Mario Kart World features an array of special unlockable costumes, with many racers having multiple costume variants to collect. Waluigi, for example, can wear a cool Vampire outfit that turns him into the “Wampire.” Yoshi has a Biker costume that gives him the colours and outfit of “Boshi” the Bad Yoshi. Mario has multiple variants turning him into a Pro Racer, Dune Rider, Cowboy, Aviator, and more.
So, how do you unlock the costumes in Mario Kart World?
The answer is actually relatively simple, although the game doesn’t tell you outright. To unlock new outfits in Mario Kart World, you’ll need to pay attention as you’re driving laps or roaming in the open world. What you’ll need to watch out for is special roadside diners offering glowing, golden takeaway bags of food.
Grab a bag of this “Dash Food”, and depending on which track you’re racing on, you’ll get a certain food item. There does appear to be an element of randomness in which food you gain, but each is tied to a special costume. “Activate” the food as a power-up, and as long as you’ve got a character that can transform, they’ll don a brand new costume – which then appears as an alternative character in the selection menu.
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From that point onwards, you can choose to wear that costume when you select your racer, without needing to transform via Dash Food.
Which characters can transform in Mario Kart World?
We won’t spoil exact costume details, to preserve the dozens of surprises you can unlock – but we will note which characters can and can’t transform in gameplay.
Unfortunately, the many animal characters don’t have transformations. But you can transform: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Koopa Troopa, Toad, Toadette, Lakitu, King Boo, Shy Guy, Wario, Waluigi, Birdo, Pauline, Roaslina, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, and Baby Rosalina.
More costumes are likely to launch in future – it would certainly make sense that Nintendo would expand the game to keep players constantly forging ahead – but we don’t know anything for certain right now. Already, there’s plenty of unlockable costumes in the game (over 100), and you should have a grand time discovering them all.
Mario Kart World is now available for Nintendo Switch 2.
