Expert Staff Ghost

The Expert Staff Ghost data for Luigi Circuit by Nin*Uta.

An Expert Staff Ghost is a harder tier Staff Ghost that's unlocked by beating the normal Staff Ghosts within a certain amount of time. Unlocking a certain amount of Expert Staff Ghosts unlocks characters, Karts and Bikes, such as Funky Kong and the Sprinter. However they didn't return in Mario Kart 8, likely due to the slower pass of the game. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the 200cc Time Trial Staff Ghosts pretty much fill the role of the Expert Staff Ghosts in that game as they (like the Expert Staff Ghosts) are faster and more advanced than the 150cc Staff Ghosts.

Appearances

Mario Kart Wii

Yoshi facing off against the aforementioned ghost data.

Expert Staff Ghosts make their first appearance in Mario Kart Wii, almost all of the Expert Staff Ghosts use Manual drift, the only one that does not is the Moo Moo Meadows Expert Staff Ghost. The Expert Staff Ghosts are unlocked by beating the course's normal Staff Ghost by a certain time or faster, the full list of times to beat can be viewed here. Unlocking Expert Staff Ghosts is necessary for unlocking special characters and vehicles, the game will notify you if an Expert Staff Ghost is unlocked once you complete the course. Below is a list of all the content that can be unlocked by beating the Expert Staff Ghosts.

• Tiny Titan (Rally Romper) = Unlock 1 Expert Staff Ghost
• Funky Kong = Unlock 4 Expert Staff Ghosts
• Baby Luigi = Unlock 8 Expert Staff Ghosts
• Spear (Torpedo) = Unlock 12 Expert Staff Ghosts
• Sprinter (B-Dasher MK 2) = Unlock 24 Expert Staff Ghosts
• Mii Outfit B = Unlock All 32 Expert Staff Ghosts

Beating the Expert Staff Ghosts themselves will require some skill but if you can beat one, consider yourself the master of that particular course!

Mario Kart 7

Expert Staff Ghosts make a return in Mario Kart 7. Unlike Mario Kart Wii, the game does not tell the player that they unlocked the Expert Staff Ghost, making it slightly harder to tell if the player unlocked the Expert Staff Ghost or not, due to this, the player must check the menu manually to see if the Expert Staff Ghost has appeared. But usually, the noticeable difficulty spike is a good way to tell. Additionally, in this game, to unlock the Expert Staff Ghost, all you need to do is beat the normal Staff Ghost by any time. You won't need to beat them by any specific time or better.