Mario Kart World Tips and Tricks
In this BigFriendlyGuide, we'll give you some Mario Kart World beginner tips and tricks to help you on the race to Rainbow Road.
Mario Kart World might seem like a slightly prettier Mario Kart when compared to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but it actually has a lot of new things going on. There's rail grinding, wall riding, new outfits to collect, and a whole new open-world-adjacent design that connects all tracks together. For a "simple" kart racer, there's a lot to juggle and learn.
In this BigFriendlyGuide, we'll give you some Mario Kart World beginner tips and tricks to help you on the race to Rainbow Road.
Trail your opponents closely for a big boost
Like in previous Mario Kart games, Mario Kart World has this fun catch-up mechanic where you can get a boost just by driving behind an enemy racer — by drafting. You have to be relatively close to make this happen, but once you get up on someone’s bumper, try and center yourself behind them as much as possible. You’ll see some air streams start to form around your character before the boost kicks in.
You don’t have to press anything to make this happen, so just position yourself well, wait for the proper moment, and blast past the competition.
Use the rail grind and wall ride to your advantage
The rail grind and wall ride are both brand new mechanics in Mario Kart World, and work more or less like you think. By driving up (or jumping onto) a rail, you can ride on it and generate boost sparks, which will shoot you forward once you land on solid ground again. With the wall ride, you can jump onto a wall from a rail or while driving normally (hold the drift buttons while driving straight to boost jump yourself). Both of these mechanics are cool and stylish, but you need to actively remember they're things you can do — especially if you're a Mario Kart veteran and are just focused on the road ahead.
By grinding on rails, you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the road. This is amazing for avoiding things like other drivers, road hazards, and items flying everywhere. Rails also sometimes take you on new routes that act as shortcuts. Even better, because you generate boost while grinding, you'll get some extra speed when you land. Just be aware that rail grinding can also be a little dangerous, as getting hit with an item will knock you off — potentially into a pit. The wall ride is mostly useful in the free roam mode, as you can reach P Switches and coins that might be out of the way. I'm certain there are some clever ways to use it mid-race, but it's probably a bit too advanced for this guide.
Keep a shell or banana peel trailing behind you whenever possible
In Mario Kart World, items drift behind you while you drive, without having to hold a button. This is really helpful for being able to tell what your enemies have and means you don't need to have an uncomfortable claw grip on the controller to ready and hold a shell. However, it does make the game a bit harder to learn. See, some items are hard items, like shells and banana peels, and they will block any incoming enemy projectiles from hitting you (most notably: red shells). Other items are what we'll call soft — like the horn — and they do not block items that hit you.
You're probably going to need to experiment a little bit to learn the difference, but the most important thing is: try to keep a peel or a shell behind you at all times. Green shells can be good for causing chaos or — if you're accurate — hitting enemies. But they're almost always more valuable as a shield to stop red shells, which are otherwise undodgeable (undodgable?). Peels are in a similar boat, as they're great to drop inside of an item block for an unsuspecting racer behind you, but I'd much rather sacrifice one to an enemy shell.
Bags of food are good for more than just an outfit change
Wearable outfits for your characters is a fun new addition to Mario Kart World, and you'll be able to unlock them by picking up a little bag of food on the side of the road. This is cute, but not exactly practical. At least, that's how it seems at first. In reality, these little food bags act as mushrooms that boost you forward when you eat them. They may not always be worth driving over to the side of the road to grab, but if you can pick them up, you definitely want to. Plus, who doesn't want to drive around as Biker Bowser?!
The Super horn is the most important item if you’re in first place
The Super Horn is a little square box with a yellow speaker on the side of it. When you use it, it creates a shockwave burst around your character, making anyone near you spin out. This can be great for overtaking enemy racers, but it isn't even close to the best reason you'll want to use this thing.
The Super Horn is the single most important item for you to hold onto while in first place because it's the only thing that can block a Blue Shell. Yeah, that item designed to even the odds for all the losers and ruin your day when you're in first place? Not a problem if you have the Super Horn.
To do this, you'll need a bit of timing, but the idea is that, when you see the Blue Shell is coming toward you, don't panic. Wait until it appears above your character's head. It'll start to do a little flourish as it dives onto your skull. When you see it move, hit the horn and the Blue Shell will shatter. Do not waste the Super Horn if you get it in second or third place. Believe in yourself and hold onto it for when the Blue Shell targets you.
Always make sure you’re grabbing coins
Coins are amazing in every mode of Mario Kart World, and for not entirely obvious reasons.
First, every 100 coins you get will help you unlock new vehicles for you to play around with. Second, coins actually impact how fast you go in a face. You can have up to 20 coins at once in Mario Kart World (and you'll lose some when you die), and each coin increases your speed. If you see an enemy driver constantly moving faster than you, it's probably because they have more coins.
They may just be for points in Mario's platformers, but coins are critical to your success in Mario Kart World (and real life).
Your character choice will impact your vehicle stats
Speaking of speed, different characters have different stats and weight classes. These combine with your vehicles to drastically impact how your kart or bike drives. This can be a little frustrating if you really want to play a heavy character like Bowser, but prefer the more nimble movements of a lightweight character like Peach. All of the characters are definitely viable — even at 150cc — but you should really experiment with different vehicle and character combos until you find the ones that feel best for you and your style.
Separating from the pack is the easiest way to win the Knockout Rally
Knockout Rally is the big, new mode in Mario Kart World and it rules extremely hard. It's also pretty tough on higher speeds. Because there is no reset, and it's a single, continuous drive where players in lower places get eliminated, it's very easy for one player (or computer, more often than not) to break out from the pack and stay there forever. The game will tell you that you only need to reach a certain place in the early rounds to continue playing, but ignore that advice and go as hard as you possibly can on the first two tracks. Boosts. Items. Coins. Use everything you've learned here to get as far ahead as you possibly can.
As the match goes on, they're gonna send Blue Shells and hordes of Red Shells and a lot of other stuff at you while you're in first. But the further ahead you get, the less those things matter. Your goal is to get so far in the lead that no amount of items will slow you down enough to get overtaken. Just try to remember that if you don't get out ahead, one of the computer enemies will, and they can be very, very hard to catch at 150cc. Good luck.
This post originally appeared on BigFriendly.Guide
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