One of the most exciting aspects of Mario Kart World upon reveal was the wide array of more obscure playable characters included in the game. Known as NPC characters, this group largely consists of basic enemies and other niche characters who are distinguished from the rest of the cast by their lack of alternate outfits. There’s a total of 26 of them, and 11 have to be unlocked by the player, the means of which to do so can be a bit unreliable. Fortunately, there are more consistent ways to do so if there’s a particular character you really want!
Before going over the method itself, it’s worth mentioning that many of these are likely to just be unlocked over the course of playing the game normally. If you’re looking to fully complete the game and unlock every character, a better course of action would be to focus on other modes such as Grand Prix and Knockout Tour first, and then return later to unlock any characters that weren’t found in the process. With that being said, let’s get into the fastest way to obtain these characters!
How to unlock NPC Characters quickly
NPC Characters in Mario Kart World are unlocked by being transformed into them via the Kamek item. This item is quite rare, and the pool of characters it can transform players into varies from track to track. The most consistent method, as shared by JHart on YouTube, is to make use of multiplayer. To start, you’ll want to head to the track where the corresponding character is available as a transformation, a full list of which is available here:
- Cataquack: Peach Beach
- Chargin’ Chuck: Mario Bros. Circuit
- Coin Coffer: Crown City
- Conkdor: Faraway Oasis
- Dolphin: Koopa Troopa Beach
- Fish Bone: Dry Bones Burnout to Toad’s Factory
- Peepa: Boo Cinema
- Pianta: Koopa Troopa Beach to Crown City
- Rocky Wrench: Airship Fortress
- Spike: Whistlestop Summit
- Swoop: Dandelion Depths
Once you’ve figured out where to go, start a multiplayer race using two controllers, such as two single Joy-Con. Make sure to turn CPU racers off, and set the items to normal. From there, travel to the first set of item boxes with a double item box, and drive the first player a few seconds ahead of them. Positioning the first player is key here, as that is what determines which items the second player will receive. From there, use the second player to repeatedly collect items and then drive out of bounds until the Kamek item is obtained. Going out of bounds is necessary to allow the player to continue to receive good items, as driving into the same item boxes repeatedly will yield only weaker items otherwise.
If player one is in the correct spot, player two can expect to find items such as Triple Red Shells, Triple Bananas, Bob-ombs, Super Horn, and Triple Mushrooms. If these items aren’t appearing, player one might need to move further ahead. A good way to tell is to find the point at which Golden Shells and ? Blocks start appearing, and to then move player one closer until they stop appearing.
Even with everything set up correctly, it may take some time to find the Kamek item. Once found, go ahead and use it right away. The transformation is random, so it’s entirely possible that it doesn’t transform the first player into the correct character right away. That being said, if you keep going at it you’re bound to find what you need eventually! As soon as player one is transformed into the character they will be unlocked and fully playable from there, so that’s all that needs to be done.
As can be seen, this process is still somewhat tedious. For that reason, it’s recommended to not focus too much on unlocking all of these right away unless there’s a very particular character you want above all else. If so, hopefully this information helps to get them unlocked as soon as possible!
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Written by Abbie Maxwell
Lifelong Nintendo fangirl, Abbie holds a special place in her heart for video games. She has always strived to provide tips and tricks to make the experiences of those who share her passions that much better.
