Mushroom

In the Mario Kart games, a Mushroom is an item that grants the Kart a long burst of speed boost and allows the player to drive through off-road surfaces without slowing down. Mushrooms can come in singles or triplets, the latter providing three Mushrooms to use in a row. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!! a character holds these mushrooms in piles, but if the kart is hit by an item on the road, these mushrooms will fall off and the character will have one remaining on hand. Normally this set appears as default power-ups in time trial mode (excluding Super Mario Kart) to use specially over shortcuts of a determined course. Another type of Mushroom is the Golden Mushroom, that can be used indefinitely in a restricted period of time. One can optionally be used for the Mario Kart 64 shortcut.

In recent Mario Kart games, Mushrooms can be used as well to knock over other karts or even steal an item from opponents by ramming them, as seen in Double Dash!!. In later games, this move cannot steal items, but works to steal balloons, Shine Sprites or coins from other players during a battle. In Mario Kart 64, using a Mushroom and ramming into other racers will cause them to spin out. When racing on Rainbow Road, using a Mushroom at a right time when ramming opponents will cause them to be knocked over and fall off the course.

The Mushroom is also used as the logo for the Mushroom Cup in every Mario Kart game to date.

In the European and Australian versions of Mario Kart 7, they are called the Dash Mushroom and Triple Dash Mushroom. Also in Mario Kart 7, there is a large mushroom in the cave of Rosalina's Ice World.

In certain games, it can be used to avoid the Spiny Shell, however, it is difficult to obtain a Mushroom in first place.

In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Mushroom is slightly more powerful than it does in other games. It also receives a new visual effect; the boost will create a line of flames between the road and the wheels, and causes the engine to rev louder and higher (in certain vehicles, the exhaust pipes may also backfire as well). When obtained as a set of three, they now revolve around the vehicle, in the same way as the Triple Shells.

When gliding, using a Mushroom will provide a pushing force that propels the vehicle higher, allowing them to glide longer.