Instead of unlocking secret items to give you an advantage like you do in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, amiibo unlock cosmetic upgrades in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. You use amiibo to unlock special themed outfits your Mii can wear while racing. It's a nice way of standing out in a multiplayer race if you don't feel like using one of the infamous Nintendo characters, and great for showing off in local matches with other Switch users.

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The good news is you only need to tap your amiibo to the Switch once in order to unlock the race outfit associated with that figure, so no carrying your amiibo around like you would for other games. Take a look at what you unlock!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe amiibo uniforms

As you can see, the big differences here are in the helmets. Which makes sense, since that's what you're going to see most when cruising past someone after a mushroom boost. Some of the helmets cover your Mii face almost entirely, like the Splatoon and Samus Aran designs, while others let your Mii shine through with some clever accents. Here are the amiibo figures you need to unlock each racing suit!

Editor's Note — Some of the amiibo you see in this list are no longer in circulation, and will be both more difficult to track down and more expensive than the standard retail pricing for one of these amiibo figures.

Mario Racing Suit

Luigi Racing Suit

Peach Racing Suit

Yoshi Racing Suit

Donkey Kong Racing Suit

Link Racing Suit

Captain Falcon Racing Suit

Kirby Racing Suit

Samus Aran Racing Suit

Fox McCloud Racing Suit

Toad Racing Suit

Bowser Racing Suit

Wario Racing Suit

Rosalina Racing Suit

Pikmin Racing Suit

Animal Crossing Racing Suit

Mega Man Racing Suit

Pac-Man Racing Suit

Sonic Racing Suit

Splatoon Racing Suit

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