Mario Kart World: A Guide to Unlocking All the Drivers
At launch there are a total of 50 possible playable racers on the starting grid, but only 32 are unlocked by default. Want to know how to get the other 18 drivers?
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If there's one new feature that's immediately apparent about Mario Kart World, aside from its large, interconnected open world, it's the colourful parade of characters you're allowed to select to drive in races. It's no longer limited to the babies that debuted on the Gamecube and became permanent fixtures, or a select few of the Mushroom Kingdom's baddies. Now they let anyone drive, and this includes everything from the lowliest of low-life, scuzzy enemies, to the extras you'll only remember from just passing through.
We have the 1980s Crab from the first Mario Bros; the Fish Bone, which, as its name suggests, is a scrape; or animals that have already become memes, like Cow or Penguin. And it doesn't matter if they don't have arms, like the Goomba. They can drive just as well.
Of the 50 playable characters in Mario Kart World, "only" 32 are unlocked by default, meaning you have two and a half screens in character selection, and from there you'll need to unlock 18 racers and a whole host of outfits to complete the roster 100%.
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We're putting together this guide so you can get all the secret racers. If it's the costumes you're after, check out the Mario Kart World guide for all the costumes.
All 32 Mario Kart World characters available to start with
These are the racers you can select from when you first boot up the game on your Nintendo Switch 2, in order of their appearance on the selection screen:
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Pauline
Yoshi
Toad
Koopa
Baby Mario
Wario
Waluigi
Bowser
Baby Luigi
Toadette
Baby Daisy
Goomba
Wiggler
Baby Peach
Baby Rosalina
Dry Bones
Hammer Brother
Shy Guy
Nabbit
Piranha Plant
Crab
Monty Mole
Stingby
Penguin
Cheep Cheep
Cow
Para-Biddybud
Pokey
Snowman
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Mario Kart World's 18 secret characters and how to unlock them
Here are the 18 characters you'll have to unlock as you play more and more Mario Kart World. If you notice, each unlocked driver is somehow thematically related to the different Cups. In alphabetical order because each one follows its own order in each game:
Birdo: Unlocked by completing the Banana Cup on any engine capacity.
Bowser Jr.: Unlocked by completing the Lightning Cup on any engine size.
Daisy: Unlocked by completing the Flower Cup on any displacement.
Dolphin: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into it with Kamek's magic.
Donkey Kong: Unlocked by completing the Mushroom Cup on any tier.
Rosalina: Unlocked by completing the Star Cup on any tier.
Peepa: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into them with Kamek's magic.
Pianta: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into them with Kamek's magic.
Lakitu: Unlocked when you complete the Shell Cup on any tier.
Coin Coffer: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into it with Kamek's magic.
Fish Bone: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into it with Kamek's magic.
Conkdor: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into it with Kamek's magic.
Cataquack: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into them with Kamek's magic.
Chargin' Chuck: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into him with Kamek's magic.
King Boo: Unlocked when you complete the Leaf Cup on any tier.
Swoop: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into them with Kamek's magic.
Rocky Wrench: Unlocked when you are randomly transformed into him with Kamek's magic.
Spike: Unlocks when you are randomly transformed into them with Kamek's magic.
What's your "main" in Mario Kart World so far, and which vehicle? Leave us a comment below.
At launch there are a total of 50 possible playable racers on the starting grid, but only 32 are unlocked by default. Want to know how to get the other 18 drivers?
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