Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ditches the unlockables and lets you play with everything right at the start — all except for Gold Mario. Here’s how to unlock this shiny Adonis all for yourself.
Gold Mario has been a pretty prominent character in the last few years. He first appeared in New Super Mario Bros. 2 in 2012 thanks to a new power-up flower, and later was immortalized in limited-time only amiibo form. Now Gold Mario’s back to distract everyone with his fine shine and glowing jumping skills.
Check out even more Mario Kart 8 news on The Escapist here. This character skin is exclusive to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch, so don’t try to unlock him on your old WiiU copy.
How to Unlock Gold Mario
Be warned — it’s pretty difficult. To get this shiny version of everyone’s favorite plumber, you’ll have to master the singleplayer side of things.
- To unlock Gold Mario: Earn 1 Star (Get First Place) in all 200CC racing events.
That means earning first place in every singleplayer event at the fastest speed. Look, I’ve tried it myself. It isn’t super easy.
Watch Gold Mario in action with this video by Youtuber GameXplain.
Gold Mario is a total show-off character. He doesn’t have any special game-improving stats, but he sure does look shiny!
Mario (Gold) is an unlockable costume available in Super Mario Maker, and pops in for cameo appearances all over those extra Mario games most of us miss out on. Mario Gold: World Tour, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and a few more. That’s a lot of Gold Mario.
Seeing as Mario is the gold standard over at the Nintendo offices, we’ll concede he’s a pretty impressive unlock. Deluxe actually makes things easier — you can finally stop those pesky Blue Shells, so a string of victories might finally be possible.
