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.
Cars appear on Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City. Both courses feature red, yellow, and blue cars, with "POW" on their license plates, as well as Bomb-cars. In this game only, if a player hits a car, they will spin out and not lose their item. Cars with the appearance of a three-wheeled, Mushroom-shaped pickup truck also appear on the main streets of these courses. Although they slow drivers down when bumped into, they do not make them spin out, instead releasing a Mushroom that will pop out and land on the road. This makes the Mushroom-shaped car one of the few obstacles in the game that can help the player in some way. These cars do not appear in Time Trial mode, likely to prevent players from obtaining extra Mushrooms. The sound the Mushroom car makes when bumped is the same sound that is played when a power-up item comes out of a ? Block in most Super Mario games.
There are three different trucks that appear in this game. One of the trucks is an Express truck, which has a letter and a parcel on the side alongside a P-Wing, and SMB3 on the number plate, referencing the game in which the P-Wing first appeared. There is also an orange Super Chocolate truck, which has the name styled similarly to the logo of the first Super Mario Bros. game, two 8-bit jumping Mario sprites on the back doors, an 8-bit Koopa Troopa and two 8-bit Goombas on the side and W1-1 on the number plate. There is also a light-green Moo Moo Farm truck, with a Moo Moo depicted on the side, and "1-UP" on the number plate. If a truck is lifted into the air, it stops moving, whereas in future games, the truck continues to move even in the air. In this game only, if a player hits a truck, they will spin out and not lose their item. The trucks in this game resemble a 1950s Chevrolet Task-Force LCF.
Two different designs on the buses, as well as a similar vehicle, the Wiggler Wagon. One of the buses is blue and features Star Travel logos on the back and sides, and also has the company's name on the front of the bus. The number plate features the letters "STR". The other bus is deep maroon and pale pink, includes Peach Beach logos in the place of the Star Travel ones, and its number plate instead reads "SUN". If a bus is lifted into the air, it stops moving, whereas in future games, the bus continues to move even in the air. In this game only, if a player hits a bus, they will spin out and not lose their item.
- Mushroom Bridge
- Mushroom City
Cars
Mushroom Car
Trucks
Buses
Mario Kart DS[]
There are 3 types of cars, 2 trucks and 1 bus in Mario Kart DS which they have a more realistic design. These vehicles appear only on Shroom Ridge, and the returning retro course GCN Mushroom Bridge. They will honk their horns immediately if they are hit an item or the player. In addition, these vehicles are programed to drive on the left just like real-life Japan as seen on Shroom Ridge. However on Mushroom Bridge, vehicles on the left lane travel slightly faster then those on the right lane. Though in reality it is actually vice versa.
The red, yellow and blue cars are based of a 1960s Prince Skyline (the predecessor of the modern Nissan Skyline), but with minor differences. While the bus resembles a standard blue city bus with red and yellow zig-zags along the sides. The doors on the bus are on the left-hand side mainly because on Shroom Ridge traffic drives on the left. The bus is loosly based of a 1990s Fiat 418 Portesi bus.
The trucks resemble a 1970s Beijing BJ 130 and are almost virtually identical to one another, however one has a green cab and transports fruits, and the other has a grey cab for the company Fresh. Though in pre-release versions, the "Fresh Cheep Cheep" advertisements read "Flesh" instead of "Fresh", most likely a translation error. Both trucks share the same cab but with slightly different designs. The Grey Fresh Truck has 2 headlights and a trapezoid-shaped grill, while the green fruit truck has 4 headlights and a rectangular-shaped grill.
| Vehicle | Engine Noise | Hit by player/item |
|---|---|---|
| Car | ||
| Truck | ||
| Bus |
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!!.
The cars are nearly the same as the cars from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, but with a lack of tailfins. However, their speed is dependent on which part of the track they are on, a behavior exclusive to Moonview Highway. If the player hits a car head on, the player will be squashed by the car in the same way as being run over by someone with a Mega Mushroom, and will have a lower speed and drive flat for a short while, and hitting the back or side of a car will cause the player to flip over as usual. In both cases, the player will typically lose their item. Bomb-cars also return, now under the name "Bob-omb Cars."
There are three different trucks that appear in this course, a blue cow print truck for Moo Moo Dairy, a green building block patterned one for Factory and an orange pineapple patterned one for Coconut Fruit. Their number plates are SMB3, 1UP and W1-1 respectively. These trucks have the same front body and license plates as the trucks from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. However, their speed is dependent on which part of the track they are on, a behavior exclusive to Moonview Highway. If the player hits a truck head on, the player will be squashed by the truck in the same way as being run over by someone with a Mega Mushroom, and will have a lower speed and drive flat for a short while, and hitting the back or side of a truck will cause the player to flip over as usual. In both cases, the player will typically lose their item. Unlike the other traffic on Moonview Highway, driving into a truck while using a Mega Mushroom will not launch them; the trucks will instead act as walls.
- Moonview Highway
Cars
Trucks
Bomb Omb Car
Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe[]
Moving cars also appear on the retro tracks N64 Toad's Turnpike in Mario Kart 8 as well as DS Shroom Ridge, Tour Berlin Byways, and Wii Moonview Highway in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The new design of the cars resembles the typical styling of the Toyota Crown Comfort. Yellow taxis with blue details and Green Shell Taxi branding also appear on these courses and function identically to the cars, taking their places at random. If a player hits a car, they will not lose their item, and if they were not driving fast enough they will not flip out either. Bob-omb Cars also return on Moonview Highway.
Trucks also appear on the retro track N64 Toad's Turnpike in Mario Kart 8 as well as DS Shroom Ridge, Tour Berlin Byways, and Wii Moonview Highway in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass, alongside a few other types of truck, including the dash panel ramp truck. The cargo trucks on N64 Toad's Turnpike can display different sponsors at random, namely Burning DK, Iggy's Glass, Moo Moo Meadows Milk, Propeller Toad Transport, Shell Cup, and Mario Kart 8; however, all of them feature Wario Motors logos on the front. Cargo trucks on the other aforementioned courses always display Propeller Toad Transport designs. If a player hits any kind of truck, they will not lose their item, and if they were not driving fast enough they will not flip out either. On N64 Toad's Turnpike only, some cargo trucks also include ramps on the roof which can be accessed after using a dash panel ramp truck.
The unlockable stamp for N64 Toad's Turnpike is a cargo truck.
The buses can display different sponsors at random, namely Galaxy Air, Boomerang Bros. International Airlines, Paratroopa Airlines, as well as a Toad City Sightseeing, a sponsor which only appears on these buses. Buses on the other aforementioned courses always display Galaxy Air designs. If a player hits a bus, they will not lose their item, and if they were not driving fast enough they will not flip out either. On N64 Toad's Turnpike only, some buses also include ramps on the roof which can be accessed after using a dash panel ramp truck. The buses in this game resemble coach buses rather then city buses in the previous game.
- 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.