Mario Kart 8 is here! Well, it’s only just released today — but it’s never too soon to begin competitive preparations. There’s a lot that’s changed this time around, so it’s in your best interest to stay sharp, master the basics, and take some advanced strategies online in short order. There’s still local multiplayer if strangers scare you, though frankly I’d call an airborne Wiimote a lot more terrifying than anything I’ve yet encountered on Nintendo’s Miiverse.
Either way, there’s not much you can do without the disc in your Wii U and the GamePad in your hands, so why not check out these handy tips? I’ve been getting whooped by overseas 12-year-olds all morning, so I definitely know what I’m talking about. Surprisingly humbling, actually.
Without further ado, here are our top tips for Mario Kart 8. Notice something we missed? Shoot us a comment and let your future opponents know. Or don’t.
MK8 Tips
-
Learn the difference between bikes and karts
This is a basic differentiation you’ll want to get a feel for as quickly as possible. Bikes have superior acceleration to karts, and allow you to utilize the coveted Inside Drift ability; essentially a very sharp, corner-cutting powerslide that can be used to shave seconds off of your time. Plus you look incredibly cool while doing it.
Karts, on the other hand, offer superior top speed to bikes in most cases. Additionally, karts often weigh more, and are less subject to being slammed off the course by other racers. Even a small bump can disrupt your mojo when riding a delicate bike, especially if you’re sliding down a piano on the Music Park course. That’s usually around when I decide to rage quit.
-
Match your customizations to your character
This is especially important. There are three size classes in Mario Kart 8, with characters like Bowser, DK, and Rosalina being the largest, and the likes of Lakitu, Shyguy, and certain Koopas occupying the lighter class. Mario, Luigi, and the usual suspects are mid-sized.
As a result, certain stats are affected by character size and weight. If I use the exact same kart or bike configuration as my previous race, but I switch from Peach to Rosalina, my overall setup’s Speed and Weight will increase. Acceleration, meanwhile, will suffer. The change is about as important as the gear you select, so don’t neglect to choose your racer carefully. It could make or break you.
-
Get to know the item selection
There’s a smattering of brand new items to be toyed with in Mario Kart 8, and trying your hand at their different uses is pretty crucial to a successful racing career. Most notable is the Super Horn, which is the first ever item that can negate the effect of a Blue Shell. Longtime Kart junkies will understand how monumental its inclusion is.
Super Horn isn’t quite a free pass, though -- you’ll need to time it. The HUD gives you a warning (and a nice beeping sound) when an incoming threat approaches from behind, and that’s around the time you’ll want to sound your Horn. I usually wait a second or two after the warning, just to be sure that flying blue demon doesn’t somehow end up outside the horn’s range.
Elsewhere there’s the Lucky 8, which gives you eight random items to deploy at your leisure, and the Piranha Plant, which acts as both a speed booster for the racer using it and a devastating, leafy wrench in the plans of competitors. It basically eats their face off as you drive by.
-
Learn by rote
This is true of all Mario Karts, and it remains so here. Memorize the tracks! This isn’t something you’ll have to worry about too much, though; by the time you complete all eight Grand Prix cups on all three difficulties, you’ll be pretty darn close to assimilating them automatically. Still, courses like the new Rainbow Road remain challenging even once you already know what’s coming, and I'm pretty sure it’s impossible to survive the brutal U-turns of Donut Plains 3 without having seen them before.
Speaking of Donut Plains 3, here’s a tip: powerslide as soon as you leave the water. TRUST ME. It’s the only way.
-
Try everything
What I mean by try everything is, well, just that; mess with every kart configuration, item usage scenario, and individual racer in the game. It may seem trivial at first, but you’ll be surprised how much knowledge you gain by understanding exactly what your opponents are capable of. If I’m coming in hot on Lakitu, and he’s riding a pint-sized moped, I’ll likely try and ram him off the track. If it’s Waluigi on a hulking ATV, I’ll likely avoid that strategy entirely and run for my life instead. That dude is beyond terrifying.
This can apply to gliders as well. Though the stats for them don’t vary much, there are slight acceleration and weight differences that can and do come into play at crucial moments. Depending on the weight of your actual kart, a speedy Parafoil could end up being a lot more useful than a tried-and-true Super Glider when it comes to blasting into first place from a jump. Your mileage will vary, of course, but the more you try, the sooner you can find what you like.
-
Online - Don’t hot dog it
The French are very good at Mario Kart. I learned this yesterday because the game wasn't out in the US yet, and regional multiplayer was about as useful as a swarm of crickets chirping along to Mario Kart 8’s main theme. Still, I was able to attain some valuable knowledge about competing online, the foremost of which you’d think I would know by now: don’t show off.
It’s not just an etiquette thing either. One race, while vying for a second-place finish, I thought I’d be a wise guy and force the current second-place racer off the track as I passed him. It worked beautifully. I careened past and sent the poor guy (or gal) hurtling into the the abyss, Team Rocket style. Little did I know, the collision caused a near-imperceptible loss of speed, which allowed Bowser to sail on by and limit me to third place anyway. Feel free to ignore this advice for now, but you’ll eventually learn the hard way like I did.
-
Online - Consider the Speed stat
Certain stats become a lot more useful when competing online, most notably the Speed and Weight stats. Against CPU opponents, I’d often just stack up on Acceleration and win easily, but against other humans it’s not so simple. If you focus on one stat alone you’re going to be in trouble; in my case, the extreme lightness of my high-acceleration trike had opponents knocking me off the track multiple times per race. It was ugly.
Instead, go for the most balanced stats you can muster, preferring traction to handling or vice versa depending on whether you prefer normal turns or are slide-happy like I am. I eventually settled on a yellow kart driven by Peach; it offers a nice top speed while still edging out tough corners to an acceptable degree. I don’t blast right into first from the starting line, but hey, that’s what balancing is all about.
-
Online - Coins become way more important
Coins. Coins. Do not underestimate coins. I skipped them on the regular in single player mode, but the consistent top-speed improvement granted by holding 10 coins in Mario Kart 8 is well worth pursuing when playing against other humans. If you can achieve this early and quickly grab a shell for defence, there’s a good chance you’ve already gone and won the race if you can hold your ground.
This is far easier said than done, so you’ll have to gauge when the right time to give up on coins is for each race. If I don’t have 10 by the third lap (usually due to item-assault from other players), I tend to bail and see if I can eke out a 2nd or 3rd place finish via aggressive driving instead. If I get lucky, someone else will be nailed by a Blue Shell and I’ll be able to come out on top. Like anything with Mario Kart, it’s a gamble.
-
Online - Decide to defend or attack
Once again, item use is going to change drastically when you go online, and for me the moment when I got hammered by about four shells in the span of five seconds was when it became clear I’d need a defense mechanism. You’re going to want to hold items for defence much more often online, and if you manage to secure first place, it’s an absolute must. The only thing better is the Super Horn, but even that requires precise timing.
Any old item that can be held will do the trick; even a measly banana peel should fend off the nastiest of incoming red shells. Occasionally you can still be hit while executing a sharp turn, but as long as you’re paying attention it’s not all that hard to avoid sliding when something unfriendly is headed your way. Just be sure not to fall to your doom in the process.
