User:Guild of Deals/Mario Kart

Having trouble with Mario Kart? Need help? Guild of Deals is here to save the day! Here's a comprehensive walkthrough and general bits about Mario Kart: Wii.

Introduction
Mario Kart Wii is another Mario Kart. You have 3 different controller options: The Gamecube Controller (which gives the least amount of power-ups), the Nunchuck and Remote (which gives a good selection of power-ups), and the Wii Wheel/Remote (which gives all the power-ups). You can play on Karts or Bikes (I'll go through the ups and downs later) and many playable characters.

Controllers
Gamecube Controller
 * (+) Good control
 * (+) Easy for newbies
 * (-) Only starting speed boost as powerup

Nunchuck and Remote
 * (+) Good control
 * (+) Rather easy to use
 * (+) Allows you to do Wheelies, starting speed boosts, and tricks
 * (-) Cannot get double drifting bonuses on bikes

Wii Wheel
 * (+) All benefits
 * (+) Gives Wii Wheel ranks online
 * (-) Rather hard to control
 * (-) Hard to get used to

Classes
Please note, these are general overviews. Some karts/bikes have non-standard stats to their class

Small
 * High acceleration
 * Low speed
 * Easy handling
 * Easily pushed/shoved

Medium
 * Average speed
 * Average acceleration
 * Average handling
 * Harder to push than Small (can shove Small)

Large
 * Low acceleration
 * High speed
 * Low handling
 * Toughest to push (can shove all classes)

Vehicles
Karts
 * (+) Generally higher stats
 * (+) Heavier
 * (-) Can't do wheelies

Bikes
 * (+) Can do wheelies
 * (-) Generally lower stats
 * (-) Lighter

Tips and Guides
Mario Kart can be harder than your other Mario Karts. Much harder. Here's a few facts on why:


 * AI have supreme power in chaining attacks
 * AI calculate and prioritize people based on rank in the race and overall points
 * 12 players means lots of weapons
 * Weapons such as Lightning, POW Block, and Spiky Shells are extremely dangerous

So, it can be VERY hard to beat some of them. However, there's a few simple tricks that can help.


 * If you find you're constantly hit with weapons, try a high acceleration and high handling vehicle, like the Bit Bike
 * To dodge POW Blocks, you can either be in the air (like on a ramp or jump), or you can shake your remote (like when you do a trick) when the POW Block is nearly flattened (this only works on Wii Wheel and Remote/Nunchuck)
 * To dodge Spiky Shells, if you have a speed booster (like a Mushroom), use it right when the Spiky Shell is about to crash down. Also, there are certain zones that Spiky Shells can't hit you in. They are DK Cannons (Maple Treeway, DK Mountain, DK Summit), the ramp in DK Jungle Parkway 64, and the star tunnel in Rainbow Road
 * Lightning cannot be avoided, unless you're invincible or in those areas above. I suggest that you try to use it to your advantage. Use a high acceleration vehicle and get back in the race faster than your enemies. If you get ahead of them, you'll grow faster than them as well.

Also, some more general tips are here.


 * Bikes are the best choice. The Wheelie is one of the best features and can give you that much needed boost.
 * Whenever there's a straight road or area, use a Wheelie
 * Try Drifting whenever you can. It gives you speed boosts and can give you that edge out on an enemy
 * If you're taking a turn to hard, de-accelerate. It may make you slower, but it's faster than running off an edge or into a wall
 * If you don't need to use a ramp, dont. The time you sped in the air will slow you down more than the speed boost it provides.
 * You can get a "starting boost" in the race. This is helpful as it can get you starting quickly, as well as negates bad acceleration stats. To do this, when the timer just finishes the "2", hold the acceleration button. It takes some practice, but is easy to do after a while. Also, if using a bike, you can do a Wheelie right when the timer ends and when you're doing the Speed Boost to get a quick start.

Unlockables
I won't cover Karts here or the easy characters to unlock, but the hard ones are tricky.

Birdo
Birdo is rather easy. Just run through half of the Time Trials courses. You don't have to win, you just need data for them. You can also win 250 wins online. Just to let you know, winning online means as long as you're in front of somebody. So if you get 11th place out of 12 people, it'll count as 1 win. If you get first place out of 12 people, it'll count as 11 wins.

Toadette
Just run through all the Time Trials. As with Birdo, no wins are required.

Dry Bowser
There's no real strategy to getting him, just keep trying. You have to get a 1-star rank or better in all 150cc Wii Cups (Mushroom, Flower, something else, and Special). The best strategy is to basically gain imaginary "points". These "points" basically come from certain things. Doing lots of Wheelies, doing lots of Tricks, staying in first, and such are positive things. Staying in last and using Bullet Bills are downsides to it. Also, you need above 53 points in the cup overall to qualifty for one star, 57 for two starts, and 60 for 3 stars.

Funky Kong
See Time Trials.

Baby Luigi
See Time Trials

Mii Outfit B
He's real tricky to get. Since I only gave tips for 8 courses, I can't really help with all 32 courses. Just be good.

Rosselina
The only real requirement for Rosselina is to have Super Mario: Galaxy data. Otherwise, her appearence is rather random, sort of like Mewtwo in SSB: Melee.

Time Trials
Here's 8 courses that are rather easy to get Expert Staffs in, needed for Funky Kong and Baby Luigi (I can't do all 32 courses, so no Mii Outfit B). First off, there's a few things to say.


 * Only do these on the Wii Wheel or Nunchuck/Remote.
 * Use Wheelies whenever possible
 * Do Stunts/Tricks whenever possible.
 * Always start with a Speed Boost/Wheelie combo, as it usually pushes you ahead of the CPU.
 * Most of my cups have been won with the Phantom Bike or Shooting Star Bike.

Note on Expert Ghost Staffs
Winning a race doesn't always give you Expert Ghost Staffs. There's a certain margine (depending on the course) that you need to win by, usually spanning from 4 seconds to 7 seconds. There are no unlockables for beating Expert Staffs, but they're always there if you feel up to a challenge.

Coconut Mall
I used the Phantom (won from the Mirror Special Cup), but any balanced bike will do. Use 1 Mushroom per lap to go through the store on the upper level of mall (you'll see it). Just make sure then to go on the escelators going up and use Wheelies whenever possible. Also, in the area with the trees and fountain, you can go off the little "pots" of the trees to do a Stunt, as with the fountain. Try to avoid the cars at all cost, and always use the jump to exit the mall.

N64 Bowser Castle 3
This is quite an easy one (I won by almost 10 seconds). Make sure to Wheelie on all the straight areas and do Stunts when possible. Use 1 Mushroom per lap on the staircase before entering the courtyard. Avoid the fire and the lava spurts. When near the finish line, when you encounter the jumps, always use the right ledge to jump off; it's generically faster.

Daisy Circuit
First off, use 1 Mushroom per lap to go through the shortcut (the staircase near the start of the course and near the figure 8). If you decide not to use them their, always stay on 1 side of the figure 8. Otherwise, there's a lot of drifting and turns in this course, so watch out.

GCN DK Mountain
There's a few tricks here that the AI don't understand, which are that the grass and grayer areas of the mountain don't slow you down. So if you need to ride up on the grass, then do so. The trick to gain the edge on the computer is when you reach the 3 small ramps, do a trick off the first, then angle yourself into the gray area to you're right and do a Trick. You'll fly over the third ramp and take a small shortcut. Then use a Mushroom each round in that small shortcut.

Koopa Cape
This is rather easy as well. There's a lot of jumps, so do a lot of Tricks. First off, the "halfpipe ramp" just slows you (and the CPU) down, so just drift past it. Try to always stay in the water, as it'll speed you up. Use 1 Mushroom per round to cut across the grass on the right side of the giant red Koopa Shell. It'll lead a nice direct route to the Warp Pipe. Also, at the end of the Warpipe tunnel (right after the third "electric wheel", there's a very small jump you can do a trick off of. Do so for an easy speed boost.

Mushroom Gorge
In the initial start of the race, the computer will be slightly ahead of you (only slightly if you did Speed Boost/Wheelie combo). However, you'll quickly edge them out. Do Stunts off every ramp and mushroom. Also, take the mushroom path instead of the turn on the course, and always take the right set of mushrooms in the cavern. Use your mushroom to cut across the grass in the area near the finish line (with the Goombas).

Mario Raceway 64
This can be a little tricky, but can be done easily with the right shortcuts. There's a nice array of straight areas (for Wheelies) and curves (for Drifting), so use those respectively to stay ahead. The CPU will take the shortcut which is boosting to the ramp, but dont do that. Instead, use a Mushroom each lap to cut across the sand and grass near the Warpipe tunnel. This is a huge shortcut and will keep you in the lead.

...To be finished. But I gave you enough courses for Funky Kong atleast.

Techniques and General Tips
Here's some general tips and techniques I find effective.

Tab Smashing
I named it after the infamous "Tab Smash" here at PvX. Tab Smashing is basically tackling people with your kart. If you're a giant character (which is suggested for Tab Smashing), you can smash characters in walls (which can kill they're acceleration) or even off the course (which can be all-to-common for smaller characters). Just constantly elbow the guy close to you until he gets smashed into a wall or into a rough patch.

Staying in First
While in first, you have a shitty array of weapons: Red Boxes, Banana's, Triple Banana's, Green Shells, and Red Shells. However, these can be used to keep you nicely in first as well. The first technique is item dragging. Basically, this is your best defensive technique. You hold any item you obtain (persides Red Boxes) behind you. Keep dragging it until you get a new item, and then you drop the item you're dragging and drag your other item. Keep doing this, and that's item dragging. What it does is protect you from Red Shells and people bumping into your back. The other strategy is just throwing all your items. Try to make walls of items so people will run into them. This is best done on a course that makes Red Shells easy to avoid, such as Bowser's Castle.

Donkey Kong
Never play as him. Ever. He sounds like a retard with a giant axe embedded in his brain. If you ever play as him, turn the volume off or put in some earplugs. Or better yet, play as Funky Kong!