The Best Mario Kart Items That Only Appeared Once

There are a few Mario Kart items that add a lot to the overall gameplay, but after one iteration of them disappears, they never appear again.

Items are a huge part of what makes a Mario Kart game so exciting, and some of the series' best items only appear once. While players can count on seeing the same seashells, mushrooms, and bananas every game, the more unique items are likely to be the most exciting. Hopefully the next Mario Kart will bring these lesser-used items back.

While racing skill is crucial to the success of Mario Kart, items have the ability to change a race in an instant. Mushrooms provide speed and occasional shortcuts, while Bullet Bills can help a struggling racer make up for a lot of shortfalls very quickly. The most notorious Mario Kart item is of course Blue Shell, which is dreaded by anyone who manages to get to number one. With Mario Kart 8 adding custom items as an option when setting up races, there may be hope that lesser-known items will return in the next game.

Double Dash's Chain Chomp Is A Wild Berserker Of An Item

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is famous for its two-character-per-kart gimmick, but it innovates a second time in the form of special items. each character has Special items exclusive to them, such as Mario and Luigi's fireball or DK and Didi's giant banana. Each of the specials reappears in later games, except for one, Chain Chomp, which proves to be one of the more powerful specials.

Oddly enough, the Chain Chomp is Mario and Luigi's special item. When activated, the Chomp will begin charging along the track, attached to a chain that the driver attaches to while knocking any opponents in the way out of the way, pulling the user past them. Unfortunately, just as Mario Kart's Bullet Bill backfired, Chain Chomp could spell disaster for users. Despite its speed boost and ability to hit multiple enemies, it's not the easiest item to control. It's not uncommon for the chain to break at an inconvenient time, perhaps knocking the player into a wall or off track at some point.

The Chain Chomp can be considered a weaker version of the powerful Bullet Bill item. It can also throw opponents aside while providing a speed boost, but the Bullet Bill is a more refined version. despite this, Chain Chomp dragging a user's kart off the track is a very memorable event. Even though Mario Kart 8's DLC omits Double Dash, Chain Chomp is still welcome in another Mario Kart.

Mario Kart Tour's Ice Flower Is More Than A Redesigned Fireball

The Frost Flower is one of the later power-ups added to Mario, first appearing in Mario & Luigi: Friends in Time, as one of the game's many sibling attacks. In the main series, Ice Blossom is superficially similar to Fire Blossom, but its puck does more than simple damage. They can freeze enemies solid and even create ice platforms on water. Ice Flower from Mario Kart Tour has her own interpretation of these abilities.

The Ice Blossom is a special item in Mario Kart Tour, available only for certain characters. When activated, it allows the user to fire three pucks in an arc similar to Flame Flower's Fireball, though the pucks freeze any opponent they hit instead of dealing damage. What makes Ice Flower users some of the best characters on Mario Kart Tour, as Frozen racers can't control their car or use items for the next few seconds, they'll just keep sliding Their previous direction during that time. If used at the right moment, a frozen racer can spend a lot of time sliding into walls or even off the track.

Being frozen by an ice flower can ruin an objective match, but it's one of the few that has a slight advantage. Racers are immune to other items and hazards while frozen, so an ice flower could accidentally save an opponent from a lightning strike or a Bob-omb, etc. While Frost is similar to Spark, its powers are unique, and its debut proved to be a needed Mario Kart Tour element for the main series.

Mario Kart Tour's Dash Rings Can Help The Player Or Their Rivals

Certain items in Mario Kart have different effects depending on the situation, such as Thunder Cloud in Mario Kart Wii. It gives users a constant speed boost for the few seconds it's activated, but shrinks them like lightning if they don't pass it off before the time is up. While Mario Kart Tour's Dash Ring doesn't have such a serious drawback, it does require players to think twice before using it.

In use, Dash Ring creates a series of rings that fly out in front of the user along the main path of the track. By driving through the rings, the player gains a speed boost, so in essence, driving through all three rings is similar to using three mushrooms. Even the worst kart in Mario Kart 8 can gain a few spots with this boost. The risk of using the Dash Ring is that opponents can also get the same boost by driving. While the ring might not give some opponents time to react, opponents who are close to the user when the Dash Ring is activated can also benefit from the effect.

Players need to consider when to deploy Dash Rings to get the most benefit from them. The health boost they provide can give them an edge in games, but it will be for naught if their rivals gain the same advantage. Like the Tour character that was supposed to join Mario Kart 9, Dash Ring would be nicely included because it's pretty unique as an item.

Without items, Mario Kart would lose a lot of the flair that sets it apart from other racing games. They are an integral part of the game, whether they are used for strategic attacks or just to add more chaos to the game. Hopefully the next Mario Kart will demand some of the series' underrated items come back.