MarioKart 64 Strats

It's been a year since I wrote my original strat page for this. I've learned a few things since then, so this is the new and improved strat page. If anyone has any little trick or strat they think might be quicker on any of the courses, feel free to mail me about it. :)
Strats written on the 28th of July 2002


Key: MT = Mini Turbo, SSMT = Straight Stretch Mini Turbo
Luigi Raceway
Current PR: 1'58"64 (1'38"67) God WR Potential: I was lucky to get that
The standards are really tough on this track, but the track itself is easy enough to master. There are 2 basic strats I use to drive this course. A 0-3-0 strat which got me a time of 1'59"31 (1'39"23) and the one I switched to which I'm pretty sure is quicker; a 1-2-0. Well here we go:

Jump into an SSMT from the start and don't let it go until the shroom is about to wear off. Then you should get 2 more SSMTS before the first corner which you obviously take as tightly as you can. I get 4MT's around this corner, the last one I let go almost before the corner is over and should barely miss the sand on the left. I then SSMT to the right side of the track before the tunnel. Then get a quick MT into the tunnel staying close to the righthand side. At this point I almost always hit the tunnel wall. This really doesn't slow you down at all though and then MT out of the tunnel, again staying close to the right.....

0shroomer lap: Then get an SSMT before the next corner and hug this bend with 3 MT's. This bend is a lot turnier (is that a word?) then the first one, so it's important not to drift wide here..a lot of time can be gained and lost on this corner. When you've let go of the 3rd MT you should still be in the leftmost lane maybe heading into the middle one. Do one SSMT before the line.

1shroomer lap: Head slightly to the left and SSMT into the grass (let the MT go when still on the road) and aim directly for where the wall turns. Wait roughly the same amount of time you wait between MT's and then shroomslide+MT around the bend (this means you jump into the start of an MT and then hit the shroom...shrooming and then trying to jump into an MT would just be a bit of a mess)....hug the wall as tightly as you can without hitting it of course. I guess you can always go quicker by taking this wall hugging to the extreme, but you don't need anything especially heroic for the WR. If you've seen Steven's run which is basically as quick as mine, you'll see his wall isn't that great. Of course if you can see his run then what are you reading this for? :) You can see that it's very important to remain straight between MT's....if you come out of an MT and drive straight until you jump into the next, then that's perfect. Any twitching loses time! Anyways..let the MT go just as the shroom is about to wear off and drive straight for the road...get an MT out of the sand and one more before the finish line. (maybe you'll start a second one)

2shroomer lap: Head slightly to the left and SSMT into the grass exactly like in the 1shroomer version. The only difference between this lap and that one is that you hit another shroom directly after the first wears off and shroom back onto the road, letting go an MT when you reach it. You might want to start an SSMT before reaching the line

3shroomer lap: (The flap strat)
PR: 37"91 (31"53) God 7th Potential: I can do better than 7th :/
Head for the same point as mentioned in the 1shroom and 2shroom laps but start your first shroom before hitting the sand/grass. Then just hug the wall tight and let go your other 2 shrooms as they wear off. For flap (or on last lap), don't SSMT before the line, otherwise you might want to start into another one. You'll get a feel for this yourself.



Moo Moo Farm
Current PR: 1'28"61 (1'13"69) God 7th Potential: Maybe half a second faster
Welcome, to the course I avoid until I need to play it. This, as anyone will tell you, is a pain of a course but thankfully the standards reflect this and they're not too difficult to meet with a little bit of patience. It's the random mole element that's the real killer to a good time. And believe me, those moles are random..completely. I used drive safe laps around here which got me a time under 1'30"00 (1'14"85). A safe lap meaning one that doesn't require risking driving over mole holes. I'll describe that in a bit. First my current strat: Jump into an SSMT from the start and let it go just before the shroom wears off. Then drive straight and MT around the first corner, then MT around the next going to the left of the mole field (Going over it would be quicker but well..good luck trying it...maybe worth risking it for a fast lap or if you have nothing to lose) Also, it might be worth using your shroom here on each lap, and just doing regular MTing around the mole fields at the end. Then I MT around the next big hill corner (when I say that, I mean I pull off an MT just before the base of the hill and drive up it) and MT around the next one on the left. Then one more MT leaving you pointed towards the right hand side long corner. I then slide and shroom and MT over the first set of moles keeping to the righthand side and praying and then hitting start and the retry button and occasionally I get to leave the MT go and drive straight and close to the fence on the right over the next set of moles and drive between the fence and the outer column before MTing just before the line. How's that for a long sentence? Basically this is what I do on all three laps, but in reality I spend more time retrying than driving and it just..it just frustrates me.
The 'safe' strat uses the shroom on each lap on the hill on the right after the first set of moles. Then MT around the next hill to the left...and MT again down the slope. Then it's a bit tricky and requires practice...you basically do a right facing MT so that you end up driving to the right of the 4 leftmost moles in the first patch..and then another right facing MT to the right of the leftmost mole of the second group. YOu can play around with stuff like this yourself. Try finding the quickest route that avoids the holes lap after lap.
Flap Strat: Current PR 28"68 (23"85) God 11th Potential: My worst placed time, so....
I use one shroom on the hill after the first mole patch and 2 sliding around the second group of moles hugging the fence pretty tight on lap 2. Full of info on that aren't I? :) To go faster, use your first shroom over the first set of moles. (P.S. Ask Ben Miller)

Koopa Troopa Beach
Current PR: 1'36"66 (1'20"39) God 3rd Potential: 1'36"50 (1'20"26)

This is a nice course with nice standards once you master entering the cave, and work out the end of the lap, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Immediately jump into a slide MT from the start and let it go once you're around the first corner. If you don't know by now, going to the left of the rock is much quicker than going to the right. Then MT around the next corner, then I hop a little to the left before jumping into an MT and then I get 2 more MTs around the long left turn before the first ramp. This is a good checkpoint. You're not doing anything and you can look at your clock when you're passing the ramp to the left. (My splits here will follow) Drive straight from the last MT and do an SSMT near the tree. Sometimes you can end up at the left of the tree, it doesn't matter..just SSMT wherever you happen to end up, the rock, the sea..whatever. Just have fun kids. Then get an MT around the next set of ramps and end up slightly to the left facing the ramp into the tunnel. This will make the next MT easier to get. However for the quickest time, go for the straightest line...MT tight around the previous ramp and aim right for the ramp. This will mean you're on the righthand side of the track on the runup to the ramp. Start a left facing MT on the approach to the ramp and finish it inside the tunnel (This is the hardest part of the strat but gains you valuable time and time means land near the end) My PR was 1'38"02 (1'21"52) without MTing into the tunnel. Nowadays, that time could be a lot faster without the MT....the tunnel MT gains you maybe .1 of a second per lap Mt out of the tunnel between the rock and the tree and shroom+MT around the last bend. Remember, as long as a shroom is active, it's quicker to be diagonal than straight, so hold on to that MT til the shroom wears off. Let the MT go making sure not to get slowed down by the receeding water. The water will only be a problem right here, if you're on GOD pace. I do a left facing SSMT and then do a right facing MT near the finish line so that you're sliding away from the water which should be coming back to slow you down again. The quicker you are, the straighter you'll be able to stay from the last corner of the first lap to the first corner of the second. Repeat this on all three laps, making sure to adjust your strat for the water. With 3 good laps, you should have minimal contact or trouble with it. When I say "good", I do mean GOD pace. With normal pace, you'll have to alter your strat to compensate.
Don't drive in the water, don't hit a crab and don't lose your nerve on the last lap of a PR race.

Flap strat: Current PR 31"32 (26"05) God 3rd Potential:A little faster now

I wait until the second lap to do this. I haven't gotten the timing right yet though. You want to time your run up to the lap so that you won't have to worry about the water for the whole lap. Anyway, I start the lap with an MT just before the line and head for the corner, MT around this one and then next and then I use my first shroom to slide+MT around the rock to the left. I let the MT go for a split second and drive straight and then hop into another shroom+MT slide. It should wear off around about the same time you reach the first ramp. Then complete the lap in the normal way as stated above using your last shroom on the last corner.

Kalimari Desert
Current PR: 2'06"11 (1'44"88) God WR Potential: 2'05"99 (1'44"78)
There are a lot of different strategies you can use here depending on how quickly you can drive and they're all based around the trains! One of the most popular strats is a 3-0-0 one that I used when I was elite to try and beat last train on the 3rd lap. I used 1 over the hills to the left at the start of the lap and 2 over the sand after the second set of train tracks. I think I used this strat until the first train on the 3rd lap got in the way and then I played around with a 2-0-1 (2 on the first to beat that damned train on the second lap) and eventually settled on a 1-1-1 for the time above. I'm going to describe how I drive my 1-1-1 but it should be helpful for other strats you might drive instead. Right, well the first major debate is whether it's faster to go to the hills at the start of a lap or to stay on the road. The truth of the matter (in my opinion) is that the hills are slightly quicker, but you really need to time your jumps well, otherwise you should stick to the road. My old PR above was gotten through staying on the road on all 3 laps.
Anyways, now I'll describe both routes to the first set of train tracks.

Road: Jump into a slide+MT boost start as usual and let go the MT and straighten up as it's about to wear off. Next is a long corner to the left. Keep close to the edge but make sure not to hit the sand (duh). I get about 4 MT's around this corner and tend to time it so that I jump at the top of a rise on the corner into the last MT (I don't know why I do it, but it feels faster). I then SSMT before the train tracks. SSMTing on this course is extremely hard to do correctly and I think I was high King before I could manage it.

Over the hills: Jump into a slide+MT boost start but don't go straight into the sand...instead wait til the shroom is about to wear off before MTing into the sand (leaving the MT go while still on the road). You can shroom slide straight into the sand from the start and get roughly the same times but I've had more success waiting a little before going in there. Anyways, aim for the corner and start hopping...you want to time your hops so that when you reach the top of the corner you 'launch' yourself a little distance in the air and a little to the left. If you time it right, this will save you precious tenths of seconds and might mean you can beat your road counterpart. You'll know you hit the jump right if you're racing your ghost because you'll visibly pull away. Keep hopping along the hill to the next turn and hop to the left when you reach the next corner. After the hop you should immediately jump into a right facing MT (It's easier to do a left facing one but also slower) and let it go quickly and left face MT onto the track before the tracks. Set a ghost that drives on the road and practice this strat until you can beat the ghost. It's not _too_ important. I'd say a GOD time is certainly possible without going near the hills at all.
Over the hills and far away: Another strat that I used recently is to use your 1st shroom on the very first lap over the hills after your initial starting boost wears off. And then continue the lap as normal, but instead of boosting over the sand after the second train tracks, just MT 5 times out onto the road.

Now, after you choose one of the above routes:
I SSMT once more after the train tracks. Then I MT around the next corner and pull another SSMT before the next train tracks. (Right facing/Left facing..whatever is easier. I right face SSMT). Next I MT into the sand. Now this is important. It is quicker to leave your MT go when you're still on the road than to drive into the sand and let it go there. Also, when I go into the sand, I'm actually coming from the road after the tracks. I don't come from the tracks to the sand..it's road to sand. I do this..I have the world record..do this! There's a movie of this strat coming.....so watch it. After this MT I drive straight for a short while and then jump into another MT, drive straight for the same short while and then jump into a Slide+shroom+mt that takes me back onto the road. I then MT twice around the next corner and perform one left facing SSMT on this straight. Then I MT around the next corner and the last one.

If your first lap time is under 42'80 (35"60) you might just be able to make it in front of the first train on the second lap. If not, you might want to take the hills track and use an shroom either over the hills, or from the hills back onto the road. If you can't make this time yet, then use 2 shrooms or even 3 on the first lap. Possible spots for 2 shrooms are, near the start of the lap over the hills or use 2 in the sand after the 2nd train tracks. I'm not sure what combination is quickest.
Now, finally, the quickest strat of them all is 1-0-2, unless somebody can seriously beat the 1st train on the second lap without using any shrooms on the first. Ideally, and if the trains didn't exist, a 1-1-1 strat would always be the quickest, because there would be a definite place for a shroom that was quicker than the others and you could exploit that place times 3. However, the trains can and will get in the way, and if you're using a 3-0-0 eventually the 1st train on the 3rd lap will get in the way. Cut down to a 1-1-1 and the same will happen when you reach GOD level. 1-0-2 is the only way to go, but there's a gap in speed that you have to make up between these 2 strats because of the 2nd train on the 3rd lap. You'll hit a 2'06"40 (1'45"12) with a 1-1-1, but the 1st train will just get in your way if you go any faster, so you swap to a 1-0-2 but now you're not quite quick enough for that 2nd train and you have to drive around it..so you hit laps of 2'06"80 (1'45"46), but the point is that you can improve this far beyond what 1-1-1 can do and eventually you'll go sub 2'06"00 (1'44"79)

Flap strat: Current PR: 39"50 (32"85) God 3rd Potential 39"44(32.80) WR
I go for this on my first lap, although I have heard the 2nd lap is quicker. I start with a slideshroom straight into the sand and just as the shroom is wearing off, I hit another one which launches me over the hill (so you'll need to go to the left during the shroom and stay close to the rock). Then basically do the same as I described above until the second set of train tracks. Here I jump straight into a shroomslide to the left as I reach the tracks and let go an MT for a split second at the end of it. Then I use my last shroom to slide back onto the track. Actually nowadays, I don't leave go the MT between shrooms and just have 1 long double shroom slide.
If you're not going to use any shrooms across the sand after the second train tracks on a lap, I tend to MT 4-5 times before getting back onto the track. This is much quicker than hopping across the sand. So, don't do that hopping thing. I read about hopping years ago and it's a crock
Since writing this, I've been practicing with characters like Mario,Luigi,Bowser,Dk and Wario and I find that it's actually quicker for them to stay on the road after the second train tracks than to cut across the sand. This does not apply to Peach, Toad and Yoshi though, but it's worth keeping in mind if you ever do Grand Prix or Vs mode with the slower players.

Toad's Turnpike
Current PR: 3'00"16 (2'29"83) God 2nd Potential: World Record is makeable
This course is hard to write a strat for. Basically, it's all about your MTing technique. It's also very important to go on the inside of the traffic rather than go around them if you can manage it. For example, on the very first corner of the first lap, it is quicker to go on the inside of the Bus than around it although a lot more difficult. You'll find that the end of the 3rd lap is the most difficult part of the course because traffic tends to build up near that area. Firstly find a safe path through the traffic and then worry about getting MT's and SSMT's around there. I use my 3 shrooms on the second lap. One on the first corner and 2 on the second. 59"56 (49"54) God. 6th

As you improve as a player, this course should improve with you. It's basically non-stop MT/SSMT's from the start to the end. Avoid the traffic, keep straight between MT's and watch Kevin's movie.

Frappe Snowland
Current PR: 2'01"64 (1'41"16) LA WR Potential: Last unachieved course God time
This used be my very worst course, but things have changed a lot since then. So, boost start and slide and MT around the first corner leaving it go when the boost starts to wear off. You should be aiming for the next corner now. I do 2 quick MT's around this corner and end up driving between the righthand side snow and the snowman. For the next corner, do an MT as quick as you can and then for the remainder of the corner, hop! hop, hop, hop and then hop into an MT for the next corner. Then drive straight for a second or two before moving slightly to the right and MTing around the left corner and pointing myself so that I'm facing pretty straight on the left hand side of the track for the jump over the little river. I do nothing but drive straight here until I've landed (if you're unlucky, through no fault of your own you'll be slowed down here. A smooth hill and landing is ideal tough) and then MT around the next corner before the snowmen field. Now, this is the bit I was doing wrong all along before. YOu'll be presented with a field of snowmen. You want to be pointed towards the leftmost 2, either to the right or the left..doesn't really matter what side. When you reach the first of these two, immediately start a leftfacing MT and hit your shroom. This is probably the hardest NonSc thing in MK64 for time trials to do consistantly well. You want to cut as much of this hill as possible. Try not to see it so much as a straight line shroom as a gradual arcy shroom. Leave the MT go before you reach the top of the hill and jump and hopefully...with practice (and yes, you can get this consistently right after a long while [well it took a long while for me..actually up until the day I got the WR would you believe]) you'll land on the road in the middle and before the 2 leftmost snowmen. Then I then turn my kart right enough to then start a left facing MT around the next corner. I then do a right facing SSMT along the road before the big turn. Then, I start an SSMT and let it go just as I reach the next corner and start hopping around it. I think I hop around three times. Just make sure to stay as close to the corner as you can without hitting it. After hopping I then jump into another quick MT and leave it go pointing towards the last corner. With this corner, I MT quickly and SSMT before the finish line. I don't do that SSMT on the last lap.

Flap: Current PR: 39"05 (32"48) God 6th Potential: A little quicker

The flap I do on the 2nd or 3rd lap and it's much quicker than trying it on the 1st lap because of where you use the 1st shroom. I set this flap up by driving into the snow on the right on the lap previous and then stopping. STOP. Stop dead. You're on the snow to the right of the finish line and you haven't crossed it yet and you're motionless. Yes, this is probably the only time in the game you'll ever do this. Now, back up a bit (but be careful not to go too far back and fall into the water). Line up your run to the virtual finishline. There's a point in the snow that's too far right and you don't want to hit that. What you want to do is triple tap A to get your speed up before the line and then slide and shroom a microsecond before the line with a right facing MT. So when this shroom wears off you should be on the road and near the first lefthand corner. You should MT around this once and point towards the next corner. Pretty much straight away after passing this snowman (and he should be on the right this time), I jump into a left facing MT and hit my second shroom cutting up to the left of the next corner as much as I can without Lakitu stopping you. On my PR lap, I managed to jump at the top of the hill and end up landing on the road and getting an right facing SSMT before the lefthand corner before the river jump. The 3rd shroom I use in the same place as for the course time, over the hill to the left of the snowman field. It's a hard lap to master, because there are three places it can all go wrong. On every shroom there's a possibility of messing it up completely. And it's one of the few laps that you can't get close to a decent time by using all 3 shrooms on the first lap. Good luck!

Choco Mountain
Current PR: 1'57"71 (1'37"90) God 5th Potential: 1'57"30 (1'37"55)
I've pretty much had the same strat here since I had times above 2'00 (1'40) but with practice this has come down to the time you see above. Start the lap with the usual jump/slide/MT around the first corner. I get one MT on the first lap but I take two around the first 2 corners on the 2nd and 3rd laps. This MT should have you roughly pointed in the right direction driving very close to the hill on the left. This next corner is the one I shroom around to the right. You have to cut this corner as tight as you can to gain valuable tenths of seconds and hopefully have an MT ready to let loose as soon as you're around it. If you don't want to use your shroom here, just MT twice around this corner. Now there comes a long road down until the next corner. For some reason I didn't SSMT here for a long long while but I've recently changed to doing one here. I then get 2 MT's up around the next corner (but you can always use a shroom here). When you let go of the second one you should drive straight so that you just barely miss the side of the road to your right. Just after this you should jump into a very quick left facing SSMT before the next corner which you then MT quickly around leaving you pointing straight and on the left side of the road before the hill. Immediately when you land, jump into a left facing SMMT, (the road should start to gradually turn to the left) wait a second, jump into another, wait a second and then jump into a final one and just as the corner starts to turn sharply, start hopping like mad around it until you can see the next corner. At that point jump quickly into a right facing SSMT, then MT properly around the corner, drive straight along this short road and MT tightly around the next one so that you're pointing yourself at the final corner which you MT tightly around aswell and drive straight to the finish line. You may find that hopping at the top of the first hill will gain you time if you land in between hills. It's hard to tell whether hopping will be good or not until you've done it of course. Hopping and landing in between the hills is faster than driving normally and hitting the hill, but the fastest of them all is just driving smoothly, no hops..and smoothly driving down and up out of the dip between the hills. This is pretty hard to do right all of the time and I have no trick to it. The last thing I have to say is that you don't have to worry about falling anythings once you reach a certain speed around this course, but you might want to watch yourself before you reach that level.

Flap: Current PR: 38"56 (32"07) LA 5th Potential: Gotta get that God time

This is easy enough to explain. I wait until the 2nd or 3rd lap for starters, although I have to admit that for my PR I got it on my 1st lap because I was tired of spending 40 seconds setting up the start of a lap just to mess up the first corner. If you want to wait for the 2nd or 3rd lap, an interesting way of starting this is to have an MT ready to let go as you cross the line. On any other course this might seem easy but for Choco, you have to start the MT before going over the hills. This can be quite difficult to pull off but you'll get the extra speed you want. I use my first shroom in the normal spot as described above. The 2nd I use one the following corner and the 3rd I use after hopping around the long corner after the boulders bit...I jump into a right facing MT after hopping..then let it go and then jump straight into another one and hit the shroom. It should wear off after the 2nd last corner. It's a toughy, and one of my last remaining GOD time targets.

Mario Raceway
Current PR: 1'28"95 (1'13"98) GOD WR Potential: 1'28"75 (1'13"81)
Shroom/Slide/MT start cutting across the grass on the right getting close to the wall but make sure to be out on the road again before the shroom wears off. Let go your MT when you're back on the road and then jump across the grass again aiming for the edge of the wall, keep jumping until you're near the road and the turn to the left and then do a left facing MT back onto the road. Keep it as straight as possible along this road to the next bend. MT around this and point slightly to the left of the gap between the giant mushroom and the wall. Now start a right facing MT and slide between the leftmost mushroom and the one next to it. I leave my MT go around there and start hopping until I'm back onto the track. (It takes about 3 hops or so). That was the hardest part of the track. Getting a clean run through there is vital to a good time, but dont worry to much if you hit the mushroom slightly. Then do a left facing MT around the next small bend and then a right facing one at the next. At this point you should be driving pretty much straight and getting ready for the next MT into the grass. You want to let the MT go before you enter the grass and then start hopping around the corner (making sure not to hit the wall or go too wide). I think I snagged the wall on the 3rd lap of my PR run When you're around the corner totally, you should use a shroom and jump into a left facing MT. This should bring you across the grass, across the road and across the sand and you should make sure to get back out onto the road before the shroom wears off and leave go a MT at that point. This should leave you on the road with the pipe a second or two up the road. Now some people do an SSMT here and others don't. My view is that it's quicker to do one if you can manage it and if can't manage it then practice, because it's quicker. I then get one quick MT around the last corner and an SSMT just before the line. Yes, this is quicker too. Both myself and Sami do this and I wouldn't say it if I wasn't sure. You have to do it right though, and it's only slightly faster if done right. It's much more difficult than SSMTing in the pipe and not so important. The 2nd and 3rd laps are the same except that you don't cut across the grass at the start of the lap on the very first corner and don't SSMT before the line on the last lap..

Flap: Current PR: 27"94 (23"41) LB 3rd Potential: 27"90 (23"20)
This, I do on my 1st lap. There are a few different shroom spots that you can try. The one I use to get my best times isn't the same as some of the people with similar times to me, but I'll give you the basic spots. The first one is to use a shroom just before the starting one wears off and to shroom across the rest of the grass and MT back onto the road at the first left turn. The next spot is where I use my shroom on each lap of the course strat. And the last one is on the last turn cutting across the grass. For this one, you jump into a right facing MT just before reaching the end of the pipe and then hit a shroom, cut across the grass, just barely miss the wall and land (hopefully) on the right side of the road just before the line where you then release your MT. A lot of poeple, including myself until recently, don't use a shroom here though. They prefer to use 2 across the grass/sand. Just after the big mushroom, you do two MTs and you should be on the left side of the road coming up to the wall you normally hop around. Instead, you jump into a right facing MT and shroom around this corner and before the shroom runs out, you hit a second one which should bring you across the rest of the way and leave you near the pipe. The last shroom spot that I hear some people use, is using one near the big mushroom but I've never gotten that to work myself.

Wario Stadium
Current PR: 4'25"61 (3'40"90) GOD 2nd Potential: Faster, always faster.
This is one helluva long course so I'll try and be as brief as possible or I'll be here all day. I used to start the lap by just driving straight towards the first corner, but I've realised recently that there's a more risky but definitely quicker way. I now jump straight into a left facing MT from the start and try and let it go before the first corner without going all over the place or hitting walls. This takes a lot of practice and I still can't manage to do it consistently. Anyways, once you reach the first corner (whatever way you choose to reach it), I do 2 MTs tightly around it and then get an SSMT just before the hill. The SSMT here is slightly fast if you can get those 2 MT's around the corner off pretty quickly. When I land I then do 3 MT's around the next corner, Drive straight for a bit and then do a left facing MT followed by a right facing MT for the next set of turns and then MT around the next corner just before the 2 hills. I manage to jump into a left facing MT before landing for the next corner and then drive straight for a little before the next turn. I MT around this to the right and then (sometimes) either do 2 MT's around this or use a shroom here. Then I drive straight for over the next hill and sometimes jump at the top of it. If you can manage to drive over this so that you drive down the second hill rather than being in the air for it, you tend to gain speed and time. Tis a bit like the Rainbow road hill in that respect. MT around the next corner and then I drive pretty straight along this wide road. Maybe pulling off an SSMT here would be quicker but I don't do it...(often). I then start an MT for the next corner pretty early and have it ready to be let go just as I reach the corner, I then hop a little around it and drive roughly in the middle of this road over the hills. (Sometimes I jump at the top of the big one for some reason). Then I hop around the next corner, cutting it as tightly as I can and MT at the end of it just before the series of small bumps. When these are finished I jump straight into an SSMT and another one before MTing around the next corner. Then we get to the long right hand corner. I get around 3 or 4 MT's around this before getting to the long hilljump. I might get a quick SSMT before this. I stay roughly to the right on this jump but not too far right. I then get 2 MT's around this next bed and then get one around the tight next bend, trying to cut it as much as I can and not lose too much time. Then I get around 2 MT's around the last bend (or use my shroom here) and another 2 SSMT's on the start/finish straight before the set of hills. On the second and third laps I do the same except that I stay straight for the hills on the start/finish straight. Maybe trying an SSMT here would be quicker.

Flap: Current PR: 1'27"71 (1'12"95) LA 5th Potential: Again, God time is possible
My PR here was gotten on the first lap. The first shroom I used was directly after the starting shroom wore off and was part of the one big long slide/MT across the hills at the start and ended at the first corner The second and third shrooms I used in the spots where I would normally use them going for the 3lap record. One on the corner before the set of two hills and one on the last corner.

Sherbet Land
Current PR: 1'56"98 (1'37"29) GOD WR Potential: Could always push it further
I hadn't raced this course in a very long time, not for months and months as it was the first course I got a GOD time on and so therefore gets my vote for having the easiest standards to meet.
Then I came back to it and pushed it towards WR pace. Immediately jump or turn to the right and then jump into a left facing MT and hop the crack. The second you land get a quick SSMT...then drive straight and over the next crack. It's quicker if you don't hop over this crack but you'll probably need to. The next corner is very important to getting a good time on this course. You need to cut it as much as you can. I start an MT coming up to it and then release it and jump a moment later to the other side. When I reach the other side I tend to hop once to the left and then jump into an SSMT. I think I get around 3 or 4 of these before the tunnel. Keep in mind that it's faster to take the most direct route to this tunnel. You should be driving very close to the cracks on the left before you reach it. Obviously modify your strat depending on where those darned Penguins are. Once I reach the tunnel, I get an MT to the right and then one to the left and then use my shroom to slide around the next set of corners. (You might have to adjust your slide depending on where the penguin is, sometimes I go on the inside of him and sometimes I can go on the outside). The inside is quicker though, but awkward to get consistently with a badly placed penguin. When I'm around the corner I let go of an MT and get another two on the next corner and then one at the exit of the tunnel. I then get an SSMT before the last corner. Here another penguin will come into play, it's possible to cut inside him to the left but also very tricky and most of the time I just go around him to the right and for the WR I went around him to the right on the first lap so do that, unless you can do it the otherway and it's quicker. So I get an MT and jump over the crack and go to the right of the penguin there before getting an SSMT before the line and starting another MT into the first corner as I cross the line.
Flap: Current PR: 38"43 (31"96) GOD 5th Potential: Can definitely go faster
As with most lap strats there's no much to describe here except where I use my shrooms. I go for the lap time on my 2nd or 3rd lap and make sure to get an MT before the finish line. The closer the better. So, go around the first two corner as usual and then you drive straight and might have to hop over a crack in the road straight in front of you. Anyway, when you're passed that point, I normally hit my first shroom and quickly jump into an MT, let it go and jump the big crack. You should be able to jump more of these crack with the extra speed of the shroom. Then continue the lap as normal and use your second shroom in the spot I use for the course and hopefully you'll have timed your runup lap so that penguins won't be too much of a problem. Then, after the second shroom wears off I drive a little towards the next corner before using my last shroom to go around it and up and out of the cave. I know some people use their last shroom on the last corner jumping over the crack so you might want to try that as well.

Royal Raceway
Current PR: 2'53"97 (2'24"69) GOD 4th Potential: 2'53"50 (2'24"29)
For a long time, I didn't like this course, but then it took Kelly Malo to point out what I was doing wrong at one point. :) Jump into a shroom/slide/MT start and hold it til the boost is about to wear off, then get a quick MT around the next corner and an SSMT straight afterwards. Then you should quickly jump into another MT and hold this tight to the next corner and leave it go when you're around it. Very soon after you do this, jump into a right-facing MT and aim for the part of the corner of the wall on top of the hill. Leave the MT go before leaving the road and hop once on the grass or just drive and then try to time a jump to the right, so that you're at the top of the hill when you jump and hopefully you'll land back on the road and will have slid into an SSMT. If not, then try to SSMT before the next corner. Get a tight MT around this corner and drive straight to the next one, MT around this, drive straight to the next left hand turn and MT once around this one too. Now drive slightly diagonally to the righthand side of the road and when you get close enough to the corner (and you'll figure out what's best here), jump into a right-facing MT and hit a shroom across the grass and around the wall. I normally hop twice when I'm around the wall and rejoin the road before the shroom wears off just at the bottom of the long straight. Get an MT back onto the track. Drive up to the first speedup ramp and then I get an SSMT on this ramp, leaving it go when I'm back on normal road. Then drive as straight as possible over the big jump. YOu might try an SSMT between the first speedramp and the next but thre's no great advantage that I've seen. The second you land jump into an SSMT and aim for the next corner. Get an MT around this corner (can be quite difficult), a right-facing MT around the next small corner and then another left-facing one around the next. At this point, the corner turns sharply to the left. You want to jump just as you're about to fall off the road and turn ever so slightly to the right. You should land on the grass but having started into a right-facing MT, letting it go when you're back on the road. You have to balance losing time on the grass and cutting as much of that bend as possible. Practice against a ghost and see how much you can cut without losing too much speed and time. Then get one last MT around the last bend, and drive straight for the finish line. You might want to start an SSMT just before the line on laps 1 and 2. 2nd and 3rd laps are the same except you'll probably mess up on the 3rd lap due to the MK curse.

Flap: Current PR: 56"85 (47"28) GOD 7th Potential: At least a tenth better
I go for this on the 2nd or 3rd lap and get an MT just before the start. I drive the normal course strat for most of the lap until the part on the second last bend where you would normally MT across a little part of the grass. Instead, I drive straight into the grass. This will land you parallel to the road on the right. Then I jump into a left facing MT and hit a shroom and slightly turn towards the road, this will work normally until you reach the road, at that point the Kart should turn more to the left without you actually doing anything, and hopefully land on the grass at the other side of the road. Then you use your last shroom to blast across the grass to the left of the finish line. You'll be blasting diagonally of course. It's always faster to be diagonal when using a shroom no matter where it is in the game. This takes a bit of practice and I still haven't mastered this strat properly.

Bowser's Castle
Current PR: 2'14"16 (1'51"58) GOD 3rd Potential: I can get this WR
This is probably the first time this has ever been in print on a webpage but here we go. This is the only course where the first thing you do is set a ghost driver. Start by jumping into a right-facing boost/slide/MT yokey...then when that wears off, use another shroom across the grass..then when this wears off, use another one up to the next corner and then hit your last shroom into the room where the 2 thwomps chase you. Do not turn to the right and go down into this room. Just shroom into the room straight and hit the brakes. Now, if you turn to the right you'll see the thwomps go down the room but not as far as they'd normally go and crash down and come back up. Stay there! Stay there looking at those 2 thwomps get all aggitated that you're still in the room with them...going back and forth and slamming down. Make sure they're doing this and haven't gone asleep..move towards them if they're just idle. Stay there for a couple of minutes, until the time where you'd be past this point on the 3rd lap if you'd just done it normally. Then complete the 3 laps carefully and set your ghost. Now what am I on about you're probably thinking to yourself. Well this is it. Those 2 thwomps in that room chase the first Kart they detect entering the room...even if that happens to be a ghost kart. So, when you go back to doing it normally...those two thwomps should stay out of your way on all 3 laps because they're checking out your ghost guy who's just staying at the top of the room looking at them. With this ghost strat, you never have to worry about them crushing you again!
Now, let's talk about how I actually race this course.
I jump into a right-facing boost/Slide/MT start and let it go on the bridge (this is difficult to master) and point it towards the corner where the grass and wall meet. I then jump into another right-facing MT and use a shroom across the grass which wears off just before entering the Castle. I drive straight a little to the next corner and MT quickly around it and the same for the next corner. After this one I used to drive straight pointing to the left of the thomps at the far end of the room and MT around both of them to the left. Nowadays, I've changed to a more risky strat. I aim for the middle of the two..or slightly to the right, and when I get near them I do a right facing MT straight through the middle of them. This will take practice...but it is possible and it is faster by a tenth or two. Another thing I've started to do is get an SSMT in that room just after I enter it. It's definitely quicker on the 2nd lap so I guess it's quicker on the 1st and 3rd..although harder to get a good line to MT between the blocks on the 1st lap if you SSMT. I drive straight along this next corridor and get a quick MT around the next corner. There should now be two thomps going over and back, but they shouldn't get in your way on this first lap unless you're super quick. This is also why I don't normally go out of my way to be super quick with the SSMT on the 1st lap, because it means having to go around the 2nd of these 2 thwomps even more and the time gained is minimal. I drive straight for the next corner and MT around it making sure not to hit either walls on the left or right. Then I drive over the little bridge staying slightly to the left and the second I'm across it I jump into a right-facing slide and straighten up for going down the stairs. Now, the other way to do this is to jump into a right-facing slide and actually get an MT before the stairs. It's quicker for sure, but you just try getting a good line for the next corner after getting it. I guess it's another thing that'll take practice. I try to stay on the righthand side on these stairs and near the bottom I try to jump into left-facing slide. I then hop around the corner over the grass and MT out onto the track. I then MT around the right corner going over a little piece of grass (this is a great place to look at the clock..just as you're cutting this grass corner) and drive straight on the righthand side of the road towards the spiral turn. Apparently Sami gets an SSMT before the MT into this spiral turn but bleh. I then do a quick left-facing MT just before the corner starts to turn properly and start hopping around to the left as much as I can, making sure not to get slowed down too much when I hit the wall on the righthand side. (Sometimes when you're jumping and hit the wall, you get bounced over to the other side of the track gaining a bit of time and sometimes you snag the turn on the inside and get turned to the left more than usual which is also good). I then start an SSMT before the first jump and finish it when I land and then drive over the next one (I think I hop just before the jump for some reason) and when I land I jump into an MT around the last corner. I then SSMT once on this straight just before the line on laps 1 and 2. The strats for the next two laps are the same and only change slightly depending on where the thwomps are when you reach them. Sometimes you'll have to go out of your way to avoid them but this strangely gets less and less the quicker you get.
Flap: Current PR: 43"74 (36"38) GOD 5th Potential: Quicker, a little

I go for my flap on the 2nd lap.
For this strat you make use of that ghost driver again. I don't get a boost start at the beginning of the first lap. Instead I let the timer reach 1"00 or 1"50 before tapping the accelerator 3 times quickly and chasing after the ghost. This is so that you won't have trouble with _any_ of the blocks around the track on lap2. I drive normally around the course (except I stay on the road at the first corner) and get an MT just before the second lap starts. I use my first shroom across the grass at the first corner as usual. If you've timed it right, there should be no thwomps blocking you at any part of the track. I use my second shroom across the grass at the bottom of the stairs and my last shroom after I've straightened up after the spiral before the first jump. I don't really like where I use my third shroom, so this might change in the future. You could use it around one of the corners inside the Castle or maybe on the spiral...I don't really know. :) (This is why I feel I can go faster)

DK's Jungle Parkway
Current PR: 2'16"62 (1'53"62) GOD WR Potential: Beat that Brian Gallo
Major Update: The updated Gallo beating strat for this is here and the video for the run is here

Old stuff below
I have the WR here but I won't really be happy til I get near Gallo's old unproven pace 2'14"22 (1'51"63).
For this, I've had a bit of fun. I had the WR time with my standard strat but then I played around with another completely different one and it was so close to the pace of the old one, that I stuck with it and now the WR is with this other strat. I describe both anyways, and you can judge for yourself which is quicker.
So anyway, I jump into the usual MT from the start around the first corner. Then I get 2 SSMTs along this road. The second one should be let go and you should drive straight to the right and under the ramp poles. Then, you hop...hop hop hop hop up and around this right corner, then drive straight and start a left facing MT going over this jump (this is more so that when you land you'll be pointed more to the left and thus will be able to start off quicker) It's more important for the standard strat. Otherwise, jump over this whatever way you want..just try and land as far left as you possibly can without falling into the water. If all goes well I reach the other side of the water and land on the road as far left as I can go. (This just takes practice). Almost before I land I tap the accelerator 3 times so that I don't lose too much speed when landing and turn the stick to the left until I'm driving straight for the next corner. Now, some people say they can get off an SSMT before this corner, but these people are obviously crazy because it can't be done. ;) I MT around this and around the next 2 bends to the left fairly normally. Now, for the next corner you want to cut across the grass so you start an MT early than normal and let it go and go into the grass on the right and hop and cut the corner going to the right of the tree there and hop until I get back onto the road. A coconut should hit you back onto the road and hopefully not slow you down. You can lose or gain up to half a second depending on this. I then MT around the next corner and then 2 more down the long curve towards the bridge which I drive straight across. Then I to a right-facing MT into this cave from the bridge and drive a little to the right. Then I use my shroom to go up to the left and out of the cave just before the finish line. It's hard to describe where or how to use this shroom. With practice you'll find a line you prefer. I tend to stay to the left of the track with the shroom and not veer near the wall on the right at all. So, I aim for some point at the base of the hill. When I reach it I hit the shroom and turn the stick to the left and hop a little to get to the left as quickly as possible and then the shroom will wear off and you'll drive straight for the line. And there you go...grand..a World Record as a prize if you do it properly. Now, the other strat.
Obviously for this, you use your shroom at another point. The most obvious place is over the grass just after you land from the jump and that's exactly where you should shroom. The second you land, you bang that shroom button and over the grass you go. Remember, it's always quicker if you shroom diagonally, but unfortunately the coconuts will annoy you and hit you out of a slide, but jump into another slide just after one hits you. You want to be doing right facing slides here. If all goes well, you should only be hit by 2 coconuts before reaching the road and getting an SSMT before the next corner. And I almost forgot that I have to describe the cave bit too. :)
Right, so you go into the cave as usual. And you then go and get an MT just at the point you normally shroom at. So you get an MT and let it go just at the base of the hill and then you go and hop up that hill as tight as you can without hitting that "falling down" point and when you reach the top, triple tap that A button like a crazy person and you should get your speed back up quickly and cross the line in record time. Both strats are pretty much the same (timewise). The current world record is using the 2nd strat, but the fastest 1-shroom is using the original strat. Have fun with it ;)
Flap: Current PR: 43"33 (36"04) GOD 5th Potential: A tiny bit faster
The secret to a good flap is getting a good jump. I go for this on my first lap. I drive normally until the jump. I try to land as far to the left as I can and the second I land I hit my first shroom and drive over the grass cutting out a corner and driving towards the next corner. I hit my second shroom well before the first one wears off and try to get a left-facing MT back onto the track. Then drive the rest of the course normally. On a perfect lap, you should only get hit once by a coconut!

Yoshi Valley
Current PR: 1'44"37 (1'26"80) GOD 2nd Potential: Faster and Faster
This is one of my best courses, but only because a lot of the top players in the world don't race it as often as they should. I haven't raced this since I got my first ever WR in MK64 a year ago. Sami recently grabbed this WR marginally off me, but he hasn't brought that time out of my reach. So anyways, turn left and jump into a left-facing MT slide from the start (note..turn left and _then_ jump) and use your first shroom just as the boost wears off and aim for the corner and let go your MT when you're around it. Then negotiate the first set of spinys and aim for the right hand side of the road before the next set of spinys. (You can get an MT here, but I've never been able to master it) Then jump into a right-facing MT, you should be able to do this and slide to the right of all the spinys in the second set. I hold this MT all the way up and around the hill and let it go so that I'm driving straight and on the right side of the road before the hairpin jump. From the right side of the road I jump into a left facing MT and turn a lot before letting it go and jumping onto the track as close to the lower left hand rail as possible. (Sometimes you can jump through this and gain a little time) I then get 3 SSMT's before the bridge and drive straight across it. At the end I jump straight into a left-facing MT and then one more up the hill and then get one more around the last bend. I then get an SSMT over the line and then MT into the grass just before the tree and use a shroom over the grass to reach the next corner. The only trouble (well when say 'only' trouble, I mean only major trouble) in this course, are the spinys. Every time you improve at this track, you'll have to memorize and adjust your strat accordingly. Try to find the quickest line through them. I always go to the right of the first spiny in the first set on all three laps and then try to find a safe route to the next set. For the next set, I go to the inside of all of the on the first lap, to the inside of all but one on the second lap and close my eyes and hope for the best on the 3rd lap. YOu repeat this strat on laps 2 and 3 except that at the very end of the last lap, after the bridge. You MT around the corner to the left and SSMT up the hill and then MT to the left into the grass and just drive straight for where the finishline would meet the fence. This will improve your time by a couple of tenths.
Flap: Current PR: 32"07 (26"67) GOD 8th Potential: Really should be faster than 8th
I go for this on my first lap and drive exactly as in the strat above until I reach the end of the bridge. Then I immediately jump into a left-facing slide into the grass and hit my second shroom continuing the slide to the left of the tree and then hitting the last shroom as the second one wears off, still sliding and pretty close to the fence. You should cross the line just as the shroom wears off and go slamming into the fence. :) The end.

Banshee Boardwalk
Current PR: 2'05"95 (1'44"75) GOD WR Potential: Meh
This is a tricky enough course, but the easiest statistically to get an Elite time on. I recently got the WR on this course and this is what I did. Jump straight into an MT for the first corner and let it go as soon as you're around it. Then MT and jump over the next corner and MT around the next corner. Then drive straight and start an SSMT for the next corner and jump over the crack and take a hop or two before jumping into a difficult left-facing SSMT as the track slopes downwards. Then drive straight for the next bend. Start an MT as you're going up the hill and let it go just as you're around the corner and drive straight again. Then comes a tricky section. Get a quick left-facing MT and a quick right-facing MT around the next set of corners and jump off the edge onto the track below. Then get one long MT around this corner and let it go so that you're on the left side of the road pointing to the building entrance. You could get 2 MT's around that last corner, but I didn't and I don't know if it's quicker. You want to get a difficult left facing MT going into this building and then jump over the gap in the floor to the left of the post. The jump over the gap will be the start of a right facing MT that you'll get around this next corner. If you can't get this, then don't do it until you're challenging for WR times. After that, jump into a left-facing MT around the next wall and then MT out of the building around the next corner and drive straight until the last corner. I start a slide and use my shroom around this as tight as I can go without hitting the fence and then get 2 SSMTs on the start/finish straight before the first corner again. I do the same on the 2nd and 3rd laps except that I only get 1 SSMT on the last straight of the last lap. There it is, nothing really fancy about that strat.

Flap: Current PR: 41"34 (34"38) GOD 3rd
I get this on my 2nd lap, although the first lap is also pretty quick. I get an MT before the start of the lap and drive normally...MT to the left..then around the next 2 corners to the right and then around the next corner to the left and a quick SSMT. After the SSMT I start a slide and use my first shroom which should wear off just as you go up the hill and around the next corner. I then drive straight and get the left-facing and right-facing MTs and then start a slide to the left and use my second shroom before falling off the edge and slide and MT around the long corner before the building. I then use my last shroom in the same place as usual. Derek Clark has an mpeg for this flap.

Rainbow Road
Current PR: 5'57"99 (4'57"73) GOD 2nd Potential: You'll always be able to go quicker here
Last, but certainly not least. This course is just incredibly long.
So, let's do it. Start with a slide/shroom/MT, and immediately comes a tricky part...keep retrying on this first lap til you get it perfectly. Let go the accelerator for a fraction of a second before the dip in the road and then triple tap A. (Actually, since you'll be letting go A to triple tap it this might be enough!) If you time it right, you should stick to the road and speeeeed down this without going into the air at all. Remember, air bad, road good. When I'm at the bottom, I start jumping into SSMTs. I SSMT 4 times up this track, and then MT a few times around the next corner, get 2 or 3 SSMTs before the next corner which I MT around and then drive straight down this little hill and an SSMT to the left of the first dogshark thing. Next comes a long lefthand bend. Stick close to the corner and MT around it like a million times, when it's over do 1 SSMT to the right of another dogshark. MT around this corner and get another SSMT and then get 2 MT's around this left corner. Once you're around it you can get another 1 or 2 SSMTs on this straight, and then MT around the corner to the right. Then comes a dip in the road. Now you can either jump into an SSMT here and try not to lose too much time going up it or you can use a shroom here. I use my shroom. I jump into an SSMT and hit the shroom button and hopefully finish the SSMT at the top of the hill and let it go and don't lose time. IN reality this messes up and I end up hitting into the wall a bit. After this you MT a ton of times around the next corner to the right and then MT even more times around the last real corner to the left. Then you SSMT your way to the finish line, avoiding all sorts of nasty moving barking objects. Repeat for laps 2 and 3, changing slightly to avoid those darned PR killers. In summary, MT loads, stay tight on the corners, stick to the road at all times, and don't get hit.
Flap: Current PR: 1'58"29 (1'38"38) GOD 4th Potential: As with the course, always faster
For this, I got it on my 1st lap, and used 1 shroom around the corner with the star on it and one later at the steep hill and then one on the last corner.
And that's that!