Characters
Plenty of new and timeless characters from the Mario series take to the racetrack in "Mario Kart Wii," but many of them need to be earned first. Many of the exclusive cast members are unlocked by winning the different Cups under certain difficulty levels. Win the 50cc Star Cup for King Boo, the 100cc Leaf Cup for Dry Bones and the 150cc Special Cup for Daisy. Some of the requirements are trickier than others, like having a save file for "Super Mario Galaxy" on your Wii to unlock Rosalina, earning a Star in all of the 100cc Retro cups to get Bowser Jr., and obtaining a Star for each of the 150cc Wii Cups for Dry Bowser.
Cups
Only four of the eight Cups are available to you upon starting "Mario Kart Wii." Unlock the new Cups by placing first, second or third in the available Cups. The first new Cups are earned by placing in the two sets of Cups offered. Place in the Mushroom and Flower Cups to earn the Star Cup. Cross the finish line at third place or better in both the Shell and Banana Cups to acquire the Leaf Cup. To get the Lightning Cup, you need to place in the Leaf Cup; to open the Special Cup, you must place in the Star Cup.
Karts
Karts are raced in both the 50cc and 150cc difficulty levels in "Mario Kart Wii," and while the standard Kart may be suitable for some races, players who experiment with alternate Karts may be rewarded with more first place trophies. New Karts are almost exclusively received for winning Cups at certain difficulty settings. The Turbo Blooper is the easiest Kart to unlock as you must win the 50cc Leaf Cup to add it to your garage. Other special Karts will push players to win tricky races, like the Royal Racer earned for winning the 150cc Leaf Cup and the Honeycoupe received for taking first in the 150cc Lightning Cup.
Bikes
The 100cc and 150cc modes of "Mario Kart Wii" have you race using motor bikes, a first for the series, but there are many more secret bikes in the game. As with the characters, a few of the bikes are earned by winning Cups. For example, for winning the 100cc Lightning Cup the Zip Zip bike is unlocked, and for winning the 100cc Star Cup, the Shooting Star bike becomes yours. Other methods are needed to earn more bikes, such as playing eight races in Time Trial mode to unlock the Kamek-styled Magikruiser.