Mirror Courses
Win the Gold Cup on the 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc courses.
Now, restart the game and you can choose Extra to get the
mirror courses!
Turbo Start
Press the gas just before the blue light comes on and you
will get a turbo to start of the race.
Jump Start
Do the turbo start, and then press R right before you hit
one of the cars. You should blast over all of the cars.
Change Title Screen
Beat all of the cups in the 150cc mode and you will have a
new title screen!
Drafting
Race directly behind another racer and you will get just enough
speed to pass him.
Banana Trick
When you run over a banana peel, press the break immediately
and you won't spin out. In battle mode, you won't lose a baloon
either.
Power Slides
When in a turn hold down R and the opposite direction of the turn
to do a power slide. After you are in the slide, press towards the
direction of the turn and then back to continue the slide (Do this
quickly). The smoke from your slide should change color. After it
changes color three times, you will get a speed burst almost
comparible to a turbo.
Course Ghosts
Beat each of the following courses in the given times and you will
be able to race against the course ghosts!
Course Time
Luigi Raceway 1:52.00
Mario Raceway 1:30.00
Royal Raceway 2:40.00
Shortcuts
Mario Raceway:
Go past the first two turns of the course. Start going up the hill. Just
before the top, go right toward the wall. Press R to jump as you leave
the track. Make sure your kart is lined up so that it is parallel to the wall.
Wario Stadium
You can jump over the wall on the left side of any jump by pressing
R just before you hit the wall.
D.K.'s Jungle Parkway
On either your first or second lap, turn around at the starting line and
enter the cave and head towards the exit (the exit near the finish line,
not the exit near the wooden bridge). Jump into the wall just to the left
of the exit. If you do this right, you will fall into a dark area and Lakitu
will pick you up. If you are dropped in the cave, head to the finish line
to advance a lap.
Kalimari Desert
First, get a star. Follow the track until you get to the second train
crossing. Turn left towards the tunnel. Press Z to activate the star
just before you enter the tunnel. You will advance to the next lap
while in the tunnel. As you come to the track, turn left and you will
be facing the right direction.
Rainbow Road
At the start of the race, don't use a turbo boost. Steer left so that
you are facing the wall at a right angle and press R near the third
yellow tile. If you get lucky you will land on the track below.
Frappe Snowland
At the start of a race, either back up or turn around and go to the
middle of the bridge. Aim towards the front right corner of the bridge.
Go towards the corner and jump just so that you don't hit any of the
track and only snow. Make sure you cross the finish line and go out
of bounds, without ever touching the track. If done correctly, you will
advance a lap.
Yoshi Valley
Just past the point where all of the different tracks merge into one,
look to the left at the guardrail. Do a slide so that you are parallel with
the section of track that is coming into view across the guardrail. If you
aim it up right, you will end up on the other side of the chasm.
Mario Kart 64
Strategy Guide/General Tips
General Tips
Mario Kart 64's vehicles handle quite differently to those you
may have spent the last four years playing Super Mario Kart.
First of all, the tires grip differently. Second, the power-sliding is
totally re-balanced (see below). Third, the karts' center of gravity
has been altered. Finally, you're using an analog controller. Forget
everything you learned in SMK, except the very basics of control.
You'll learn the new gameplay much faster this way.
The design philosophy of the tracks has changed totally. Mario Kart
64 builds a complete 3D landscape, and then arranges the course
around this. What that means for the player is that you have much more
freedom to experiment with shortcuts and new routes. Try experimenting
with the speed burst. And be sure to look at the course layout for potential
"holes" where you can just turbo through the foliage to land up on a section
farther up. There are many of these!
The ground is no longer flat. An obvious point perhaps, but the various
undulations, banked turns, and jumps, all affect your ability to accelerate,
turn, and, most importantly, power-slide to different degrees. This aspect is
actually surprisingly easy to get to grips with. After a few hours of
experience, it should simply become second nature.
The karts, although divided in terms of handling capability, are far
easier to master than in the original SMK. Within a few days, everyone
ought to be performing Mini Turbo power-slides (with the red "E.E.E...")
around corners with ease, as opposed to the almost infinite learning curve
in SMK. Thus, with everyone reaching a similar skill level fairly quickly, the
gameplay emphasis shifts to learning the course topology, and using the
items to the maximum effect.
Control isn't as sharp as in the original. If an object suddenly lands ten
feet ahead of you, there's very little you can do to avoid it. Mario Kart 64
requires that you read ahead to a much greater degree than before.
This is slightly harder to get used to.
The opponents! Play 150cc GP mode, and you'll soon find out that computer
AI running on a 94MHz processor is a lot tougher to beat. This is a
game that will have everyone screaming in disgust at their screens, as
Princess Peach overtakes you AGAIN just one second before the finish
line. How "unfair" you may think the computer's players are. But, if you
use your items perfectly, power-slide perfectly, and race the track well
(see appropriate sections), you will beat everyone consistently. The
difference here is that the other racers always seem to be just five feet
behind you, no matter how well you play. At least Mario
Kart GP is never a lonely experience...
As soon as you start playing, hit the Top 'C' button to change
views. Always play with the zoomed out view. You can see
farther, you are more aware of opponents who are right behind
you (especially important for this game), and you will get a far
superior sensation of speed. Besides, who wants to play with a
fifth of the screen obscured by a massive blurry racing sprite?
No thanks.
It's still here, as you'll know from the N64 HQ cheats section.
We're talking about the speed burst, or "rocket start." But this
time it's graduated. There's no particular formula for getting it right
either; it varies from track to track, from player to player, and even
from player to track! Start accelerating about a second before the
light goes green, and you'll get a turbo of some sort. The earlier you
start accelerating (without spinning out) before the light turns green,
the faster turbo you'll get. If you time it just perfectly (and I mean
PERFECTLY), you'll achieve a burst which will zoom you up to about
80 KPH from the beginning.
How to Power-Slide
Power-sliding is a technique pioneered in the original Mario Kart back
in 1992. Basically, it involves making a small jump just before you start
the turn, and using your kart's sliding momentum to slingshot around
corners without losing any speed. To power-slide in Mario Kart 64, you need
to hold the jump button (right shoulder) from the split-second before
you start turning, keep it held as you start drifting around the corner, and
release "jump" as you move back onto a straight.
The key to successful power-sliding (i.e. not drifting right off the track) is
continually adjusting left and right whilst in the slide. By tapping left or right,
you alter the direction you're facing, and the angle you slide at. Luigi
Raceway is built as a testing ground for power-sliding and is a great
place to practice the above. Once you find that you can drift corners
quite consistently, try wiggling the controller quickly left-right during the
power-slide. This generates greater friction on the tires and changes the
"smoke" on your kart from white, to yellow, and eventually to red.
Importantly, if you release the "jump" button (R button) whilst you're
trailing red smoke, you get a speed boost that lasts about five seconds.
Mini Turbo power-slides (where the "E.E.E..." turns red) are crucial.
Eventually, you're going to want to Mini Turbo power-slide just about
every turn in the game. Once you've mastered this technique, you'll
find the tracks are far more interesting to race, as all have been
designed with this in mind. A further technique is to use several
Mini Turbo power-slides on a long turn. For example, on one of the
long corners on Luigi Raceway, instead of just making one 20 second
long slide as you soon as you hit red smoke, make a jump-turn and, if
you land at the same angle, you'll go straight back into another Mini
Turbo power-slide but with a speed burst. Mastering these multiple
power-slides are crucial for people who want to get the best time
trial scores.
There's no single answer to this. In time, everyone develops their
own preferences, but in this section we can at least outline the
karts' basic attributes. Bear in mind that it is usually best to learn
two characters: one for Time Trial and one for Multi-Player/GP
modes, as both options demand rather different skills as a driver.
Who Is The Best Character To Race With?
The Lightweights
•Toad •Peach •Yoshi
Major attributes that this group have are rapid acceleration
and the ability to drive over grass/rough ground without
slowing too much. However, they both lose a fair amount of
speed if cornering without a power-slide, and in a collision with a
heavier kart, they are more likely to be the ones that go flying. Keep
in mind that although they are in the same racing "class," Peach
and Toad do NOT handle identically. There are minor differences
in power-slide angles and acceleration -- just experiment and
see who you prefer using.
The Middleweights
•Mario •Luigi
Mario and Luigi have basically middle-of-the-road capabilities.
Their handling attributes lie in-between those of the heavy and
light class racers. Personally, I find them to be pretty
useless overall, but you may think otherwise. Again, just play
with whichever feels best to you.
The Heavyweights
•Bowser •Donkey Kong •Wario
Predictably, the heavyweight racers' attributes contrast
pretty directly with those of the lightweight karts. Slower
acceleration (but not higher overall speed) and grass/rough
ground tends to slow them down to a greater extent. However,
they can take corners without power-sliding -- with just a minor loss
in speed. The difference in handling between these three is actually
rather acute. Wario handles much more lightly, in general, than
either Bowser or Donkey Kong.
So who is the best to race with? Well, although everyone will
have differing opinions, I personally find that Wario is the best for
GP/multi-player modes, and Peach is the fastest in time trial. Overall,
Peach's combination of rapid acceleration, easy handling, and an
excellent power-slide boost, make her the racer of choice. Wario
handles in a similar fashion, but with inferior power-slide abilities.
However, it's his superior weight that tips the balance in his
favor for the more crowded racing modes.
Using Items To The Maximum Effect
Mario Kart 64 is, as we all know, a racing game with a difference.
The not-so-standard race genre gameplay is heavily punctuated
with shell attacks, multiple turbos, invulnerability stars, and even the
ability to miniaturize everyone else on track so you can run them over!
What follows is a brief lexicon of what each item's capabilities are, and
how to use them with most dramatic effect.
Mushroom. This humble item gives you a rocket burst of speed that lasts
for about three seconds. The best use you can make of this is to cut
across two stretches of track that are separated by grass/rough ground
that would normally slow you down. The worst use of this is on straight,
flat roads. It really doesn't speed you up that much; it just sustains a high
speed over three seconds of race time.
Triple Mushrooms. Basically the same deal as above, but you get three
of them to use in succession. Remember to wait until the first mushroom
has totally worn off before firing up the second. Hitting all three together
really won't achieve much. Triple Mushrooms are especially useful for
taking massive shortcuts over rough ground. New to Mario Kart 64.
Super Mushroom. This is also new to Mario Kart 64 and makes an active
difference in gameplay. The Super Mushroom gives the racer unlimited
turbos within a period of ten seconds. Again, all the advantages, as outlined
above, can be applied here but to a much greater extent. Try Mini Turbo
power-sliding whilst tapping the turbo button -- that shifts you to about the
fastest maintainable speed in the game.
Super Star. This always was -- and still is -- a brilliant item. Activating this
star basically puts the "Super" into your kart for a short period of time.
You handle better, accelerate quicker, drive about 20% faster than
everyone else, and, best of all, remain invincible for the whole time. You
can use this just about anywhere effectively, but it works best if you stay
on the track and just race on as normal. You'll soon find yourself several
positions higher. NOTE: Whilst invincible, you can take out various objects in
the game: trees, Thwomps (they explode -- very satisfying!), and even
Yoshi's gigantic egg.
Thunder Bolt. Some say that this is the best item in the game. For sure,
it's definitely the most fun to use. Watch your opponents shrink to
dimensions of the cute and helpless variety before running them over.
Seeing some little squealing thing weave desperately about in front of you,
before steam rolling them into the road, is an experience that ranks amongst
video gaming history's most satisfying. Have no mercy! As this is such a
powerful object, you might want to save it for the final lap, and then shrink
everyone and zoom into first place. Racers that are cloaked (ghost) or
invulnerable (star) are not affected by the Thunder Bolt.
Boos. One of the less obviously useful items that can actually devastating
if used correctly. The ghost icon renders the kart invisible to other racers
and invulnerable to all items and attacks. It also gives you whatever is in the
item box of the player closest to you. This is one of the best items to get if
you're in first place: just wait until the guy behind you picks up something
useful (star, lightning, another ghost) and grab it. Mario Kart 64 takes account
of the various players' race positions and awards offensive or defensive
items accordingly. The ghost item allows the leading player to swing the
balance back in their favor.
Fake Item. A wholly new addition to Mario Kart 64. The Fake Item block is
almost identical to the item select boxes you race through, except that this
block has an upside-down question mark and will send you flying if you hit it.
This has the same uses as the Banana, but has the added advantage in that
less experienced racers usually make a huge effort to crash right into it.
Obviously, dropping this inconspicuously in a patch of identical legit boxes is a
good idea. Players soon become naturally suspicious of randomly dropped
lone select boxes around the course...
Banana. Needs no real introduction. I finds that bananas are especially
useful as a defense. If someone fires a red shell at you, hold out the banana
behind, and it'll take the damage instead. The same goes for all "dragable" items
(fake items, shells, etc.), of course. Also, try shooting your banana out in front
by holding up on the stick as you fire.
Banana Bunch. Same as above, but you get five-in-one. An additional use
for this is to just race with all five bananas trailing behind you. If you see
anyone coming up from behind, it doesn't take much to swing your lethal
chain of fruits right into them.
Green Shell. Mario Kart 64's most basic offensive item. Green shells
are rather slow, and once fired, you may find yourselves overtaking
them again. These are most effective at close range, either directly in front
or behind your kart. Hold down on the stick as you fire to send them
straight backwards.
Triple Green Shells. Again, the same functions as above, but you can't fire
these backwards (a pity). For some reason, firing off all three green shells
together usually results in them rebounding right back and hitting you...
Unfired triple green shells circle defensively around you, creating a shield
from other shells, bananas, players, etc.
Red Shell. The infamous item from the original game is back with a
vengeance. Red shells seek out the person directly in front of you
when fired. They cannot be fired backwards, though. Much more intelligent
than the original, these red shells may traverse the whole track and hit you if
you get in the way!
Triple Red Shells. Basically the same deal as the Triple Green Shells.
Although all three can be fired off in rapid succession, it is usually best to
leave a few seconds in-between each shot. If timed properly, you can
extend your opponents spin-out with multiple shots. Otherwise, if rapidly
fired at the opponent, they won't do any more damage.
Spiny Shell. A very cool new addition to Mario Kart 64, the spiny shell is
unlike the other colored shells, in that it has superb intelligence. When
you fire the spiny shell, it will "lock-on" to the race leader in two
seconds, before rocketing off ahead to take him out. The spiny shell
seems to randomly attack/miss the players it meets on its journey to
the race leader. (It does not take out everyone that gets in its way, as
some reports have suggested.) Be sure to fire spiny shells with enough
clear space ahead for them to get a lock on the race leader.
Course Shortcuts
In the General Tips section, I mentioned how each course in Mario
Kart 64 is built around an unique 3D "world." This means that the player
isn't as restricted to the designated course as in other racing games.
Frequently, the course has no defined edges, allowing you to basically
drive off and explore the landscape (Royal Raceway, for example,
where the entire castle from Super Mario 64 is replicated). However,
this open approach to course design also opens up the shortcut
potential significantly. In fact, the potential was so great that they had
to remove the Feather item that was in the pre-production copy of the
game. A few sample shortcuts are detailed below, but I'm fairly sure
that there are more.
Koopa Troopa Beach
The most obviously "pre-programmed" of Mario Kart 64's shortcuts and
quite easy to pull off, too. About halfway into the course, there's a series
of jumps, followed by a final jump that takes you into a little cave in the
mountain. Drive through this cave, and you end up on the other side of
the mountain, cutting out about 10 seconds worth of the course. You
need to either have a star or use a mushroom to make the jump into the
cave.
Choco Mountain
Although not strictly a shortcut, I've included this course because of its
"openness." There are nearly ten locations where you can rapidly tap the
jump button (R button) to hop up extensive areas of hillside (look for the
least steep areas). In addition, there's one point which very much looks like a
massive shortcut, but I haven't managed to get through it yet. If you want to
try for yourself, it's directly after the overhead bridge (with the two "eye-like"
holes). On the right side after the bridge, there's a section of much less steep
hillside, which you can climb a fair way up by "hopping." There's a narrow
steep section at the top, followed by further less steep hillside after this. This
potential shortcut occurs at a precise point on the course map where two
sections of the track cross over. Suspicious placing or just coincidence? Take
a look for yourself next time you're there...
Mario Raceway
Have a look at the Time Trials section for details on this one. A difficult but
essential shortcut is necessary if you want to get a world-beating time on
Mario Raceway.
Wario Stadium
This shortcut literally takes nearly half your lap time off if done correctly.
As soon as you begin, you'll see a series of short humps on the initial
starting straight. Position your kart on the absolute TOP RIDGE of the first
hump, face left (i.e. into the course), and hit turbo. As you rocket straight
into the wall, start tapping the jump button quickly, and you'll skip right over
onto the other side, landing on a much later section of the course. Actually,
this even works without a mushroom, as long as you're perfectly on the
top of the hump, and at exactly 90 degrees to the wall you're about to jump.
Royal Raceway
This one is VERY tough, but basically takes most of the course out of the
equation. Start as normal and pass the various early bends until you reach
the long uphill straight with the huge jump at the end. Just before you hit the
last set of turbo arrows that will send you over the jump, use an additional
mushroom and turn hard left as you leave the jump. The millisecond before
you leave the tarmac, press the R button for a little extra height. If you've
done all this correctly, you'll sail over that huge stretch of water, and land
neatly on the bank just before the finishing line. You may hit the side of the
bank and fall into the water, which is also fine as you're kindly dumped
back at the end of the lap. NOTE: This is a very tough one to do, but it IS
possible!
DK's Jungle Parkway
Kind of a silly one, but you might as well know about it. In this course a
long jump takes you over a stretch of water (and sometimes a Huck
Finn-style river boat). You actually don't need to go the extra distance to
take the jump from the bridge -- just turn hard left at the underside of the
bridge, and hop onto the little island halfway across the river. You'll be
picked up from there, and put forward to where you'd normally start the
jump from. You may actually be able to hop a second time from the little
island, onto the land over the other side, but I certainly haven't managed it
yet. Either way, you'll need a turbo mushroom to make the jump.
Rainbow Road
In terms of the easiness to usefulness ratio, this shortcut probably wins
out overall. As soon as you start on this course, you'll be confronted with
a huge downhill section, driving over which usually enables your kart to
catch some air. Race full speed down the hill, and just before you begin to
feel your kart trying to lift off the ground (about two seconds into the slope),
turn hard left and hit the R button to jump. You'll find yourself floating towards
another section of track, located about 30 seconds on from where you jumped
off. To do this shortcut properly, you need to ensure you jump off at the right
height, and most importantly, hold down the brake as soon as you're
floating, or the inertia on landing will bounce you right off the
other side of the track!
Multi-Player Tactics:
Be unbeatable!
In addition to being a huge (and exclusive) selling point for
Nintendo, three- and four-player Mario Kart is never anything less
than an intense, hilarious, button-bashing, competitive racing
experience. As far as long term replayability is concerned, multi-player
is where this game is at. Of course, here more than anywhere
else, individuality is the key to interesting racing, so we'll restrict
our advice to only the most consistently useful tactics.
Without a doubt, the most useful multi-player (and indeed GP)
tactic is the crafty use of select boxes. The game engine's (in the
sense of the actual programming code) most pronounced equalizer
is the allocation of offensive and defensive items according to your
position in the race order. If you're first, you'll never get an item that
will allow you to zoom off into an even wider lead. You'll certainly
never get a Thunder Bolt or Super Star, and you'll get Red Shells
perhaps 5% of the time (in other words: don't count on it). What you
will get, however, are lots of single Bananas, Banana Bunches, Fake
Item boxes, and the odd Green Shell. These are given to you for a
reason: they can all be used as obstacles for those behind you.
The other items (mushrooms, ghosts) appear more randomly.
Armed with this information, there's a fair amount you can do to
manipulate the kind of item you're going to get out of each select
box. Perhaps the nastiest (but most effective) tactic is to race neck
and neck with another player; hit the brakes just before the last
select box on the last lap; grab a star, lightning or red shell; and
take them out in the last 20 seconds of the race. This works with
brutal effectiveness, as dropping behind at that stage of the race
usually makes the game very sympathetic. Your chance of getting a
fatally offensive item is upwards of 70%.
Mario Kart 64's multi-player mode very much stresses the use of
items over racing skill. Don't worry if you're way behind in the first
two laps -- unless there's a ridiculous disparity in skill between
players -- since the whole race is basically decided in the last lap
or even the last half lap. This re-emphasizes the significance of
the tactic described above.
Choose a bigger player (Wario is highly recommended), and
you'll find that any collision with the smaller racers will usually
result in them spinning out. Contact between the karts has a lot
more effect in this game than in SMK.
If you're a good racer, but always get taken out at the last lap by
those behind you who keep getting major offensive items, then
this one is for you. Try starting out behind everyone else, and
keep going through select boxes until you are given a Thunder
Bolt. Then start to overtake the other racers using your basic
superior skill towards the beginning of the last lap. The other
racers shouldn't get too many nasty items to use against you,
since you'll be behind them initially. The minute you reach first
place, use your lightning and watch everyone else disappear
back into the distance...
If you're playing multi-player GP mode (i.e. two friends
versus six computer opponents), it's important to play
cooperatively. There's a lot you can do to help each other;
for example, if one person gets a Thunder Bolt, wait until the
other gets an invulnerability star or ghost, and let them use it as
you use your lightning. This way, all the computer players are
shrunk and you'll both be able to get a big lead. If you're finding
the 150cc or Mirror tracks a bit difficult, try racing with a
friend, and let them just sit and irritate the computer drivers
(like getting them to wait 30 feet behind the finish line with three red shells...).
As I said before, multi-player is really about individual style.
But pick a decent (heavy) racer, and you can always
manipulate what kind of items you will get to ensure a first
place. That is, until everyone else catches onto your little scheme.
Mario Kart 64's vehicles handle quite differently to those you
may have spent the last four years playing Super Mario Kart.
First of all, the tires grip differently. Second, the power-sliding
is totally re-balanced (see below). Third, the karts' center of
gravity has been altered. Finally, you're using an analog controller.
Forget everything you learned in SMK, except the very basics of
control. You'll learn the new gameplay much faster this way.
The design philosophy of the tracks has changed totally. Mario Kart
64 builds a complete 3D landscape, and then arranges the course
around this. What that means for the player is that you have much
more freedom to experiment with shortcuts and new routes. Try
experimenting with the speed burst. And be sure to look at the
course layout for potential "holes" where you can just turbo
through the foliage to land up on a section farther up. There are
many of these!
The ground is no longer flat. An obvious point perhaps, but the
various undulations, banked turns, and jumps, all affect your ability
to accelerate, turn, and, most importantly, power-slide to different
degrees. This aspect is actually surprisingly easy to get to grips with.
After a few hours of experience, it should simply become second nature.
The karts, although divided in terms of handling capability, are far easier
to master than in the original SMK. Within a few days, everyone ought to
be performing Mini Turbo power-slides (with the red "E.E.E...") around
corners with ease, as opposed to the almost infinite learning curve in
SMK. Thus, with everyone reaching a similar skill level fairly quickly, the
gameplay emphasis shifts to learning the course topology, and using
the items to the maximum effect.
Control isn't as sharp as in the original. If an object suddenly lands ten
feet ahead of you, there's very little you can do to avoid it. Mario Kart 64
requires that you read ahead to a much greater degree than before.
This is slightly harder to get used to.
The opponents! Play 150cc GP mode, and you'll soon find out that
computer AI running on a 94MHz processor is a lot tougher to beat.
This is a game that will have everyone screaming in disgust at their
screens, as Princess Peach overtakes you AGAIN just one second
before the finish line. How "unfair" you may think the computer's players
are. But, if you use your items perfectly, power-slide perfectly,
and race the track well (see appropriate sections), you will beat
everyone consistently. The difference here is that the other racers
always seem to be just five feet behind you, no matter how well
you play. At least Mario Kart GP is never a
lonely experience...
As soon as you start playing, hit the Top 'C' button to change views.
Always play with the zoomed out view. You can see farther, you
are more aware of opponents who are right behind you (especially
important for this game), and you will get a far superior sensation
of speed. Besides, who wants to play with a fifth of the screen
obscured by a massive blurry racing sprite? No thanks.
It's still here, as you'll know from the N64 HQ cheats section. We're
talking about the speed burst, or "rocket start." But this time it's
graduated. There's no particular formula for getting it right either; it
varies from track to track, from player to player, and even from player
to track! Start accelerating about a second before the light goes green,
and you'll get a turbo of some sort. The earlier you start accelerating
(without spinning out) before the light turns green, the faster turbo you'll
get. If you time it just perfectly (and I mean PERFECTLY), you'll achieve
a burst which will zoom you up to about 80 KPH from the beginning.
How to Power-Slide
Power-sliding is a technique pioneered in the original Mario Kart
back in 1992. Basically, it involves making a small jump just before you
start the turn, and using your kart's sliding momentum to slingshot
around corners without losing any speed. To power-slide in Mario Kart
64, you need to hold the jump button (right shoulder) from the split-second
before you start turning, keep it held as you start drifting around the corner,
and release "jump" as you move back onto a straight.
The key to successful power-sliding (i.e. not drifting right off the track) is
continually adjusting left and right whilst in the slide. By tapping left or right,
you alter the direction you're facing, and the angle you slide at. Luigi
Raceway is built as a testing ground for power-sliding and is a great place
to practice the above. Once you find that you can drift corners quite
consistently, try wiggling the controller quickly left-right during the
power-slide. This generates greater friction on the tires and changes
the "smoke" on your kart from white, to yellow, and eventually to
red. Importantly, if you release the "jump" button (R button) whilst
you're trailing red smoke, you get a speed boost that lasts about
five seconds.
Mini Turbo power-slides (where the "E.E.E..." turns red) are crucial.
Eventually, you're going to want to Mini Turbo power-slide just
about every turn in the game. Once you've mastered this technique,
you'll find the tracks are far more interesting to race, as all have been
designed with this in mind. A further technique is to use several Mini
Turbo power-slides on a long turn. For example, on one of the long
corners on Luigi Raceway, instead of just making one 20 second long
slide as you soon as you hit red smoke, make a jump-turn and, if you land
at the same angle, you'll go straight back into another Mini Turbo
power-slide but with a speed burst. Mastering these multiple
power-slides are crucial for people who want to get the best
time trial scores.
There's no single answer to this. In time, everyone develops their
own preferences, but in this section we can at least outline the
karts' basic attributes. Bear in mind that it is usually best to learn two
characters: one for Time Trial and one for Multi-Player/GP modes, as
both options demand rather different skills as a driver.
Who Is The Best Character To Race With?
The Lightweights
•Toad •Peach •Yoshi
Major attributes that this group have are rapid acceleration and
the ability to drive over grass/rough ground without slowing too
much. However, they both lose a fair amount of speed if cornering
without a power-slide, and in a collision with a heavier kart, they are
more likely to be the ones that go flying. Keep in mind that although
they are in the same racing "class," Peach and Toad do NOT handle
identically. There are minor differences in power-slide angles and
acceleration -- just experiment and see who you prefer using.
The Middleweights
•Mario •Luigi
Mario and Luigi have basically middle-of-the-road capabilities. Their
handling attributes lie in-between those of the heavy and light class
racers. Personally, I find them to be pretty useless overall, but you
may think otherwise. Again, just play with whichever feels best to you.
The Heavyweights
•Bowser •Donkey Kong •Wario
Predictably, the heavyweight racers' attributes contrast pretty
directly with those of the lightweight karts. Slower acceleration
(but not higher overall speed) and grass/rough ground tends to
slow them down to a greater extent. However, they can take
corners without power-sliding -- with just a minor loss in speed.
The difference in handling between these three is actually rather
acute. Wario handles much more lightly, in general, than either
Bowser or Donkey Kong.
So who is the best to race with? Well, although everyone will have
differing opinions, I personally find that Wario is the best for
GP/ multi-player modes, and Peach is the fastest in time trial.
Overall, Peach's combination of rapid acceleration, easy handling,
and an excellent power-slide boost, make her the racer of choice.
Wario handles in a similar fashion, but with inferior power-slide
abilities. However, it's his superior weight that tips the balance in
his favor for the more crowded racing modes.
Using Items To The Maximum Effect
Mario Kart 64 is, as we all know, a racing game with a difference.
The not-so-standard race genre gameplay is heavily punctuated
with shell attacks, multiple turbos, invulnerability stars, and even the
ability to miniaturize everyone else on track so you can run them
over! What follows is a brief lexicon of what each item's capabilities
are, and how to use them with most dramatic effect.
Mushroom. This humble item gives you a rocket burst of speed that
lasts for about three seconds. The best use you can make of this is
to cut across two stretches of track that are separated by grass/rough
ground that would normally slow you down. The worst use of this is on
straight, flat roads. It really doesn't speed you up that much; it just
sustains a high speed over three seconds of race time.
Triple Mushrooms. Basically the same deal as above, but you get three
of them to use in succession. Remember to wait until the first mushroom
has totally worn off before firing up the second. Hitting all three
together really won't achieve much. Triple Mushrooms are especially
useful for taking massive shortcuts over rough ground. New to
Mario Kart 64.
Super Mushroom. This is also new to Mario Kart 64 and makes an
active difference in gameplay. The Super Mushroom gives the racer
unlimited turbos within a period of ten seconds. Again, all the
advantages, as outlined above, can be applied here but to a much
greater extent. Try Mini Turbo power-sliding whilst tapping the
turbo button -- that shifts you to about the fastest maintainable
speed in the game.
Super Star. This always was -- and still is -- a brilliant item. Activating
this star basically puts the "Super" into your kart for a short period of
time. You handle better, accelerate quicker, drive about 20% faster than
everyone else, and, best of all, remain invincible for the whole time. You
can use this just about anywhere effectively, but it works best if you stay
on the track and just race on as normal. You'll soon find yourself several
positions higher. NOTE: Whilst invincible, you can take out various objects
in the game: trees, Thwomps (they explode -- very satisfying!), and even
Yoshi's gigantic egg.
Thunder Bolt. Some say that this is the best item in the game. For sure,
it's definitely the most fun to use. Watch your opponents shrink to
dimensions of the cute and helpless variety before running them
over. Seeing some little squealing thing weave desperately about in
front of you, before steam rolling them into the road, is an experience
that ranks amongst video gaming history's most satisfying.
Have no mercy! As this is such a powerful object, you might
want to save it for the final lap, and then shrink everyone and
zoom into first place. Racers that are cloaked (ghost) or invulnerable
(star) are not affected by the Thunder Bolt.
Boos. One of the less obviously useful items that can actually
devastating if used correctly. The ghost icon renders the kart
invisible to other racers and invulnerable to all items and attacks.
It also gives you whatever is in the item box of the player closest
to you. This is one of the best items to get if you're in first place:
just wait until the guy behind you picks up something useful (star,
lightning, another ghost) and grab it. Mario Kart 64 takes account
of the various players' race positions and awards offensive or
defensive items accordingly. The ghost item allows the leading
player to swing the balance back in their favor.
Fake Item. A wholly new addition to Mario Kart 64. The Fake
Item block is almost identical to the item select boxes you race
through, except that this block has an upside-down question
mark and will send you flying if you hit it. This has the same
uses as the Banana, but has the added advantage in that less
experienced racers usually make a huge effort to crash right
into it. Obviously, dropping this inconspicuously in a patch of
identical legit boxes is a good idea. Players soon become naturally
suspicious of randomly dropped lone select boxes around the
course...
Banana. Needs no real introduction. I finds that bananas are
especially useful as a defense. If someone fires a red shell at you,
hold out the banana behind, and it'll take the damage instead. The
same goes for all "dragable" items (fake items, shells, etc.), of course.
Also, try shooting your banana out in front by holding up on the stick
as you fire.
Banana Bunch. Same as above, but you get five-in-one. An additional
use for this is to just race with all five bananas trailing behind you.
If you see anyone coming up from behind, it doesn't take much to
swing your lethal chain of fruits right into them.
Green Shell. Mario Kart 64's most basic offensive item. Green
shells are rather slow, and once fired, you may find yourselves
overtaking them again. These are most effective at close range,
either directly in front or behind your kart. Hold down on the stick
as you fire to send them straight backwards.
Triple Green Shells. Again, the same functions as above,
but you can't fire these backwards (a pity). For some reason,
firing off all three green shells together usually results in
them rebounding right back and hitting you... Unfired triple green
shells circle defensively around you, creating a shield from
other shells, bananas, players, etc.
Red Shell. The infamous item from the original game is back
with a vengeance. Red shells seek out the person directly in
front of you when fired. They cannot be fired backwards,
though. Much more intelligent than the original, these red shells
may traverse the whole track and hit you if you get in the way!
Triple Red Shells. Basically the same deal as the Triple Green
Shells. Although all three can be fired off in rapid succession,
it is usually best to leave a few seconds in-between each shot.
If timed properly, you can extend your opponents spin-out with
multiple shots. Otherwise, if rapidly fired at the opponent, they
won't do any more damage.
Spiny Shell. A very cool new addition to Mario Kart 64, the spiny
shell is unlike the other colored shells, in that it has superb
intelligence. When you fire the spiny shell, it will "lock-on" to the
race leader in two seconds, before rocketing off ahead to take
him out. The spiny shell seems to randomly attack/miss the
players it meets on its journey to the race leader. (It does not
take out everyone that gets in its way, as some reports have
suggested.) Be sure to fire spiny shells with enough clear space
ahead for them to get a lock on the race leader.
Course Shortcuts
In the General Tips section, I mentioned how each course in
Mario Kart 64 is built around an unique 3D "world." This
means that the player isn't as restricted to the designated
course as in other racing games. Frequently, the course has
no defined edges, allowing you to basically drive off and
explore the landscape (Royal Raceway, for example, where
the entire castle from Super Mario 64 is replicated). However,
this open approach to course design also opens up the shortcut
potential significantly. In fact, the potential was so great that
they had to remove the Feather item that was in the pre-
production copy of the game. A few sample shortcuts are
detailed below, but I'm fairly sure that there are more.
Koopa Troopa Beach
The most obviously "pre-programmed" of Mario Kart 64's shortcuts
and quite easy to pull off, too. About halfway into the course, there's
a series of jumps, followed by a final jump that takes you into a
little cave in the mountain. Drive through this cave, and you end
up on the other side of the mountain, cutting out about 10
seconds worth of the course. You need to either have a star
or use a mushroom to make the jump into the cave.
Choco Mountain
Although not strictly a shortcut, I've included this course because
of its "openness." There are nearly ten locations where you can
rapidly tap the jump button (R button) to hop up extensive areas of
hillside (look for the least steep areas). In addition, there's one
point which very much looks like a massive shortcut, but I haven't
managed to get through it yet. If you want to try for yourself, it's
directly after the overhead bridge (with the two "eye-like" holes).
On the right side after the bridge, there's a section of much less
steep hillside, which you can climb a fair way up by "hopping."
There's a narrow steep section at the top, followed by further
less steep hillside after this. This potential shortcut occurs at a
precise point on the course map where two sections of the track
cross over. Suspicious placing or just coincidence? Take a look
for yourself next time you're there...
Mario Raceway
Have a look at the Time Trials section for details on this one.
A difficult but essential shortcut is necessary if you want to
get a world-beating time on Mario Raceway.
Wario Stadium
This shortcut literally takes nearly half your lap time off if done
correctly. As soon as you begin, you'll see a series of short
humps on the initial starting straight. Position your kart on the
absolute TOP RIDGE of the first hump, face left (i.e. into the course),
and hit turbo. As you rocket straight into the wall, start tapping the
jump button quickly, and you'll skip right over onto the other side,
landing on a much later section of the course. Actually, this even
works without a mushroom, as long as you're perfectly on the
top of the hump, and at exactly 90 degrees to the wall you're
about to jump.
Royal Raceway
This one is VERY tough, but basically takes most of the course
out of the equation. Start as normal and pass the various early
bends until you reach the long uphill straight with the huge
jump at the end. Just before you hit the last set of turbo arrows
that will send you over the jump, use an additional mushroom
and turn hard left as you leave the jump. The millisecond
before you leave the tarmac, press the R button for a little
extra height. If you've done all this correctly, you'll sail over
that huge stretch of water, and land neatly on the bank just
before the finishing line. You may hit the side of the bank and
fall into the water, which is also fine as you're kindly dumped
back at the end of the lap. NOTE: This is a very tough one to do,
but it IS possible!
DK's Jungle Parkway
Kind of a silly one, but you might as well know about it. In this
course a long jump takes you over a stretch of water (and
sometimes a Huck Finn-style river boat). You actually don't
need to go the extra distance to take the jump from the bridge --
just turn hard left at the underside of the bridge, and hop onto the
little island halfway across the river. You'll be picked up from
there, and put forward to where you'd normally start the jump
from. You may actually be able to hop a second time from the
little island, onto the land over the other side, but I certainly haven't
managed it yet. Either way, you'll need a turbo mushroom to make
the jump.
Rainbow Road
In terms of the easiness to usefulness ratio, this shortcut probably
wins out overall. As soon as you start on this course, you'll be
confronted with a huge downhill section, driving over which
usually enables your kart to catch some air. Race full speed down
the hill, and just before you begin to feel your kart trying to lift off
the ground (about two seconds into the slope), turn hard left and
hit the R button to jump. You'll find yourself floating towards
another section of track, located about 30 seconds on from
where you jumped off. To do this shortcut properly, you need to
ensure you jump off at the right height, and most importantly, hold
down the brake as soon as you're floating, or the inertia on
landing will bounce you right off the other side of the track!
Multi-Player Tactics:
Be unbeatable!
In addition to being a huge (and exclusive) selling point for
Nintendo, three- and four-player Mario Kart is never anything
less than an intense, hilarious, button-bashing, competitive racing
experience. As far as long term replayability is concerned,
multi-player is where this game is at. Of course, here more than
anywhere else, individuality is the key to interesting racing, so
we'll restrict our advice to only the most consistently useful tactics.
Without a doubt, the most useful multi-player (and indeed GP)
tactic is the crafty use of select boxes. The game engine's (in the
sense of the actual programming code) most pronounced equalizer
is the allocation of offensive and defensive items according to
your position in the race order. If you're first, you'll never get an
item that will allow you to zoom off into an even wider lead. You'll
certainly never get a Thunder Bolt or Super Star, and you'll get Red
Shells perhaps 5% of the time (in other words: don't count on it).
What you will get, however, are lots of single Bananas, Banana
Bunches, Fake Item boxes, and the odd Green Shell. These are
given to you for a reason: they can all be used as obstacles for
those behind you. The other items (mushrooms, ghosts) appear
more randomly.
Armed with this information, there's a fair amount you can do
to manipulate the kind of item you're going to get out of each select
box. Perhaps the nastiest (but most effective) tactic is to race
neck and neck with another player; hit the brakes just before the
last select box on the last lap; grab a star, lightning or red shell;
and take them out in the last 20 seconds of the race. This works
with brutal effectiveness, as dropping behind at that stage of the
race usually makes the game very sympathetic. Your chance of
getting a fatally offensive item is upwards of 70%.
Mario Kart 64's multi-player mode very much stresses the use
of items over racing skill. Don't worry if you're way behind in the
first two laps -- unless there's a ridiculous disparity in skill
between players -- since the whole race is basically decided in
the last lap or even the last half lap. This re-emphasizes the
significance of the tactic described above.
Choose a bigger player (Wario is highly recommended), and
you'll find that any collision with the smaller racers will usually
result in them spinning out. Contact between the karts has a lot
more effect in this game than in SMK.
If you're a good racer, but always get taken out at the last lap
by those behind you who keep getting major offensive items,
then this one is for you. Try starting out behind everyone else,
and keep going through select boxes until you are given a Thunder
Bolt. Then start to overtake the other racers using your basic
superior skill towards the beginning of the last lap. The other racers
shouldn't get too many nasty items to use against you, since
you'll be behind them initially. The minute you reach first place,
use your lightning and watch everyone else disappear back into
the distance..
If you're playing multi-player GP mode (i.e. two friends versus
six computer opponents), it's important to play cooperatively.
There's a lot you can do to help each other; for example, if one
person gets a Thunder Bolt, wait until the other gets an invulnerability
star or ghost, and let them use it as you use your lightning. This way,
all the computer players are shrunk and you'll both be able to get a
big lead. If you're finding the 150cc or Mirror tracks a bit difficult, try
racing with a friend, and let them just sit and irritate the computer
drivers (like getting them to wait 30 feet behind the finish line with
three red shells...).
As I said before, multi-player is really about individual style. But
pick a decent (heavy) racer, and you can always manipulate
what kind of items you will get to ensure a first place. That is,
until everyone else catches onto your little scheme.
