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Mario Kart World Tips And Tricks To Help You Cross The Finish Line
Mario Kart World and the Nintendo Switch 2 have finally arrived, letting Nintendo fans play a new Mario Kart for the first time since the Wii U. Mario Kart World maintains the same core components as previous games, but a larger number of racers and an open world connecting all of the tracks changes up how the game is played. That means there are new strategies and secrets to discover. We've gathered some of our best tips for winning races, along with some of the secrets you should prioritize finding. New Boo item techniquesWhen it comes to tips for Mario Kart World, there are tons of small new techniques for you to take advantage of. One is for the Boo item, which has returned from previous games. In Mario Kart World, the Boo item makes it so you don't take a speed penalty for driving offroad, something previously done in Mario Kart DS. Normally you need a mushroom or something to speed across offroad sections, or otherwise take a heavy speed penalty, but that isn't true while you are invisible from using Boo. You can aim items left and rightAnother new technique is the ability to aim items left and right for throwing. Normally, you can throw items forward or backward, but you couldn't throw them to the sides. Now you can, by looking left or right with the right stick before throwing the item. This technique is a little awkward with the default controls, since you are holding A for the gas, and would have to let go to comfortably use the right thumbstick, but you can remap the controls in the settings. The direction of the item you throw goes is determined by the left stick, but without using the right stick you won't be able to see what you are aiming at. You can dodge Blue Shells in single playerAnother neat trick is one that only works in single-player, because that's when you can use the rewind feature. Using the rewind feature, which will back you up while everyone else continues to move forward, will allow you to dodge Blue Shells. As a Blue Shell goes to explode near you for the crime of winning, you can hold the rewind, which will cause the shell to drop in front of you, saving you from being hit. You go backwards while this happens, so you still lose a little bit of your lead, but you keep your momentum and items, which is a huge win. You can't rewind in multiplayer, so this technique won't help you online, but it could make getting three stars in all of the cups a bit easier. Smart Steering is on by default, but can be easily turned offBy default, Smart Steering is on the first time you boot up Mario Kart World. Smart Steering keeps you on the main track if you veer off, but is likely something you don't want on. Hitting X on the kart selection screen will bring up the option so you can turn it off, but it can also be done from the pause menu during a race. You can find other options, such as auto-accelerate, auto-use item, and tilt controls, in that menu, although these are all off by default. You can enjoy Mirror Mode in Free RoamYou can play in Mirror Mode in Free Roam by completing a short easter egg. That easter egg is a throwback to Mario 64, having you drive into the giant stained-glass Peach at Peach Stadium. It's unclear if you need to unlock Mirror Mode for the rest of the game first, but we have those details further down. Completing higher CC cups gives you the lower onesIf you are a completionist looking to get three gold stars on each cup in Mario Kart World, you might be tempted to start at 50cc and work your way up. If you don't want to do that though, completing a cup at a higher cc awards the ones below. So, if you complete a cup on 150cc and win first place, you will also receive gold trophies on 100cc and 50cc. This can save you some of the tedium of replaying all of these cups, or playing on a difficulty beneath your skills. You can see which characters still have costumes to unlockThe number of costumes each character has varies wildly, with some having 10, and others only having one or two. This makes keeping track of which characters still have costumes a bit of a pain, but there are a couple of ways to check. On the character selection screen, heading all the way to the final page will show some locked character icons. The silhouettes represented here are the characters you are missing costumes for. If you see the shadow of Waluigi, you have more Waluigi costumes to unlock. In Free Roam on the map, if you hover over a character's icon, a series of boxes will appear, showing not only which costumes you have gotten, but the exact number you are missing. Make sure to do tricks off grind railsRail grinding is a new feature in Mario Kart World, letting you gain speed and a drift speed boost while riding the rail. In order to cash in on that built-up boost, you need to jump off the rail by doing a trick using the R or ZR. The direction you point the left stick determines which way you will jump, as you move left or right, but you can also point f
Mario Kart World and the Nintendo Switch 2 have finally arrived, letting Nintendo fans play a new Mario Kart for the first time since the Wii U. Mario Kart World maintains the same core components as previous games, but a larger number of racers and an open world connecting all of the tracks changes up how the game is played. That means there are new strategies and secrets to discover. We've gathered some of our best tips for winning races, along with some of the secrets you should prioritize finding.
New Boo item techniques
When it comes to tips for Mario Kart World, there are tons of small new techniques for you to take advantage of. One is for the Boo item, which has returned from previous games. In Mario Kart World, the Boo item makes it so you don't take a speed penalty for driving offroad, something previously done in Mario Kart DS. Normally you need a mushroom or something to speed across offroad sections, or otherwise take a heavy speed penalty, but that isn't true while you are invisible from using Boo.
You can aim items left and right
Another new technique is the ability to aim items left and right for throwing. Normally, you can throw items forward or backward, but you couldn't throw them to the sides. Now you can, by looking left or right with the right stick before throwing the item. This technique is a little awkward with the default controls, since you are holding A for the gas, and would have to let go to comfortably use the right thumbstick, but you can remap the controls in the settings. The direction of the item you throw goes is determined by the left stick, but without using the right stick you won't be able to see what you are aiming at.
You can dodge Blue Shells in single player
Another neat trick is one that only works in single-player, because that's when you can use the rewind feature. Using the rewind feature, which will back you up while everyone else continues to move forward, will allow you to dodge Blue Shells. As a Blue Shell goes to explode near you for the crime of winning, you can hold the rewind, which will cause the shell to drop in front of you, saving you from being hit. You go backwards while this happens, so you still lose a little bit of your lead, but you keep your momentum and items, which is a huge win. You can't rewind in multiplayer, so this technique won't help you online, but it could make getting three stars in all of the cups a bit easier.
Smart Steering is on by default, but can be easily turned off
By default, Smart Steering is on the first time you boot up Mario Kart World. Smart Steering keeps you on the main track if you veer off, but is likely something you don't want on. Hitting X on the kart selection screen will bring up the option so you can turn it off, but it can also be done from the pause menu during a race. You can find other options, such as auto-accelerate, auto-use item, and tilt controls, in that menu, although these are all off by default.
You can enjoy Mirror Mode in Free Roam
You can play in Mirror Mode in Free Roam by completing a short easter egg. That easter egg is a throwback to Mario 64, having you drive into the giant stained-glass Peach at Peach Stadium. It's unclear if you need to unlock Mirror Mode for the rest of the game first, but we have those details further down.
Completing higher CC cups gives you the lower ones
If you are a completionist looking to get three gold stars on each cup in Mario Kart World, you might be tempted to start at 50cc and work your way up. If you don't want to do that though, completing a cup at a higher cc awards the ones below. So, if you complete a cup on 150cc and win first place, you will also receive gold trophies on 100cc and 50cc. This can save you some of the tedium of replaying all of these cups, or playing on a difficulty beneath your skills.
You can see which characters still have costumes to unlock
The number of costumes each character has varies wildly, with some having 10, and others only having one or two. This makes keeping track of which characters still have costumes a bit of a pain, but there are a couple of ways to check. On the character selection screen, heading all the way to the final page will show some locked character icons. The silhouettes represented here are the characters you are missing costumes for. If you see the shadow of Waluigi, you have more Waluigi costumes to unlock. In Free Roam on the map, if you hover over a character's icon, a series of boxes will appear, showing not only which costumes you have gotten, but the exact number you are missing.
Make sure to do tricks off grind rails
Rail grinding is a new feature in Mario Kart World, letting you gain speed and a drift speed boost while riding the rail. In order to cash in on that built-up boost, you need to jump off the rail by doing a trick using the R or ZR. The direction you point the left stick determines which way you will jump, as you move left or right, but you can also point forward to perform a trick without needing to shift far to the side.
You can unlock mirror mode, but it takes some work
While there are plenty of secrets to discover, Mirror Mode is the most involved to unlock. Not only does it require a bunch of work to unlock Mirror Mode, but Mario Kart World does not surface that information to you. The only way to be sure you meet the requirements is to complete the Special Cup and see if the cutscene revealing the unlock plays.
You can play traditional lap-based tracks in Versus
You might have noticed that in the main Grand Prix cups, most races consist of driving to a new track before completing a single lap there. If you find this disappointing, don't worry; when you race in Versus mode, you have the option for a traditional lap-based race (except tracks that are always point-to-point). When the map is presented to you, selecting a track will bring up a list of several track names. Some are races from one track to another, like Mario Circuit to Acorn Heights, but the track option that is just the name (i.e. Mario Circuit) will be the traditional three-lap race.
