Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Coin

As with these sorts of items, the chance to pick up the Crazy 8 will increase the lower your position is in the race. The Coin item gives you two coins when used. It can be handy if you're two coins shy of your ten coin maximum (and subsequent speed increase), but in general it doesn't confer any other special bonus or effect.

The last time this Coin item appeared was in the series' first game, 'Super Mario Kart', though coins themselves have appeared in some, but not all, of the games since then.

Answer: Wuhu Mountain Loop / Maka Wuhu

Each of the three returning tracks from 'Mario Kart 7' comes from a separate cup: Melody Motorway/Music Park from the Flower Cup, Piranha Plant Pipeway/Piranha Plant Slide from the Star Cup, and DK Jungle from the Special Cup. The tracks remain largely unchanged from their originals, with the exception of DK Jungle and Piranha Plant Pipeway/Piranha Plant Slide which include brief anti-grav sections towards the end of each.

Answer: Cloudtop Cruise

Cloudtop Cruise, as its name suggests, takes place on a track in the sky. You will be racing on clouds, vines and an airship as the leitmotif from the 'Super Mario Galaxy' games slips seamlessly into the accompanying music. The style of the music will transition from cheery and brassy to dark and menacing (complete with electric guitar) as players find themselves flying through the air and driving through stormy clouds.

Answer: The music hasn't been changed, rearranged, remixed or reperformed at all - it's exactly as it was in the N64 version

Rather annoyingly, it takes around the same amount of time to complete the entire three-section race of this Rainbow Road as it does to complete one lap of the N64 original. Still, that's my only gripe with this track. Everything else about it is incredible.

Thanks to Nintendo's use of live instruments for their soundtracks (at long last, I might add), we get a fantastic, brass- and electric guitar-filled version of the memorable original track music. We also get to see that it's not just a Rainbow Road in the middle of a starry void; there's land down below (just like the 'Mario Kart: Double Dash' Rainbow Road). The Chain Chomps that would normally chew through the track (that usually appeared unexpectedly as you rounded a corner) now roll around on the surface of the track creating ripples and ready to squash unfortunate racers. The Nintendo characters appearing in firework displays also return, though they resemble the stamp images from 'Super Mario 3D World'.

As well as all this, we get a Toad-driven train flying around the track throwing coins onto the road. What's not to like?

Answer: Wii Grumble Volcano

Despite being the most recent of these four tracks, Grumble Volcano from 'Mario Kart Wii' remains largely unchanged. Only a couple of glider ramps have been added in.

Mario Circuit from 'Mario Kart: Super Circuit' includes an anti-grav section in the form of a hairpin turn. You will enter the turn and travel upwards before turning around and heading back towards ground level.

Wario Stadium from 'Mario Kart DS' includes two rather tricky ninety-degree turns on a vertical anti-grav section.

Toad's Turnpike from 'Mario Kart 64' allows you to drive on the walls of the track as well as amongst the traffic on the road.

Other retro tracks which don't have any anti-gravity sections include N64 Royal Raceway, Wii Moo Moo Meadows, DS Cheep Cheep Beach and 3DS Music Park/Melody Motorway.

Answer: On an alpine mountain

In what is probably the best new track to appear in 'Mario Kart 8' (the music is just fantastic), you'll start at the very top of Mount Wario and make your way all the way down to the bottom to the finish line. A mountain top, an icy cavern, a dam, an alpine forest, a slalom course and a ski jump are all things you'll be racing on, through, down or off in this three-section track which concludes the Star Cup.

Answer: ATV

Just like 'Mario Kart 7', you're able to customise your vehicle prior to racing. You will choose a body (either kart, bike or ATV), a set of wheels (each with its own pros and cons, as Phil Keoghan would say) and a glider. As before, a limited number of these parts will be available when you first start the game, but a new part is unlocked for every 50 coins you collect.

Despite being able to drive through underwater sections, your vehicle produces a small propeller rather than becoming an actual boat. Likewise, your glider will deploy when you hit a glider ramp/panel.

Answer: Rosalina

After having added Baby Daisy and Baby Peach to the roster in 'Mario Kart Wii', it was only a matter of time before the next baby character arrived. Sure enough, Baby Rosalina makes her first ever appearance in 'Mario Kart 8'. The regular, older Rosalina's first 'Mario Kart' appearance was in 'Mario Kart Wii', after having joined the 'Mario' series in 'Super Mario Galaxy'.

Other new characters include Pink Gold Peach and the Koopalings (though, strictly speaking, they aren't new to the 'Mario' series as a whole, merely the 'Mario Kart' games).

Answer: Fire Flower

The Fire Flower's first appearance in the 'Mario Kart' series was in 'Mario Kart 7'. It functions pretty much as it does in the 'Super Mario' games, except you have a limited supply of fireballs before the item disappears.

The Piranha Plant attaches itself to the front of your vehicle and chomps away at coins, items or other racers in front of you. You'll get a slight speed boost if it does happen to chomp anything.

The Boomerang Flower acts in the same way as it does in 'Super Mario 3D Land' and 'Super Mario 3D World': you chuck out a boomerang and it can either hit players on its outward journey or thwack them as it comes back. Again, you have a limited number of throws before the item disappears.

The Super Horn is perhaps the most interesting of the new items, as it finally gives us a way of defending against those pesky blue Spiny Shells. Granted, you aren't likely to get a Super Horn if you're in first place, but if you do happen to get one, it's probably in your best interests to hold on to it until you see the dreaded Spiny Shell make its way towards you.

Answer: Four

'Mario Kart 64' gets the honour of having the most number of tracks return. The four returning tracks are Toad's Turnpike, Royal Raceway, Yoshi Valley and, of course, Rainbow Road.

Most, if not all, of the features of the original tracks have made their way into their remakes. Peach's castle in Royal Raceway is still there but it's now inaccessible thanks to a large gate. The endless traffic of Toad's Turnpike still trundles its way around this figure-8 course but we're able to use some of the vehicles as ramps to jump off. Yoshi's Valley includes all the twists, turns and multiple paths that made it so memorable in the first place and, thanks to the Wii U's superior power, the computer is able to determine what place you are in throughout the entire race. Oh, and that weird giant egg is back too.