Mario Kart 8 Deluxe unlockables - how to get Gold Mario, all the kart parts, and more

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gives gamers another great excuse to pick up Nintendo's Switch console - especially those interested in some good, old school arcade racing. But once you get it… what do you do? Jump online? Invite friends over to play? Try to beat some time trials? The correct answer is all of the above, since doing just about anything in Mario Kart 8 will help you unlock goodies.

Unlocking Gold Mario

There were 30 Mario Kart 8 characters in the Wii U version, with 16 available at the start of the game and 14 that needed to be unlocked by getting Gold on each track. However, the Deluxe version on Switch features all of the original and DLC characters from the Wii U version unlocked from the start, so you can pick your favourite driver straight away.

The only unlockable character (of sorts) is Gold Mario, which is actually a variant of Metal Mario. To get him, you'll need to take first place in all of the Grand Prix cups at the new 200cc level, so get practicing those speedy laps!

Unlocking Kart Parts

Every Kart is made up of three parts: a body, wheels, and a glider. Though many come unlocked from the start, there are a few dozen that you can get by collecting coins - the ones that you run into during play. Here is a list of the parts available:

Wheels

Azure Roller
Blue Standard
Button
Crimson Slim
Cushion
Cyber Slick
GLA Tires
Hot Monster
Leaf Tires
Metal
Retro Off-Road
Slick
Triforce Tires
Wood

Gliders

Bowser Kite
Cloud Glider
Flower Glider
Hylian Kite
MKTV Parafoil
Paper Glider
Peach Parasol
Waddle Wing
Wario Wing

Kart Bodies

300 SL Roadster
B Dasher
Badwagon
Biddybuggy
Blue Falcon
Bone Rattler
Cat Cruiser
Flame Rider
GLA
Inkstriker
Jet Bike
Koopa Clown
Landship
Mach 8
Master Cycle
Mr. Scooty
P-Wing
Pipe Frame
Prancer
Sport Bike
Sports Coupe
Tanooki Kart
Teddy Buggy
The Duke
Tri-Speeder
Varmint
W 25 Silver Arrow
Wild Wiggler
Yoshi Bike

Special Parts

In addition to all the vehicle parts listed above, there are three special Gold parts available - but you'll need to complete the tasks below in order to unlock them:

Gold Tires - beat all 48 staff ghosts in the 150cc Time Trials.
Gold Glider - collect a total of 5,000 coins.
Gold Standard - get at least a 1 star ranking for all Mirror Cups.

Coins

Kart parts are unlocked randomly when you reach different coin benchmarks. While it starts off at every 30 coins, the increments gradually increase when you reach 450 (every 50) and 1,500 (every 100) coins. For example:

30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360
390
420
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
800
850
900
950
1000
1050
1100
1150
1200
1250
1300
1350
1400
1450
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
etc.