Driving guide

Basics

To get started, there are a few beginner mechanics that you should master first.

• Starting line boost: At the start of a race, press repeatedly to fill the three gauges in your speedometer. When all three gauges are full, you’ll receive a boost that will give you an initial burst of speed. This will help you take the lead right away.

  

• Jumping: The kart can execute a jump from various surfaces by driving over them, as they possess a collider near their boundary. You can control the height of the jump by pressing or precisely at the edge of the surface, such as ramps, hills, or platforms. The height of the jump is proportional to the timing and accuracy of the button press. Legends say fences are the best for jumping.

• Jump trick and landing boost: If you press the jump button while you are in the air, you will do a trick. You can do this any time you are airborne. If you land on the ground after doing a trick, you will get a landing boost that will make you go much faster for ~1s. It will also increase your engine %, which affects how much reserve (will be explained later) you build up. This means you can go faster as it increases your top speed. If you don’t press the jump button or do a trick, you won’t get a boost.

  

• Drifting: While accelerating, tap and hold or while steering left/right to start drifting. This will help you take sharp turns with ease. You can control the sharpness of the turn by steering in the direction of the drift.

• Opposite Drifting: A mechanic which permits to your kart to turn in the opposite direction of your drift. This can help the kart avoid hitting walls or obstacles, or to take wider or narrower turns depending on the situation. To perform opposite drifting, you need to move or press in the opposite direction of the kart’s orientation while holding . The opposite drifting angle is the angle between the kart’s orientation and its direction of travel. By adjusting the opposite drifting angle with simple directional pad presses, you can take wider turns or drift in almost a straight line.

• Mini-Turbo (MT): This is the most important mechanic in the game. To start MT, begin drifting by holding . You will see a red gauge bar fill up in your speedometer in ~1s. Tap before the bar is almost full but not too early! Congratulations, you have done one MT. Alternatively, you can also look at your kart’s tires instead of the gauge bar. They will glow when you drift with RB. When the two lines on the tire meet in the middle, press . MT gives you a small boost that depends on how full the gauge bar was when you pressed . It also increases your engine % in your speedometer, which makes your kart faster.

  

• Triple Mini-Turbo (3 MT): To do 3 MT, you have to keep drifting even after pressing for the first time. After doing one MT, wait for another gauge bar to fill up and press again before it’s almost full. You can do MT up to three times in one drift.

• Airbrake: This technique is used to perform ultra turns in midair at the cost of speed and partial reserve reduction. While in the air, just hold along with your desired direction. This technique allows you to adjust your trajectory and alignment in midair, which can be useful sometimes in taking very sharp corners. Just make sure to not perform the break on the ground as it will drain all your reserve instantly.

• Character and kart selection: All characters and karts in the game have the same stats for simplicity and balance. This means that there is no single best character or kart to choose from. You can pick any character or kart that suits your preference and style without worrying about their performance differences. This also prevents creating a dominant meta where only certain characters or karts are viable.