The 10 WEIRDEST Unlockables in Mario Kart
Waluigi Racer
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
Dont get us wrong - were down for just about anything involving Waluigi! Praise be the WAH! But the first, last, and only appearance of the Waluigi Racer was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions. On one hand, what an awesome reward for beating the Flower Cup on 100cc! On the other hand, using it means you might have to break the theming here. Of course, you want to use Waluigi and drive this thing! But in doing so, youre giving up a slot to make the most out of Special Items. Waluigis Bob-ombs dont appear frequently when youre in first place, which doesnt make him an ideal choice for your team. But the better Mediumweights - Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo - simply make driving the Waluigi Racer look and feel bizarre. So, whats really the point in using this kart?
Blue Falcon
Mario Kart Wii (2008)
Mario Kart Wii already has a pretty imaginative roster of karts and bikes to choose from. (Have you ever seen a bike in the shape of a rubber ducky?) But when we unlocked the Blue Falcon from F-Zero, we were both stunned and amused. Sure, it is insanely cool seeing Captain Falcons legendary ride live on outside of F-Zero and possibly expose more people to the IP. But in all honesty, it looks so wildly out of place in a game as whimsical and cartoonish as Mario Kart Wii. But would you choose it if we told you its not the best vehicle in the game? We wouldnt care - well take on anyone with the unbeatable Toad-Blue Falcon build! Bring on all the Funky Kong exploiters!
Sneeker
Mario Kart 8 (2014)
MK8 truly has someinteresting choices for kart customization between the teddy bear ATV and the Mercedes-Benz DLC parts. But when looking at unlockable kart parts, the Sneeker was kind of befuddling. Well give Nintendo credit - a motorized shoe is funny in concept, and their design makes it cooler than anyone would expect. But its justa shoe? What prompted the idea of a racing shoe as opposed to more Mario-centric icons and objects that could have been turned into karts? Were curious to hear how this idea even came about. But this isnt even the weirdest kart weve come across.
Parade Kart
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
Wed be interested to know how many people saw the Parade Kart during Double Dashs award ceremonies and thought, I wanna drive THAT! No judgement here. Its just that after all of the time and energy dedicated to beating every single cup under every single difficulty, including the All Cup Tour, the Parade Kart ended up not being much of a reward. This is admittedly one of the worst karts in Double Dash with its wide frame and heavier weight than most karts. Lighter characters can bring it up to speed with other builds, but overall, there just isnt much reason to use this compared to the Toad Kart, Rattle Buggy, or Koopa Dasher.
R.O.B.
Mario Kart DS (2005)
Imagine beating half of the cups under Mirror mode and being met with Congratulations! You have unlocked R.O.B.! Like, ROB 64 from Star Fox? No, R.O.B. as in the Robotic Operating Buddy from Nintendos NES days. Yes, you can play as this ancient peripheral from 1985, and his appearance in MKDS was the beginning of his resurgence back into the public eye. However, R.O.B. is nowhere close to being an ideal choice to compete with as he is the heaviest character on the roster next to Bowser. Not only that, but neither of his karts boast decent stats unless you use them with one of the other racers. Glad to have him here, but did he really have to be nerfed this badly?
Honey Queen
Mario Kart 7 (2011)
There were a lot of weird things involving who was and wasnt an unlockable character in MK7. The Honey Queen definitely threw us for a loop, and not in a good way like more characters typically do. Were not saying her inclusion was a dumb decision and she should have never been in the game. Far from it. What were saying is that there were so many other characters we and many other MK7 players would have rather have seen. So, including the big bee lady that only appeared in the Galaxy games was definitely a weird decision when MK7 was missing notable characters like Birdo, Waluigi, and Bowser Jr. More on MK7s bizarre roster later.
Turbo Birdo
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
Now, out of all of the karts to ever appear in Mario Kart, there has never been a weirder vehicle to unlock than the Turbo Birdo! Now, we understand the philosophy behind the design. Just as the Turbo Yoshi was meant to be Yoshis kart, this is the kart meant for Birdo. But even so, the fact that this is just a buggy with Birdos ever surprising face at the forefront is hilariously absurd. At least those who prefer heavyweight builds were able to balance out the benefits of mediumweight stats with the speed of heftier karts.
Daisy, Wario, & Rosalina
Mario Kart 7 (2011)
We really dont mean to pick on MK7, but man, the unlockables for this game truly were strange. We can sort of understand why the starting roster was chosen as all eight racers were the same ones featured in Super Mario Kart back in 1992. But what confused so many players were the requirements tied to unlocking characters that should have been a part of the base roster. Daisy, Wario, and Rosalina were each tied to beating Mushroom, Flower, and Star Cup respectively on 150cc difficulty. The challenge and reward really dont balance each other out, and it wound up making players pretty frustrated with MK7s roster choices. Little did any of us know, MK8 was soon going to make an even more infuriating decision a few years later.
Pink Gold Peach
Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Not only was this a weird unlockable for Nintendo to include, it felt super lazy and egregious in trying to make MK8s roster feel bigger than it really was. Pink Gold Peach sparked a lot of outrage for a handful of reasons. First off, we already had Metal Mario, who was already a contentious inclusion in both MK7 and MK8 for just being a reskinned and slightly heavier Mario. Pink Gold Peach was basically just that AGAIN. According to MK8 producer Hideki Konno, the idea of Pink Gold Peach was suggested by a female staff member during development and was meant to add another medium-heavyweight driver to the roster. Okay then, butwhy not bring back Honey Queen? Or maybe pull some other characters from other Mario spin-offs? It would have been cool to see Cackletta or maybe Vivian fulfill that need than something like Pink Gold Peach. And even then, this wasnt the weirdest unlockable in Mario Kart history. The most aggravating, yes, but not the weirdest.
The NPCs
Mario Kart World (2025)
One of the funniest and coolest things about Mario Kart World is just how many characters are available for you to race as. Sure, we have the usual favorites between Waluigi, King Boo, Rosalina, and many others. But once you start unlocking characters like Coin Coffer from Super Mario 3D Land, Dolphin from Super Mario World, and the Cataquack from Super Mario Sunshine, the game suddenly becomes completely goofy. And we dont know about any of you, but there is something extra irritating about losing to a freakin fish in Knockout Tour. Despite the bizarre inclusion of these characters, were honestly wanting to see more Mario NPCs get added later down the road. Come on, Nintendo - I want to see Thwomps become playable characters. Let me be a big block of stone! Or better yet, lets throw in a Rex from Super Mario World or the Mad Piano from Super Mario 64. Get crazier!
Whats the weirdest unlockable youve come across in a Mario game? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments below, and dont forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!
