With Mario Kart World now available on Nintendo Switch 2, we’ve put together a guide on how to obtain each of its hidden unlockable characters with a list.
At launch, there are six main characters to unlock (main meaning they have additional costumes) and 18 NPC drivers to unlock (who do not have additional costumes). Mario Kart World’s day one patch unlocks a few additional NPC drivers from the start, so if you see some of the characters below already unlocked, that’s why.
Mario Kart World unlockable characters list
First, we’ll cover the 18 NPC drivers: Cheep Cheep, Coin Coffer, Conkdor, the Cow, the Dolphin, Fish Bone, Monty Mole, Para-Biddybud, Peepa, the Penguin, Pianta, Pokey, Rocky Wrench, Sidestepper, Snowman, Spike, Stingby, and Swoop are all unlocked via the same method. Some of these characters are no longer unlockable as of version 1.1.0 of the game. If you or any player or CPU behind you gets the Kamek item, he’ll appear on the course and transform each player into a random NPC driver. Once he does, you will unlock this character for good! It’s generally random what character Kamek transforms racers into, so it might take a little while to unlock everyone.
There are also a few unlockable primary racers in Mario Kart World who each has their own special set of costumes. You can unlock them all by clearing the Grand Prix cups on any difficulty, but here are the specific cups you’ll want to clear if you’re aiming to unlock specific characters:
- Mushroom Cup: Donkey Kong
- Flower Cup: Daisy
- Star Cup: Rosalina
- Shell Cup: Lakitu
- Banana Cup: Birdo
- Leaf Cup: King Boo
- Lightning Cup: Bowser Jr.
That’s about all Mario Kart World has in terms of unlockable characters, but our coverage for the game is just beginning. If you want to learn more about Mario Kart World, check out Nintendo’s official website. We also have patch notes for the day-one 1.1.0 update here.
