How to Unlock Leaf Cup on Mario Kart Wii

Last Updated: January 31, 2023 References

In Mario Kart Wii, the Leaf Cup unlocks when you get third place or better in Shell Cup and Banana Cup. These are "retro cups" that show off remastered tracks from older Mario Kart games. Pick a character and enjoy the nostalgic ride.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Learning the Unlock

1
Select a Grand Prix difficulty mode. Unlocking cups happens separately at each difficulty level. If you follow these instructions at 50cc difficulty level, you will unlock 50cc Leaf Cup. You will need to repeat them at 100cc and 150cc to unlock harder Leaf Cup modes.
2
Pick your character. You can unlock Leaf Cup with any character and vehicle.

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3
Get third place or better in the two retro cups. The retro cups are the two cups on the lower row of the cup selection screen. You start out with two retro cups unlocked: Shell Cup and Banana Cup. Once you finish third place or better on both of these cups, Leaf Cup will unlock.^{[1]
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4
Know the points system. Each cup has four tracks, which you race through in order. Your final standing is determined by how well you do in all four races. This means you can get fourth or fifth place on one or two tracks, and still succeed if you do very well on the others.
- You get 15 points for winning a track, 12 points for second place, 10 points for third, and 8 points for fourth. After that, the points go down by 1 for each position.
- You'll usually need roughly 40 points to get 3rd place.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Shell Cup Secrets

1
Find the Peach Beach shortcuts. The first track of the Shell Cup has three shortcuts to speed you along:^{[2]
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- Close to the start, before the beach, drive around a crate with a Pianta standing on it, to find a hidden ramp.
- At the beach, drive onto the sand strip to the left to skip the water and duck monsters completely. There's another ramp at the end of this. The first shortcut leads you straight to this area.
- If you have a speed boost item, use it to go straight through the water! Just avoid the dark water, which is out of bounds.
2
Drive through waterfalls in Yoshi Falls. There are three different places in this track where you can drive through waterfalls. Each one is on the inward slope of the track, so keep an eye on the inner edge to look for these routes.^{[3]
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- These shortcuts might slow you down if you don't have enough speed. Save your speed boost items for the waterfalls.
3
Find the secret jump in Ghost Valley. When you approach the top right corner of the map, go straight ahead instead of turning left. There's a jump here that you can cross if you perform a stunt or use a speed powerup.^{[4]
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Research source} If you look closely at the map you'll see the ledge you can land on.
4
Finish at the Mario Raceway. The final track of the Shell Cup is pretty straightforward. The best way to reduce your time is to pick up as many items as you can, and use the speed boosts to cut across grassy and sandy areas.
- Speed items can also let you shoot up seemingly impossible slopes.^{[5]
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  Research source} This can take some practice to avoid going out of bounds, so don't try it if you're already going to get a good enough score.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Banana Cup Secrets

1
Look for hidden speed ramps in Sherbert Land. This first track of the Banana Cup has two hidden speed ramps. One is to the right of a large boulder, at the top of the map. The other is near the end of the cavern, to the right of a pillar.^{[6]
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Research source} Both of these can shave off time as long as you avoid disaster in the wide, open stretches that follow.
2
Zoom across the water of Shy Guy Beach. At the top of the map, take the left path around the grass. If you have enough speed, you can zoom straight ahead from that point through the water, skipping the top left corner.^{[7]
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- The cannonballs hit random locations, but the ground will glow before they strike.
3
Jump to the dock in Delfino Plaza. At the end of town, take a hard left and use a speed boost item to jump over the water and land on the dock — or even the street beyond it, if you have two mushrooms. If this shortcut is too difficult, you can take the normal route and keep your eyes peeled for an alleyway to your right instead.^{[8]
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- Trapping the small alleyways is an excellent strategy on this map.
4
End at Waluigi's Stadium. This map is more about technical skill than shortcuts. Try to stay in the exact line of the flaming hoops, and (if you can) jump off the halfpipe walls to get powerups. When you get a speed boost item, the best places to use it are corner-cutting shortcuts across the mud.

Community Q&A

Question

What if I can't find a secret ramp?

Community Answer

You can still win, however secret ramps make it easier. If your skills are pretty good though, you don’t really need the ramps.
Question

What if I lose a cup?

Community Answer

I don't think it's possible to lose a cup. If you do, though, just compete again and re-win it.
Question

How do I unlock the special cup in Mario Kart Wii?

Community Answer

Win a trophy on the star cup (1st, 2nd or 3rd place). If you don't win it, just keep retrying.