Traffic refers to the cars, trucks and buses that can be seen in several tracks throughout the Mario Kart (series). On these courses, traffic serves as an obstacle to add more of a challenge to the course. If players hit one of these vehicles they will usually flip over, but depending on the game they can spin out, fly into the air, or even be squished. Traffic travels slower than the speed of the racers, though karts that are shrunken (as a result of a Lightning) will need to be careful since they move at about the same speed. Running into a car while invincible, such as while using a Starman or Bullet Bill will cause it to fly up into the air.
In newer games, traffic can be made up of different kinds of vehicles, such as Bob-omb Cars which explode when touched by a racer or item, and Wiggler Busses, which are long and don't travel in a straight line. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, there are also the Mushroom Cars, when a player bumps into one of these, they will not spin out, and a Mushroom will fly out of the car. This can be helpful if the Mushroom lands in a spot that is easy for the player to get to, and in a direction for the boost to not cause the player to fall off of the edge or into a harmful car. In the reappearance of Toad's Turnpike in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, some vehicles even allowed the racers to do Tricks or glide off of them.
Tracks[]
Mario Kart 64[]
- Toad's Turnpike
Car
Box Truck
Tanker Truck
Bus
Mario Kart: Double Dash!![]
There are 3 types of cars, 2 buses and 3 trucks in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The front of the cars shows the headlights and grill that look like a facial expression. Red Cars have a happy expression, Yellow Cars have a sad exprssion and Blue Cars have a neutral expression.
- Mushroom Bridge
- Mushroom City
Cars
Mushroom Car
Trucks
Buses
Mario Kart DS[]
There are 3 types of cars, 1 bus and 2 trucks in Mario Kart DS.
Mario Kart Wii[]
The Vehicles return from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, there are no buses and the trucks have different advertisements. The cars however are virtually identical from Mario Kart Double Dash!!.
- Moonview Highway
Cars
Trucks
Bomb Omb Car
Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe[]
- N64 Toad's Turnpike
- DS Shroom Ridge
- Tour Berlin Byways
- Wii Moonview Highway
Trivia![]
- The number plates of the trucks have various references to the Mario (series). W1-1 (which references the first level of many games), 1-UP (which references the 1-Up Mushrooms), and SMB (which references the famous Super Mario Bros. game). The cars number plates all have POW written on them referencing the POW Block.
- The trucks in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! also have references to Super Mario Bros., Express Ships, and Moo Moo Farm. In Mario Kart Wii, the trucks now reference other courses from the game such as Moo Moo Meadows, Toad's Factory, and Coconut Mall.