Topic: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

@WoomyNNYes Wile I sadly can't share a snapshot (Mainly because I don't have a cable to do it)

I have to check, its been a wile, and i'm rusty LOL.

@Snatcher I imagine many may be rusty, since many of us may have gotten MK8 a while ago.

Yeah, posting a pic and clip is a bit of work. Uploading images and youtube is a bit of a pain in the butt. You can share just-the-time, if you want.

@WoomyNNYes I might have a time on already, I just have to check at some point, if not, Guess its time to get back in the groove.

@WoomyNNYes I'm absolutely open to that! I'll boot up the game tomorrow and give it a go, see if I have the racing chops on MK8DX! I'll either upload screenshots to Twitter, or a video.

I thought fire hopping was patched out, though! Interesting tactics...

@WoomyNNYes I actually saw your post and I thought I'd try my hand on this time trial. Here's my best attempt:

Yes, I was a couple seconds behind, but I think I did a decent job nonetheless!

@WoomyNNYes using this thread should be fine I think

I don't have this game though sorry I can't share my times 😅

@WoomyNNYes
200cc is too fast for me. 😩

@MarioLover92 UHH! Rosalina!? Ew! -reported!
JK It's the wheels & glider. Using your setup, I wasn't hitting purple boost quick enough for the first shortcut, and I couldn't keep up with my ghost. Having the higher handling wheels builds up boost faster, and I need that purple boost for that first shortcut through the grass at the first hairpin.

• Using Rosalina + BiddyBuggy + Azure Roller wheels + Paper Glider: I got 1:16.178 (beat my best time by .405 seconds.
• I couldn't keep up with the extra weight of the Gold Glider. If someone can do better with a different style stats, by all means share.

Here are the stats side by side.



first lap:

• I get purple boost for the first shortcut. And hop through the grass to minimize touching the grass/ground. Hoping may make the sharp turn work better? Not sure why.
• That second shortcut, build up boost to cut the grass to the jump. Hit jump to minimize touching grass. It's is a bit tricky to aim. Sometimes you come of the jump and hit a light pole or screw up in general.
• Third shortcut is where I use the mushroom.
• I set the hang glider down as quick as I can-ish to start drifting asap, to build up the best boost I can for the straight to the finish line (orange boost is best I can get)

@WoomyNNYes But...I like Rosalina...

Thanks - I'll give that setup a shot! I always thought having a reasonably good top speed would be good enough. Good to know that having higher handling gives mini-turbos faster too. My only concern is how it plays out on 150cc races, the low top speed seems a bit worrisome.

@MarioLover92 Yeah, 150cc strategy can be different; If there's less turns to drift/boost, then top speed can matter more.

As far as I know, in 200cc, stop speed is not a concern because, karts are so fast, it's too hard to keep karts on the track in many turns.

I still don't know how to do Yoshi Circuit good for 200cc - I pick the lightest character, like Shy Guy, little roller wheels, paper glider, I'm constantly dragging the brakes to keep the kart on the track, it's like I drift with brakes on for half of the track, or more, it seems excessive. Maybe that's just how Yoshi Circuit is for 200cc - lots of braking while drifting.

@WoomyNNYes Yeah that is true, I may spend some time with that setup on the online races so I can see how I do overall. Or I can have a decent top speed while placing handling on higher priority. I was actually thinking of doing Yoshi Circuit, I could use Toadette and a bike since that track has a ton of turns.

@MarioLover92 Oof... Yoshi Circuit 200cc time trial. Boy, what a tight track this is for 200cc. I struggled to beat the staff ghost. Then, I started getting a hang of the cutting right to aim the kart for the mushroom shortcut through the waterfall. After the jump through the falls, landing in a good line for the turn into the tunnel took a bunch of experimenting. My best time was 1:28.730.

Edit: Side note here. In the first clip below, when I hop that gap after the first turn, I got lucky AF. I didn't hop and cut that gap/corner nearly as aggressviely for laps 2 & 3 because, I can't do that reliably. More accurately, I kinda can't do it.🤣 I usually fall short and fall into the water.

@WoomyNNYes Lol dang.. everyone is so good at Mario Kart. I always thought I wasn't bad but damn.. specially last time I played with @MarioLover92 It's cool you started this up.. it'd be a bunch of fun if we can all somehow like find a day to ALL RACE, that'd be awesome

I still want to do the time trials, just didn't get around to doing them. I was rather busy.

@tekoii Yeah that'd be cool, I'd enjoy that.

@MarioLover92 Right ! We gotta figure this out sometime guys XD!

So far since everyone probably knows by now how to avoid getting knocked out by shells etc and that game guide sites giving us tips and secrets, whats the point of trying to race against people online or playing the game by yourself solo offline?

@XandertheWise Pardon my previous response (deleted it), I forgot you already bought mario kart 8.... 😉

I think that's an over simplification. While you can look up tips & secrets, there's still skill involved in being able reliably take the a better line and squeeze in more drift boosts than someone else. And some lines & shortcuts are riskier than others. I have over 200 hours in MK8, and I'm still finding places to shave seconds to gain an edge - especially in 200cc.

Regarding online racing, worldwide vs regional options. I've found people can be more brutal with shells and blue shells in worldwide. Regional tends to be more reliably fun. You'll also see the Tournament online option; In there you can find weaponless races, or mushrooms only. Caveat there is, sometimes it's hard to find races in those modes. (I really hope Nintendo makes a dedicated weaponless race mode in the next mario kart, to make it easier race other people.)

Regarding single player, you unlock kart parts with progress and collecting coins. Some things were rewarded if you beat all the default staff ghost times in time trials. There's challenge in getting three star ratings on all Grand Prix Cups. (when you're selecting a cup to race, you'll see up to 3 yellow stars on esch cup. AI can make that difficult in 150cc, so it takes a bit of perseverance. And higher speed 200cc racing is a different animal. With that extra speed, you'll need to take different lines for turns, start turning/drifting way earlier from the outside, and maybe a different kart setup. For some tracks in 200cc, I pick a light weight character, maximizing handling, and minimizing top speed.

When Mario Kart 8 first released on the Switch, I think Mirror tracks, 200cc tracks, characters and parts had to be unlocked by progress. Some things were rewarded if you got one star on a cup, some required 3 stars on all cups, I think? My nieces just got MK8 this christmas, and it looked like all characters, tracks, mirror tracks, and 200cc were already unlocked. Most kart parts still need to be unlocked though. My memory is fuzzy on that stuff, since I got the game back in 2017, so I don't know if my I remember the unlockables accurately. (Or I'm thinking of Mario Kart 7 on 3DS).

My god... I haven't played MK8 in so long that I've basically forgotten how to drive well. You guys put some really good times in, and I'm struggling to get within FIVE SECONDS of them! It's a bit depressing considering I have the capacity for being quick but... man I need to raise my game.

Looking at my older times; anyone managed a 1:03.483 for N64 Rainbow Road? 1:37.216 for Electrodrome? 58.366 for Baby Park? 1:14.083 for Big Blue...

Judging off what I've seen here I'm probably a few seconds off the pace!

EDIT: Forget Big Blue, I just smashed it. 1:10.983 is my new time.

@TheJGG Haha, same thing happened to me. My time trials ghosts from three to four years ago, I was like wtf!? I couldn't keep up with my own ghost. When you don't know how your own ghost got that time it looks like dark magic! haha.

Well, I broke it down a couple ways. And maybe this is all obvious. Are you using the same character & kart build as the ghost? Some builds build up the purple drift boost quicker than others, which can make a huge difference. (higher handling = earning boost quicker while drifting). And, you need to figure out the lines & where they are using the mushroom, or which shortcuts are being used. Thankfully, in MK8, you have the option to View Ghost, and watch the whole time trial of that ghost.

@TheJGG? Looks like those are 200cc times you listed. I'm going to check my times compared to yours in your post.

Side note here. This is the lap 1 clip I posted above. But I felt I had to share. When I hop that gap after the first turn, I got lucky AF. I didn't hop and cut that gap/corner nearly as aggressviely for laps 2 & 3 because, I can't do that reliably. More accurately, I kinda can't do it.🤣 I usually fall short and fall into the water.

@TheJGG Oh, wow. I only have a time N64 Rainbow road 200cc
JGG - 1:03.483. Me - 1:04.699
Dammit! You about a second faster. You think you're better than me!? jk I'll see what I can do.Ok, I set some 200cc times.

Edit: An hour or two later here: I spent about 20 minutes on each, but it took a good bit of work to get lower times. Amazing how many restarts you can fit into that amount of time.🤔🤣 My personal best times there were good, but had flaws. Rather than work for perfection, I settled on those times in case someone wants to to aim for them.

200cc times
Used: Lugi, Biddy Buggy, Azure Roller wheels, Paper Glider.
Rainbow Road
JGG 1:03.483
Me 1:02.859
(2 mushrooms in a couple straights, 3rd mushroom @ glider to finishline)
Electrodrome
JGG 1:37.216
Me 1:35.567
(Always use right fork on track. Drop 2nd glider onto turn & use mushroom on last turn before finish line - not a shortcut, just it's faster than building up drift.)
Baby Park
JGG 58.366
Me 52.608
(Initially, my best time was 55 secons if I used mushrooms to shortcut the grass. Then I discovered, if you're drifting fast engouh, you can shortcut through the grass at the turns (you don't need mushrooms to do it). Though, it may only work if you've carried your speed well. I'm not clear on what makes it work. It didn't always work, and I'd use a mushroom if it failed.
Big Blue
JGG 1:10.983
Me 1:12.133
(use first left fork. I used the shortcut on the water-part of the track to skip a turn. Near the end, there's two shortcuts where you can turn left off the track to land on the other part of the track. used the last mushroom to shortuct that chicane before finish line)