Since Gold Mario is a skin for Metal Mario, Metal Mario will be replaced with Gold Mario on the character screen once unlocked.

Unlockable characters on Mario Kart 8 for Wii U: Heavy: Rosalina, Metal Mario, Pink Gold Peach, Roy, Morton. Medium: Iggy, Ludwig. Light: Baby Rosalina, Lakitu, Toadette, Lemmy, Larry, Wendy. Winning the same cup more than once won’t unlock a new character, but different engine classes count as different cups. For example, you’ll unlock a new character by winning the 50cc Mushroom Cup, and another new character by winning the 100cc Mushroom Cup.

Original Courses You’ll start with the Mushroom Cup. Flower Cup: Complete Mario Kart Stadium, Water Park, Sweet Sweet Canyon, and Thwomp Ruins. Star Cup: Complete Mario Circuit, Toad Harbor, Twisted Mansion, and Shy Guy Falls. Special Cup: Complete Cloudtop Cruise, Bone Dry Dunes, Bowser’s Castle, and Rainbow Road. (These tracks are of the Cup itself, not those needed to unlock the Cup. ) Retro Courses You’ll start with Shell Cup. Banana Cup: Complete Dry Dry Desert, Donut Plains 3, Royal Raceway, and DK Jungle. Leaf Cup: Complete Wario Stadium, Sherbet Land, Music Park, and Yoshi Valley. (These tracks are of the Cup itself, not those needed to unlock the Cup. ) Lightning Cup: Complete Tick-Tock Clock, Piranha Plant Slide, Grumble Volcano, and Rainbow Road. (These tracks are of the Cup itself, not those needed to unlock the Cup. )

You’ll start with the Mushroom Cup. Flower Cup: Complete Mario Kart Stadium, Water Park, Sweet Sweet Canyon, and Thwomp Ruins. Star Cup: Complete Mario Circuit, Toad Harbor, Twisted Mansion, and Shy Guy Falls. Special Cup: Complete Cloudtop Cruise, Bone Dry Dunes, Bowser’s Castle, and Rainbow Road. (These tracks are of the Cup itself, not those needed to unlock the Cup. )

You’ll start with Shell Cup. Banana Cup: Complete Dry Dry Desert, Donut Plains 3, Royal Raceway, and DK Jungle. Leaf Cup: Complete Wario Stadium, Sherbet Land, Music Park, and Yoshi Valley. (These tracks are of the Cup itself, not those needed to unlock the Cup. ) Lightning Cup: Complete Tick-Tock Clock, Piranha Plant Slide, Grumble Volcano, and Rainbow Road. (These tracks are of the Cup itself, not those needed to unlock the Cup. )

DLC Pack 1: Characters: Tanooki Mario, Link, Cat Peach Cups: Egg Cup, Triforce Cup DLC Pack 2: Characters: Isabelle, Dry Bowser, Villager (male and female) Cups: Crossing Cup and Bell Cup

Star Cup: Finish 3rd+ in the Mushroom Cup and the Flower Cup. Special Cup: Finish 3rd+ in the Star Cup. Leaf Cup: Finish 3rd+ in the Banana Cup and the Shell Cup. Lightning Cup: Finish 3rd+ in the Leaf Cup. You can also unlock “Mirror Mode” for all cups, reversing the tracks left-to-right, by getting first place in all cups at 150cc difficulty — quite a challenge!

King Boo: Win the 50cc Star Cup. [7] X Research source Diddy Kong: Win the 50cc Lightning Cup. Baby Daisy: Earn one star or better on all 50cc Wii cups (Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special).

Dry Bones (a Koopa skeleton): Win the 100cc Leaf Cup.
[8] X Research source Mii Outfit: Win the 100cc Special Cup.
Bowser Jr.
Earn one star or better on all 100cc Retro cups (Shell, Banana, Leaf, Lightning).

Daisy: Win the 150cc Special Cup. Dry Browser (skeleton bowser): Earn one star or better on all 150cc Wii cups (Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special).

Funky Kong: Unlock four expert ghosts. Baby Luigi: Unlock eight expert ghosts. Birdo: Unlock sixteen expert ghosts (or play online until you’ve beat 250 players. ) Toadette: Play all 32 Time Trial tracks (you don’t need to beat them). Mii Outfit B (Mario/Peach Outfit): Unlock all 32 expert ghosts. This character has identical stats to the Mii unlocked by winning the 100cc Special Cup. Instead of your normal Mii outfit, this Mii will wear an outfit like Mario (male Miis) or Peach (female Miis). [10] X Research source

Get first place in all 150cc cups to unlock Mirror Mode, then get 1 star in Mirror Mode on all eight cups. Or play Super Mario Galaxy on your Wii, load a new file and save it, then play any races in Mario Kart Wii until Rosalina appears.

Whether you’re going for Time Trials or 150cc courses, knowing advanced strategy can save hours of effort. Check out this expert driving guide for all of these challenges, plus these tips:[11] X Research source Use Heavy vehicles for Time Trials, since they have the highest max speed. Acceleration doesn’t matter as much when there are no opponents to disrupt you. Look for hidden shortcuts. There are many of these in the game, from a dirt path near the start of Maple Treeway, to a passageway under a minecart in Wario’s Goldmine. If you’re having trouble on a track, search for online videos and you might discover a new shortcut.