Mario Kart DS Item Probabilities by Place
The chance of each item from an Item Box, for every place in the race and for battles. Values are stored out of 200 in the game; they are shown here as percentages.
- Tables
- 6
- Race places
- 1st–8th
- Battles
- By balloons or Shines
Grand Prix (you)
| Item | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Green Shell | 22.5% | 12.5% | 7.5% | 2.5% | ||||
 Red Shell | 27.5% | 20% | 12.5% | 10% | 5% | |||
 Banana | 45% | 15% | 7.5% | 2.5% | ||||
 Fake Item Box | 17.5% | 10% | 5% | |||||
 Mushroom | 15% | 20% | 22.5% | 20% | 17.5% | 5% | ||
 Triple Mushrooms | 5% | 15% | 27.5% | 30% | 35% | 15% | ||
 Bob-omb | 5% | 10% | 10% | 5% | ||||
 Spiny Shell | 5% | 10% | 7.5% | |||||
 Lightning | 5% | 10% | 22.5% | |||||
 Triple Green Shells | 7.5% | 12.5% | 10% | 5% | ||||
 Triple Bananas | 15% | 7.5% | 2.5% | |||||
 Triple Red Shells | 2.5% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 2.5% | ||||
 Star | 5% | 12.5% | 20% | 12.5% | ||||
 Golden Mushroom | 7.5% | 17.5% | 27.5% | |||||
 Bullet Bill | 5% | 10% | 22.5% | |||||
 Blooper | 5% | 7.5% | 5% | 2.5% | ||||
 Boo | 2.5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 2.5% |
Grand Prix (computer racers)
| Item | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Shell | 30% | 12.5% | 17.5% | 15% | 15% | 12.5% | 7.5% | 5% |
| Red Shell | 7.5% | 35% | 17.5% | 15% | 7.5% | |||
| Banana | 25% | 17.5% | 12.5% | 10% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 2.5% | |
| Fake Item Box | 17.5% | 10% | 5% | 2.5% | ||||
| Mushroom | 5% | 10% | 20% | 20% | 22.5% | 35% | 35% | 15% |
| Triple Mushrooms | 7.5% | 12.5% | 17.5% | 20% | 22.5% | 27.5% | ||
| Bob-omb | 5% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 5% | ||||
| Spiny Shell | 5% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 7.5% | ||||
| Lightning | 12.5% | |||||||
| Triple Green Shells | 2.5% | 7.5% | 5% | 5% | 2.5% | |||
| Triple Bananas | 15% | 7.5% | 2.5% | |||||
| Star | 2.5% | 5% | 10% | 12.5% | ||||
| Golden Mushroom | 2.5% | 7.5% | 15% | |||||
| Bullet Bill | 5% | 12.5% | ||||||
| Blooper | 2.5% | 5% | 5% | 2.5% | ||||
| Boo | 2.5% | 5% | 5% | 2.5% |
Local VS races
| Item | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Shell | 20% | 15% | 7.5% | 2.5% | ||||
| Red Shell | 30% | 22.5% | 15% | 10% | 5% | 2.5% | ||
| Banana | 45% | 15% | 7.5% | 2.5% | ||||
| Fake Item Box | 17.5% | 7.5% | 5% | |||||
| Mushroom | 12.5% | 17.5% | 22.5% | 20% | 17.5% | 5% | ||
| Triple Mushrooms | 7.5% | 15% | 27.5% | 32.5% | 37.5% | 12.5% | ||
| Bob-omb | 2.5% | 10% | 10% | 7.5% | ||||
| Spiny Shell | 5% | 10% | 10% | 5% | ||||
| Lightning | 17.5% | |||||||
| Triple Green Shells | 5% | 10% | 7.5% | 2.5% | ||||
| Triple Bananas | 17.5% | 10% | 2.5% | |||||
| Triple Red Shells | 2.5% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 5% | ||||
| Star | 5% | 15% | 17.5% | 17.5% | ||||
| Golden Mushroom | 7.5% | 22.5% | 30% | |||||
| Bullet Bill | 7.5% | 22.5% | ||||||
| Blooper | 2.5% | 5% | 7.5% | 5% | 2.5% | |||
| Boo | 2.5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 2.5% |
Online VS (Wi-Fi, closed 2014)
| Item | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Shell | 30% | 17.5% | 15% | 12.5% | 10% | 2.5% | ||
| Red Shell | 25% | 22.5% | 22.5% | 20% | 15% | 5% | 5% | |
| Banana | 50% | 20% | 10% | 5% | 2.5% | |||
| Fake Item Box | 15% | 10% | 5% | |||||
| Mushroom | 15% | 20% | 17.5% | 15% | 10% | 5% | ||
| Triple Mushrooms | 7.5% | 17.5% | 20% | 22.5% | 27.5% | 30% | 22.5% | |
| Bob-omb | 5% | 5% | 7.5% | 10% | 10% | 5% | ||
| Spiny Shell | 5% | 7.5% | 10% | 7.5% | 5% | |||
| Lightning | 2.5% | 12.5% | 15% | |||||
| Star | 2.5% | 4% | 10% | 15% | 17.5% | |||
| Golden Mushroom | 1% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 20% | ||||
| Bullet Bill | 10% | 15% | ||||||
| Blooper | 2.5% | 2.5% | 4% | 5% | ||||
| Boo | 2.5% | 3.5% | 5% | 2.5% |
Balloon Battle
| Item | 3 balloons | 2 balloons | 1 balloon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Shell | 32.5% | 17.5% | 5% |
| Red Shell | 17.5% | 27.5% | 40% |
| Banana | 22.5% | 7.5% | |
| Fake Item Box | 12.5% | 5% | |
| Mushroom | 10% | 10% | 1% |
| Triple Mushrooms | 5% | 6.5% | |
| Bob-omb | 2.5% | 7.5% | 5% |
| Triple Green Shells | 7.5% | 5% | |
| Triple Bananas | 2.5% | 7.5% | |
| Triple Red Shells | 10% | ||
| Star | 2.5% | 12.5% | |
| Golden Mushroom | 2.5% | ||
| Blooper | 2.5% | 5% | |
| Boo | 7.5% |
Shine Runners
| Item | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Shell | 30% | 17.5% | 2.5% |
| Red Shell | 20% | 30% | 35% |
| Banana | 25% | 7.5% | |
| Fake Item Box | 12.5% | 5% | |
| Mushroom | 5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| Triple Mushrooms | 2.5% | 2% | |
| Bob-omb | 7.5% | 10% | 7.5% |
| Lightning | 7.5% | ||
| Triple Green Shells | 12.5% | 5% | |
| Triple Bananas | 7.5% | ||
| Triple Red Shells | 17.5% | ||
| Star | 12.5% | ||
| Blooper | 2.5% | 2.5% | |
| Boo | 7.5% |
In Balloon Battle the columns are the balloons you have left; in Shine Runners they are your rank by Shines. Online tables applied to Wi-Fi races, which ended in 2014.
FAQ
Does your place change the items you get?
Yes. Each place has its own table: first place gets mostly Bananas, Green Shells and Fake Item Boxes, while eighth place can get Lightning, Bullet Bills, Stars and Golden Mushrooms.
Can first place get a Spiny Shell?
No. In Grand Prix the Spiny Shell only comes from 4th to 6th place.
Do computer racers get the same items?
No, they use their own tables, which are kinder to the leaders and harsher at the back.
Does the kart affect items?
Each kart has an Items rating that shifts the odds. These tables are the values stored in the game files.
Sources & picture credits
Guide text is original retrogameindex writing, checked against the Super Mario Wiki and the Mario Kart Racing Wiki. Kart statistics, staff ghost times and item odds are the values from the game data as transcribed by the Super Mario Wiki. Screenshots, renders and artwork © Nintendo; local copies archived from Super Mario Wiki file pages (listed on the image gallery).