Mario Kart: Drift Dash

Mario Kart: Drift Dash
Developer(s)	KinglerMaster (t∣b∣c)
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)	Nintendo Wii U
Genre(s)	Racing
Release Date(s)	January 1st, 2015 January 1st, 2015 January 5th, 2015 January 29th, 2015 February 1st, 2015 February 18th, 2015
Mode(s)	Single Player Grand Prix, Single Player Time Trial, Single Player VS Match, Single Player Battle Match, Single Player Mission Mode, Online Multiplayer
Media Included	Nintendo Wii U CD

Mario Kart: Drift Dash is the 12th game in the Mario Kart series, and the 9th one in the mainstream series. The game is for the Nintendo Wii U, and is rated E for Everyone. The game was first released in the USA on January 1, 2015.

There were also special discs released including both this game and Super Mario Kart. Ten of these discs were randomly put into boxes (20% out of all of the originally released included SMK) and those who got the SMK + MKDD discs were lucky and didn't even have to pay extra. The boxes containing SMK were also designed the same as the regular boxes, so it was a mystery. The SMK versions had discs that had a picture of Super Mario World Mario under the words "Drift Dash", showing that it was the SMK-included one. The SMK-included games were not released for the eShop.

Features

The game is mostly a mixture of past features in the Mario Kart series, but has one new notable feature: Drift Dashing. This is accomplished by drifting 5 times fast enough that the kart gains purple flames. When the player lets go of the drift button, they will get a speed boost that lasts for 7 & 1/2 seconds.

Sadly, customizable parts do not make a return, and the game goes back to the old different kart system, which is similar to the one used in Mario Kart Wii. However, gliders, underwater driving, and anti-gravity make a return, and the Double Dash!! feature appears as a separate mode so players will not always have to drive with two players in the kart.

Controls

Note: Only controls that have a function in this game will be shown.

Control	What It Does
Control Stick (L)	Lets the player move the kart left/right while racing.
D-Pad	Scroll through the Menu, Up Arrow Key lets you look backwards while racing.
A Button	Select on the menu, Accelerate.
B Button	Cancel on the menu, Brake/Go Backwards.
X Button	Use Items while racing.
Y Button	Change into first-person view.
Start Button	Used to begin and/or activate certain options.
Select Button	Pause the game while racing, select on the menu.
L Button	Use Items while racing.
R Button	Drift/Drift Dash.
ZL Button	Look Backwards
ZR Button	Perform Tricks

Points Spread Comparison

Game(s)	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th
Super Mario Kart Mario Kart 64 Mario Kart: Super Circuit	9	6	3	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Mario Kart DS Mario Kart: Drift Dash 8-player races	10	8	6	4	3	2	1	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mario Kart Wii Mario Kart: Drift Dash 12-player races	15	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0
Mario Kart 7	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mario Kart 8	15	12	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Mario Kart: Drift Dash	12	10	9	7	6	5	3	2	1	0	N/A	N/A

Modes

Grand Prix

Grand Prix is a mode in which you try to win a trophy by overall placing 3rd or higher in a cup, which is a group of 4 courses. Winning 3rd will gain you a bronze trophy, winning 2nd will gain you a silver trophy, and winning 1st will gain you a good trophy.

Grand Prix is divided into 6 difficulties: 25cc, 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, 150cc Mirror, and 200cc.

25cc

In this mode, the speed is the same as 50cc, but CPUs are set to Very Easy difficulty, and the tracks are changed to be made easier. This is perfect for beginners, and is available as soon as you start the game.

50cc

In this mode, the speed is slow, and the CPUs are set to Easy, making it easy, and good for beginners. This difficulty is default.

100cc

This mode has a medium speed and CPUs are also set to Medium. It is better for intermediate players.

150cc

This mode has a fast speed, and CPUs are set to Hard. Many consider this to be the hardest difficulty. It is better for trained players, and must be unlocked by completing all cups in 50cc.

150cc Mirror

This mode is indentical to 150cc, but all of the tracks are flipped to the opposite direction. This mode can only be unlocked by completing all cups in 150cx.

200cc

This mode has an extremely fast speed, and CPUs remain on Hard difficulty. It is best for expert players, and can only be unlocked by getting at least 1 star on every cup for 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc.

Battle

There are 4 modes: Balloon Battle, Coin Runners, Bob-omb Blast, and Shine Thief.

Double Dash!! Mode

In Double Dash!! Mode, players race in pairs, just like in the game Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. Double Dash!! Mode is unlocked after the player gets every character (excluding downloadable and premium). When the player first gets the mode, the players come in Default pairs (the default pairs section can be found here. However, after the player wins all of the Grand Prix cups for 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc, they can use whatever combination of 2 characters the want. The Mii Outfits, Premium characters, and downloadable characters can all pair with whoever they want.

Characters

For a list of characters and character-related things, see here.

Items

For a list of items in the game, see here.

Courses

Nitro Courses

Mushroom Cup	Flower Cup	Star Cup	Special Cup
Daisy Circuit	Mario Circuit	Piano Pathway	Toad Circuit
Peach's Castle	Sunshine Beach	Wiggler Forest	Dino-Torch Desert
Toad Town	Leafy Woods	Frosty Caves	Bowser's Castle
Goomba Grassland	Yoshi's Island	Pipe Land	Rainbow Road

Retro Courses

This game contains Retro Courses, just like every Mario Kart game after Mario Kart DS. The courses consist of 4 courses from previous Mario Kart games, with no cups having 2 courses from the same game.

• Super Mario Kart courses are labeled as SNES
• Mario Kart 64 courses are labeled as N64
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit courses are labeled as GBA
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!! courses are labeled as GCN
• Mario Kart DS courses are labeled as DS
• Mario Kart Wii courses are labeled as Wii
• Mario Kart 7 courses are labeled as 3DS
• Mario Kart 8 courses are labeled as U

This game contains 3 SNES courses, 1 N64 course, 3 GBA courses, 1 GCN course, 1 DS Course, 2 Wii courses, 1 3DS course, and 4 U courses.

Shell Cup	Banana Cup	Leaf Cup	Lightning Cup
DS Figure-8 Circuit	U Toad Harbor	N64 Choco Mountain	GCN Wario Colosseum
GBA Riverside Park	SNES Vanilla Lake 1	U Sunshine Airport	Wii Dry Dry Ruins
3DS Shy Guy Bazaar	GBA Cheep-Cheep Island	SNES Mario Circuit 4	SNES Ghost Valley 3
Wii Toad's Factory	Wii DK Summit	GBA Sunset Wilds	DS Rainbow Road

Battle Stages

Nitro Battle Stages	Retro Battle Stages
Mario Stadium	SNES Battle Course 3
Boo Mansion	GBA Battle Course 4
Beanbean Airport	DS Tart Top
Good Egg Galaxy	Wii Funky Stadium

Downloadable Packs

For the downloadable packs, see here.

Unlocking Criteria for Other Media

• 100cc - Complete 50cc.
• 150cc - Complete 100cc.
• 150cc Mirror Mode - Complete and get gold trophies on all cups for 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc.
• Double Dash!! Mode - Get all characters.
• Double Dash!! Mode (Custom Pairs) - Complete the Double Dash!! Grand Prix.
• Expert Staff Ghost Data (Time Trials) - Complete the course in Time Trials under a certain limit.

Karts

• NOTE: An asterisk (*) indicates a brand new kart in the series.

Image	Name	Weight Class	Unlocking Criteria
TBA	Standard Kart F*	Feather	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Mini Booster	Feather	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Mushmellow	Feather	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Blue Falcon	Feather	Unlock Dry Bones.
TBA	Cheep Charger	Feather	Unlock Shy Guy.
TBA	Standard Kart L	Light	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Royale	Light	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Egg 1	Light	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Bullet Blaster	Light	Unlock Bowser Jr.
TBA	Daytripper	Light	Unlock Daisy.
TBA	Standard Kart M	Medium	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	B Dasher	Medium	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Low Speedster*	Medium	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Wild Wing	Medium	Unlock Mii Outfit B.
TBA	Broom Blaster*	Medium	Unlock Kamek.
TBA	Standard Kart C*	Cruiser	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Wario Car	Cruiser	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Gold Mantis	Cruiser	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Boo Booster*	Cruiser	Unlock King Boo.
TBA	Squiggler Train*	Cruiser	Unlock Wiggler.
TBA	Standard Kart H	Heavy	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Flame Flyer	Heavy	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Offroader	Heavy	Already available at the beginning of the game.
TBA	Funky Flasher*	Heavy	Unlock Funky Kong.
TBA	Shooting Striker*	Heavy	Unlock Rosalina.

Time Trials Staff Ghost Data

Time Trial Staff Ghost Data
Course	Character	Staff Ghost	Time
Daisy Circuit	Daisy	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Peach's Castle	Peach	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Toad Town	Toadette	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Goomba Grassland	Koopa Troopa	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Mario Circuit	Mario	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Sunshine Beach	Koopa Troopa	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Leafy Woods	Petey Piranha	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Yoshi's Island	Yoshi	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Piano Pathway	Birdo	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Wiggler Forest	Wiggler	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Frosty Caves	Rosalina	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Pipe Land	Petey Piranha	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Toad Circuit	Toad	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Dino-Torch Desert	Dry Bones	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Bowser's Castle	Dry Bowser	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Rainbow Road	Rosalina	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
DS Figure-8 Circuit	Mario	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
GBA Riverside Park	Donkey Kong Jr.	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
3DS Shy Guy Bazaar	Shy Guy	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Wii Toad's Factory	Toad	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
U Toad Harbor	Toadette	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
SNES Choco Island 1	Dry Bones	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
GBA Cheep-Cheep Island	Koopa Troopa	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Wii DK Summit	Donkey Kong	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
N64 Choco Mountain	Dry Bowser	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
U Sunshine Airport	Daisy	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
SNES Mario Circuit 4	Mario	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
GBA Sunset Wilds	Shy Guy	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
GCN Wario Colosseum	Wario	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
Wii Dry Dry Ruins	Dry Bones	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
SNES Ghost Valley 3	King Boo	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??
DS Rainbow Road	Rosalina	Nin✭Kingler	?:??:??

Beta Elements

• The game has many names before its final name. These included Mario Kart Universe, Mario Kart Swift, Mario Kart Rapid, and Mario Kart: Fuel Boost.
• This game originally contained 10 characters for the 5 weight classes.
• At a Blizzard Direct, a beta retro course roster was shown (without MK8 courses). It contained the following (note that courses with asterisks made it in the final game, whether in the same cup or not):

Mushroom Cup: 3DS Daisy Hills, SNES Ghost Valley 1, DS Cheep-Cheep Beach, Wii Moo Moo Meadows

Flower Cup: SNES Choco Island 1, N64 Toad's Turnpike, GBA Riverside Park*, 3DS Mario Circuit

Star Cup: SNES Mario Circuit 4*, DS Tick-Tock Clock, Wii Wario's Gold Mine, GBA Sunset Wilds*

Special Cup: GCN Wario Colosseum*, SNES Donut Plains 3, GBA Bowser Castle 4, DS Rainbow Road*

Trivia

• This game has the most characters of any Mario Kart game so far, even if you exclude the Downloadable and Premium characters.
• Some Items got redesigns.
  • The Golden Mushroom got a redesign; it originally had a crown and was a bit darker, but is now bright without a crown.
  • The Spiny Shell got a redesign; it was originally blue, but is now red like a Spiny's shell.
  • The Yoshi Egg got a redesign; it now resembles a Lime Green Yoshi Egg.
  • While the Banana item didn't get a redesign, the cup was redesigned to resemble a Donkey Kong Country Banana.
• According to the game's official guide, Donkey Kong Jr. in the older games was the adult DK, and this Donkey Kong Jr. is Donkey Kong's son.

Soundtrack

For info on this game's soundtrack, click here.

References to other Mario Kart games

• Super Mario Kart: Vanilla Lake 1, Mario Circuit 4, and Ghost Valley 3 return as Retro Courses. Battle Course 3 returns as a Retro Battle Stage. Donkey Kong Jr., who hasn't been in a Mario Kart game since Super Mario Kart, appears in this game.
• Mario Kart 64: Choco Mountain again returns as a Retro Course. Kamek, who was supposed to be in Mario Kart 64, makes his racing debut in this game. Banshee Boardwalk appears in a DLC Pack.
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit: Riverside Park, Cheep-Cheep Island, and Sunset Wilds return as Retro Courses. Battle Course 4 returns as a Retro Battle Stage. Mario Circuit, Boo Lake, Yoshi Desert, Ribbon Road, and Rainbow Road appear in DLC Packs.
• Mario Kart: Double Dash: Wario Colosseum returns as a Retro Course. Bob-omb Blast and Shine Thief are battle modes. A seperate Double Dash!! mode is included in the game. Characters hold items in their hands. Rainbow Road appears in a DLC Pack.
• Mario Kart DS: Figure-8 Circuit returns as a Retro Course. Tart Top returns as a Retro Battle Stage. Mission Mode and customizable kart emblems make a return.
• Mario Kart Wii: Toad's Factory and DK Summit return as Retro Courses. Funky Stadium returns as a Retro Battle Stage. 12-player races are optional in VS Matches.
• Mario Kart 7: Shy Guy Bazaar returns as a Retro Course. 8-player races are optional in VS Matches. Air gliding and underwater driving are in this game.
• Mario Kart 8: Sweet Sweet Canyon, Toad Harbor, Dolphin Shoals, and Cloudtop Cruise return as Retro Courses. Anti-gravity is in this game.
• Mario Kart Arcade GP Series: The Black Shell returns in this game, but it is called the Bombshell.