Mario Kart Racing Wiki
Register
Advertisement


Mario Kart 7 (stylized as MARIOKART7 and commonly abbreviated as MK7) is a Mario based racing game exclusively made for the Nintendo 3DS (however, it can be played on the 2DS and New 2DS XL, just like every other 3DS game). It's the seventh Mario Kart game in the series, (ninth including the arcade games) and the third for a handheld console. Returning from Mario Kart Wii, players are able to exchange Ghost Data and play online or wirelessly in multiplayer mode. Mario Kart 7 introduces a few new features to the tracks, including Blue Boosters (which trigger Gliding sections) and underwater turbines specifically made for underwater racing. This game introduces kart customization as well, allowing players to toggle parts on their karts to fit their preferences.

Gameplay[]

New Features[]

(* Exclusive to this game)

Returning Features[]

  • Coins return in Racing mode after an absence since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. However, players can only collect a maximum of 10 at a time.
  • The Super Mini-Turbo returns from Mario Kart Wii, which is done by drifting until the sparks turn orange and gets a more powerful boost.
  • The Spiny Shell returns to its wingless form, just like its first two appearances.
  • Tricks return from Mario Kart Wii, as well as the character and item icons and results music. 

Removed Features from Mario Kart Wii[]

  • Bikes are not usable in this game due to system limitations and complaints that they were overpowered compared to Karts due to wheelies.
  • The race is back to eight racers due to space limitations.
  • The single-player VS Race is removed for unknown reasons, an omission that many fans feel reduces the game's replay potential.
  • Waluigi was not included as a playable character, but his course from Mario Kart DS is featured as a Retro Track. However, he was planned to appear beforehand.
    • Speaking of not being included, Toadette was another character who was originally planned to appear but wasn't included as a playable character either.
    • In fact, only 11 out of 24 characters (not counting Miis) from the previous installment, Mario Kart Wii, returned in this game.
  • The Fake Item Box from previous installments is absent, but was initially planned.
    • Speaking of another item that didn't appear in this game, the Mega Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii was also going to appear in this game.
  • The POW Block and the Thunder Cloud from Mario Kart Wii are also absent.

Game Modes[]

Grand Prix[]

In Grand Prix, the player selects an Engine Class and a cup to race. Each cup contains four courses that are played in order. After each individual race, the place in which the racer comes is translated into a number of points to go to the racer's total. At the end of the cup, the points are cumulatively tallied, and whichever racer has the most, second most, and third most points wins a gold, silver, or bronze trophy, respectively. Below is a table showing the amount of points garnered for coming in a certain place in a race.

Grand Prix Points System:

Finishing Places Points Received
1st 10
2nd 8
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 1

Time Trial[]

Time rial allow players to race for the best time possible, either on their own or against a ghost. It is not possible to play this mode with more than one player.

VS Race[]

VS Mode allows players to race, but with their own custom rule sets set such as changing which items appear, or modifying the difficulty. You can also pick any track to race on, rather than only a whole cup. This mode is only available in Multiplayer in Mario Kart 7.

Battle[]

There are 2 types of Battle Modes: Coin Runners and Balloon Battle. Balloon Battle requires players to hit each other with items to pop their Balloons. If you run out of Balloons, your score gets halved. In coin Runners, players pick up as many coins as possible. If they get hit by an item, they lose some of their coins.

Controls[]

Button Action
Circle Pad Steer (left and right), Shoot item forward/backward (up and down)
A/Y Gas (Press and hold during the countdown = Rocket Start)
B Brakes
X/L Use item
R Jump (R + Circle Pad = Mini-Turbo)
Touch screen Switch between outlined and detailed map (visible on the Touch Screen)
D-Pad Switch to first-person view (up when in normal view); switch back to normal view (left, right and down when in first-person view)

Characters[]

Mario Kart 7 has a total of 17 Characters (Including Miis).

8 characters are available from the start and the rest are unlockable.

Mario Kart 7 - Character Overview

(The Image Above Displays The Character Select Menu with All Characters Unlocked)

Starting[]

Character Weight
MarioIcon-MK7 Mario Medium
LuigiIcon-MK7 Luigi
PeachIcon-MK7 Princess Peach Light
YoshiIcon-MK7 Yoshi
BowserIcon-MK7 Bowser Heavy
DonkeyKongIcon-MK7 Donkey Kong Cruiser
ToadIcon-MK7 Toad Feather
KoopaTroopaIcon-MK7 Koopa Troopa

Unlockable[]

Character Weight How to Unlock
DaisyIcon-MK7 Daisy Light Win

the

150cc
MushroomMK7 Mushroom Cup MushroomMK7
WarioIcon-MK7 Wario Heavy FireFlowerMK7 Flower Cup FireFlowerMK7
RosalinaIcon-MK7 Rosalina Cruiser StarMK7 Star Cup StarMK7
MetalMarioIcon-MK7 Metal Mario Heavy Special Crown Special Cup Special Crown
ShyGuyIcon-MK7 Shy Guy Feather GreenShellMK7 Shell Cup GreenShellMK7
QueenBeeIcon-MK7 Queen Bee Heavy BananaMK7 Banana Cup BananaMK7
WigglerIcon-MK7 Wiggler Cruiser MKDS LeafCup Icon Leaf Cup MKDS LeafCup Icon
LakituIcon-MK7 Lakitu Feather LightningMK7 Lightning Cup LightningMK7
MiiMK7 Mii Medium Win all Cups of any class

Vehicles[]

In Mario Kart 7, players can mix and match vehicle parts to create their own vehicle. This includes karts, gliders, and wheels. Here is a list of these items:

Note: Names in bold are from the American version while names in italics are from the European and Australian versions, if there is no italicized name, then the vehicle's name is unchanged in all regions.

Karts[]

Kart Unlocked at Start?
StandardKartMK7 Standard Yes
MK7PipeFrame Red Pipe Frame No
Bolt Bug Bolt Buggy Yes
MK7 Blue Seven Blue Seven No
Zucchini Zucchini
Gherkin
Cloud Nine Cloud 9
Koopa Clown Kart Koopa Clown
Cactux Cact-X
Tiny Tug Tiny Tug
Barrel Train (Mario Kart 7) Barrel Train
MK7 Egg 1 Egg 1
MK7 B Dasher B Dasher
Soda Jet Soda Jet
150px-MK7 Growlster Bruiser
Growlster
MK7 Bumble V Bumble V
Birthday Girl Birthday Girl
Royal Ribbon
Yes
Gold Standard Kart Gold Standard
Gold Kart
No

Wheels[]

Wheel Unlocked at Start?
50px-MK7 Standard Standard
Normal
Yes
MK7 Gold Tires Gold Tires
Gold Wheels
No
150px-MK7 Roller Roller Yes
Slim Wheels Slim No
100px-MK7 Slick Slick
MK7 Sponge Wheels Sponge
MK7 Mushroom Wheels Mushroom
MK7 Wood Wood
Wooden
Red Monster Red Monster
MK7 Monster Monster Yes

Gliders[]

Glider Unlocked at Start?
Superglider Super Glider Yes
148px-Peach Parasol - Mk7 Peach Parasol No
MK7 Paraglider Paraglider
Parafoil
MK7 Flower Glider Flower Glider
MK7 Swoop Swooper
Swoop
Ghastly Beast Glider Beast Glider
Ghastly Glider
150px-MK7 Gold Glider Gold Glider

Items[]

Present[]

Item Description
ItemBoxMK7
Item Box
Gives you an item when you pass through it.
CoinMK7
Coin
Collecting Coins increases the top speed of your kart (you can collect a maximum of 10, also in Coin Runners).
BananaMK7
Banana
Karts that run over a banana will spin out. They can be thrown forward or dropped behind your kart.
TripleBananaMK7
Triple Banana
Gives you three bananas that trail behind your kart. You don't need to hold the X- or L-button to hold them.
GreenShellMK7
Green Shell
Travels in a straight line and knocks over the first kart it hits. Breaks after hitting obstacles too many times.
TripleGreenShellMK7
Triple Green Shell
Three Green Shells that spin around your kart. You will shoot one at a time, and they are able to be shot forward or behind. They can also guard your kart against shells if you have them on your back.
RedShellMK7
Red Shell
Fires at the kart in front of you, according to the track. When shot backward, it will follow a straight line. Breaks after contact.
TripleRedShellMK7
Triple Red Shell
Three Red Shells, the stats are the same for Triple Green Shells.
SpinyShellMK7
Spiny Shell
Hovers over to the first place and explodes. It will topple any kart in its path, but not explode. They can be diffused by a well-timed Bob-omb, or be escaped with a mushroom.
Bob-ombMK7
Bob-omb
Will explode when thrown or dropped, knocking over any kart in its blast radius. One of the only items that can stop a Spiny Shell. When released, it will throw itself forward, unlike a Banana.
MushroomMK7
Mushroom
Provides your kart with a small speed boost.
TripleMushroomMK7
Triple Mushroom
Provides your kart with three separate speed boosts.
GoldenMushroomMK7
Golden Mushroom
Gives you a speed boost whenever you press L or X, but only for 7.5 seconds.
BulletBillMK7
Bullet Bill
Transforms you into a Bullet Bill and knocks over the karts in the front.
BlooperMK7
Blooper
Sprays ink on all the karts ahead of you and reduces their visibility.
LightningMK7
Lightning
Causes all opponents to shrink in size. They drop their items and slow down, and the time it takes to grow back to normal size depends on your position. A fully-grown racer can squish a small racer.
StarMK7
Star
Increases your speed for a short time. It will keep you safe from everything; including Spiny Shells and Lightning (Does not include falling off the course).
FireFlowerMK7
Fire Flower (New Item!)
Allows you to throw fireballs that cause other karts to spin out of control for a short time (1/3 of a Banana).
SuperLeafMK7
Super Leaf (New Item!)
Gives your kart a tail that can be used to deflect items and knock over opponents. It is helpful to grab out of reach Coins.
LuckySevenMK7
Lucky Seven (New Item!)
Surrounds your cart with 7 usable items. These include a Red Shell, a Green Shell, a Banana, a Bob-omb, a Star, a Blooper, and a Mushroom. All of which will be used when you press X or L when the item is in front of your car and CPU-racers can also hit them, with the effects working for them.

Absent items from Wii[]

Item Reason for exclusion
Fake Item Box Mario Kart 7
Fake Item Box
Likely either replaced by Coins or Nintendo ran out of time to add the item.
Mega Mushroom - Mario Kart Wii
Mega Mushroom
Nintendo likely ran out of time to add the item, or the item was excluded due to hardware limitations (as the 3DS's processor wasn't powerful enough to handle the Mega Mushroom's effects as the Wii was), or they decided to leave it out as it is very similar to the Star.
POW Block - Mario Kart Wii
POW Block
Unknown
Thunder Cloud - Mario Kart Wii
Thunder Cloud
Likely due to complaints

Item Probabilities[]

Placement Probabilities
1st BananaMK7 GreenShellMK7 RedShellMK7 MushroomMK7 SuperLeafMK7 TripleBananaMK7

Banana: 35%
Green Shell: 30%
Triple Banana: 15%
Super Leaf: 10%
Red Shell and Mushroom: 5%

2nd BananaMK7 GreenShellMK7 RedShellMK7 MushroomMK7
SuperLeafMK7 FireFlowerMK7 TripleBananaMK7

Red Shell: 25%
Green Shell: 20%
Banana and Mushroom: 15%
Super Leaf and Triple Banana: 10%
Fire Flower: 5%

3rd BananaMK7 GreenShellMK7 RedShellMK7 MushroomMK7 Bob-ombMK7
TripleMushroomMK7 SuperLeafMK7 FireFlowerMK7 TripleRedShellMK7 TripleGreenShellMK7

Red Shell: 20%
Mushroom: 15%
Green Shell, Bob-omb, Fire Flower, Triple Mushroom, and Triple Green Shell: 10%
Banana, Triple Red Shell, and Super Leaf: 5%

4th GreenShellMK7 RedShellMK7 MushroomMK7 Bob-ombMK7 BlooperMK7 TripleMushroomMK7 FireFlowerMK7 SuperLeafMK7 LuckySevenMK7 TripleGreenShellMK7 TripleRedShellMK7

Mushroom: 20%
Triple Mushroom: 15%
Red Shell(s), Bob-omb, and Fire Flower: 10%
Green Shell(s), Blooper, Super Leaf, and Lucky 7: 5%

5th RedShellMK7 MushroomMK7 Bob-ombMK7 BlooperMK7 SpinyShellMK7 TripleMushroomMK7 StarMK7 GoldenMushroomMK7 FireFlowerMK7 LuckySevenMK7 TripleGreenShellMK7 TripleRedShellMK7

Triple Mushroom: 20%
Mushroom: 15%
Blooper, Star, and Triple Red Shell: 10%
Red Shell, Spiny Shell, Bob-omb, Spiny Shell, Golden Mushroom, Fire Flower, Lucky 7, and Triple Green Shell: 5%

6th BlooperMK7 SpinyShellMK7 TripleMushroomMK7 StarMK7
BulletBillMK7 GoldenMushroomMK7 LuckySevenMK7 TripleRedShellMK7

Triple Mushroom: 25%
Star: 20%
Blooper and Golden Mushroom: 15%
Spiny Shell: 10%
Bullet Bill, Lucky 7, and Triple Red Shell: 5%

7th SpinyShellMK7 TripleMushroomMK7 StarMK7 BulletBillMK7 LightningMK7 GoldenMushroomMK7

Triple Mushroom and Golden Mushroom: 25%
Star and Bullet Bill: 15%
Lightning and Spiny Shell: 10%

8th SpinyShellMK7 TripleMushroomMK7 StarMK7 BulletBillMK7 LightningMK7 GoldenMushroomMK7

Bullet Bill: 30%
Lightning: 25%
Triple Mushroom and Golden Mushroom: 15%
Star: 10%
Spiny Shell: 5%

Other Information About Item Probabilities[]

Item No.

Positions Available

Total Average
BananaMK7 3 55 18.3333333333%
GreenShellMK7 4 65 16.25%
MushroomMK7 5 70 14%
RedShellMK7 5 65 13%
SuperLeafMK7 4 30 7.5%
TripleBananaMK7 2 25 12.5%
FireFlowerMK7 4 30 7.5%
Bob-ombMK7 3 25 8.33333333333%
TripleMushroomMK7 6 110 18.3333333333%
TripleRedShellMK7 4 30 7.5%
TripleGreenShellMK7 3 20 6.66666666667%
BlooperMK7 3 30 10%
LuckySevenMK7 3 15 5%
SpinyShellMK7 4 30 7.5%
StarMK7 4 55 13.75%
GoldenMushroomMK7 4 60 15%
BulletBillMK7 3 50 16.6666666667%
LightningMK7 2 35 17.5%

Courses[]

Just like its predecessors, Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 has 8 Cups and 32 courses: 16 new tracks and 16 remakes from the previous games' tracks. Italics denote course name in PAL version.

Nitro[]

Mushroom - Mario Kart Wii
Fire Flower - Mario Kart Wii
Starman - Mario Kart Wii
Special Crown - Mario Kart Wii
Mushroom Cup Flower Cup Star Cup Special Cup
Toad Circuit

Toad Circuit
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

Wuhu Loop

Wuhu Loop
Wuhu Island Loop

Mk83ds pps

Piranha Plant Slide
Piranha Plant Pipeway
also in Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe) and Mario Kart Tour

DK Jungle

DK Jungle
also in Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

250px-Daisyhills

Daisy Hills
also in Mario Kart Tour

MariocircuitMK7

Mario Circuit
also in Mario Kart Tour

250px-Wariogalleon

Wario Shipyard
Wario's Galleon
also in Mario Kart Tour

Rosalina Ice world

Rosalina's Ice World
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

250px-Cheepcheeplagoon

Cheep Cheep Lagoon
Cheep Cheep Cape
also in Mario Kart Tour

Music park

Music Park
Melody Motorway
also in Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

MarioKart7 NeoBowserCity

Neo Bowser City
Koopa City
also in Mario Kart 8Template:If emptyTemplate:If empty(Deluxe) and Mario Kart Tour

Download

Bowser's Castle
also in Mario Kart Tour

Toad in Shy Guy Bazaar MK7

Shy Guy Bazaar
also in Mario Kart Tour

212sr 3ds rrm

Rock Rock Mountain
Alpine Pass
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

Maka Wuhu jpg

Maka Wuhu
Wuhu Mountain Loop

3dsrainbowroad

Rainbow Road
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

Retro[]

Green Shell - Mario Kart Wii
Banana - Mario Kart Wii
Super Leaf - Mario Kart Wii
Glowless Lightning - Mario Kart Wii
Shell Cup Banana Cup Leaf Cup Lightning Cup
ThCA30EX8C

N64 Luigi Raceway
also in Mario Kart Tour

Screen Shot 2011-10-21 at 4.46.47 PM

N64 Koopa Troopa Beach
also in Mario Kart Tour

KalimariDesertMK7

N64 Kalimari Desert
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

640px-KoopaCapeMK7

Wii Koopa Cape
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

Bowsers-Castle-GBA-MK7-383-full

GBA Bowser Castle 1
also in Mario Kart Tour

Mario Circuit 2 (Mario Kart 7)

SNES Mario Circuit 2
also in Mario Kart Tour

ThCACA1YUM

DS DK Pass
also in Mario Kart Tour

Mk7 gcn ddj

GCN Dino Dino Jungle
also in Mario Kart Tour

Mushroom Gorge (Mario Kart 7)

Wii Mushroom Gorge
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

Coconut Mall (Mario Kart 7)

Wii Coconut Mall
also in Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty and Mario Kart Tour

640px-DaisyCruiserMK7

GCN Daisy Cruiser
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

640px-AirshipFortressMK7

DS Airship Fortress
also in Mario Kart Tour

MK3DSLuigis-Mansion

DS Luigi's Mansion
also in Mario Kart Tour

MK7 - DS Waluigi Pinball

DS Waluigi Pinball
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

Maple Treeway MK7 E3 2011

Wii Maple Treeway
also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 DeluxeTemplate:If empty

RainbowRoadSnes7

SNES Rainbow Road
also in Mario Kart Super Circuit, Mario Kart 8Template:If empty(Deluxe), and Mario Kart Tour

Template:If empty In Mario Kart 8 x The Legend of Zelda DLC, or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is required.
Template:If emptyTemplate:If empty In Mario Kart 8 x Animal Crossing DLC, or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is required.
Template:If empty Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC is required.

Battle[]

Nitro Retro
Honey Bee House Honeybee Hive
Honeybee House
Battlecourse1gbaMK7 GBA Battle Course 1
also in Mario Kart Tour
Sherbet Rink Sherbet Rink
BigDonutMK7 N64 Big Donut
Wuhu Town MK7 Wuhu Town
also in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Dspalmshore DS Palm Shore

Gallery[]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart 7.

Update History[]

Version 1.1[]

Release Date: May 15th, 2012

  • Fixed Exploits in certain tracks.

Version 1.2[]

Release Date: December 13th, 2022

  • Many issues have been resolved to improve the gameplay experience.
  • As of December 13th, 2022, all players must install this update in order to access online multiplayer.

Reception[]

Mario Kart 7 received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic holding a metascore of 85/100 based on 73 critic reviews.[1]

Trivia![]

  • When you get a Lucky Seven with the items set to either Shells only, Bananas only, Mushrooms only, or Bob-ombs only, you will get seven Red Shells, Bananas, Mushrooms, or Bob-ombs surrounding your kart respectively.
  • This is the only Mario Kart game in the series so far where Wario is an unlockable character.
  • This is the only post-Mario Kart: Double Dash!! game where Waluigi is not a playable character (though he was supposed to appear in the game as a playable character, but was scrapped due to time constraints). However, DS Waluigi Pinball appears as one of the retro courses.
  • This and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! are the only Mario Kart games after Mario Kart 64 that have no VS Mode in single-player. However, you can get it while in local multiplayer.
  • This is the second Mario Kart game to feature several incarnations of Rainbow Road after Mario Kart: Super Circuit. In this case, similar to that game, its own and the SNES version.
  • None of the ā€œpartnersā€ from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! return in this game (despite the fact that Waluigi and Toadette were initially planned to return). The only two that returned are Luigi and Daisy (the former of which is a starter and the latter of which is unlockable). Only the main team members from that game make a return in this game. The two pairs that are completely absent from this game are Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, and Petey Piranha and King Boo.
  • All items introduced in Mario Kart 7 were removed in Mario Kart 8, except for the Fire Flower.
    • Additionally, the Lucky 7 is replaced with the Crazy 8 in said game which fills the role for the Lucky 7.
  • Some of the playable characters voice clips were recycled from Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii.
  • This and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! are the only two Mario Kart games for Nintendo consoles that cannot be playable on the Wii U.
  • This is the only Mario Kart game with 3D effects.
  • All four retro tracks from Mario Kart Wii that appear in this game are now in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Tour.
    • The other 12 retro tracks that appear in this game are also in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Tour.

References[]

  1. ā†‘ Metascore for Mario Kart 7Metacritic, Retrieved April 21, 2020

External links[]

Mario Kart games
Main Titles Super Mario Kart (1992, SNES) ā€¢ Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64) ā€¢ Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001, GBA) ā€¢ Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003, GameCube) ā€¢ Mario Kart DS (2005, DS) ā€¢ Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) ā€¢ Mario Kart 7 (2011, 3DS) ā€¢ Mario Kart 8 (2014, Wii U) ā€¢ Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017, Switch)
Arcade Titles Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005) ā€¢ Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007) ā€¢ Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013) ā€¢ Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017)
Spin-off Titles Mario Kart Tour (2019, Mobile) ā€¢ Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020, Switch)
Advertisement