Toad's Turnpike

When I think of this track, I think of just how pure a test of mariokarting ability it is. Actually, I probably wonder what exactly a turnpike is, but the mariokarting ability thing is right after that. One fun fact about the track is that you can perform the shortcut lap/course using only right-facing MTs. It was actually on this very track that I started to really get my right-facing MTs on a par with my left-facing ones. But that's the shortcut, and I don't really go into shortcuts here, mostly because I'm really not qualified to ramble on about them. Also I don't really like slamming into walls. There was an incident, in my childhood, I don't like to talk about it...




I never noticed all the Toads before


There's also not a lot to say when you consider strategy here. It's a very plain and simple track with no real surprising corners or grasscutting shroomspots. I mentioned in an early strat that Koopa Troopa Beach was actually an island. Well the interesting part about this Turnpike, is that it actually goes nowhere. All traffic on the turnpike will in theory circle it forever, or until they run out of fuel. You might imagine they'd get a little concerned after going around it once. However, perhaps they're also time trialling the track, like us, and whilst we might find it odd for them to circle apparently endlessly, perhaps they think the same about us?

So to start off you have a white truck passing you as you wait for the lights to change. You should probably familiarise yourself with the traffic. There are in total 28 vehicles on the track: 7 yellow buses, 7 cars, 7 blue tankers, and 7 trucks (3 white, 2 grey and 2 wood). And at some point in your karting life, you will hit every single one of these vehicles. So let's meet the one you're most likely to hit. He's the white truck that's passing you as you're sitting there waiting for the lights to change, and thinking "Hey, this mightn't be such a bad place. The open road, a starry sky, strange looking toadstools on signs". Then you boost straight into the white truck. It's not just here that you'll meet this guy. He's an important feature later on too. The main strategy though, is to slightly turn right, and MT around him to his right.


You will hit this guy more than you think


It's at this point that you'll have a choice of 2 strategies that are quite close in time. The first is to SSMT so that you're going to the right of the blue truck, and then get another MT around this, and the second is to SSMT to the left of the blue truck, and to just glide to the next corner. You should experiment with both of these and see which works best for you. The most important thing though is to MT to the left of the yellow bus on the first corner.

After this point it gets a little boring to describe for a while. You will basically want to get a nice rhythm of quick MTs close to the left-hand barrier, and time your efforts so that the very final one can be released once the long corner is over and leave you driving still in a lefthand lane. It's very easy to end up going wide here, and doing an extra MT to make up for it.


Time your MTs to end up gliding close to the left


A difficult straight is coming now though. The first of your difficulties is the slope. When going uphill you'll find it a little easier to achieve straighter SSMT, but when going downhill, you'll find it very easy to completely miss getting the MT, or to turn more drastically than you had intended. This is not a fun thing to do, and will likely have you pulled over by the cops who will give you a breathaliser and ask you to recite the alphabet whilst standing on one foot. And to top that off, you just know that guy in the 4th blue truck is gonna tell everyone about you. So, yeah, it's probably a good idea not to drink drive, and also to be careful when you're SSMTing down a slope.It's something you need to get used to doing, but the general advice is to slow your movements slightly when jumping into a downhill SSMT. Because it takes you slightly longer to land, the timing is slightly different. Better advice is to tell you not to SSMT on the downhill slope at all, but to SSMT just before you start going down, and then let the glide take you down most of the way before jumping into the next one.


The guy in the blue truck is an ass


A lot of time can be won and lost SSMTing up the middle of this straight. It's here that being dextrous at both right-handed and left-handed MTs can be a real asset. Sometimes your line will be awkward for one, but ok for the other, and if you can achieve both left-facing SSMTs and right-facing SSMTs, this will simply give you more options. It's also on this straight that you'll finally realise that there seems to be an orange glow just over the horizon in all directions, as if the sun has just set or is just about to rise. However, for the sun to have a glow, in every single direction, the planet Toad's Turnpike is on, would have to be quite small. Of course, it's also possible that the glow is simply the glow of street lights from a city that's encompassing the track. So, yes, these are all things which we should think about.

Now comes the hard part of the track, if you're not very comfortable with right-facing MTs, because this half of the track is all about them. My advice is to do all right-facing MTs from this point on even if you feel like doing a left-facing one on one of the straights, as it will be good practice and pay off in the long-run. Again the timing around these curves is important. Make sure to release your final MT on the corners as soon as you can so that you're still in the right-most lane on the straight, and not heading off so left, that you end up at a democratic convention. There should be no significant traffic at the end of the first lap.

The 2nd lap starts awkwardly, much like the third lap. It can be a little difficult to adjust to spacing out the SSMTs on this straight. I can't really pinpoint the reason. Perhaps the traffic is slightly awkwardly placed, or perhaps having to travel from the right of the wide road to the left is a little disconcerting, or perhaps having such a wide open space in which to SSMT scares the heck out of you. With a game which punishes the slightest mistake, having a bit of freedom can be a confusing and scary thing. Anyway, if you can get over this hurdle then the most difficult squeeze is coming up on the first bend. There is first a blue truck, and then a yellow bus which you have to MT to the inside of. The easiest way to do this is to release the MTs into the gaps, instead of actually sliding through these gaps. This is also a popular place to use a shroom, and a less popular place to have a picnic.

Once you're free of that corner, you have the next corner pretty much to yourself. The only problem (if you're quick), is that at the very end, a white truck will get in the way of your perfect line coming out of the corner. This white truck is exactly the same truck as the first guy on lap 1. So overall, you'll probably hit this guy quite a bit. Now you can either go to the right of him, or to the left. I've seen people do both, so you'll have to decide which is best for you.

This next straight has traffic to the left for the most part. When you get to the uphill section, you'll need to MT around the grey truck to the right, and then stay to the right past a white car. This can be quite difficult to do. The rest of lap 2 shouldn't be a problem though. Lap 3 is relatively clear except for the very end, and you can be pretty sure that whoever designed this track deliberately intended for things to get congested right at the end of lap 3. Basically, all 28 of those vehicles I introduced you to at the start of this strat are packed into these last 10 seconds of track. My only real advice is, stay in the middle, and don't freak out.


You were warned





All your friends are here!


For advice on where to use your shrooms, there really is no best corner to use them on. Normally it's best to use them where you'd normally lose time by just MTing regularly. So maybe the corner on lap 2 where you need to shroom on the inside of a bus, or maybe the first corner on lap 1, or a few of the right-facing corners if your MTs aren't up to scratch.
And that's it. I guess the best part of this place, is that even if you do hit into the vehicles, you can still save your replay. (Watch out for the car with the funny beeping horn)


Whatcha doing bus?