In various Donkey Kong games such as Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64, a rhino called Rambi has appeared. In DK Country, Rambi was a character that could be riden on. In DK64 Donkey Kong transforms into Rambi after jumping into a special ablity "Rambi" crate provided by Cranky Kong.

In Mario Kart DS, Bowser has a kart called the Hurricane, which has the same design as the hovercraft he uses in the final battle of Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo.

The Poltergust 4000 kart is influenced by the poltergust in Luigi's Mansion created by Professor E. Gadd. In Luigi's Mansion Elvin Gadd gives his Poltergust 3000 to Luigi to save Mario from the ghosts. This invention is a ghost vacuum cleaner, and in Mario Kart DS a Poltergust 4000 kart is a selectable kart.

There are various karts such as the Yoshi Egg or Toad's Mushroom Kart, that resemble the characteristics of the characters. I.e. Yoshi can lay and throw eggs in various games (e.g. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island; Super Mario 64 DS) and Toads Mushroom can be referenced to any Mario game that has a mushroom in it.

ROB was a peripheral used for the NES. ROB the Robot has no real relation to Mario, as this is his first appearance in a Mario game. ROB is red and white in the Japanese Mario Kart; to resemble the his original Japanese colours.

On the Title Screen next to the 1-Player Mode, there is an image of Mario's Head, which is a familar icon used in Super Mario Bros 3. for the NES.

Throughout the retro cups there are various courses from previous Mario Kart installments.