Not to be confused with Rosalina Cup, another cup with a similar-looking Grand Star as the emblem.
Artwork of the Star Cup logo, from Mario Kart 8.
The Star Cup logo in Mario Kart 8.

The Star Cup is a cup in the Super Mario franchise, most notably appearing as the third cup in the Mario Kart series; however, in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, it is the fourth cup of that game, after the Lightning Cup. It exclusively features new courses, and in most Mario Kart games, it must be completed to unlock the Special Cup. The cup's courses tend to be of slightly increased difficulty compared to the Flower Cup (and Lightning Cup in Mario Kart: Super Circuit), and its emblem is a Super Star.

HistoryEdit

Mario Kart seriesEdit

List of coursesEdit

Game Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Course 4 Course 5
Super Mario Kart  
Koopa Beach 1
 
Choco Island 2
 
Vanilla Lake 1
 
Bowser Castle 3
 
Mario Circuit 4
Mario Kart 64  
Wario Stadium
 
Sherbet Land
 
Royal Raceway
 
Bowser's Castle
N/A
Mario Kart: Super Circuit Super Circuit tracks  
Snow Land
 
Ribbon Road
 
Yoshi Desert
 
Bowser Castle 3
N/A
Extra tracks  
Vanilla Lake 1
 
Bowser Castle 3
 
Mario Circuit 4
 
Donut Plains 3
N/A
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!  
Sherbet Land
 
Mushroom City
 
Yoshi Circuit
 
DK Mountain
N/A
Mario Kart DS  
DK Pass
 
Tick-Tock Clock
 
Mario Circuit
 
Airship Fortress
N/A
Mario Kart Wii  
Daisy Circuit
 
Koopa Cape
 
Maple Treeway
 
Grumble Volcano
N/A
Mario Kart 7  
Piranha Plant Slide
Piranha Plant Pipeway
 
Wario Shipyard
Wario's Galleon
 
Neo Bowser City
Koopa City
 
Maka Wuhu
Wuhu Mountain Loop
N/A
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe  
Sunshine Airport
 
Dolphin Shoals
 
Electrodrome
 
Mount Wario
N/A
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit  
Royal Highway
 
Wibble Woods
 
Windswept Prairie
N/A N/A

Super Mario sports gamesEdit

The Star Cup also appears in other Super Mario games, such as Super Mario Strikers and Mario Superstar Baseball.

Mario Tennis seriesEdit

The Star Cup makes regular appearances in the Mario Tennis series. Usually, it is the third, last cup of the Open Tournament. When players clear the Star Cup, they receive a star ranking, which rewards them with stronger stats while allowing them to participate in the Special Tournaments. In Mario Tennis Open, however, the Star Cup is called the Final Cup, and it is the last cup of the Star Open series and the whole game, with the Champions Cup replacing it as the fourth cup in the game and last cup of the World Open series. This version of the Star Cup is held in the Galaxy Arena morph court, and its matches have three sets for the starting round, three sets for the semifinals, and five sets for the finals. After this cup is played, the credits roll, and they cannot be skipped unless it is not the first time the cup has been played. In Mario Tennis Aces, the Star Cup is the third and final cup of the COM Tournament mode, featuring the highest CPU difficulty of all cups.

Super Mario StrikersEdit

In Super Mario Strikers, the Star Cup has eight teams, seven rounds, and uses the table system. When the player finishes in the top three, the Bowser Cup and The Battle Dome are unlocked. A similar cup is the Super Star Cup.

Mario Sports MixEdit

The Star Cup appears in Mario Sports Mix as a more difficult cup. It includes the final match against the Final Fantasy team, and it is followed by a battle against Behemoth or Behemoth King. Star Road is also found in this cup, which is an alternate path available once players complete the Star Cup.

Completion awards in the Mario Kart seriesEdit

Winning the Star Cup in the Mario Kart series can award the player with various bonuses, depending on the game. Additional cups unlocked are excluded from this list.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!Edit

Mario Kart DSEdit

  • All nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 50cc: Dry Bones
  • All nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 100cc: Three karts for each playable character
  • All nitro cups (includes Star Cup) or all retro cups (excludes Star Cup) on 150cc: Seven karts for each playable character
  • All cups on 150cc: 150cc Mirror class
  • All nitro cups (includes Star Cup) or all retro cups (excludes Star Cup) on 150cc Mirror: R.O.B.
  • All cups on 150cc Mirror: All karts for each playable character

Mario Kart WiiEdit

  • 50cc Star Cup: King Boo
  • 1 star rank or higher on all nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 50cc: Baby Daisy
  • 100cc Star Cup: Shooting Star
  • 1 star rank or higher on all nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 100cc: Sneakster
  • 150cc Star Cup: Quacker
  • 1 star rank or higher on all nitro cups (includes Star Cup) on 150cc: Dry Bowser
  • All cups on 150cc: 150cc Mirror class
  • Mirror Star Cup: Dolphin Dasher
  • 1 star rank or higher on all cups on 150cc Mirror: Rosalina

Mario Kart 7Edit

  • All cups on a single cc class: Mii
  • 150cc Star Cup: Rosalina
  • All cups on 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc: 150cc Mirror class

Mario Kart 8Edit

Most unlockable characters in Mario Kart 8 are unlocked at random upon winning Grand Prix cups (separate cups must be played to unlock characters), which includes the Star Cup. Characters that can be unlocked include Rosalina, Metal Mario, Lakitu, Toadette, Baby Rosalina, Pink Gold Peach, Iggy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Larry Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Ludwig von Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., and Mii. Mii is unlocked upon the eighth Grand Prix cup victory, unless an amiibo is used to unlock Mii beforehand.

In addition, the Gold Standard body can be unlocked by getting a 1 star rank or higher on all non-DLC cups (including the Star Cup) on any one engine class, and the 150cc Mirror class can be unlocked by winning all 150cc cups.

Mario Kart 8 DeluxeEdit

  • 1 star rank or higher on all non-DLC cups on 150cc Mirror: Gold Standard
  • All non-DLC cups on 200cc: Gold Mario

ProfilesEdit

  • Mario Kart 64 website: "The Star Cup is for pros, and each course offers its own unique challenge."
  • Mario Kart Wii trading card: "The action REALLY starts to heat up when you tackle the Star Cup. Four new tracks will test your racing mettle. Daisy Circuit is a very scenic track, while the others (Koopa Cape, Maple Treeway, and Grumble Volcano) offer up some serious challenges and difficult racing conditions."

GalleryEdit

Emblems and LogosEdit

TrophiesEdit

Names in other languagesEdit

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese スターカップ[?]
Sutā Kappu
Star Cup
Chinese (simplified) 星星杯[?]
Xīngxīng Bēi
Star Cup
Chinese (traditional) 星星盃[?]
Xīngxīng Bēi
Star Cup
Dutch Sterrenbeker[?] Star Cup
French Coupe Étoile[?] Star Cup
German Stern-Cup[?] Star Cup
Italian Trofeo Stella[?] Star Trophy
Coppa stella[?] Star Cup Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Korean 스타 컵[?]
Seuta Keop
Star Cup
Portuguese (NOA) Copa Estrela[?] Star Cup
Portuguese (NOE) Taça Estrela[?] Star Cup
Russian Кубок звезды[?]
Kubok zvezdy
Star Cup
Spanish Copa Estrella[?] Star Cup

TriviaEdit

  • Mario Kart 64's Star Cup is the only Star Cup to feature two courses with the same background music.
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s Star Cup is the only cup in the Mario Kart series not to feature Dash Panels in any of its courses.
  • Mario Kart 7's Star Cup is the only cup in the game to have all of its courses differ in name between the American English and British English versions.
  • All of the Star Cup's courses from Mario Kart Wii reappear as classic courses in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This makes it one of three cups in the entire series to have all its courses return together in another Mario Kart game. The other two cups are the Lightning Cup from Mario Kart: Super Circuit and the Mushroom Cup from Mario Kart 7, which both have all of their courses in Tour.
    • The Star Cup courses were added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in reverse chronological order as well, with Grumble Volcano being part of the original Mario Kart 8, Maple Treeway releasing in Wave 3 of the Booster Course Pass, Koopa Cape releasing in Wave 5, and Daisy Circuit releasing in Wave 6. This is also the case for the Lightning Cup of Super Circuit within Tour.