Mushroom (item)

This article is about the a recurring item in the Mario Kart series. For a list of articles with the same name, see Mushroom.

Mushroom
Information
Description	A handy item for catching up, taking a shortcut, or dodging the infamous Spiny Shell.
Effects	Gives the user a burst of speed
Rarity	Common
Place Obtained	2nd-6th (on average)
First Appearance	Super Mario Kart (1992)
Most Recent Appearance	Mario Kart Tour (2019)

A Mushroom, also known as a Dash Mushroom in non-American regions, is an Item that has made its way into every Mario Kart game so far. It's based off the Super Mushroom power-up from some of the Mario games.

In the main Mario platformer games, the Mushroom's common effect is grows the player character into a standard size if they are small (either from starting a new game or after taking damage upon touching an enemy). This mushroom is named "Super Mushroom" to distinguish it from the other mushroom power-ups.

Uses

In the Mario Kart series, Mushrooms act as a beneficial recovery Item; they provide the racer with a quick spurt of acceleration when they use it, allowing the player to catch up with an opponent who is ahead of him/her. You can also obtain the boost by running over a Mushroom that has fallen on the track. Double Mushrooms and Triple Mushrooms are the same, but as the name implies, you get two and three mushrooms respectively instead of one.

Mushrooms can also be used in shortcuts. It's common for a shortcut to have a section of off-road track (meaning you drive slower on it). This makes the shortcut a hindrance to the racer's time, slowing them down. But with a Mushroom, which allows the user to zip right through the off road section without suffering from the speed penalty, the shortcut is now a benefit. Mushrooms can be used even for less complicated cuts, like going over a bit of off-road track instead of taking the usual, long way.

In Time Trial Mode, players are usually given a varying number of Mushrooms, either one, two, or Triple Mushrooms in all of the games except the first, Super Mario Kart. It mainly depends on the game you have, with most Mario Karts giving you Triple Mushrooms with the exception of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart DS. The amount of mushrooms given in the former is always two, and the amount given in the latter is based on the Karts' Item stats. Mushrooms are handy when you lose all of your speed, in which they cause it to go right back up. However, they are usually triggered when there is a shortcut or piece of track the player wants to cross. Really, because, you know, it's Time Trials, and you want to get a better time.

You can steal another player's Item by running into their Kart in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! only, and getting knocked over and/or spinning out will cause the racer to lose all but one Mushroom in their inventory.

The primary goal in Balloon Battle is to hit opponents with Items so you can pop their balloons. In Grand Prix and VS, Mushrooms don't do damage when you run into enemy Karts, so to make Mushrooms worth something in battles other than outrunning your opponents, you can actually steal a balloon from another player by ramming into them with a mushroom. The balloon stolen will be added to your own collection, so long as you don't have the maximum amount. The same also goes for Shine Thief, which you can directly rob the shine sprite from an opponent without having to hit them to make them drop the shine sprite before picking them up on your own, a feature shared with the Feather in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Additionally, ramming into someone with a mushroom in Coin Runners will steal 3 of their coins, another feature also shared with the Feather in MK8D.

Perhaps the most useful feature about mushrooms is it can be used to dodge the infamous spiny shell, which is one of the 4 ways (3 ways in every game before Mario Kart 8) to evade one, aside from destroying it with a Super Horn (only in MK8 and MK8D), falling off the track and dropping out of first place before the blue shell gets close. However, dodging one usually requires precise timing to use the mushroom, which varies between games (for example, the mushroom has to be used when the blue shell is on top of your head in MKDS, but several frames before the blue shell drops in MK8 and MK8D), making this a high level tactic for experienced players to manage.

Availability

Console games

means the item can be directly obtained from item boxes and/or from stealing it from others.

means the item exists in the game, but cannot be directly obtained from item boxes and/or from stealing it from others.

means the item cannot be obtained in the game (at least legitimately)

Game	Availability
	Single	Double	Triple	Golden	Poison	Mega
Super Mario Kart
Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart 7
Mario Kart 8 (including Deluxe)

Arcade games

Game	Availability
	Single	Double	Triple	Golden	Poison	Mega
Mario Kart Arcade GP						1
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX						1

¹ - appears as "Giant Mushroom"

Gallery

Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

Super Mario Kart.

Mario Kart Wii/Mario Kart 7.

Mario Kart 64.

Mario Kart 64.

Double Mushrooms.

Triple Mushrooms

Triple Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii/Mario Kart 7

Double Mushroom from Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Trivia!

A Mushroom in the beta version of Mario Kart 8.

• In Mario Kart 7, the only way to drop a Mushroom from getting zapped by Lightning is when a player has a Lucky Seven that had already been equipped. They can also be dropped from the leaf piles in Wii Maple Treeway, the jars in Shy Guy Bazaar, and the crates found on Wuhu Loop and DS Airship Fortress.
• When you set the items to Mushrooms only in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, there's a small chance to get a Lucky Seven and Crazy Eight, which gives you seven and eight mushrooms surrounding your kart respectively.

  

  Triple Mushrooms rotating around Mario while Off-Road.

• In Mario Kart 8, Mushrooms were originally going to be using their design from Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 as shown at E3 2013, but the design was changed in the final version of the game.
• In Mario Kart 8 (and its Deluxe version), anyone who has Triple Mushrooms can give other surrounding players a slight speed boost (due to them circling the carrier). This speed boost isn't as significant as a regular Mushroom speed boost.
• In Mario Kart Tour, Mushrooms gained the ability to be dragged (this is true for the Triple Mushrooms, too), and can fall onto the track if someone gets hit by Lightning while holding one. Similarly, Mushrooms have also gained the ability to stack upon one another, which was never possible in the previous games. Their speed boosts won't be cut off by another Mushroom boost, but will instead combine the boost time for both used Mushrooms.
• Mario Kart Tour is also the only Mario Kart game (that has Triple Mushrooms as an obtainable item) to have Triple Mushrooms be a single-use item (instead of dropping down progressively), the first time in all of Mario Kart history.