Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Tips

• Start here

  Turn smart steering off

  Smart steering blocks drift angles and will drag you off a 200cc line. Learn inside drift on a few combo vehicles (Teddy Buggy, Roller tires, Cloud glider is a classic) before you chase time-trial ghosts.

• Start here

  Hold the shell behind you

  A single green or red shell held on the rear bumper eats the item that would have spun you. Don't fire bananas forward on a straight unless you can see the player you are actually hitting.

• Advanced

  Mini-turbo colors are the lap

  Blue, then orange, then purple (ultra) mini-turbos come from holding an inside drift to the spark you want. Hop into the drift early so the ultra lands as you exit the corner, not in the wall.

• Advanced

  200cc is brake and hop

  Feather and hop cuts on Rainbow Road and Mount Wario matter more than top speed. Brake before the anti-gravity hairpins; the kart that enters slow exits with a turbo the 200cc slide will not give you.

• Secrets

  Coin paths on every cup

  Ten coins is a hidden speed stat. Time-trial ghosts that look unbeatable are often just taking a coin line you skipped for a 'faster' inside that has no coins.

• Multiplayer

  Don't item-spam the first item box

  In online races, holding a mushroom through a bad item set is worth more than firing it into fourth place. Fire-hopping still exists in small doses, but a clean ultra-mini-turbo line beats it on most courses.