Successfully complete the Normal Mushroom Cup to unlock the Flower Cup.
Rainbow CupSuccessfully complete the Normal Star Cup to unlock the Rainbow Cup.
Star CupSuccessfully complete the Normal Flower Cup to unlock the Star Cup.
Gira Gira Desert stageWin by 800 points in the Normal Star Cup to unlock the Gira Gira Desert stage.
Moogle Garden stageDunk 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 stagePlay 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 BirdoSuccessfully complete the Hard Mushroom Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Birdo.
Play as Black MageSuccessfully complete the Normal Rainbow Cup with a "Gold" rank to unlock Black Mage.
Play as BooSuccessfully complete the Hard Flower Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Boo.
Play as BowserSuccessfully complete the Normal Star Cup to unlock Bowser.
Play as CactuarPlay 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 KongSuccessfully complete the Normal Flower Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Dixie Kong.
Play as FlyguySuccessfully complete the Hard Star Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Flyguy.
Play as MoogleSuccessfully complete the Normal Star Cup with a "Silver" rank to unlock Moogle.
Successfully complete the Normal Rainbow Cup to unlock Ninja.
Play as ParatroopaSuccessfully complete the Normal Mushroom Cup with a "Bronze" rank to unlock Paratroopa.
Play as White MageSuccessfully complete the Normal Rainbow Cup with a "Silver" rank to unlock White Mage.
Alternate costumesWin 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
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.
- Metal Ball with Gold Spikes: Get a "Gold" rank in the Normal 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 Flower Cup.
Successfully complete the Normal Rainbow Cup to unlock Hard Tournament.
Saikyou modeSuccessfully complete the Hard Rainbow Cup to unlock Saikyou mode (6 under the COM level) in Exhibition mode.
Rainbow Road Dribble RaceBreak the Peach Castle (45 seconds) and Sunshine Road (55 seconds) Dribble Race records to unlock the third Dribble Race, Rainbow Road (1 minute).
Bonus Coin Hunters mode levelsWin five consecutive Coin Hunter mode games to unlock the Mario Classic 2-2 and Forest Stage levels.
Slam dunk on Petey PirahnaRun around a while, staying near Petey and he will fall asleep. There will be a bubble on his head, and he will snore with his head tilted. Quickly do a slam dunk or special at this time before he wakes up.
Getting CactuarUnlock 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 CactaursWin 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.