Mario Kart 64

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Controls

In Mario Kart 64, it is extremely important to be familiar with all controls, including skills such as cancelling bananas and slide turns.

Basically Control's

Accelerate/Gas (A button) - To accelerate, press and hold A. Holding A before Lakitu begins the race will make your kart spin. However, if you time it just right as the last light blinks, you will get a Mushroom boost and blast past everyone else.
Brake (B buttons) - Braking is important in courses like Kalamari Desert where you need to stop or risk crashing. You can also cancel slipping on a banana by pressing B justice after you run over it. If you're fast enough, a music note will appear above your character's head and although you may lose some speed, you won't slip.
Steering (Analog) - Use the analog stick to steer. You can also slide steer by using the analog and the R button, which will be discussed below under #Slide Steering.
Use Item (Z button/Down C button) - By hitting Z or Down C you can use a stored item that you have picked up. Single green and red shells, blue shells, single bananas and fake item bombs can be held behind your kart by holding Z/Down C (See #Items). When these items are held behind you, they provide a shield from attacks from behind, like turtle shells or other players ramming into you. (Note that doing this will not protect the first place player from getting hit by a Spikey Blue Shell.)
Jump (R button) - By pressing R, you can hop slightly as you're driving. It is possible to hop over bombs and bananas, but timing in those cases is very important. You also use the R button during #Slide Steering.
Pause/Menu button (Start button) - Hit the start button to pause the race, change the course/driver or quit.
Camera change (Up C button) - You can move the camera farther back behind you, or back behind you using Up C.
Map change (Right C button) - Press Right C to cycle through the course map, spedometer and racer position map (rectangular progress bar). The course map is a small map in the lower right corner that shows your position and other racers' positions in relation to where they are on the course. The spedometer tells you how fast you're going in km/h. The racer position map is a colored box that borders the screen (in multi-player, it goes straight between the top and bottom halves of the screen) that has large icons of each racer and displays where they are in relation to each other much better than the course map. However, it does not identify players in the course "Yoshi's Valley" due to its paths' vagueness, where it shows question marks instead.
Music Volume control (L button) - You can lower the volume of the background music or turn it off using L.

The D-pad can be used in Mario Kart It's menus, however, the analog can be used as well. Left C has no use.

Slide Steering

In Mario Kart 64, slide steering is an important skill to master. It can be tricky at first, but with practice anyone can do it. Slide steering is one of the main distinctions between an advanced player and a beginning or intermediate player.

Why Use Slide Steering?

The lightweight characters -- Yoshi, Toad, and Peach -- will slow down every time they turn unless you slide turn. The remaining characters will not slow down if you don't slide steer, but it can be beneficial to them anyway, as slide steering can give all players small extra boosts.

How to Slide Steer

Luigi Raceway is a good place to practice slide steering. Begin by traveling at a good speed. To begin the turn, hold the analog stick in the direction of the turn and press and hold R. If done correctly, white smoke will start coming from your tires shaped as the letters "VEEEEE". At this beginning of the slide turn, the turn will be very sharp. To control the turn, push in the opposite direction while continuing to hold R. The turn will widen. Move the analog back in the direction of the turn to sharpen the turn again and adjust where you're going.

You can also use slide steering to get small boosts. To get a boost from the turn, start the slide turn. Note the white "VEEEEE" smoke. When pushing the analog in the opposite direction of the turn (you'll be turning wide instead of sharp), push it back to the direction of the turn for a moment and then back to the opposite direction. If done right, the white "VEEEEE" smoke will turn into yellow "VEEEEE" smoke. Do this a second time, and the yellow smoke will turn orange. Remember that during all the entire slide turn, the R button must be held. After it turns orange, complete the turn and let go of the R button. Your character will say a positive cheer ("Alright!", "Let's Go!", laughing, etc) and you will get a boost of speed.

Modes

These are the modes in Mario Kart 64.

Mario Grand Prix (GP)

One to two human players compete with computer players in a group of eight around a series of four courses per cup. A player selects one of the four cups at the beginning of the game as well as a difficulty level.

There are four difficulty levels:

50cc - Easy (fairly slow-paced)
100cc - Intermediate (medium speed)
150cc - Difficult (fast-paced, and occasionally the AI cheats by letting computer characters drive far faster than you can)
Extra - Same as 100cc, but all courses are mirror images of themselves. All left turns become right turns and vice versa. Additionally, in the Toad's Turnpike course, the traffic approaches the racers head-on. Players can unlock the Extra mode by winning 1st place (a gold cup) on all four cups in 150cc mode.

Endings

In Mario GP, the scene you appear in depends on your total placing.

Victory

In Mario GP, if you place 3rd or higher in total at the end, you will be in the happy scene where you're one of the winners. If you place 1st at the end, you will win a Gold Trophy, if you place 2nd at the end, you will win a Silver Trophy, or if you place 3rd at the end, you will win a Bronze Trophy. After the trophy is blown out of Cheep Cheep, the stars fall out, and the trophy is spinning, and then in text says "CONGRATULATIONS!!!" you are shown in the Portrait of WINNING!!!! Oh how GREAT!!! 1st Place can overwrite 2nd and 3rd Place, and 2nd Place can only overwrite 3rd Place.

Loss

In Mario GP, if you place 4th or lower in total at the end, you will be in the sad scene where you're a playable loser. It shows the three CPUs winning, then you who never totally won. The music starts out happy, and then as the three CPUs that are winning and are ready to get on the winner's stand, the music grows from happiness to sadness (OH NO!!!), then while on the way to escape, your player gets attacked by the bomb and in text "WHAT A PITY! MAYBE NEXT TIME...." you are shown in the Portrait of losing, oh how sad. This cannot be saved.

Time Trials

A single-player mode. A player may play any course in any cup. In time trial, the player is given a triple mushroom item, and the kart has a 100cc engine. The top five best course times and the best lap time are recorded on the cartridge, and the aim is for the player to beat their own records. Completing a race often results in a ghost appearing on the player's next attempt - the ghost is the route taken for the best time that the player has completed in their current session, and can be saved on a controller pak for later use.

There are several online communities dedicated to keeping track of time trial records, and some are still as active as ever, many years after the game's release.

Versus Mode

In this game for two, three or four players, players can race head-to-head against their friends without computer players. Players need not play an entire cup, but select individual courses to play. Players also select the difficulty level.

Battle Mode

In this game for two, three or four players, players compete in one of four arenas filled with items. Players have three balloons attached to their go-carts and lose them when they are spun-out by either being hit by a player in a higher weight class or spun out with an item. In three and four player modes, players that have lost all of their balloons come back once as a bomb that can move around to crash with another player and thus remove one balloon. The winner is the last one with balloons left.

Characters

There are eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Wario, Bowser, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong. Each character falls into one of three weight classes:

Light: They have high acceleration, but poor speed and handling. Their light weight means they are easily pushed around, but do not lose much speed when they go off-road. (Members: Peach, Yoshi, Toad)
Middle: Middleweights are supposedly average in top speed, acceleration, weight, and handling, but their acceleration and speed is in fact just as bad as heavyweights. They can make lightweights spin-out within two bumps in collisions, but can be spun out within two bumps in a collision with a heavyweight. (Members: Mario and Luigi)
Heavy: They have weak acceleration, but great speed and handling. Their heavy weight means they can ram lighter characters, but lose a lot of speed they go off-road. Heavy characters can to spin out middleweights in two bumps and lightweights within a single bump in collisions. Because of their low speed and handling, they are not often used by players in races. However, they are a favourite for many Battle Mode players. They can make lightweights and middleweights lose a balloon when they run into them or when they get run into. (Members: Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser)

Items

Items can be acquired by hitting an items block, a multicolored cube with a question mark on it.

Projectiles

Green Shell (Single) - A simple projectile. Travels in a straight line and bounces off of walls. Makes a person who touches it explode. You can hold a green shell behind you for protection against red shells and other projectiles. You can also fire it off backwards which is much safer than firing it off forwards where, depending on the track, you'll often just end up shooting yourself.
Green Shell (Three) - Three green shells orbit the driver until each of them is fired away. When fired, they act as single green shells do. While orbiting, they act as a shield that deflects any other attacks; however, each attack deflected takes away one shell.
Red Shell (Single) - An intelligent projectile. It locks onto the person one position in front of the player and attempts to crash into them. Watch out though as the red shells fly out in front and then, if the player who was in front of you slips back, the red shell will turn back and may hit you on route to the target player. Red shells are also a good way of clearing out fake item-bombs, bananas etc. You can trail a red shell behind you, in the manner of a banana or green shell, but they will always fire off forwards. red shells often hit the edges of the tracks and self-terminate, so be careful where you fire them.
Red Shell (Three) - Three red shells orbit the driver until each of them is fired away. When fired, they act as single red shells do. They act as a shield in the same manner as three green shells.
Spikey Blue Shell - Targets the player in first place and hits as many people along the way as it can, but only if the intervening players get in the way. You can trail a blue shell behind you and then any players you hit while holding it are in trouble. Blue shells, like red shells, fly off and follow their own guided logic, tending to follow the exact middle of the track, except for corners where they can meander a bit. Like red shells, blue shells that impact in the edges of the track self terminate.

Bananas and Bombs

Banana - These can be laid on the track. They cause players to spin out. You can trail a single banana and throw them forwards with limited accuracy.
Banana Bunch - A group of five bananas trail a player until they are released. When released they act as normal bananas do, but while in a chain behind a player then can be used to spin out a player that is following too closely.
Fake-item Bomb - These resemble item boxes, but when touched cause a driver to lose all speed and fly exploding into the air.

Mushrooms

Mushroom (Regular) - Increases the drivers speed to 80 km/h (top speed is usually 60 km/h) for a few seconds.
Mushroom (Triple) - Allows a driver to use a mushroom three times.
Mushroom (Golden) - Allows a driver to use an undetermined amount of mushroom boosts, depending on how fast they can press the button in a certain period of time

Misc

Star - Makes a player invincible to attacks and increases speed. If a player collides with someone with a star active it will cause them to explode into the air.
Ghost - Steals a random weapon from some other player and makes the driver invisible to other drivers for several seconds.
Lightning - Causes all other players to spin out of control and become small. As a consequence of their diminished size, players move slowly. This state lasts for several seconds during which the user can flatten other drivers by colliding with their miniature form. Players that are invincible via star and invisible via ghost are invulnerable to lightning, as are those in the middle of a long jumps or in the midst of being fished back onto the track.

Tactics

In addition to knowing what to do in each course, it's also important to know why you're doing it, so you need a good understanding of the game physics. This will also help you pay attention to little details that you might not have thought about.

Basic Tactics

Weight Class

The lightweights, Toad, Peach, and Yoshi, are the fastest, have the best acceleration, and slow down the least on offroad surfaces. The three lightweights are identical to each other. Always use one of the lightweights in time trials.

Rocket Boost

Press and hold A just before the light turns blue to get a speed boost at the beginning of a race. To save an extra .01 seconds, start pressing A before Lakitu starts counting down, and just before you would normally press A, let go of A for just long enough that you won't spin out, and then press A again.

Reverse

Press B and down to go in reverse. This is never done except to help position the kart to set up for a fastlap attempt on lap 2.

Spin Turn

Press A, B, and left or right while standing still to quickly spin around. This is only used in some SC races. You can also press diagonally down and left or right while spin turning to do a reverse spin turn, which is useful for some shortcuts.

Turning

Press left or right to turn. Turning normally slows you down, so you should use power slides to go around turns so you can then release a mini-turbo. Turning without power sliding slows you down, so it should be minimized, but sometimes it is needed to make occasional slight direction adjustments when needed. When you do need to turn, you should aways untilt the kart.

Hopping

Press R to hop. Hopping repeatedly is done to go around sharp turns. Hop turns are used occasionally to make slight direction adjustments. Hops are also the start of power slides. You can hop over gaps at corners to save distance. Don't make the mistake of hopping repeatedly on straightaways because it slows you down.

Power sliding

Press left or right and press and hold R to start a left facing or right facing power slide, and then move the stick back in the opposite direction. Each time you move the control stick back and forth, the smoke will change from grey to yellow, and then to red. Slide around turns and corners as tightly as possible, unless specified otherwise.

Mini-Turbos

After changing the smoke of a power slide to red, release the R button to get a speed boost. Mini-turbos should usually be as fast as possible.

Advanced Tactics

Fast Acceleration

Fastlaps on lap 2

Shroomsliding

Shroomspots

Untilting

Boost Turns

MT Speed

MT spacing

SSMTs

Wall-hitting MTs

Shortcuts

Introduction

There are many shortcuts in Mario Kart 64 that can be used to achieve faster fastlap times (fastest time to complete a single lap) and faster 3lap times (fastest time to complete the entire race). A few shortcuts were intentionally programmed into the game, such as the shortcut in Kalamari desert that involves driving through the tunnel with a star, but most of the shortcuts seem more like glitches and were discovered by "glitch-hunters" trying to find ways to improve their times. Some shortcuts have gone undiscovered for many years and were only discovered recently, and there might be more waiting to be found.

Definition of Shortcut

At the Mario Kart 64 Player's Page, a time trials competition site, shortcuts are considered to be jumping over any walls or fences, or using the assistance of Lakitu in any fashion. A time achieved by cutting across grass or sand, by jumping over unobstructed gaps, or by taking a route intended by the programmers such as the tunnel is Koopa Troopa Beach, is considered to be a non-shortcut time at this site. These are only thought of as "corner cutters" and not real shortcuts. These corner cutters are (will be) explained in the section on Non-shortcut strategies.

In Mario Grand Prix and Versus mode, even more shortcuts can be done because of the possibility of bouncing over walls using shells or by bouncing off of other racers by pressing R as you hit them. Below is a list of all known shortcuts that are possible in time trials mode that haven't been obsoleted yet by a faster and easier shortcut. Click on the names of the courses and watch the videos at SDA's Mario Kart 64 section for more detailed information about the fastest strategies for taking each shortcut.

List of Shortcuts

Luigi Raceway - After leaving the tunnel, aim a few bricks to the right of where the brick wall meets the gray wall. Use a mushroom as you leave the road, and press R as you hit the little hill to bounce over the wall.
Luigi Raceway - This harder shortcut can be done instead of the previous shortcut to save up to about 3 more seconds. As you leave the tunnel, do a mini turbo into the sand on the left. If you hit the correct spot, you'll bounce. Press R as you land from the bounce, and you'll make a second bounce and go over the gray wall. There are 2 spots you can hit for this to work. The faster, but harder spot is slightly before the end of the first white line after the tunnel, and the second spot is a few kartlengths after the end of that line.

Kalamari Desert - Before the second railroad crossing, go to the left into the sand. After the part where you go downhill and then uphill, use a mushroom and aim towards part of the opposite side of the valley just next to the train tracks. Press R as you hit the bump, and you'll bounce over the train tracks and back on the road.

Toad's Turnpike - Do a left facing slide when the race starts, and hop into the fence on the left a little before the part where the roads overlap. You'll land on the fence and get stuck. When Lakitu puts you down, start holding A a little before you touch the road so you accelerate faster, and turn right towards the fence. For a short time after being put down, a glitch prevents you from getting stuck, so now if you hop into the fence, you'll go through it and land on the lower track (or in the water, in which case Lakitu will put you on the lower track if you were close). Don't try to cut the corner by going through the fence from as early a point as possible, because if you pass over the water as you go from the upper track to the lower track, the next shortcut won't work.
Toad's Turnpike - After doing the first shortcut without passing over the water, an even better shortcut becomes possible on the succeeding laps. Hop into the fence on the right shortly after crossing the finish line, and Lakitu will put you on the lower track.

Frappe Snowland - When the race starts, turn around and go back to the bridge. Now drive (or hop) from the bridge to the snow on the side of the road (left side is faster, but harder), without the kart ever being completely on the road in front of the bridge. Drive forward and off to the side, and get stuck in the snow after crossing the extended finish line. Lakitu will put you back on the bridge or on the spot where the road meets the bridge, and you'll have skipped a lap.
Frappe Snowland - This shortcut is useful for fastlap attempts, but not 3lap attempts. First go to the end of lap 1. Drive into the snow on the left side of the road and get stuck, and Lakitu will put you down shortly before the finish line. AB spin to the left and use a mushroom. Because of the glitch discussed earlier, you'll be able to pass farther into the snow without getting stuck. Aim towards slightly to the right of the peak of the hill, and hop and turn to the left from the hill. Cross the extended finish line in the air just after hopping off the hill, and Lakitu will put you down just before the end of the lap.

Choco Mountain - When you reach the hill about halfway through the lap, do a mini turbo into the wall on the left at or slightly before the top of the hill. Hop as you hit the wall, and you'll bounce over the mountain.
Choco Mountain - A few kartlengths after the finish line, face left and use a mushroom. Hop as you hit the wall, and you'll bounce high and land on top of the wall. Lakitu will put you down in the tunnel.

Mario Raceway - When you get to the part with the left turn that leads to the mushroom, drive towards the highest point of the edge of the road instead of following the road. Aim perpendicular to the edge and use a mushroom. Hop and turn to the right at the last possible moment, and you'll jump over the wall to the right of the wall that meets it.

Wario Stadium - When the race starts, drive into the wall on the left at the first small hill, and press R as you hit the wall to bounce over it. Turn around and bounce back over the wall again by pressing R as you hit it. Make sure that you pass to the right of the finish line pole as you go over the wall, but not too far right or you'll land on the wall.
Wario Stadium -This shortcut is less complex as the previous. Instead of turning again, continue the race, and after the part with the sequential bumps, there is the long straight stretch, followed by a red and white arrows sign that is part of the wall, that indicates to turn right. If you look closely at this sign, there are three walls that make it up. there is the one that is in line with the straight stretch you've been driving on, and theres the one that is perpendicular to you, there is a third one also in the middle, like the top of a trapezoid. so as you're driving, turn in to the sign, and you need to make contact with the middle part, perpendicular to it, and press R just as you hit it. you also need to aim your joystick diagonally up and left. you will land at the final stretch to the finish line of the lap.
Wario Stadium - This shortcut is another option, if you find the previous one too hard. Continue and go to the big jump, after the jump, you are going down a long straight and would normally take a right, followed by a hairpin turn to the last straight to the finish line. Instead, after the big jump, you notice that there is a wall, with a turning sign like the one in the previous shortcut. Do the same thing (with a boost, if you want) and you'll skip the whole hairpin turn, and land in front of the finish line, and ready to jump the first hill.

Royal Raceway - After the first hairpin turn to the right, jump from the edge of the grass on the left side of the road across the river, and hit the mountainside on the right side of the diagonal road. After falling into the water, Lakitu will put you down shortly before the big jump.
Royal Raceway - When Lakitu puts you down after doing the first shortcut, start holding A as early as you can without spinning out so you accelerate quickly. Start a left facing slide as you reach the speed boost, and slide off the left edge of the speed boost. Angle the slide so when you start flying into the air, you'll be aiming a little to the left of where the grass meets the mountainside. If you hit the mountainside correctly, it will change shape and the part next to the water will become steeper. Lakitu will put you down on the other side of the water, one left turn away from the finish line.
Royal Raceway - This harder shortcut can be done in the same place as the previous shortcut, but for this one, hit the spot where the grass meets the mountainside. Lakitu will put you down just before the finish line, facing diagonally backwards and left. Usually the lap will end as soon as you're back on the road, but to be safe it's best to press B and down to go in reverse as you touch the road. This shortcut should only be used during a fastlap attempt or on the last lap of a 3lap attempt, but not on laps 1 or 2 of a 3lap attempt, because having to turn around before continuing the race would make this shortcut slower than the previous one.

D.K.'s Jungle Parkway - When the race starts, turn around and go back into the cave. Now aim towards the rock on the left side of the cave. Drive or hop through the rock and land as far to the right as possible without landing in the water, and you'll cross the extended finish line and be at the end of the lap. If you aimed too far left, you won't cross the line. If you aimed too far right, you'll fall in the water, but if you crossed the line you'll be at the end of the lap when Lakitu brings you back to the cave.

Yoshi Valley - From in front of the finish line, face left. Use a mushroom and hop and turn left at the edge of the level ground just before the grass starts going downhill. Hit the dark vertical line on the mountainside that's about lined up with the extended finish line. You'll be pushed to the left as you hit it, and Lakitu will bring you back to the road at the beginning of the next lap.
Yoshi Valley - This shortcut is useful for fastlap attempts, but not 3lap attempts. At the end of a lap close to the finish line, go into the grass on the left and face left. Triple tap A to accelerate quickly, and press R as you hit the fence to bounce over it. Hit the mountainside on the left side of the dark vertical line, and you'll cross the extended finish line as you fall. Lakitu will put you down just before the end of the lap.

Rainbow Road - At the beginning of the lap, aim towards the right side of the road. At about the third green tile after the finish line, turn to the left and hop. You'll keep turning to the left while you're above the road and you'll go over the star fence and land shortly before the spiral.
Rainbow Road - This harder shortcut can be done instead of the previous shortcut to save about 9 more seconds. Start out by driving to the left side of the road. At about the second orange tile after the finish line, turn right. Then start a left facing slide, and come close close to the fence on the right. At about the third green tile after the finish line, push the control stick all the way to the left and brake to help turn more sharply. Hop at the left edge of the road to go over the star fence (this should happen at a red tile), and you'll land just before the end of the spiral. Watch out for the chomp that's there as you land.

Mario Kart 64/Printable version