Super Mario Kart Guide

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Welcome to Super Mario Kart! The classic series and its debut game that is one of the best kart racers of the retro era has many guides that can all be found below. Control One of your favorite Mario characters as you race against each other in a variety of tracks, using items to gain an advantage over the other opponents. Can you get a top three placement in every cup?

Driver Tier List

Reasoning:

Bowser/Donkey Kong Jr.

Acceleration: Not So Hot

Top Speed: The Best of the Best

Weight: Very Good

Handling: Average

Bowser is the best character you can play as simply because of his weight and top speed. The acceleration isn't great, but if you get to the front and don't make mistakes you'll be fine. The weight is also helpful so you don't get bumped around. The only reason Donkey Kong Jr. isn't as good is because you still have to deal with Bowser's fireballs, but DK Jr.'s Bananas he throws aren't as obnoxious. (See "Character Specific Items")

Luigi/Mario

Acceleration: Average

Top Speed: Very Good

Weight: Average

Handling: Average

You'll hear time and time again how good the handling is on Koopa and Toad, but they have their faults. Mario and Luigi have average stats on everything except top speed, which they have a very good stat in. Top Speed is the most important stat, so having that be the only one that's exceptional is great. The only reason that Luigi is better than Mario is because he has way easier rivals to deal with.

Koopa/Toad

Acceleration: Very Good

Top Speed: Not So Hot

Weight: Not So Hot

Handling: very Good

Koopa and Toad are good because of their handling. The handling on these guys allows them to take some turns that other characters just simply couldn't take, which makes some of the courses a lot easier. I don't think they're as good and Mario or Luigi because the most important stat, top speed, is bad and so is the weight, allowing them to get hit around more easily. The handling is great, though. The reason Toad's worse is because he has harder rivals.

Yoshi/Peach

Acceleration: The Best of the Best

Top Speed: Average

Weight: Average

Handling: Not So Hot

Yoshi and Peach are the worst character choices because of the weird stat distribution. Acceleration is their best stat, which is also one of the least important stats outside of battle mode. It also has terrible handling, which is a very important stat. The only reason Yoshi's better is because Peach has WAY worse rivals to deal with, making her the worst character.

Small Guides

How to Power Slide

While you're racing, you may notice you're having difficulty figuring how to drift accurately. In order to get better drift lines, you can learn how to power slide and counter hop. When you want to drift, press the hop button and hold in the direction you want to drift. This is a power slide, and it should take you all the way around. If you take you're line too sharp, you can press the hop button again to move wider. Once you want to stop you're drift, hop in the opposite direction of your power slide. this is called a counter hop. When power sliding, it's important to remember to take turns earlier than you feel like, and end your drift earlier than you feel like. If you're having trouble ending your power slide, try adjusting when you start the drift.

Unlocking 150cc

In Super Mario Kart, you have 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. You might notice that you only have 50cc and 100cc available to you at the moment. In order to unlock 150cc, you have to complete every cup in 100cc at the gold level. Then, you reset or just go back to the main menu and 150cc will be unlocked. If you're playing on the "special" version on Nintendo Classics, then 150cc will already be unlocked for you.

Character Specific Items

In Super Mario Kart, the character AI can use special items at any time, it's important to know what items you're dealing with when you're playing single player.

Mario - Star
Luigi - Star
Peach - Poison Mushroom
Yoshi - Egg
Bowser - Fireball
DK Jr. - Banana
Koopa - Green Shell
Toad - Poison Mushroom

Rivals

In Super Mario Kart, whichever character you choose decides what opponents will go fast. For example, if you choose Mario, then DK Jr. will be your main competition, while Toad won't be a problem. Anyone not mentioned means that they are very slow. They are ranked by how fast they go.

Mario - 1. DK Jr. 2. Peach 3. Yoshi 4. Luigi
Luigi - 1. Yoshi 2. Mario 3. Bowser 4. Koopa
Peach - 1. Bowser 2. Toad 3. Mario 4. DK Jr.
Yoshi - 1. Koopa 2. DK Jr. 3. Peach 4. Bowser
Bowser - 1. Mario 2. Luigi 3. Peach 4. Yoshi
DK Jr. - 1. Toad 2. Bowser 3. Koopa 4. Luigi
Koopa - 1. Luigi 2. Yoshi 3. Peach 4. Mario
Toad - 1. Peach 2. DK Jr. 3. Mario 4. Yoshi

Super Mario Kart Walkthrough

This walkthrough includes absolutely everything you'll need to fully experience this classic 1992 kart racer featuring Mario and friends! This walkthrough features everything you need including maps of the courses, shortcuts, and ultra shortcuts!

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