If you want to race on mirrored versions of Mario Kart World tracks, you’ll need to play quite a bit of the game to unlock Mirror Mode. While it took a bit to figure out the exact requirements, it turns out that you’ll simply need to complete every race at 150cc and then grab a handful of the Free Roam collectables before you can unlock the backwards tracks.
Below we explain how to unlock Mirror Mode in Mario Kart World.
How to unlock Mirror Mode in Mario Kart World
Here are the requirements to unlock Mirror Mode in Mario Kart World:
- Clear each Grand Prix cup and Knockout Tour rally on 150cc. You don’t have to get first — or even get a trophy — in said race. You just need to make sure you’ve cleared it on 150cc. A trophy or checkmark will still show on the main cup/rally selection screen even if you’ve only completed it on a lower cc, so make sure to check each cup/rally individually to make sure you’ve done this.
- Complete 10 P-Switch challenges in Free Roam. These switches are just about everywhere, so roaming around a bit should net you 10 fairly quickly. After you clear one area out, you can just teleport to another one to find more.
- Find 10 “?” panels in Free Roam. Each area has five or 10 of these to find, and they’re usually in the “main hub” of the area, rather than on the side/connecting streets. Make sure to look on walls for them, too.
- Collect 10 Peach Medallions in Free Roam. There are also quite a few of these around the map, though they’re not as common as the above two collectables in our experience. Lots of them are tucked behind obstacles requiring you to wall-ride or grind on rails, but there’s also quite a few in open locations.
- Clear the Special Cup on 150cc. You may have already cleared this cup by this point, but you will need to do it again to unlock Mirror Mode. Like the other cups, you don’t have to place or win, you just need to clear it.
As a disclaimer, while validating the above method, I had 80 “?” Panels, though I only had 10 P-Switches and 10 Peach Medallions. Reports from other players confirm too that you only need 10 “?” Panels.
Once you complete the above, another cutscene should play after the credits showing Mario and Luigi unlocking Mirror Mode. From there, “Mirror” will appear as an option along the cc choices after you select a cup, like so:
You can also pick “Mirror” from the class option when setting up a VS Mode race.
To activate a mirrored map in Free Roam, you can warp over to Peach Stadium and follow the track up and jump on to the roof of Peach’s Castle. Enter the iconic stained glass window of Peach and it’ll warp, sending you into a mirrored version of the map. You cannot do this in the pseudo-Free Roam multiplayer lobby.
