Nintendo’s flagship launch title for the Switch 2 has a lot of very specific requirements for unlocking all of its secrets, including Mirror mode.
The Switch 2’s headline attraction at the moment is Mario Kart World and, as explained in our review, it’s a brilliant evolution for Nintendo’s kart racer.
While Mario Kart games always have secret characters and vehicles, the series isn’t known for making things particularly difficult in unlocking them – with most tied to beating the Grand Prix cups or collecting enough coins during races.
Mario Kart World has these same progression paths but things get more complicated with its Free Roam mode, which broadens how you can unlock its various hidden delights. If you’re looking to chase down every costume, or if you’re simply trying to figure out how to crack into Mirror mode, we’ve compiled all the information you’ll need below.
How to unlock every character in Mario Kart World
There are two ways to unlock characters in Mario Kart World. A bunch are tied to completing Grand Prix cups (on any cc difficulty, with no placement requirements), while the rest have to be triggered by the Kamek item during races.
However, the Kamek item, which transforms players into different characters for a short period, has an annoying quirk. If you use Kamek yourself, you won’t unlock the character your opponents turn into. So during races, you simply have to hope another player uses the item and it picks a character you haven’t already unlocked, in order to attain the full roster.
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Every secret character in Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong – beat Mushroom Cup
Daisy – beat Flower Cup
Birdo – beat Banana Cup
Rosalina – beat Star Cup
Lakitu – beat Shell Cup
King Boo – beat Leaf Cup
Bowser Jr – beat Lightning Cup
Cataquack – Kamek item
Chargin’ Chuck – Kamek item
Coin Coffer – Kamek item
Conkodor – Kamek item
Dolphin – Kamek item
Fish Bone – Kamek item
Peepa – Kamek item
Pianta – Kamek item
Rocky Wrench – Kamek item
Spike – Kamek item
Swoop – Kamek item
How to unlock every vehicle
In a similar vein to Mario Kart 8, every kart and motorbike is unlocked by collecting coins in Mario Kart World. You start out with 11 vehicles but there are 40 in total, and you unlock each one (in a random order) every time you hit a milestone, which is usually every 100, 200, or 300 coins.
Every vehicle in Mario Kart World
Starting vehicles:
Standard Kart
Rally Kart
Standard Bike
Rally Bike
Plushbuggy
Baby Blooper
Cute Scoot
Mach Rocket
Zoom Buggy
Chargin’ Truck
Funky Dorrie
Require coins:
Hyper Pipe
Hot Rod
Roadster Royale
Buggybud
Ribbit Revster
B Dasher
Rally Romper
Tune Thumper
W-Twin Chopper
Dread Sled
Junkyard Hog
Lobster Roller
Stellar Sled
Reel Racer
Carpet Flyer
Big Horn
Bumble V
Fin Twin
R.O.B. H.O.G.
Carpet Flyer
Cloud 9
Dolphin Dasher
Blastronaut III
Li’l Dumpy
Loco Moto
Mecha Trike
Pipe Frame
Billdozer
Rallygator
Bowser Bruiser
How to unlock Rainbow Road
The classic Mario Kart course is part of the Special Cup, which is unlocked by completing every other cup in Grand Prix on any cc and in any position. Along with Rainbow Road, the cup includes Acorn Heights, Mario Circuit, and Peach Stadium.
How to unlock Mirror mode
This is easily the most tricky secret to uncover, especially as the unlock requirements aren’t exactly clear. However, it seems you have to complete the four steps below to unlock Mirror mode.
- Complete all Grand Prix cups on 150cc (third or higher)
- Finish every Knockout Tour rally on 150cc (fourth or higher)
- Find 10 Peach Medallions, 10 panels, and complete 10 P-switch missions in Free Roam.
- Complete the Special Cup again after the above is completed
Some players have claimed they unlocked Mirror mode without the final position requirements, so there may be some variation in what causes the special cutscene to trigger after completing Special Cup again.
Once you have unlocked Mirror mode, you can access it in Free Roam as well. If you travel to Peach Stadium and navigate your way to the Princess Peach stained glass window near the top of the castle, you can drive into it and flip the entire world.
How to unlock every sticker
There are an overwhelming amount of stickers – well into the hundreds – in Mario Kart World, which you can use to customise your vehicles.
We won’t list them all here, but you can unlock them by completing specific tasks (racing a specific distance, doing a certain number of tricks) across all modes. You also unlock some by finishing all the Grand Prix races, and completing missions, collecting medallions, and activating ? panels in Free Roam.
How to unlock all the costumes
All the costumes for different characters are tied to the golden meal bags called Dash Food you find outside of Yoshi’s drive-through diners, or on the back of trucks, scattered around races and Free Roam. When you use Dash Food, you’ll receive a speed boost and your character might change into a new outfit.
Every outfit you uncover will be added to the character select screen, so you can cross reference the ones you have with the table below. Crucially, the outfit you unlock for each character is determined by the food they eat, and different food spawns at different courses across Grand Prix, Knockout Tour, and Free Roam.
For example, the curry with naan can be found around Desert Hills, while pancakes are mostly restricted to Acorn Heights.
As such, the easiest way to unlock every costume is by hopping between the areas in Free Roam, rotating between characters and consuming the required Dash Food. We won’t tell you how to have fun though, but you can find the full list below.
Every costume in Mario Kart World
Mario
Happi (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Aviator (Spicy Curry at Wario Stadium)
Sightseeing (DK Barrel Bites at DK Spaceport)
Cowboy (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Dune Rider (Pokey Roast at Choco Mountain)
Mechanic (Chips and Soda at Dry Bones Burnout)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
All-Terrain (Donut at Mario Circuit)
Luigi
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Happi (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Mechanic (Chips/Soda at Dry Bones Burnout)
Gondolier (Coffee/Chips at Whistlestop Summit)
All-Terrain (Donut at Mario Circuit)
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Oasis (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Farmer (Milk at Moo Moo Meadows)
Peach
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Farmer (Milk at Moo Moo Meadows)
Sightseeing (DK Barrel Bites at DK Spaceport)
Aviator (Spicy Curry at Wario Stadium)
Yukata (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Aero (Donut at Mario Circuit)
Vacation (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Yoshi
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Aristocrat (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Soft Server (Ice Cream at Sky-High Sundae)
Biker (Spicy Curry at Wario Stadium)
Swimwear (DK Barrel Bites at DK Spaceport)
Matsuri (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Food Slinger (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Bowser
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Supercharged (Coffee/Chips at Whistletop Summit)
Biker (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
All-Terrain (Donut at Mario Circuit)
Toad
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Engineer (Coffee/chips at Whistlestop Summit)
Burger Bud (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Explorer (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Toadette
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Conductor (Chips at Whistlestop Summit)
Soft Server (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Explorer (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Koopa Troopa
Runner (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Sailor (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
All-Terrain (Curry at Desert Hills)
Work Crew (Chips at Whistlestop Summit)
Wario
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Oasis (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Wicked Wasp (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Biker (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pirate (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Road Ruffian (DK Barrel Bites at DK Spaceport)
Work Crew (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Waluigi
Mariachi (Chips/Soda at Dry Bones Burnout)
Biker (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Road Ruffian (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Wampire (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Baby Mario
Work Crew (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Swimwear (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Baby Luigi
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Work Crew (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Baby Peach
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Sailor (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Explorer (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Baby Daisy
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Sailor (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Explorer (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Baby Rosalina
Touring (Burgers at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Sailor (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Explorer (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
Pauline
Aero (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Shy Guy
Pit Crew (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Slope Styler (Ice Cream at Sky High Sundae)
Donkey Kong
All-Terrain (Curry at Desert Hills)
Birdo
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Vacation (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
Daisy
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Oasis (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Swimwear (DK Barrel Bites at DK Spaceport)
Aero (Donuts at Mario Circuit)
Vacation (Chips at Whistlestop Summit)
Rosalina
Touring (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Pro Racer (Cake at Crown City)
Aurora (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Aero (Donuts at Mario Circuit)
Lakitu
Pit Crew (Curry at Desert Hills)
Fisherman (Sushi at Cheep Cheep Falls)
King Boo
Pro Racer (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Aristocrat (Popcorn at Boo Cinema)
Pirate (Kebab at Shy Guy Bazaar)
Bowser Jr.
Pro Racer (Donut at Mario Circuit)
Biker (Burger at Mario Bros. Circuit)
Explorer (Pancakes at Acorn Heights)
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