. The Bullet Bill is that desire made manifest, propelling poorly performing players onward with no skill needed (and making you invincible to boot). Its a pretty overpowered item thats looked down upon by more skilled racers that is, until they themselves need it to close the gap between sixth and fifth.
19. Chain Chomp
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The same complaints that can be hurled at the Bullet Bill go for the Double Dashs Chain Chomp. It drives the kart for you, making you briefly invincible while it sends you flying forward with no skill required. So what makes this item, which can only be used by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, better than the Bullet Bill? Because the bouncing, toothy cannonball performs its task with a bit more panache.
18. Mega Mushroom
First appearance: Mario Kart Wii
Its a great feeling when a lightning strike shrinks your enemies to a size so tiny that theyre just begging to be squished. The Mega Mushroom offers a fresher way to enjoy that power trip. This item is borrowed from New Super Mario Bros. and works pretty much the same: the driver becomes massive for a short period of time, which allows you to crush normal-sized drivers. The only reason this power-up isnt higher on the list is because the ability also makes you a bigger target--one that can be easily felled by a Star or Bullet Bill attack.
17. Hearts
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
This Double Dash!! exclusive is a good defensive tool, but it lacks the versatility to make it truly great. A bright pink power-up that can only be used by Peach or Daisy, this item encircles your kart with a duo of pink hearts that protect you from two hits. It can even pocket the enemys item when it hits the heart--including character-specific ones like the Chain Chomp. Still, it wont protect you from a Blue Shell and offers one less shielded attack that the trio of Green and Red Shells, keeping this one out of the top 10.
16. Thunder Cloud
First appearance: Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart thrives as a party game thanks to its many randomized elements, and the Thunder Cloud might be the most random item in the whole franchise. This happy little cloud is bittersweet for the user: it gives the kart a major speed boost and makes it invincible to on-road obstacles, but at a treacherous cost. Lightning strikes from the cloud after a short period of time, leaving the racer stunned. That fate can be avoided if you pass on the effects by bumping into another racer before time runs out, which is a risky move for all but the most adept drivers.
15. Bowser Shell
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
This item is exclusive to Bowser and Bowser Jr. in the GameCubes Mario Kart entry, and its appropriately obnoxious. Bowsers Shell is like a Green Shell on steroids--a tenacious, powerful item that can take a beating. This dangerous carapace keeps bouncing back and forth until it finds its mark, refusing to give up just as Bowser refuses to stop kidnapping Princess Peach. And unlike a standard Green Shell, it doesnt explode after the first hit. Until it bounces off the sides of the track ten times, itll just keep hitting everything in its path (provided one of the targets isnt doesn't have invincibility granted by another item).
14. Triple Mushroom
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
This power-up is what makes the singular Mushroom feel so inconsequential by comparison. Grabbing the Triple Mushroom gives you the luxury of being a little choosier when it comes to boosting your speed. You can blast ahead early, use another to push past that jerk who hit you with a Red Shell, then save one more Shroom to enter that secret shortcut you cant reach without maximum momentum. Picking up the Triple Mushroom leaves you with a lot of options, which is the hallmark of a great item.
13. Super Leaf
First appearance: Mario Kart 7
Each Mario Kart is a product of the era it was developed in, and Mario Kart 7 came right when Nintendo was rediscovering the power of the Tanooki Suit. Just as the distinct raccoon tail was returning in Super Mario 3D Land, MK7 added the power-up to its arsenal, an inclusion that was long overdue. The Super Leaf briefly affixes a tail to the kart that players can spin around just as they would in Super Mario Bros. 3. If you have enough finesse, its great at hitting enemies and volleying back projectiles, all with the famous sound effect from its first appearance. The only drawbacks are the Super Leafs limited attack range and speed-dampening hop animation, but that doesnt mean it cant be deadly in the right hands.
12. Banana Bunch
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
One Banana is adequate, but they become a force to be reckoned with when bundled together in threes. When used, the Banana Bunch immediately becomes an a-peel-ing trail on your kart that not only protects you from shell attacks, but can also be thrown in front of your racer for added strategic value. But no use of the Banana Bunch feels better than when another racer is following close enough to run over your yellow tail of landmine, causing them to spin out and eat your fruit-flavored dust.
11. Super Horn
First appearance: Mario Kart 8
This Mario Kart 8 item is a real difference maker for this list. It not only gets to come in at number 11 with a bullet, but its impact on the Blue Shell moved the azure carapace out of dead last. Its all because the Super Horns sonic blast is the only item that can currently destroy a Blue Shell (along with any other projectile within its destructive radius). Its a very rare item that can really help in a very specific scenario, but it can also sit unused for an entire race as an insurance policy for a Blue Shell that never comes. And you only get one use before it goes to item heaven. Its a bit of a limited item, but it does its one job spectacularly.
10. Piranha Plant
First appearance: Mario Kart 8
Carrying around one of Bowsers most dangerous enemies seems risky, but as long as you remember to point the item away from your face, youll be fine. Mario Kart 8s potted Piranha Plant is a really versatile item, part Bullet Bill, part Star. The continually chomping plant eats up everything in front it, pulling the kart forward with each bite, destroying a road hazard or crunching another racer in its polkadot jaws. Its a great boost item thats not overpowered like the Bullet Bill, but its a little too rare for its own good.
9. Triple Green Shells
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
A single Green Shell is barely worth tossing away or trailing behind you, but Triple Green Shells are another story entirely. If you blast them machinegun-style, you have a much better chance of hitting an enemy--but defense is your best offense. You can keep all three shells orbiting around you to deflect multiple attacks, or you can use them to knock back any racer that makes the mistake of getting too close to your spinning shells of death. Now, if only these projectiles had homing attacks, theyd be the perfect weapon...
8. Fire Flower
First appearance: Mario Kart 7
The Fire Flower and its deadly fireballs have been integral to Mario lore for decades, but it wasnt a Mario Kart item until the 3DS entry. It made up for lost time by being one of the most skillfully used projectiles in the game, getting shot out speedily both in front of the driver and behind. Fire Flowers are also more reliable for rapid fire than a Triple Green Shell, and they come with more ammunition. You get up to ten fireball shots with only ten seconds to pull them off, so you need to make the most of your limited time with this burning attack.
7. Boomerang Flower
First appearance: Mario Kart 8
Do you enjoy getting triple Green Shells, but wish there was a little more finesse to using them? Mario Kart 8s new Boomerang item helps with that. Borrowed from Marios recent 3D platformers, this weapon give you a straight shot at attacking the racer in front of you, then it zips back towards you, granting another shot at upending multiple racers. You get three throws before it vanishes, and it can hit more than one person at a time, making it one of the most useful attacks in the series. The only thing that counts against the Boomerang is that it lacks the defensive capabilities of shells.
6. Giant Banana
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The Giant Banana is the last of the special Double Dash!! items on the list, and this one is far more useful than it initially seems. The Giant Banana takes up more than 20 times the racetrack space of a regular Banana, a real danger to anyone unlucky enough to be behind Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong. And it continues to cause damage even after getting hit, dropping a trio of regular Bananas in its wake. Its in danger of being too good in the hands of a real Kart expert, which likely explains why it has yet to return to the series.
5. Golden Mushroom
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
Is the Triple Mushroom not enough to get you out of last place? Thats when Mario Kart takes pity on you and supplies the Golden Mushroom, a rush of superspeed that gives you as many boosts as you can get out during its limited duration. Its hard to top the thrill of having this concentrated Shroom rocket fuel coursing through your engine. And if you still cant get into at least sixth place when using the Golden Mushroom, it might be time for you to retire from the circuit.
4. Thunder Bolt
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
The problem with most of these items is that they only do damage to the few enemies that you can see, when youd much rather hurt everyone (besides yourself) on the track. The Thunder Bolt is the magical item that fulfills that wish, shrinking everyone of the stage while you crush all the little people around you on your way to first. The balancing has changed over the years in this regard, but Mario Kart 7 has the best version to date. That's because the duration of your shrunken form is dependent on what place youre in, and the MK7 iteration also reintroduces the ability to squish smaller racers.
3. Bob-omb
First appearance: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The Blue Shell only gets more aggravating as its massive explosion grows with each entry--but the similarly styled Bob-omb doesnt inspire the same hate. Thats because it takes real skill and finesse to use its heavy firepower effectively. If you time your toss just right, the blast radius can hit a tightly packed set of racers in front of you as you carefully dodge the explosion and leave them all as smoking husks. When you pull off an expert Bob-omb attack, you know you earned it.
2. Star
First appearance: Super Mario Kart
This list is full of items that give you a speed boost, or make you invincible, or let you hurt other players by running into them. The Star does all of those things at once and more. When that distinctive music starts up, you know that nothing can stop you--not the terrain, not that Blue Shell, and not the three racers directly in front of you. For the handful of seconds that it lasts, you know that youre untouchable; everyone else better get out of your way when they hear the Stars music coming up from behind. As long as you don't accidentally go flying off the edge of Rainbow Road, you're golden.
1. Triple Red Shells
First appearance: Mario Kart 64
So here we are at number one, the trio of Red Shells that will fill any driver with bravado. True, it isnt as powerful as the Star, or as globally dangerous to everyone as the Thunder Bolt--but it's by far the most satisfying weapon when it comes to skill. Triple Red Shells shield you from attacks, and pop up frequently enough that you dont have to be in last place to get them. And it always feels exceedingly good to hit three drivers in a row with these guided turtle missiles. No item in Mario Kart is as pleasurable to use as the Triple Red Shells, and thats why it rightfully earns first place on our list.
The finish line
There you have it--the current ranking of every Mario Kart item currently available. But how will this change with the release of Mario Kart 8? Where will we rank the Boomerang, Piranha Plant, and whatever else gets added in? Let us know in the comments where you think theyll rank, along with all your other thoughts on this totally fair and balanced list!
And if you're looking for more karting fun, check out our Mario Kart 8 review.
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