Albeit as a 3D version of his sprite from that game. returns as a playable character for the first time in 28 years after being playable in the very first game in the series. Birdo, Diddy Kong, and Funky Kong return after having last appeared in Mario Kart Wii back in 2008.In short, while going completely free-to-play is quite doable, the game strongly encourages players to buy more rubies (or any of the purchasable packs that just hands out drivers, karts, or gliders) to get enough resources to keep to the top of the standings. It's practically a guarantee that one of these courses is in the weekly ranked cup, where your placement in the entire cup versus 19 randomly chosen players depends on how well you score on all three courses. Not only that, but as time goes on, the game introduces more and more courses where the only options for Rank 3 drivers, karts, and gliders are limited-time High End pulls. Bribing Your Way to Victory: While all the resources for getting more karts (coins for the shop and rubies to fire the tour pipes) are available in various ways for free, there are limits per day (for coins) and per two-week tour (for rubies) to get them.Big Boo's Haunt: SNES Ghost Valley 1, DS Luigi's Mansion, and RMX Ghost Valley 1.During Kart Pro, the main goal is to get a 3-win 1st Place streak, but scoring in 2nd or 3rd will save your streak.If the game crashes during the Tour Clear video before the All-Clear Pipe is used, the game acknowledges this upon restarting, and gives you what you would've pulled.Always Night: SNES Ghost Valley 1, N64 Frappe Snowland, DS Luigi's Mansion, New York Minute, Vancouver Velocity, Merry Mountain, and Singapore Speedway.The game features examples of these tropes: