Mario Kart Wii: A small guide.
Posted: July 1st, 2009, 20:32
Hello dudes, I wrote this thing here, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it, please tell me to adjust it where necessary and add stuff I probably forgot. Thanks!
Mario Kart: a single player guide.
Chances are, you’ve got Mario Kart on your shelf, next to your dust-collecting Wii console, and secretly you want to be good at it.
Well now you can, thanks to my guide!*
What is Mario Kart?
Mario kart is a racing game, but it’s more about fun then it is about racing, although it can be incredibly frustrating and unfair at times, and that’s what this guide is for: helping you cope with the frustration and giving you some tips on how to outsmart the CPU.
Be warned that even though there are ways to make things less annoying, luck and practice still plays a great factor in winning at Mario kart, so don’t except to be the best overnight.
Wii-mote VS classic controller
They are three ways to playing Mario kart, one way is to use the steering wheel that comes with the package (the wheel is just a bit of plastic, you can simply use your wii-mote should you want to), the other is to use the classic controller that you can buy in most places or thirdly you can use a gamecube controller.
Personally, I only used the wheel once and then threw it away in the farthest corner of my room that I could find, it’s very impractical and I felt like my car didn’t respond to my actions at all. It is however excellent for beginners, since you don’t have to bother with button combos too much.
The classic controller I never tried since I don’t own one, but it can’t be worse then the wheel.
My favourite however is the gamecube controller, I professed my love for it before, and this is exactly right for me, since I feel like I’m in total control, something I didn’t have with the wheel. I expect the classic controller to do the same.
Different modes:
In singleplayer there are four different modes, each with their own specific guidelines.
Grand prix: this mode consists of 8 different cups on which you have to get gold on each one to gain more vehicles, characters and modes.
The different modes are:
-50cc: Obviously the easiest one, you only get to race karts.
-100cc: Slightly more difficult, and you only get to race bikes
-150cc: fairly difficult mode that allows you to race both karts and bikes
-Mirror mode: the hardest mode, you can only play it after finishing the other three modes, every level is in reverse and your competitors are grade-A assholes, expect frustration.
Time trial: Allows you to race against a ‘ghost’, a pre-set bot whose time you will have to beat, in this mode you will get no items, it’s all about racing.
VS Race: race against the computer on a track of your choice. That’s it
Battle: No racing here, instead you get two different modes to throw stuff at other players
-Balloon Battle: you get three balloons, and you lose one with every time you get hit, the point is to make every one else’s balloons go pop.
-Coin Runners: collect the most coins and shoot the rest.
Items: how to use and avoid them
In Mario kart, the main difference with other racing games is that you can gather items on the track, and use them to annoy the fuck out of your fellow racers, and vice versa.
Here’s a list of all the items you can gather, and how to use them.
-banana: does what you’d expect a banana peel to do, in that it makes whoever hits spin round and lose speed, this includes you.
-triple bananas: same as the banana, except you get three of them and the ability to drag them behind your kart, which will stop an impact from incoming shields.
-Since they’re one of the most frequently found items, the track will most likely be covered in bananas, luckily they don’t slow you down much when you hit them. The expert marksman might also want to practice throwing them forward (throw button+D-pad up).
Green shell: A green tortoise shell, classic Mario material. Goes in a straight line forwards or backwards, depending on where you aim.
Triple green shell: when applied, you will get three green shells hovering your vehicle, that will take the damage of whatever is coming your way, this includes other karts. They can’t stop POW blocks, lightning and invulnerable karts though. Alternatively you can throw them like single green shells
-Since you get no indication when you’ve got one behind you, these are kind of unpredictable, but since they go in a straight line there is less chance of you getting hit. Beware though, since green shells can bounce off walls and hit you in the face even if you dodged it the first time.
Red shell: Like the green shell, but this one is homing. Oh yes.
Triple red shell: Same deal as the triple green shell, they can be used as protection, but like I said they’re homing, handy if you’re in fourth place, or want to annoy the person driving in front of you. Not recommended if that person sits next of you though.
-Unlike the green shell, you will get a warning when one of these is heading your way, you can stop the impact by dragging a throwable item (hold down throw+down on your D-pad) behind your kart, assuming you have one.
Blue shell: If you’re not familiar with the blue shell, you will quickly learn to hate it, since it is maybe the most annoying item Mario kart has to offer. What the blue shell does is hit whoever is first, and blow him or her sky high, often resulting in you losing the lead. Handy if you’re second though, but it’s a pretty rare item.
-The reason why this is so annoying is because you can’t block the blue shell with anything, the only way to avoid getting hit is driving into the abyss surrounding the track, but this is not a better alternative. Just take it like a man. What you can do however, is try and let someone pass you, or try and engulf as many people in the blastwave as possible, but this can sometimes be trickier than it sounds. It is also possible, if very very unlikely, that someone else gets hit by the shell simply because they are in their flight path. The missus had this once inches before she reached the finish line, making her fall into a ditch and finishing last. I feared for my life that time.
Red item block: Looks just like a regular item block, except that it’s red, doesn’t move and the question mark is upside down. When you hit it it has the same effect as a banana or shell. You can NOT use them to block incoming shells.
-They are very easy to spot, but the tricky player will drag them behind his vehicle and release them right after a regular item block, so that the approaching opponent will not see the block and hit it. Tee hee.
Mushroom: Another Mario classic, this will give you a small boost and can be quite useful when you reach the finish, but that pesky player is still in front of you.
Triple mushroom: Three mushrooms, same as a single mushroom.
Gold mushroom: the same effect as the other shrooms, but if you tap the item button you will gain several boosts until your shroom ‘runs out’
Giant mushroom: When you use this mushroom, you become temporarily enormous, giving you a large speed boost and the ability to crush everyone in your path. Literally.
Bob-omb: A bomb. Throw it before or behind you, but be cautious not to run into it yourself. Creates a nice big blastwave that obliterates everyone caught in it. It will also obliterate any items they are holding.
-Just steer around it in a nice big arc.
Thundercloud: A cloud that will hover over you when you use it, and will make you go faster until the cloud erupts and strikes you with lightning, making you tiny and slow, this can be avoided by driving into another player, passing the cloud onto him or her.
Lightning Bolt: When you use this, everyone else will get shrunk, so that you can pass all of them with easy, or flatten them if you like.
-You can avoid getting hit by either driving off the track (in this case it’s not so bad since everyone will be slower, giving you the change to catch up) or by activating a star you have. You don’t get an indication though so both remedies will only happen if you’re lucky or a bad driver
Bullet Bill: You will only get this if you’re dangling at the back, and is great way to get back into the race, as you temporarily turn into a giant bullet and speed across the track, smashing everyone aside that is unfortunate enough to be in your way. You also don’t need to steer because bullet bill will automatically point you in the right direction.
-when you see one coming, get the fuck out of the way.
Blooper: A little squid ghost, that when activated sprays ink over the other players, clouding their vision. You can get rid of this by running over a booster or using a mushroom.
-As a human player you’ll not have much trouble, since you can still see fairly well, but CPU’s go crazy when you use it on them, very handy in Grand Prix.
Star: Like in any Mario game, the star will give you temporary immunity to everything but blue shells, and will make you go faster.
-If you’re using this, try and smash into other players, as it will knock them aside.
POW block: When you use this, it will make a large block that says ‘POW’ appear over the other players’ heads, and will pounce three times, the third time making them spin and stop in their tracks., and make them drop any items they are carrying.
-When there is one over your head, press up on the D-pad (or lift the wii-mote) when it’s about to reach the third pounce, and the effect will be drastically less, you’ll only spin once and keep going, rather then stop. And if you’re in the air at the time it will have no effect at all.
Bikes VS karts:
A new addition to this Mario kart, is bikes.
But do the bikes have advantages over the karts?
Not really. They are not faster or slower then karts, but the main difference lies with the fact that they can perform wheelies, giving you a small boost. This can be done by pressing up on the D-pad or flicking the wii-mote up.
Some may still prefer bikes over karts, but since every kart is different it really depends on the player.
Personally, I prefer a slower but easy to handle bike such as the wario bike, but I’ve yet to see any real difference with the karts.
Also, depending on the height of your character (small, medium and large) you will get eight different vehicles per height class.
Tips, tricks and fun stuff:
-Snaking: This is something I have no experience with, but DS players will probably be acquainted with the phenomenon. There was a lot of complaining about it on the DS version, so Nintendo decided to reduce it this time around. Apparently it’s still possible but requires lots of practice since it takes longer to get boosts.
-tricks: Another new addition is that you can now perform tricks when you drive off a ramp or levelled object, giving you a boost when you land. Use this all the time, even or really small jumps, as it can really make a difference.
Rocket start: When you are at the starting line, wait for the big 2 to appear, and hold your speed button when it starts to fade, this will give you a large boost and will put you before the rest. But if you do it wrong, your engine will combust and you’ll have a slower start. Oh dear.
Slipstreaming: When you drive straight behind another player, blue lines will start to appear around you; keep this up and you gain a massive boost, often making the difference at the finish line. Others will do this to you so slight swerving is the message.
-Mii’s: throughout the levels there will be several posters, statues and signs featuring Mario characters, and when you progress in the game they will be replaced by your mii’s, in my case this made Hitler snowboarders, Lebowski sphinxes and Stalin statues. How appropriate!
Another fun mii fact is that the audience will consist of your mii’s and if you progress far enough into the game you’ll be able to race with your own mii! (Depending on your pre-set height you will get large, medium or small vehicles at your disposal, you can change this in your mii-channel)
I hope my little guide helps you somewhat, it’s not a very hard game but some skill can help you immensely!
Good luck!
*May not actually make you good.
Mario Kart: a single player guide.
Chances are, you’ve got Mario Kart on your shelf, next to your dust-collecting Wii console, and secretly you want to be good at it.
Well now you can, thanks to my guide!*
What is Mario Kart?
Mario kart is a racing game, but it’s more about fun then it is about racing, although it can be incredibly frustrating and unfair at times, and that’s what this guide is for: helping you cope with the frustration and giving you some tips on how to outsmart the CPU.
Be warned that even though there are ways to make things less annoying, luck and practice still plays a great factor in winning at Mario kart, so don’t except to be the best overnight.
Wii-mote VS classic controller
They are three ways to playing Mario kart, one way is to use the steering wheel that comes with the package (the wheel is just a bit of plastic, you can simply use your wii-mote should you want to), the other is to use the classic controller that you can buy in most places or thirdly you can use a gamecube controller.
Personally, I only used the wheel once and then threw it away in the farthest corner of my room that I could find, it’s very impractical and I felt like my car didn’t respond to my actions at all. It is however excellent for beginners, since you don’t have to bother with button combos too much.
The classic controller I never tried since I don’t own one, but it can’t be worse then the wheel.
My favourite however is the gamecube controller, I professed my love for it before, and this is exactly right for me, since I feel like I’m in total control, something I didn’t have with the wheel. I expect the classic controller to do the same.
Different modes:
In singleplayer there are four different modes, each with their own specific guidelines.
Grand prix: this mode consists of 8 different cups on which you have to get gold on each one to gain more vehicles, characters and modes.
The different modes are:
-50cc: Obviously the easiest one, you only get to race karts.
-100cc: Slightly more difficult, and you only get to race bikes
-150cc: fairly difficult mode that allows you to race both karts and bikes
-Mirror mode: the hardest mode, you can only play it after finishing the other three modes, every level is in reverse and your competitors are grade-A assholes, expect frustration.
Time trial: Allows you to race against a ‘ghost’, a pre-set bot whose time you will have to beat, in this mode you will get no items, it’s all about racing.
VS Race: race against the computer on a track of your choice. That’s it
Battle: No racing here, instead you get two different modes to throw stuff at other players
-Balloon Battle: you get three balloons, and you lose one with every time you get hit, the point is to make every one else’s balloons go pop.
-Coin Runners: collect the most coins and shoot the rest.
Items: how to use and avoid them
In Mario kart, the main difference with other racing games is that you can gather items on the track, and use them to annoy the fuck out of your fellow racers, and vice versa.
Here’s a list of all the items you can gather, and how to use them.
-banana: does what you’d expect a banana peel to do, in that it makes whoever hits spin round and lose speed, this includes you.
-triple bananas: same as the banana, except you get three of them and the ability to drag them behind your kart, which will stop an impact from incoming shields.
-Since they’re one of the most frequently found items, the track will most likely be covered in bananas, luckily they don’t slow you down much when you hit them. The expert marksman might also want to practice throwing them forward (throw button+D-pad up).
Green shell: A green tortoise shell, classic Mario material. Goes in a straight line forwards or backwards, depending on where you aim.
Triple green shell: when applied, you will get three green shells hovering your vehicle, that will take the damage of whatever is coming your way, this includes other karts. They can’t stop POW blocks, lightning and invulnerable karts though. Alternatively you can throw them like single green shells
-Since you get no indication when you’ve got one behind you, these are kind of unpredictable, but since they go in a straight line there is less chance of you getting hit. Beware though, since green shells can bounce off walls and hit you in the face even if you dodged it the first time.
Red shell: Like the green shell, but this one is homing. Oh yes.
Triple red shell: Same deal as the triple green shell, they can be used as protection, but like I said they’re homing, handy if you’re in fourth place, or want to annoy the person driving in front of you. Not recommended if that person sits next of you though.
-Unlike the green shell, you will get a warning when one of these is heading your way, you can stop the impact by dragging a throwable item (hold down throw+down on your D-pad) behind your kart, assuming you have one.
Blue shell: If you’re not familiar with the blue shell, you will quickly learn to hate it, since it is maybe the most annoying item Mario kart has to offer. What the blue shell does is hit whoever is first, and blow him or her sky high, often resulting in you losing the lead. Handy if you’re second though, but it’s a pretty rare item.
-The reason why this is so annoying is because you can’t block the blue shell with anything, the only way to avoid getting hit is driving into the abyss surrounding the track, but this is not a better alternative. Just take it like a man. What you can do however, is try and let someone pass you, or try and engulf as many people in the blastwave as possible, but this can sometimes be trickier than it sounds. It is also possible, if very very unlikely, that someone else gets hit by the shell simply because they are in their flight path. The missus had this once inches before she reached the finish line, making her fall into a ditch and finishing last. I feared for my life that time.
Red item block: Looks just like a regular item block, except that it’s red, doesn’t move and the question mark is upside down. When you hit it it has the same effect as a banana or shell. You can NOT use them to block incoming shells.
-They are very easy to spot, but the tricky player will drag them behind his vehicle and release them right after a regular item block, so that the approaching opponent will not see the block and hit it. Tee hee.
Mushroom: Another Mario classic, this will give you a small boost and can be quite useful when you reach the finish, but that pesky player is still in front of you.
Triple mushroom: Three mushrooms, same as a single mushroom.
Gold mushroom: the same effect as the other shrooms, but if you tap the item button you will gain several boosts until your shroom ‘runs out’
Giant mushroom: When you use this mushroom, you become temporarily enormous, giving you a large speed boost and the ability to crush everyone in your path. Literally.
Bob-omb: A bomb. Throw it before or behind you, but be cautious not to run into it yourself. Creates a nice big blastwave that obliterates everyone caught in it. It will also obliterate any items they are holding.
-Just steer around it in a nice big arc.
Thundercloud: A cloud that will hover over you when you use it, and will make you go faster until the cloud erupts and strikes you with lightning, making you tiny and slow, this can be avoided by driving into another player, passing the cloud onto him or her.
Lightning Bolt: When you use this, everyone else will get shrunk, so that you can pass all of them with easy, or flatten them if you like.
-You can avoid getting hit by either driving off the track (in this case it’s not so bad since everyone will be slower, giving you the change to catch up) or by activating a star you have. You don’t get an indication though so both remedies will only happen if you’re lucky or a bad driver
Bullet Bill: You will only get this if you’re dangling at the back, and is great way to get back into the race, as you temporarily turn into a giant bullet and speed across the track, smashing everyone aside that is unfortunate enough to be in your way. You also don’t need to steer because bullet bill will automatically point you in the right direction.
-when you see one coming, get the fuck out of the way.
Blooper: A little squid ghost, that when activated sprays ink over the other players, clouding their vision. You can get rid of this by running over a booster or using a mushroom.
-As a human player you’ll not have much trouble, since you can still see fairly well, but CPU’s go crazy when you use it on them, very handy in Grand Prix.
Star: Like in any Mario game, the star will give you temporary immunity to everything but blue shells, and will make you go faster.
-If you’re using this, try and smash into other players, as it will knock them aside.
POW block: When you use this, it will make a large block that says ‘POW’ appear over the other players’ heads, and will pounce three times, the third time making them spin and stop in their tracks., and make them drop any items they are carrying.
-When there is one over your head, press up on the D-pad (or lift the wii-mote) when it’s about to reach the third pounce, and the effect will be drastically less, you’ll only spin once and keep going, rather then stop. And if you’re in the air at the time it will have no effect at all.
Bikes VS karts:
A new addition to this Mario kart, is bikes.
But do the bikes have advantages over the karts?
Not really. They are not faster or slower then karts, but the main difference lies with the fact that they can perform wheelies, giving you a small boost. This can be done by pressing up on the D-pad or flicking the wii-mote up.
Some may still prefer bikes over karts, but since every kart is different it really depends on the player.
Personally, I prefer a slower but easy to handle bike such as the wario bike, but I’ve yet to see any real difference with the karts.
Also, depending on the height of your character (small, medium and large) you will get eight different vehicles per height class.
Tips, tricks and fun stuff:
-Snaking: This is something I have no experience with, but DS players will probably be acquainted with the phenomenon. There was a lot of complaining about it on the DS version, so Nintendo decided to reduce it this time around. Apparently it’s still possible but requires lots of practice since it takes longer to get boosts.
-tricks: Another new addition is that you can now perform tricks when you drive off a ramp or levelled object, giving you a boost when you land. Use this all the time, even or really small jumps, as it can really make a difference.
Rocket start: When you are at the starting line, wait for the big 2 to appear, and hold your speed button when it starts to fade, this will give you a large boost and will put you before the rest. But if you do it wrong, your engine will combust and you’ll have a slower start. Oh dear.
Slipstreaming: When you drive straight behind another player, blue lines will start to appear around you; keep this up and you gain a massive boost, often making the difference at the finish line. Others will do this to you so slight swerving is the message.
-Mii’s: throughout the levels there will be several posters, statues and signs featuring Mario characters, and when you progress in the game they will be replaced by your mii’s, in my case this made Hitler snowboarders, Lebowski sphinxes and Stalin statues. How appropriate!
Another fun mii fact is that the audience will consist of your mii’s and if you progress far enough into the game you’ll be able to race with your own mii! (Depending on your pre-set height you will get large, medium or small vehicles at your disposal, you can change this in your mii-channel)
I hope my little guide helps you somewhat, it’s not a very hard game but some skill can help you immensely!
Good luck!
*May not actually make you good.