Mario Hoops 3 On 3 Hints, Tips

Flower Cup

Successfully complete the Normal Mushroom Cup to unlock the Flower Cup.

Rainbow Cup

Successfully complete the Normal Star Cup to unlock the Rainbow Cup.

Star Cup

Successfully complete the Normal Flower Cup to unlock the Star Cup.

Gira Gira Desert stage

Win by 800 points in the Normal Star Cup to unlock the Gira Gira Desert stage.

Moogle Garden stage

Dunk three times on the Daisy Garden court in the Flower Cup. A panel should appear. Get a blue seed to unlock the Moogle Garden stage.

Sunset Beach stage

Play at Noko Noko Beach between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. in Exhibition mode. Win by 200 points to unlock the Sunset Beach stage.

Play as Birdo

Successfully complete the Hard Mushroom Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Birdo.

Play as Black Mage

Successfully complete the Normal Rainbow Cup with a "Gold" rank to unlock Black Mage.

Play as Boo

Successfully complete the Hard Flower Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Boo.

Play as Bowser

Successfully complete the Normal Star Cup to unlock Bowser.

Play as Cactuar

Play in the Desert stage in Exhibition mode. A cactus may appear in the sand. Get above it and Catuar will jump out the sand and run away. Win the stage to unlock Cactuar as a playable character.

Play as Dixie Kong

Successfully complete the Normal Flower Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Dixie Kong.

Alternate costumes

Win the indicated Cup to unlock the corresponding alternate costume. To wear the costume, hold Up, Down, Left, or Right while moving the appropriate character into the basketball ring. Different costumes may appear depending on the direction used while moving that character.


Black Mage: Hard Rainbow Cup with a "Bronze" rank

Daisy: Normal Flower Cup with a "Silver" rank

Flyguy: Hard Star Cup with a "Silver" rank

Ninja: Hard Rainbow Cup with a "Silver" rank

Peach: Normal Mushroom Cup with a "Silver" rank

White Mage: Hard Rainbow Cup with a "Gold" rank

Yoshi: Hard Flower Cup with a "Silver" rank

Bonus basketballs

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding basketball:


All Silver: Successfully complete the Dribbling challenges.

Blue and Silver: Successfully complete Training mode.

Blue and Silver: Successfully complete all practice missions.

Cheep-Cheep: Get a "Gold" rank in the Hard Mushroom Cup.

Dice: Get a "Gold" rank in the Hard Flower Cup.

Gold: Collect 5,000 points in your profile

Goomba: Get a "Gold" rank in the Hard Star Cup.

Orange and Purple: Win the Bowser Castle Exhibition.

Pumpkin: Lose five times in Multiplayer mode.

Rainbow: Win five times in Multiplayer mode.

Red and Black: Win the Rainbow Cruise Exhibition.

Red, White, and Blue: Only three point charged shots tourney (Normal Mushroom Cup recommended).

Soccer: Get a "Silver" rank in the Hard Mushroom Cup.

Star: Get a "Gold" rank in the Star Cup.

Watermelon: Get a "Gold" rank in the Flower Cup.

Yellow and Green: Win the Daisy Garden Exhibition.

Yoshi Egg: Get a "Gold" rank in the Mushroom Cup.

Hard mode

Successfully complete the Normal Rainbow Cup to unlock Hard Tournament.

Getting Cactuar

Unlock the Star Cup by winning the Mushroom Cup and the Flower Cup. Instead of getting 100 coins and doing a special move six times, go to Jr. Street (the second course) and get 100 coins. Get a blue coin and do a special move. If you are lucky, you will get three Mario heads and get 420 points. At this point, you will probably be almost through the first half. When it is the second half, repeat the strategy. You should now have at least 840 points. Quit or continue. The message "You unlocked Glare Desert" will appear. Go there and play a little while. You should see a small green lump with spikes. Repeatedly chase and dribble on it. You should hear unusual noises if you listen closely. If you do this enough, Cactuar will pop out with an attack and run off the map. Now, simply win and quit. When you do quit, the message "You unlocked Cactuar" will appear. His icon is a living cactus with arms, legs, eyes, mouth, and hair. He is a speed type. His special is called "1000 Needles". Trace a backwards "Z", starting from the top right, going to the top left, bottom right, and bottom left. Do that twice.

Six Cactaurs

Win the Rainbow Cup and watch the credits closely. At one point, there well be six Cactuars on the beach with a melon ball. There are only supposed to be one or no Cactaur on the field.