Mario Kart 8 Unlockables Guide

Discover all that's available to unlock in Mario Kart 8 and how to unlock it

Characters

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There are a total of 30 playable characters in Mario Kart 8. Of those characters, 16 are available from the start, and 14 are unlockable. Unlike past Mario Kart games, characters are unlocked randomly this time. Each time you get first place for the first time on that cup, you will unlock a new character. Below is a list or all the characters that you have to unlock:

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

Characters

Vehicle Parts

Mario Kart 7 brought kart customization as a new feature, and Mario Kart 8 has continued that feature. The customization allows the user to pick a body, and then select tires and a glider to go with it.

Each part is unlocked at different intervals for collecting coins. Each time you hit the next coin milestone, you unlock a random new piece for the karts. At first, new parts unlock every 50 coins; however, once you reach 1000 coins, the parts only unlock every 100 coins.

Karts

Below is a set of lists of the unlockable parts available.

Bodies

In addition to the bodies listed below, which are earned randomly, the Gold Standard Kart is available to be unlocked by getting at least one star on every course in every class.

Karts:

  • Pipe Frame
  • Steel Driver
  • Cat Cruiser
  • Circuit Special
  • Tri-Speeder
  • Prancer
  • Landship
  • Sneeker
  • Sports Coupe

Bikes

  • Comet
  • The Duke
  • Flame Rider
  • Varmint
  • Mr. Scooty
  • Jet Bike
  • Yoshi Bike

ATVs

  • Wild Wiggler
  • Teddy Buggy
Tires

In addition to the tires listed below, which are earned randomly, the Gold Tires are available to be unlocked by beating all of the staff ghosts on every course.

  • Slick
  • Metal
  • Button
  • Off-Road
  • Sponge
  • Cushion
  • Blue Standard
  • Hot Monster
  • Azure Roller
  • Crimson Slim
  • Cyber Slick
  • Retro Off-Road
Gliders

In addition to the gliders listed below, which are earned randomly, the Gold Glider is available to be unlocked by collecting 10,000 coins.

  • Cloud Glider
  • Wario Wing
  • Waddle Wing
  • Peach Parasol
  • Flower Glider
  • Bowser Kite
  • Plane Glider
  • MKTV Parafoil

Staff Ghosts

Every course in Mario Kart 8 has two staff ghosts. The Normal Staff Ghost is available right away. After completing the time trial in a certain period of time, the player will unlock the Expert Staff Ghost for that track.

Stamps

There are 90 stamps available in Mario Kart 8 to be used in the Miiverse. 28 stamps are available from the start, while the other 62 need to be unlocked. Stamps can be unlocked by winning different cups with different characters in Grand Prix and by defeating staff ghosts in Time Trial. 

A complete listing of all the stamps is too extensive for this guide, but it can be found on the Mario Wiki.


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I am a gamer and game developer from western Canada who is covering everything gaming in his free time.