How To Unlock All Mario Kart World Characters

Mario Kart World is the marquee launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, featuring a roster of 50 playable racers, excluding the variants that come with the game’s additional costumes. That number may increase in the future, but below you’ll see all the characters in Mario Kart World and how to unlock them.

The major characters, like Donkey Kong and Rosalina, are unlocked by completing specific race cups. Meanwhile, many of the minor characters, like Spike and Rocky Wrench, for example, can only be unlocked mid-race through the Kamek item.

The Kamek item is a purple crystal ball that can transform racers into characters who haven’t yet been unlocked. The item has a small chance of appearing through item blocks, and you can’t be the one to use it. Another racer needs to use the item on you to transform you into a different character. Once you’ve transformed, the character you become will be permanently added to the roster.

Certain courses seem to have higher chances of transforming you into certain characters, so we’ll update this guide with specific locations as we test out more tracks.

If you’re looking to learn more about Mario Kart World, you can click the stories below for more information on the Switch 2 launch title:

For now, the bundle deal that includes the console and Mario Kart World is priced at $500, whereas the console on its own will currently cost you $450. It’s worth mentioning that first-party Nintendo games will be much pricier for the Switch 2 generation, so the bundle deal is the better option, as Mario Kart World will sell for $80 by itself.