Mario Kart 64: Mario's Item Guide

Mario's Item Guide

It's-a-me, Mario! Here you'll find the best guide to all of the Mario Kart 64 items! Read all of my advice and commit it to memory!

Ratings
* = rubbish ** = lower than average *** = quite good **** = very helpful ***** = excellent

1: Mushroom Boost
This item simply gives you a 2 second speed boost.
Rating: *
2: Three Mushroom Boosts
Three boring boosts.
Rating: **
3: Golden Mushroom
Now we're talking! This extremely handy gadget gives you as many boosts as you want for about 10 seconds!
Rating: ****
4: Super Star
A brilliant weapon, the super star gives you invincibility and the power to blow other races out of the sky for about 10 seconds.
Rating: *****
5. Lightning Bolt
Very possibly the best weapon in the game, the lightning bolt shrinks all the other races for a limited time(unless they have a Boo or Super Star), allowing you to squash them! Cool! TIP: Use with Super Star to knock the other races for six if you can hit them!
Rating: *****
6. Boo
This handy ghost will steal a weapon from another character if you are in GP mode, or from your human friend(s) if in multiplayer versus/battle mode. It also makes you safe from shells, bananas etc for about 8 seconds.
Rating: ***
7. Green Shell
A basic weapon, this shell travels in a straight line. Hit an opponent and they'll crash. TIP: Fire it backwards or hold it behind you for maximum fun! This is the only shell that can be fired backwards.
Rating: ** (but *** if fired backwards)

8. Red Shell
Quite handy, this shell hones in on it's target and if it hits, it will cause the victim to crash.
Rating: ***
9. Triple Green Shells
These are handy for a barrier at first but become less reliable when you lose one or two. Same as the green shell except you can't fire them backwards.
Rating: ***
10. Triple Red Shells
These beauties will protect you(although their usefulness will dwindle as you lose them) and also serve as a weapon to crash opponents with. Cool!
Rating: ****
11. Spiny Shell
Absolutely brilliant, this weapon will hone in on the leader of the pack(so DON'T fire if in first place) and cause him/her to crash. It will also hit any karts in it's way and can serve as a racer-proof hazard for other karts if dragged behind you!
Rating: *****
12. Fake Item(Bomb Block)
This item will cause unsuspecting victims to crash if they hit it. It is an upside down item block. Place near real item blocks for carnage!
Rating: ***
13. Banana
DK's leftovers are not amazing. If an opponent hits one, he/she will spin(Super Mario Kart-style) and lose speed. Effective on a corner but otherwise useless(except for protection). Note that you can throw these forward. This leads to assured carnage and is a common AI trick(although it is prone to slipping on the same bananas that it throws!).
Rating: *
14. Banana Bunch
Basically, this item consists of 5 bananas in a row for you to place 1 at a time on the track.
Rating: ***