Power-Up #27: Blue Turtle Shell (Mario Kart 64)

No list of questionable power-ups would be complete without the blue turtle shell from the Super Mario Kart franchise. Easily one of the most frustrating weapons, this item was specifically designed to piss you off. Find out now why the blue turtle shell is terrible in today's episode of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Christmas!



Purpose: With the possible exception of the banana peel, every Mario Kart weapon is intended to help you find your way into first place. Most weapons are balanced to allow a fair fight between the hunter and his prey, but not the blue turtle shell. This weapon was created to upset first place, which certainly sounds good on paper. Unfortunately, the fact that anybody can take out first place seems cheap and often leaves experienced players fuming.

Legacy: Ever since its introduction, the blue turtle shell has been a controversial power-up. Despite having many detractors, this unfair weapon has remained in nearly all Mario Kart iterations. Much like wipEout's quake disruptor, the blue turtle shell has been tweaked over time. These days, the weapon has wings and will actually fly straight at the driver in first place.

In Real Life: You better believe PETA would have something to say about mining turtle shells to be used as weapons. They already dislike the fact that Mario jumps on goombas, so imagine the amount of hell that would come done on the person killing turtles for sport. On the other hand, I'm sure somebody would come up with a synthetic turtle shell and all would be right in the world.