Summary
- Unlocking rare characters in Mario Kart World requires a mix of skill and luck, turning each race into a dice roll.
- Persistence, strategy, and luck are key to unlocking coveted characters like Pianta, Swoop, and Coin Coffer.
- Characters like Fish Bone are the ultimate challenge, requiring skill, patience, luck, and a stubborn obsession to unlock.
In Mario Kart World, the hunt for prestige characters is the real endgame, and it rewrites what “completion” actually means. Mario Kart World’s unlock system is a two-faced coin: on one side, there’s skill—finishing consistently at the front, learning every corner, and outpacing 23 other hopefuls. On the other side, it’s pure luck. Certain racers can be targeted by grinding specific tracks, but the most coveted unlocks live behind a wall of RNG, turning each run into a complicated dice roll.
Mario Kart World: Most Exciting New Characters, Ranked
Mario Kart World introduces some exciting and niche characters into Nintendo's karting world, and here's the most exciting of the bunch.
Owning these characters isn’t just about mastery of Rainbow Road or Airship Fortress—it’s about persistence, strategy, and a stubborn willingness to challenge the odds for hours on end. Only the most determined fans will ever see them all on the roster. This ranked list breaks down what it takes to unlock the rarest of the rare—and why these victories are so much more than just another gold trophy.
8 Pianta
The Tropical Trial That Teaches You How To Grind
- Speed: 60
- Acceleration: 45
Pianta might look like a friendly islander, but unlocking this palm-topped local is Mario Kart World’s introduction to the real grind. The catch? Success requires not just a Kamek Transformation, but being hit by it while leading the pack on Koopa Troopa Beach. It’s a test of both skill and patience, but this is the “tutorial” for what’s to come: wide tracks, quick laps, and a manageable learning curve let fans maximize their odds by farming the same course over and over.
Still, there’s nothing guaranteed here. Kamek’s Transformational Power is doled out only to racers at the back, and even then, the odds aren’t in anyone’s favor. It’s a luck-based system disguised as a skill check, and even the best runs can get snatched away by a rogue item or mistimed drift.
7 Swoop
A Gamble That Demands A Higher Skill Level
- Speed: 35
- Acceleration: 75
Moving up the ladder brings Swoop, Mario Kart’s resident bat, and the start of real technical brutality. To unlock Swoop, fans need a Kamek Transformation while leading on Dandelion Depths—a late-game track notorious for tight corners, environmental hazards, and punishing turns.
Unlocking Swoop is where the game makes it clear that the prestige grind isn't just about patience; it's about actively mastering the game's tougher courses to even get a ticket in the Kamek lottery. Consistency is key, but easier said than done: a single mistake can send any would-be unlock hunter from the front to the back, wasting yet another shot at the RNG.
6 Coin Coffer
The Ultimate High-Stakes Bet On Rainbow Road
- Speed: 45
- Acceleration: 60
Coin Coffer raises the stakes to a level most racers never reach. Its unlock is tied to Rainbow Road, a course that’s legendary for its sheer difficulty, dizzying drops, and relentless demand for perfection. Players must not only hold the top spot in a 24-player field, but also survive Rainbow Road’s chaos long enough for Kamek’s power to transform them at just the right moment.
8 Beginner Tips For Mario Kart World
Those who are just getting started in Mario Kart World on the Switch 2 can race ahead of the competition with these beginner tips.
It’s a pure test of driving talent—no shortcuts, no easy resets. One slip, and it’s back to the starting line, with another hour (or more) added to the grind. The ability to target Rainbow Road gives dedicated racers a strategy, but the skill required to even reach Kamek-eligible status makes this one of the purest badges of Mario Kart mastery.
5 Dolphin
The Lottery Where Skill Can't Save You
- Speed: 45
- Acceleration: 60
For Dolphin, the rules change entirely. There’s no favorite track, no “best odds.” The transformation into Dolphin is classified as “Anywhere,” meaning it can happen on any course, and the only thing a player can do is keep racing and never lose hope.
This is where Mario Kart World starts testing patience above all else. There’s no trick or shortcut—just endless races, endless hope, and the endless chance that luck will finally land in the player’s favor. Even with solid racing skills and top finishes, the only way to speed up the process is to increase the number of attempts per session.
4 Rocky Wrench
The Brutal Ambush On A Flying Fortress
- Speed: 50
- Acceleration: 55
A classic mole-like enemy from the airships of Super Mario Bros. 3, Rocky Wrench pops out of manholes to hurl tools at anyone who gets too close. Unlocking this character is notoriously difficult, returning to the track-weighted model but with an incredibly punishing twist. Rocky Wrench is "Most Likely" to be unlocked on Airship Fortress, a staple of the Lightning Cup and one of the most hostile tracks in the game.
Mario Kart World: Best Karts to Use
Mario Kart World features 40 karts, but which of them will be the best for players to use as they race into 1st place across a variety of tracks?
Success requires adapting on the fly, memorizing hazard patterns, and maintaining composure through wave after wave of environmental chaos. It’s a grind where the odds are technically “better,” but only for those who can survive the fortress long enough to cash in their lottery tickets.
3 Conkdor
The Invisible Lottery And Its Hidden Odds
- Speed: 55
- Acceleration: 50
First seen in Super Mario 3D World, Conkdor is a quirky and memorable enemy, making it a unique addition to the roster. To unlock it, players must once again dive into the unforgiving waters of the "Anywhere" RNG pool. Like Dolphin, Conkdor can be unlocked by a Kamek Transformation on any track, with no way to strategically target the outcome beyond playing well, race after race.
Not all "Anywhere" characters are created equal. When Kamek's magic strikes, the game almost certainly assigns a different base probability to each character in the pool, creating rarity tiers within the RNG itself. This is a classic "rare drop" mechanic seen in RPGs, and Conkdor is among the least likely transformations to ever appear.
2 Peepa
The Spectral Chase That Tests Your Sanity
- Speed: 35
- Acceleration: 70
Peepas are the passive, ghostly enemies that haunt the spooky mansions of the Mushroom Kingdom and, as a playable character, they offer a great alternative for fans of racers like King Boo. Like another "Anywhere" transformation, Peepa is subject to the same untargetable, brute-force luck as the others in its category.
Players could race for hundreds, if not thousands, of races with no success. At this stage, the challenge is less about racing skill, which is merely the prerequisite, and more about psychological endurance.
1 Fish Bone
Mario Kart World’s Ultimate White Whale
- Speed: 35
- Acceleration: 70
The Fish Bone, an undead, skeletal Cheep Cheep typically found in lava-filled castles, is one of the most obscure enemies in Mario Kart World. Its inclusion as a playable character is a signal of its elite status, and its unlock method is the stuff of legend. As the final "Anywhere" character on the list, it has the lowest possible transformation probability in the entire game.
Skill, patience, luck—it takes all three, plus a bit of stubborn obsession. One racer might unlock it in a few dozen tries; another may still be racing after ten thousand runs. For many, this character is the endgame; for everyone else, it’s a dream that keeps the engine running, long after every other challenge is completed.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- June 5, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
WHERE TO PLAY
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer
- Genre(s)
- Racing, Open-World
