Item

Overview
Items are basically power-ups or weapons which are picked up by running into Item Boxes, or in some cases, when they on the track (for example, the Star). Items usually aid the player or slow down others, and are an essential part of Mario Kart, being in every single Mario Kart game. However, items differ among the different games.

Staple Items
The following items appeared in every Mario Kart game to date.

Banana
The banana is a common item usually obtained by 1st to 3rd place racers. When run over, the racer spins around (and loses coins in some games). Ever since Mario Kart 64, racers could hold Bananas behind their Kart. Bananas are also able to be thrown forward, a feature from Super Mario Kart and its successors.

Green Shell
Green Shells are green koopa shells that work similarly to missiles - when shot forward, they run along the ground in a straight line, rebounding from walls and eventually breaking apart after a few rebounds. When a racer collides with a Green Shell, they spin around/flip over for a few seconds (also, depending on the game, the racer may also drop coins). In every game except for Super Mario Kart, Green Shells, when shot backwards, would run along the track behind the racer and work the same. In Super Mario Kart, the Green Shell would stay stationary on the track and work similarly to a Banana.

Super Mario Kart
Super Mario Kart, being the first Mario Kart game, introduced the basic items, such as Bananas, Red Shells and Mushrooms. The following items appeared in Super Mario Kart, but may have not appeared in other Mario Kart games.

Feather
The Cape Feather from Super Mario World appears in Super Mario Kart (known in the game as just 'Feather'). When used, the racer will spin jump much higher than a normal hop jump. This high jump will thus allow the racer to avoid obstacles, jump over barriers and clear shortcuts on the track (such as the Ghost Valley tracks). This item did not appear in any other Mario Kart games.

Coin
The coin appeared as an item available along with the coins you could pick up from the ground. When used, the player will receive two coins. A driver will usually receive this item when in first, second, third and fourth positions.

Trivia

 * In Super Mario Kart, items that could be dropped on the track would not despawn unless more items were placed on the track.
 * The Feather item was originally planned to be featuring in Mario Kart 64, but it was scrapped most likely because Mario Kart 64 had 3D landscape, and the racer could jump over a barrier, land in a strange spot and crash the game.

Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64 introduced many items Super Mario Kart could not handle, such as the Banana Bunch, Golden Mushroom, Triple Green/Red Shell, Triple Mushroom, Fake Item Box and Spiny Shell (known as Spiny Blue Shell in Mario Kart 64). Many of these items were just 'more-than-one' upgrades of the original items. The following items existed in Mario Kart 64, but may have not appeared in other Mario Kart games.

Banana Bunch
The Banana Bunch was simply a bunch of five bananas. They act exactly the same as a normal Banana, but there are five to drop. This item was later replaced by the Triple Banana and did not appear in any more Mario Kart games.

Fake Item Box
The Fake Item Box is basically what its name is: an item box that isn't real. Depending on the game, they could be coloured red, have an inverted '?' symbol, and other differences. Also depending on the game is what happens when a racer runs into a Fake Item Box. In Mario Kart 64, the racer is rocketed into the air and loses all speed. In the other games the Fake Item appears in, the racer flips over forward.

Spiny Shell
The Spiny Shell is a very rare item that, when used, races ahead to hit the racer in first position (in Mario Kart 64 and Super Circuit, the Spiny Shell also hit other racers in its way and destroyed any items in its way). In some games, the Spiny Shell runs along the ground and lacks wings, while in the other games, the Spiny Shell levitates in the air and has wings.

Triple Green Shell
Triple Green Shells are three green koopa shells which rotate around the user's kart. They otherwise act the same as one Green Shell.

Triple Red Shell
These are the same as Triple Green Shells except that the shells are red and home in on other racers.

Golden Mushroom
The Golden Mushroom allows the user to continuously use Mushroom boosts for a limited time. After the first time a Golden Mushroom is used, it will run out after a certain time.

Triple Mushroom
The Triple Mushroom item is simply three Mushroom boosts.

Trivia

 * When another racer collides with a Banana Bunch that is still attached to a racer's kart, a unique sound plays and the Banana Bunch drops the remaining Bananas around the kart that it collided with.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario Kart: Super Circuit did not include some of the items Mario Kart 64 introduced, such as the Fake Item Box, Banana Bunch and Golden Mushroom. Mario Kart: Super Circuit did not introduce any new items either. However, Mario Kart: Super Circuit added a new feature to the Boo - the racer in 1st place also slows down when another racer uses Boo. Also, Triple Mushrooms are only used in Time Trial mode.

Trivia

 * While the Banana Bunch and Golden Mushroom did not make it to the final game, they were part of the beta Mario Kart: Super Circuit. If hacked using Gameshark codes, the Banana Bunch acts like a single Banana and the Golden Mushroom becomes a single Mushroom.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! added a whole new gameplay mechanic to the item system: player-only items. Now each racer has their own special item, that the others cannot use (except Petey Piranha and King Boo, who can both use any player-only item). These special items are only obtainable when racers drive through a Double Item Box. The following items appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! but may have not appeared in any other Mario Kart games. A majority of these items are player-only items.

Fireball
The Fireball can only be used by Mario, Luigi, Petey Piranha and King Boo. When used, the Fireballs split up and sail ahead, and can hit multiple opponents at the same time. Fireballs can also be thrown backwards. A very similar item appeared in Mario Kart 7.

Giant Banana
Giant Bananas are what the name implies. They can be only obtained by Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, plus the two who can use any items. Giant Bananas can block Bowser Shells, albeit they are destroyed in the process. Giant Bananas otherwise do the same thing as normal Bananas.

Heart
These rotate around the princesses when used. When any other item that has been dropped on the track touches one of the rotating hearts, the princesses will acquire that item.

Chain Chomp
The Chain Chomp is only able to be obtained by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi (plus Petey Piranha and King Boo). When used, the Chain Chomp will pull the user at randomly through the track at breakneck speed.

Bowser Shell
The collosal Bowser Shell, when used, rockets down the track, ramming and smashing into others. It can only be used by Bowser and Bowser Jr., along with Petey Piranha and King Boo.

Egg
These are used by Yoshi and Birdo. When used, they home in on opponents and when broken, they will drop three more items.

Bob-omb
The Bob-omb is solely for the use of Wario and Waluigi. When thrown, the bob-omb will detonate after a couple of seconds.

Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart DS introduced some more items to the roulette, like the Bullet Bill and Blooper.

Bullet Bill
This item will turn the user into a Bullet Bill and they will rocket forward at extreme speed. During this time, the player will not be able to control their Bullet Bill, as it is computer-controlled. The time the Bullet Bill lasts depends on the position the user was when they used the Bullet Bill.

Blooper
Bloopers will spray ink on the screens of the racers in front of them when used. If the racer in first place uses a Blooper, it will backfire and the Blooper will spray ink on themselves.

Trivia

 * The Chain Chomp item from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was apparently planned to be featured in Mario Kart DS, as it can be seen in the item roulette (though it was impossible to actually obtain) in the demo version. The Chain Chomp was later replaced by the Bullet Bill for unknown reasons (possibly hardware limitations).