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A Coin is an iconic item from the Mario series, and has been used in various mainstream Mario titles, and has been around for as long as Mario as existed in Super Mario Bros. onward, and remains to be a staple in history as one of the first collectible items in video games. The coins were an idea from Miyamoto. After all, what was a Mario game without coins?

In the other Mario titles, such as the Mario Kart series, it starts in the first game Super Mario Kart and being removed in Mario Kart 64, and then brought back and taken out in numerous titles, including the latest main game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. They are very common to get when the player is in first place, at a whopping 50% chance.

Uses[]

Coins serve multiple purposes, and add a layer of depth to the race. Coins, sometimes found in Item Boxes or placed across the track, can be gathered by driving into them or receiving them in Item Boxes. Once you get a certain amount, your Kart will gain speed, allowing for quicker race times. If you crash into a player, depending on the game, you will lose 3 coins.

Coins are also collectible Items in Mission Mode in Mario Kart DS, as you need to get a set amount to complete the mission. However, they won't boost your speed.

First in Mario Kart Wii and then in Mario Kart 7, Coins were an Item in the Battle Mode Coin Runners. Similar to the predecessor, Shine Runners, racers compete in various Battle Stages and try to get the most Coins as possible. The team with the most Coins wins.

Appearances[]

Super Mario Kart[]

Coins were used as units of pseudo-health. Coins were scattered on the ground and could be driven over like Question Blocks to be collected.

If a player collected 10 or more coins, they could go faster- keeping these coins was a challenge, however, as any contact with other racers or items would result in a loss of one to four coins. Having no coins meant that any contact with any other racer would result in a spin-out. The Coin item, which could be acquired by Question Blocks, gave the user an additional 2 coins.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit[]

After the absence of the coin in Mario Kart 64 (due to the Fake Item Box being present in that game), the coin returns in Super Circuit, where it works roughly the same way as in Super.

However, there are some differences in the value of coins: the amount of coins collected after a Grand Prix is used to calculate rankings, and the coin limit per track has been raised to 55. This high coin limit made for insane snowballing capabilities- at max coins and speed, characters could drive faster than Red Shells.

Mario Kart DS[]

Although coins were not used in racing gameplay, they still appeared in several missions. These missions usually consisted of barriers set up around an area of a track with scattered coins, with the goal being to collect all of them before time runs out.

Mario Kart Wii[]

Again, coins were not used in races. However, the Battle Mode Shine Runners from the DS title was adapted to use coins- it was fittingly called Coin Runners. Coins are also seen in the various Tournaments of the game.

Mario Kart 7[]

After an absence of the coin in racing, they return in Mario Kart 7. They work similarly to the ones in Super Mario Kart, although they now float on the course rather than laying flat on the ground, and now respawn after a short amount of time instead of disappearing for the remainder of the race. The coin limit is now 10 and collecting any extra results in a short speed boost. Colliding with racers no longer takes away coins, but items may still strip coins off racers. All racers start the race with a number of Coins equal to their final position in the previous race of the session, minus 1 (so 8th starts with 7 Coins, 7th starts with 6, 6th starts with 5 and so on).

Mario Kart 8/Deluxe[]

Works the same as Mario Kart 7. Also the Coin item returns from Super Mario Kart. At the start of a race, you will have coins already in your collection in the bottom left, depending on your position.

The coin item can be obtained in 1st and 2nd places from item boxes. If holding a coin from an item box you will not get a second coin for your second item slot. When you get hit by an item, you lose up to 3 coins that then get placed on the track surrounding your character. If you go out of bounds or fall off the course, Lakitu will place you back on the track and take up to 3 coins from your total.

At the start of every race, depending on your position, you are awarded on-start coins which will allow you to have to chance to take first, no matter your position.

Position Coins
1st Place - 2nd Place 0
3rd Place - 4th Place 1
5th Place - 6th Place 2
7th Place - 8th Place 3
9th Place - 10th Place 4
11th Place - 12th Place 5

Mario Kart Tour[]

TBA

Trivia![]

  • Half of the Mario Kart games have the coin, with only a quarter having the item. The other half has the Fake Item Box to replace the Coin.
  • Coins are replaced by Rupees when playing Hyrule Circuit, Bells when playing Animal Crossing, the currency from Splatoon when playing Urchin Underpass, and Yoshi Coins when playing on Yoshi's Island. Their functions are exactly the same, the only change being the aesthetic appearance change.
  • Mute City and Big Blue are the only stages in Time Trials in Mario Kart that essentially have infinite coins, as coins are collected via panels that are seen in every F-Zero title, which would heal the player's vehicle.
  • The stage with the most collectable coins in Mario Kart 8 is N64 Rainbow Road, at 62, whereas, the stage with the least collectable coins is GCN Baby Park; it has only 16 coins. (This means the one with the most is the longest track, while the one with the least is the shortest in Mario Kart history.)
  • Recently, the coin sound effect has been used in basketball games when a player makes a free throw.

Gallery[]

Super Mario Kart items
Regular Items BananaGreen ShellRed ShellMushroomLightningStarmanFeatherCoinBoo
CPU-only Items Poison MushroomYoshi EggFireball
Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe) items
BananaTriple BananasGreen ShellTriple Green ShellRed ShellTriple Red ShellSpiny ShellBob-ombMushroomTriple MushroomGolden MushroomBullet BillBlooperLightningStarmanFire FlowerBoomerang FlowerPotted Piranha PlantSuper HornCrazy 8CoinFeather*/** • Boo*
* - Exclusive to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. • ** - Only available in Battle Mode.
Mario Kart Tour items
Regular Items BananaGreen ShellRed ShellSpiny ShellBob-ombMushroomBullet BillBlooperLightningStarman** • Mega MushroomSuper HornCoinFeather***
Special Items Boomerang FlowerBubble* • Triple Green ShellsDouble Bob-ombs* • Dash Ring* • Giant BananaHeartFire FlowerYoshi's EggTriple MushroomsIce Flower* • Giga Bob-omb* • Bowser ShellBanana Barrel* • Lucky SevenBob-omb Cannon* • Birdo's EggHammer* • Mushroom Cannon* • Triple BananasCoin Box* • Super Bell* • Super LeafCapsule*
* - New to the series. • ** - Exclusive as an Item in some Challenges and in Multiplayer.*** - Only available in Battle Mode.
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