Line #151 VideoGame/MarioKart7


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2	%% This article uses the American English names for karts and tracks, not the British English ones.
3	%% For the purposes of this rule, the retro N64 track is Koopa Troopa Beach, not Koopa Beach.
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5	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1656738739025529600
6	%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
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8	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mario_kart_7_7.png]]
9	[[caption-width-right:350:A new dimension of kart racing!]]
10
11	The [[NumberedSequels seventh game]] in the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series, released for the Platform/Nintendo3DS in 2011.
12
13	This installment features many assets from ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', but adds in several new additions to the series. Karts are now capable of driving underwater and are fitted with gliders, allowing them to travel through the air after driving off of a gliding ramp. Many of the [[NostalgiaLevel returning tracks from previous games]] have been altered to incorporate these new mechanics. The game also introduces kart customization beyond simply choosing which character and which kart. Karts now have three separate parts: chassis, wheels, and gliders.
14
15	Coins return after having been absent from the series since ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'', making this the first 3D ''Mario Kart'' to include them (not counting the ''Arcade GP'' games).
16
17	%%Note for Editors: This is about tropes for the vanilla game, not CTGP-7
18
19	If you're looking for tropes for the GameMod [=CTGP=]-7 (which uses this game as a base), [[VideoGame/CTGP7 here it is]].
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22	[[folder:Drivers]]
23	([=*=] indicates a character newly introduced to the series in this game)
24	[[AC:Starting Roster]]
25	* Bowser
26	* Donkey Kong
27	* Luigi
28	* Mario
29	* UsefulNotes/{{Mii}}
30	* Peach
31	* Toad
32	* Yoshi
33	* Koopa Troopa
34
35	[[AC:Unlockable]]
36	* Daisy
37	* [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Honey Queen]][=*=]
38	* Lakitu[=*=]
39	* [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64 Metal Mario]][=*=]
40	* Shy Guy
41	* Rosalina
42	* Wario
43	* Wiggler[=*=]
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Tracks]]
47	[[AC:Nitro]]
48	* Mushroom Cup
49	** [[TheBigRace Toad Circuit]]
50	** [[YodelLand Daisy Hills]]
51	** [[UnderTheSea Cheep Cheep Lagoon]]
52	** [[BazaarOfTheBizarre Shy Guy Bazaar]]
53	* Flower Cup
54	** [[VideoGame/WiiSportsResort Wuhu Loop]]
55	** [[GreenHillZone Mario Circuit]]
56	** [[BandLand Music Park]]
57	** [[DeathMountain Rock Rock Mountain]]
58	* Star Cup
59	** [[DownTheDrain Piranha Plant Slide]]
60	** [[GhostShip Wario Shipyard]]
61	** [[CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain Neo Bowser City]]
62	** [[VideoGame/WiiSportsResort Maka Wuhu]]
63	* Special Cup
64	** [[JungleJapes DK Jungle]]
65	** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Rosalina's Ice World]]
66	** [[LethalLavaLand Bowser's Castle]]
67	** [[SpaceZone Rainbow Road]]
68
69	[[AC:Retro]]
70	* Shell Cup
71	** [[TheBigRace Luigi Raceway]] (''64'')
72	** [[LethalLavaLand Bowser Castle 1]] (''Super Circuit'')
73	** [[FungusHumongous Mushroom Gorge]] (''Wii'')
74	** [[BigBoosHaunt Luigi's Mansion]] (''DS'')
75	* Banana Cup
76	** [[PalmtreePanic Koopa Beach]] (''64'')
77	** [[TheBigRace Mario Circuit 2]] (''SNES'')
78	** [[TheMall Coconut Mall]] (''Wii'')
79	** [[PinballZone Waluigi Pinball]] (''DS'')
80	* Leaf Cup
81	** [[TheWildWest Kalimari Desert]] (''64'')
82	** [[ObstacleSkiCourse DK Pass]] (''DS'')
83	** [[ShipLevel Daisy Cruiser]] (''Double Dash!!'')
84	** [[TreeTrunkTour Maple Treeway]] (''Wii'')
85	* Lightning Cup
86	** [[RoaringRapids Koopa Cape]] (''Wii'')
87	** [[{{Prehistoria}} Dino Dino Jungle]] (''Double Dash!!'')
88	** [[DreadZeppelin Airship Fortress]] (''DS'')
89	** [[AstralFinale Rainbow Road]] (''SNES'')
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Battle Tracks]]
93	[[AC:Nitro]]
94	* [[HornetHole Honeybee Hive]]
95	* [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Sherbet Rink]]
96	* [[VideoGame/WiiSportsResort Wuhu Town]]
97
98	[[AC:Retro]]
99	* [[GreenHillZone Battle Course 1]] (''Super Circuit'')
100	* [[LethalLavaLand Big Donut]] (''64'')
101	* [[PalmtreePanic Palm Shore]] (''DS'')
102	[[/folder]]
103	----
104	!!This game contains examples of:
105	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Piranha Plant Slide, the first course of Star Cup, takes place within a vast sewer network entered through enormous pipes which tansport water. There are some Piranha Plants have have to be avoided, and a later area is flooded. It makes a return in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' as a NostalgiaLevel.
106	* AirplaneArms: Wiggler is almost constantly seen holding out his upper two arms.
107	* AmphibiousAutomobile: The karts, which originally drove mostly on land, gain the ability to drive underwater. After all, underwater racing wouldn't be the same without them.
108	* {{Antepiece}}:
109	** Rainbow Road features one. Partway through the track, a glider launchpad leads directly into a large star ring that gives the racers a small speed boost. In the final third of the race, the track opens into an open gliding section where racers have to avoid floating asteroids and fly through a series of smaller, spread-out star rings to stay in flight.
110	** Toad Circuit has an optional ramp with a glider launchpad, usually only used after the first lap. Using it doesn't take your kart very far (it's actually better to ignore it), but it lets the player get used to the gliding controls. Then the next level, Daisy Hills, has a larger gliding section at the end, with more obstacles to avoid (and the lake below acting as a BottomlessPit) and its launchpads are mandatory to progress.
111	* AnthropomorphicTypography: Music Park has the Music Bashes (formerly called Bouncing Notes,) giant music notes with faces that act as obstacles in the track, bouncing back and forth to the music.
112	* ArabianNightsDays: The Shy Guy Bazaar is a nocturnal racetrack with Arabian architecture and soundtrack. Likely a MythologyGag to Shy Guys' origin game, the Arabian-themed ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic''.
113	* AstralFinale: Rainbow Road, as usual. However, this one is unique in that the racers drive on more than just rainbow. The rings of Saturn (with sections cut out for difficulty) and the moon are also part of the track.
114	* AthleticArenaLevel: In addition to having circuits hosted by Toad and Mario, the game also has two courses set within Wuhu Island, of ''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' fame. Specifically, the tracks are based on the Cycling tracks. These courses are so long that they only have to be traversed in one lap each (the only other course to have this distinction in the game is Rainbow Road). Among the retro tracks, the game has the second Mario Circuit from ''Super'' and Luigi Raceway from ''64''.
115	* BandLand: Music Park, a track where racers drive atop piano keys, drums, and other assorted musical instruments.
116	* BatScare: When you enter the tunnel in Rock Rock Mountain, a bunch of Swoopers will suddenly fly forward.
117	* BigBoosHaunt: Though the game doesn't introduce a new spooky track, it does bring back Luigi's Mansion from ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS''; it's still the same haunted mansion from that game, though the Portrait Ghosts were replaced with Boo paintings.
118	* BigCreepyCrawlies: ''7'' includes the first appearances of Wiggler and Honey Queen/Queen Bee as playable drivers (and only appearance in the latter's case). While they are as large as the other racers, they aren't threatening. The game also features Stingbies from ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' on Honeybee Hive in Battle Mode, which are smaller but more threatening.
119	* BlindIdiotTranslation: The British English version of the game dubs the track Neo Bowser City "Koopa City". Koopa is Bowser's Japanese name, and that is indeed the name used for the track in the Japanese version of the game, but to international audiences "Koopa" calls to mind an ordinary turtle mook that appears nowhere in the stage. You'd think the fact that the track has pictures of Bowser plastered everywhere would have tipped them off...
120	* BonusFeatureFailure: There are a few unlockable gliders you can earn. However, some of them are just a copy of the Super Glider in terms of stats, basically giving no bonus, and the rest are just a copy of the Peach Parasol in its bonus stats. This also includes all the golden parts that take so long to get, even if used together.
121	* ContinuityNod: Quite a few. Nintendo EAD and Creator/RetroStudios really went all out to fill this ''Mario Kart'' with references to the ''Mario'' series's past.
122	** The starting roster is identical to ''Videogame/SuperMarioKart'', with Donkey Kong replacing Donkey Kong Jr.
123	** There are a lot of musical references to ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' in particular: the race results theme is a new rendition of the one from that game, the 1st place victory theme sounds a lot like 64's with an electric guitar and additional notes, and 3DS Rainbow Road features a loving section of the ''64'' Rainbow Road melody (which [[RecurringRiff was similarly]] implemented in ''Double Dash''), which even kickstarts the theme in the faster variant that plays as you enter the third section of the track. The main theme heard in circuits has a segment that sounds an awful lot like part of ''64's'' raceway theme, and Neo Bowser City features both this riff and parts of the Toad's Turnpike theme. On a non-music note, the Blue Shell returns to its wingless design and ground-travelling behavior from its debut and ''Super Circuit''.
124	** The ''original'' Mario kart, the lone vehicle in the entries prior to ''[[VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash Double Dash!!]]'' introducing a vehicle selection[[note]](''Super Mario Kart'', ''64'' and ''Super Circuit'')[[/note]], is now selectable as an unlockable kart body with the name of Pipe Frame. This game is the first ''Mario Kart'' to bring back older entries' vehicles in general (at least as kart bodies), with the Barrel Train returning from ''Double Dash!!'' with a design adjusted for one racer and the Egg 1 and B Dasher making a comeback from ''[[VideoGame/MarioKartDS DS]]''.
125	** Shy Guy's Bazaar is filled with referenced to the games that introduced Shy Guys and brought them to the ''Mario'' series - it takes place in a desert a la [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 World 2 of Subcon]], bringing back a Middle Eastern motif of ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'' as well as the vases from that game, and red carpets throughout the track feature the sprites of Phantos, Pansers, and Cobrats, as well as the Angry Sun.
126	** Piranha Plant Slide has the look and feel of the ''{{VideoGame/Super Mario Bros\|1}}'' overworld in 3D, with structures resembling that game's tiles and their bright, iconic colors. In an especially subtle reference, its bushes and clouds have the same polygonal geometry with different textures applied to each - a reference to the bushes and clouds in ''Super Mario Bros.'' being the same sprite with different palettes.
127	** Wario's Shipyard features Wario in his Bull Wario form on a sign, and features a [[RecurringRiff musical motif]] from the first two ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games. While its exact location and shipwreck theme isn't an obvious reference to one location, these coupled with its pirate theming make the course an homage to ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'', which had both many ships and pirate-themed locations and enemies owing to the presence of the Brown Sugar Gang led by [[BigBad Captain Syrup]].
128	** DK Jungle is one big reference to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', also developed by Retro. It features the return of the Frogoons and Tiki Goons from that game.
129	** Rosalina's Ice World has some references to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', such as a downed Toad Brigade Starshroom, the Comet Observatory in the background, and a portion of the music being remixed from the Space Junk Galaxy theme. Rainbow Road (making its annual appearance) is also filled with references to ''Galaxy'', for example incorporating Launch Stars into its layout.
130	* CyberpunkForFlavor: Star Cup features Neo Bowser City. The course has lots of futuristic skyscrapers crowded together, a plethora of neon lights and giant screens [[{{Egopolis}} with Bowser's face plastered on them]], lots of rain, and even ''Blade Runner'' style advertising blimps.
131	* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: The futuristic Neo Bowser City always has rainy weather.
132	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: If you press down on the D-Pad, you switch to "tilt" mode where you turn the 3DS to steer. Simple enough, but the Trick command is still mapped to the shoulder Jump button. In ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', you jerked the Wii Remote up to do the same thing. Motion control users from ''Wii'' found their 3DS screens flying off if they do this too much with their more fragile handheld, and those who used a Classic or [=GameCube=] controller in ''Wii'' found themselves unwittingly activating the motion controls.
133	* DarkReprise: The music for Neo Bowser City includes quite a few reprises, including the music of Toad/Mario Circuit, [[VideoGame/MarioKart64 Toad's Turnpike]], [[VideoGame/MarioKartWii Mario/Luigi Circuit]], and even this game's title theme. While the melodies don't sound inherently darker, it may count due to the music playing in a city named after (and presumably owned by) the BigBad of the ''Mario'' franchise.
134	* DeathMountain: The Flower Cup course Rock Rock Mountain, known in the game's European version as Alpine Pass. It's a grassy alpine biome located in a tall, rocky mountain of great altitude the drivers ride across. At one point, they enter a cave with some Swoops and exit by gliding towards the alpine forest; this is later followed by driving upward through a steep ascent while dodging some incoming boulders.
135	* DerelictGraveyard: Wario Shipyard in Star Cup takes place in a graveyard of sunken ships.
136	* DesignItYourselfEquipment: In addition to bringing back the coins from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'', the game introduces gliders, and underwater driving, introduces the option to personalize the player's vehicle, even more so than ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' (where each driver had a standard kart plus a unique kart) or ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' (where each weight class had its own set of bikes and karts). The player can select the kart body, the tires, and the glider to build the desired kart. By collecting many coins from the races in Grand Prix mode, the player can unlock a new body, a new set of tires, or a new glider to use. It is possible to acquire a maximum of ten coins in a race. As the user chooses the parts, the stats may vary according to the parts' combination, and the vehicle will work better in particular situations.
137	* {{Determinator}}: The red shell. Even if you take to the air with a glider launchpad, it will still hunt you down.
138	* DownTheDrain: Piranha Plant Slide features the drivers going down a sewer system that's mostly dry, until reaching a water-filled section.
139	* DubNameChange: Quite a few course names differ between the American English and British English localizations. Here's a list of them, with the American names on the left and the British names on the right.
140	** Cheep Cheep Lagoon/Cheep Cheep Cape
141	** Wuhu Loop/Wuhu Island Loop
142	** Music Park/Melody Motorway
143	** Rock Rock Mountain/Alpine Pass
144	** Piranha Plant Slide/Piranha Plant Pipeway
145	** Wario Shipyard/Wario's Galleon
146	** Neo Bowser City/Koopa City
147	** Maka Wuhu/Wuhu Mountain Loop
148	** N64 Koopa Beach/N64 Koopa Troopa Beach
149	** Honeybee Hive/Honeybee House
150	* EasyModeMockery:
151	** The top screen on the Platform/Nintendo3DS shows Mario demonstrating how fast you'd expect to be going when you select a difficulty level. In 50cc mode, Mario drives really slowly. On top of this, the added beat to the music that plays when you have a big lead in a race doesn't play on the easy setting.
152	** All of the character unlocks are tied to 150cc and Mirror, the hardest difficulty levels.
153	* {{Egopolis}}: Neo Bowser City is is named after the evil king of the Koopas, and features motifs of him everywhere. And more so in its upgrade for ''Mario Kart 8''.
154	* FakeLongevity: The game pads out the requirements to unlock kart parts to the extreme. Every part requires you collecting coins to unlock them. Some parts only need a few hundred coins while other parts can only be unlocked every few ''thousand'' coins. One of the final parts will force you to get 10,000 coins or more. Have fun playing the same tracks over and over again since you can only hold 10 coins max per race. The only consolation is that a few select parts can be unlocked (or at least be unlocked a bit faster) by winning races online and successfully connecting to another player with the [=StreetPass=] feature in ''7''. If you lack Wi-Fi and/or don't live in a dense city where you can run into someone who also has their [=StreetPass=] turned on, or you don't have friends to play with, then you will have to resort to coin collecting.
155	* FirstPersonPerspective: A new feature in this game. It's required to use this feature 80% of the time to unlock the gold steering wheel.
156	* {{Foreshadowing}}: If, when starting the race, Lakitu is wearing a snorkel mask and his cloud is wearing goggles, that's a way of telling you that you will have a significant amount of underwater driving. He does this on Cheep Cheep Lagoon, Piranha Plant Slide, Wario Shipyard, Rosalina's Ice World, N64 Koopa Beach, GCN Daisy Cruiser, and Wii Koopa Cape. Interestingly, he does not do this on Bowser's Castle even though that track has an underwater segment.
157	* ForestOfPerpetualAutumn: Wii Maple Treeway remains just as autumny as it was in ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii''.
158	* FragileSpeedster: Kart combinations below give the best air top speed in the game.
159	** Concerning characters, the game distinguishes feather (Toad, Koopa, Shy Guy and Lakitu) and light characters (Peach, Yoshi and Daisy): both have the best handling and top speed ''underwater'' and while the latter have a better weight and land top speed than the former, they are worse everywhere else. They also are the same size as middleweights, making them more vulnerable.
160	** Regarding kart bodies, Birthday Girl, Bumble V and Egg 1 have the best acceleration while Cloud 9 and Pipe Frame are close second, but are the lightest. Bumble V's mini-turbo is also the most powerful while others' are only average and is faster than others on land (even if only above average), but is the least controllable on land. On the other hand, Birthday Girl and Cloud 9 are extremely precise but the slowest while Egg 1 and Pipe Frame are average in these two areas. Their off-road, however, is variable: Bumble V and Pipe Frame are excellent in this area while Cloud 9 and Egg 1 are average and Birthday Girl is mediocre.
161	** Roller, Sponge and Wood tires amplify this trope for these vehicles in varying ways (though all of them give a great acceleration and the best air top speed): the first gives the best acceleration, handling, mini-turbo and stability, but no weight, land top speed or drift, and average off-road; Sponge also gives a good acceleration, an incredible drift, a decent off-road and an average stability, but a moderate handling, a lightweight and a small land top speed; Wood tires give a ludicrous drift, stability and good handling and off-road, but a lightweight (but not as light as others), a bad land top speed and no mini-turbo.
162	* GimmickLevel: [[VideoGame/WiiSportsResort Wuhu Loop, Maka Wuhu]], and the new Rainbow Road are all divided into three sections of one large course, instead of being standard three-lap circuits.
163	* GlassCannon: Put a FragileSpeedster in these vehicles and you have this trope in action:
164	** The Soda Jet offers the second-to-best top speed and acceleration with a decent mini-turbo, handling and the best drift, but is extremely light and endures off-road more than the [[MightyGlacier Bruiser]].
165	** B Dasher is heavier than Soda Jet and has the best top speed in the game, but can be considered this because it is as vulnerable to off-road, which is the {{Mighty Glacier}}s' privilege in this game. It is also slower to start and gives an average drift couple with a lame mini-mini-turbo.
166	** Slick tires are the Glass Cannon tires of this game: they give the best land top speed and the most precise drift with a decent mini-turbo and stability (and weight), but only a small acceleration, no handling and are the most vulnerable to off-road.
167	* GlacierWaif:
168	** Once again, Rosalina needs larger karts due to [[StatuesqueStunner her height]]. However, she is now considered a Cruiser character (a subtle line between middleweights and heavyweights).
169	** On the other hand, [[{{Extraoredinary}} Metal Mario]] plays this trope straight: while he is as small (and chubby) as the original character and has middle-sized vehicles, he is classified as a pure heavyweight.
170	* GoldMakesEverythingShiny: Gold vehicle parts, which are usually the last parts unlocked. They resemble the Standard Kart, Wheels, and Glider, but have different stats, generally being [[MightyGlacier less maneuverable with higher top speed and weight]].
171	* HeadDesk: Whenever Donkey Kong loses a race, he responds by bashing his head into the steering wheel of his kart over and over.
172	* HighTechHexagons: The {{Cyberpunk}}-inspired Neo Bowser City have some futuristic hexagonal motifs.
173	* HornetHole: The battle stage Honeybee Hive, which takes place inside a giant hollow beehive and houses a swarm of the bee-like Stingby enemies that will damage any driver they come in contact with.
174	* InconsistentDub: Queen Bee from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' is a playable racer in this game, but she was renamed "Honey Queen" for some reason.
175	* InterfaceSpoiler: A subtle one, but when the player completes the final race required to achieve a star ranking in every cup of every class, the star(s) will be added to the player's league table position before the trophy reveal. In a way this is a good thing, as immediately upon completion the player will be able to see if, for example, they have managed to achieve one, two or three stars overall.
176	* IWantMyMommy: Subverted; The playable Lakitu may say this while falling off the track, but is soon rescued by the green-shelled Lakitu.
177	* JackOfAllStats:
178	** Once again, Mario and Luigi are the representants of this trope along with the Miis.
179	** Light and Cruiser characters are this for nervous and powerful characters respectively: their goods and flaws are more moderate than feather and heavy characters, but the former are middle-sized and the latter are large-sized.
180	** While there are standard combos for kart bodies, tires and gliders, any character can approach this trope thanks to the endless combinations: a heavy character with a light combo (or the perfect opposite) can become a balanced character to some degree.
181	* JungleJapes: DK Jungle is obviously surrounded by jungle hence the name, with the trees being denser in the beginning and the karts soon jumping on a flower platform and crossing a bridge across a waterfall near DK's hut. It also incorporates a section based on the Golden Temple from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', as well as the Tiki enemies from that game.
182	* LandOfTulipsAndWindmills: The incredibly upbeat Daisy Hills give very strong vibes of this setting, with its windmills and flowers. Although it is mixed with some alpine, Austrian flair.
183	* LightningBruiser: [[VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash Barrel Train]] comes back as a vehicle body: its acceleration and off-road are average but still decent compared to heavyweights, it makes you gain the maximum weight bonus and the second land top speed, and while the others speeds are mediocre, it can compensate with a monstrous mini-turbo. However, it is among the hardest cars to drive.
184	* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: The game comes with beautifully designed track stages that move in full stereoscopic 60FPS, but with the jarring side-effect that you're presented with 4 to 7 seconds of white loading screens, each before and after the track preview. Granted, it's not much, but we're talking about a Nintendo handheld game stored on flash memory!
185	* LongSongShortScene: Rainbow Road [[OnceASeason in this game]] is one long lap, broken into three sections. This game's version of the Rainbow Road theme has a very long intro, and on most speed settings it will have only just reached the 'normal' Rainbow Road leitmotif when you get to the third section, at which point it restarts and plays at a higher speed. The section on the Moon also has its own VariableMix of the course's entire soundtrack loop, but you'll only hear around twenty seconds of it unless you deliberately park in place.
186	* LuckBasedMission: Getting three stars on any Grand Prix Mode requires you to -- at the ''very least'' -- win every race, finish every race with ten coins, and lead for more than half of the second and third laps. Anyone who knows anything about the 150cc and Mirror modes in this series is probably going to immediately realize just how difficult this is going to be; a perfect race with the player in 1st can easily end in tears before the finish line if an NPC fires a blue shell, and/or several of them get red shells and barrage you. [[DownToTheLastPlay Especially frustrating is if this happens on the last lap of the fourth and final race.]]
187	* LuckySeven: This game introduces the "Lucky 7" item, which surrounds you with seven items you can use as you want. But it's a double-edged sword and can backfire in several ways, as the items will also activate if someone else touches you, and can be lost entirely if you get hit by an item or course hazard. Its [[VideoGame/MarioKart8 successor]], the [[ThemeNaming Crazy 8]], spawns eight items to use at once.
188	* MadeOGold: The Gold Standard and its parts are a go-kart entirely made of just gold. This includes the steering wheel, glider (because weight is relative to ToonPhysics), and tires.
189	* MagicCarpet: At the end of Shy Guy Bazaar, you'll find Shy Guys flying on carpets.
190	* MarathonLevel: Rainbow Road is long enough that it's also one long lap around the course, divided into three segments, rather than one whole lap. It's one of three courses in its game to be a three segment course rather than a three lap one, the others being the two Wuhu Island courses (Wuhu Loop, where you loop around Wuhu Island; and Maka Wuhu, where you drive up Maka Wuhu then glide back to the beach).
191	* {{Medley}}:
192	** The music for the Wuhu Island tracks is a medley of the themes of ''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' and ''VideoGame/WiiSports''.
193	** Neo Bowser City is a medley of the circuit/title themes from ''7'', Toad's Turnpike from ''64'', and the circuit theme from ''Wii''.
194	* MetropolisLevel: Star Cup has Neo Bowser City, a racetrack set within a futuristic city [[{{Egopolis}} with Bowser's image heavily present]]. It has many curves that make driving difficult and, due to the rain, there are also water puddles that cause drivers to spin out of control and waste time. Part of its music is a nod to Toad's Turnpike from ''VideoGame/MarioKart64''. It makes a return in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', and again in ''Mario Kart Tour'', as a NostalgiaLevel.
195	* MightyGlacier:
196	** A distinction is applied between Cruiser characters (Donkey Kong, Rosalina and Wiggler) and Heavy characters (Bowser, Wario, Honey Queen and Metal Mario): the former share some flaws of the latter like a weaker mini-turbo and drift, a larger hitbox and their advantages like weight and top speed aren't as strong, but some flaws like the weak acceleration aren't as problematic and they also benefit middleweights' off-road.
197	** ''7'' vehicle bodies like the Bruiser, Zucchini, Blue Seven, and Bolt Buggy give a great top speed, a good weight to push opponents and a decent off-road, but lame acceleration. Gold Standard is heavy and powerful, but is weak to off-road, while the [[LightningBruiser Barrel Train]] actually has a good acceleration.
198	** Gold and Slick Tires give the best top speed with a decent weight and mini-turbo, but a lame acceleration and off-road. Monster and Red Monsters also give a good top speed coupled with a good weight and off-road, but are unstable and make the vehicle slower to start.
199	* MusicalGameplay: The game adds drums to the BackgroundMusic when you are in the lead. And one of its stages, Music Park / Melody Motorway, has jumping musical notes for obstacles, that jump in time to the BackgroundMusic. They even speed up their jumping to match the sped-up music in the last lap.
200	* MusicalNod:
201	** Neo Bowser City's music is a blend of N64 Toad's Turnpike, the title theme of ''7'', and the Circuit themes from ''Mario Kart Wii'' and ''7''.
202	** New Rainbow Road uses the chorus from N64 Rainbow Road. The section before that is a variation of the N64 Staff Roll.
203	** The results music is that from ''Mario Kart 64'', raised up a full step.
204	* NeonCity: Neo Bowser City has a futuristic theme which involves a lot of neon lights and bright displays (many of which serve to glorify Bowser).
205	* NewNeoCity: Neo Bowser City is set in a futuristic metropolis, with lots of bright lights, shiny towers, and flying vehicles for backdrops. In the PAL release, though, it's just called Koopa City.
206	* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: The game reuses various assets from both ''Double Dash!!'' and ''Wii'', which makes for a technically impressive game developed for a handheld system instead of a home console like the aforementioned titles.
207	* NitroBoost: Features many ways - a variety of different dash pads, stored nitro charges in the form of mushrooms, and a self-regenerating boost achievable by holding the right trigger and steering heavily into corners (or on certain straights by zig-zagging, if they're wide enough).
208	* NostalgiaLevel: In addition to bringing retro tracks as usual, the game also evokes other Nintendo games with some of the new courses:
209	** Shy Guy Bazaar is a major shout out not only to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', but also to ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'', considering the Arabian setting.
210	** Piranha Plant Slide, later a retro course in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', is one giant homage to [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 the original game]].
211	** DK Jungle, later a retro course in ''Mario Kart 8'', is a love letter to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', since Retro Studios designed it.
212	* NumberedSequels: This is the first game in the series to be numbered.
213	* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Like [[VideoGame/MarioKartWii the previous installment]], top speed is the central criteria to settle records.
214	* PalmtreePanic:
215	** Cheep Cheep Lagoon are Wii Koopa Cape mix this with UnderTheSea: the former is mainly underwater but also has a beachside and cave section, and the latter is set on a mountain instead of a beach, but still has beach vibes here and there.
216	** Wuhu Loop is the summer town track for this game while Maka Wuhu is the summer island's exploration equivalent.
217	** [=N64=] Koopa Troopa Beach, on the other hand, is a more traditional example. Like the original, you race on the shore of the island, and this time you can actually go underwater.
218	* PinballZone: Waluigi Pinball, returning from ''Mario Kart DS'', is mainly the same pinball machine course as the original (although Waluigi himself is absent from this installment).
219	* PipeMaze: Piranha Plant Slide, based on the ''Super Mario Bros.'' underground levels. Not only do you enter the underground portion via a large entrance shaped like a green pipe, but also drive alongside a current of water (and there's a flooded part later on). It returns in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' as a NostalgiaLevel.
220	* PortTown: [[VideoGame/WiiSportsResort Wuhu Loop]] starts and ends in a small touristic town while the whole battle stage Wuhu Town happens in the said town.
221	* PromotedToPlayable:
222	** This is the first game in the series where Lakitu is playable. The playable Lakitu has a red shell to distinguish him from the one who starts the race, rescues you when you fall into pits, etc.
223	** This is the first time, and so far the last, that Honey Queen from ''Videogame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and Wiggler are playable.
224	* RacingGhost: This game in particular takes the concept pretty far. Every track has multiple staff ghosts (each unlocked after beating the last). If left in sleep mode, the 3DS will download ghosts from random players. There's an option to play against 7 ghosts at once.
225	* RedBaron: Each player is given a title (the player can view their own under Mario Kart Channel, at the face icon) based on how they play (for example, Quick Starter is for those good at hitting a boost at the start, while Dolphin is for those good at racing underwater). When racing against the AI-controlled version of those players gained through [=StreetPass=], their play style is informed by their title.
226	* RedOnesGoFaster: The Red Monster wheels are a bit lighter and have a touch more acceleration than the regular Monster wheels.
227	* {{Retraux}}: The music for the retro courses was also remastered, and the music tends to sound very similar to how it originally sounded, but with an added TruckDriversGearChange for the last lap/segment, and better instruments. The SNES version of Rainbow Road sounds fairly close to the original, just with cleaner synths and a better mix, for example.
228	* RubberBandAI: Maka Wuhu has an exploitable glitch that lets you skip at least half the track. If you do this while racing against the AI, they will magically catch up to you without fail.
229	* SceneryPorn: In classic Nintendo fashion, the new levels are all bright and colourful with the power of the 3DS utilised to make the backgrounds eye-popping. Even the retro courses receive a significant facelift as compared to the originals.
230	* SecretCharacter: With the exception of Miis (complete all cups of any given class), all of them unlocked through completing 150cc cups with gold. In order from Mushroom to Lighting, the unlockable drivers are Daisy, Wario, Rosalina, Metal Mario, Shy Guy, Honey Queen, Wiggler, and Lakitu.
231	* SequenceBreaking: Eventually patched for online play, but the game had a certain glitch that effectively cut one third of one race track. Maka Wuhu was one of the courses that were really long and cut into three sections instead of laps. However, if you jump off the course at the right area near the beginning of the second section, you'll respawn right near the end, skipping it entirely. Eventually everyone who played the course online did this, necessitating the patch.
232	* ShiftingSandLand: Shy Guy Bazaar an ArabianNightsDays version of this setting, as it features palatial buildings and references to the Arabian-inspired ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' (such as flying carpets, Cobrats and drawings of Phanto). There's also Kalimari Desert, which returns from ''Mario Kart 64'' and serves as TheWildWest equivalent.
233	* ShoutOut: If she manages to hit an opponent with an item, Daisy will sometimes let out a [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Nelson Muntz]]-esque "Ha-ha!".
234	* SlippySlideyIceWorld:
235	** Rosalina's Ice World lives up to its name, with most of the track being covered in snow and ice. Being a Special Cup track, it's designed a lot more dangerously than most snow-themed tracks (which after ''Super'''s Vanilla Lake 2 have all been found in the Star or Flower Cups of their debut games), with the slippery ice becoming especially hazardous when navigating narrow roads next to a pit and dodging giant impeding icicles. Penguins also show up near the underwater segment, which can be skipped on lap 1 or with a speed boost on later laps, where the ice on the water's surface has drifted slightly farther out.
236	** DK Pass returns from ''DS''. There's no ice, but plenty of snow that's as slippery to drive on. Snowballs and snowmen show up as obstacles on the course.
237	** Sherbet Rink is the first ''battle'' course with this look since SNES Battle Course 3, taking place in a colorful ice rink decorated with Peach signage. It's possibly the most colorful ice stage in a ''Mario Kart'' game, and both Snowmen ''and'' waddling penguins act as obstacles.
238	* SnowySleighBells: While all three nitro battle tracks have the same melody, the music playing on Sherbet Rink has added sleigh bells.
239	* SocializationBonus: The [=StreetPass=] feature unlocks the Gold Glider part. The more people you connect with the feature, the fewer coins you need to unlock the part. Don't live in a place where lots of people own a copy of the game and use the [=StreetPass=] feature? Have fun grinding for 10,000 coins to get that Gold Gilder.
240	* SpringySpores: Mushroom Gorge from ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' returns, featuring bouncy mushrooms that racers use to cross gaps. This game's incarnations of Mario Circuit and Rainbow Road also have one apiece.
241	* StoneWall:
242	** Tiny Tug is a fairly controllable kart with a decent acceleration, a good weight to protect itself and is among the most resistants to off-road. However, its turbo are mediocre and its (land) top speed below average (it has the best ''underwater'' top speed, however).
243	** Cact-X has the same off-road advantage and is more controllable, but is lighter and slower.
244	* StoppedNumberingSequels: Inverted. The first six games in the ''Mario Kart'' series resorted to either SuperTitle64Advance or a unique subtitle for their names. This one, being the seventh (not counting the ''Arcade'' games), is simply called ''Mario Kart 7''.
245	* SuperDrowningSkills: Falling into the lake of Daisy Hills equals falling into a bottomless pit. The reason for this is because the game's novelty of underwater sections isn't introduced until the ''next'' course, as Daisy Hills itself focuses on introducing aerial driving instead.
246	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: The game has underwater racing in many levels. And yes, you can stay underwater for as long as you like, use fireballs and explosive items down there and see the sights of an eight person go-kart race along the sea bed.
247	* ThemeAndVariationsSoundtrack: All three nitro battle courses share the same tune but each one uses different instrumentation.
248	* UndergroundLevel: Piranha Plant Slide, which is part of the Star Cup. It is modeled after (and is a {{Homage}} to) the underground levels from the 2D games, especially the original ''Super Mario Bros.''; as you navigate within, you'll find Piranha Plants popping out of large green pipes, and a large underwater area.
249	* UnderTheSea: Ever since this game introduced underwater racing as a mechanic, many aquatic courses are either completely this theme, such as Cheep Cheep Lagoon in Mushroom Cup; become this theme as a returning course, such as [[VideoGame/MarioKartWii Koopa Cape]] in Lightning Cup going from SharkTunnel to this; or have this theme mixed with another theme, such as Wario Shipyard in Star Cup mixing GangplankGalleon with it.
250	* VariableMix: The game adds extra percussion (bass/snare "dance" beat or a hi-hat, for example) to the BGM if the player takes a significant lead in 100cc or higher.
251	* WindmillScenery: [[LandOfTulipsAndWindmills Daisy Hills]] has three windmills that lie at the bottom of the gliding section, and their sails can block the racers.

Context VideoGame / MarioKart7