Super Mario Kart Pro Tips

[Princess Rescuer]

Super Mario Kart is the first and most difficult Mario Kart game. Many players today find it difficult, and not without reason. First of all, its tracks are flat and it may be difficult to tell where you are going. Second, the AI isn't easy to catch up to, and one "rival" is designated to win every single race (or get 2nd if you win), and some of the tracks are very unforgiving. Bowser Castle 3 has a wall of Thwomps that can all be on the ground at the same time. Donut Plains 3 has a broken bridge that you have to jump over manually. Ghost Valleys have cracks and breaking bridges you can easily fall off of. And Rainbow Road is thin and has no guardrails. Victory will require practice, but these pro tips will help immensely.

First off, if you are playing on a newer console (Wii U or Switch currently), change ZL to A and ZR to R in order to make the controls more like the later games. On the Super Famicom, the controls are awkward. A is the item button.

Second, the second controller can be plugged in. On the Switch, you can use individual Joy-Cons for a second player. You can even select your rival as Player 2 to make them a non-issue. Be sure to quit with them after you've finished each race. They will be gone by the final race or earlier if you have to retry a race yourself. Doing this will lose you the bottom screen map though.

Third, here is the most effective trick. It still doesn't replace practicing and focusing on winning races, but it is great for new players who can't keep up. You can place 1st or 2nd, and they will place 3rd, 4th, or 5th, depending on the difficulty and how much of a lead they have. Let's say you're playing as Bowser, experiencing the tumult of 150cc for the first time, and you're losing. Your designated rival, Mario is leading by six points. He has a 2nd and two 1sts, while you have a 1st, a second, and a 3rd. However, in race #4, you shoot a red shell at him by the end of the final lap, and he spins out. And since this is 150cc, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi are going at full speed ahead and pass him as well. You come in first, Mario comes in fifth. You score 9 more points- than your rival- in one race. You just went from trailing by 6 points to leading by 3 going into the final race. Do this more often to whoever the designated rival is (the game swaps it to new ones based on who's in the lead), and you will lead by enough points to still win even if you place in 3rd and 4th in the last two races, or if you're placing 2nd every race because the Rivals will get at least 2 or 3 scores of zero. Expert players will want to stick to winning all the time, but novices can't underestimate the power of a clutch, well timed item hit in the homestretch.

If you're having trouble getting a certain item, you can slow down and get multiple attempts per lap as you use items immediately. In the infamous Bowser Castle 3, there is a shortcut with the Feather you can use where you speed on the dash panel into the corner and use the feather while turning right. This skips the blockade of Thwomps and a couple of turns, usually gaining you a couple of positions. If you use this technique to farm enough item boxes, you can consistently do this shortcut TWICE in one race, potentially saving as much as 12-15 total seconds. Even if you aren't so lucky, you are near guaranteed to get it at least once, and the time save, not to mention evasion of Thwomps, more than makes up for the minor slowdown.

[Princess Rescuer]

Using these strategies, it is possible to gain a 30 point lead over your nearest opponent, giving 2nd place 1/3 of the amount of points you have. On the last race, get a Star or Lightning and hit multiple opponents towards the end in such a way that will make them finish in the necessary order. Here's what I was capable of:

Donkey Kong Jr. ________________________ 45

Nokonoko _____________________________ 15

Bowser _______________________________ 15

Luigi _________________________________ 11

Kinopio _______________________________ 09

Peach ________________________________ 00

Mario ________________________________ 00

Yoshi ________________________________ 00

[Princess Rescuer]

When controlled by the computer, opponents have special items that only they can use. Depending on which character you pick, there is not just one rival, but an entire order of racers pre-determined by the game unless you mess it up. There are only four specific weight classes, and two characters each. In the heavy weight class, Bowser has to deal with both Mario and Luigi, who both have stars, but Donkey Kong Jr. has to deal with Toad, Nokonoko, and Bowser, who are much less annoying.