Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 14:32:05 -0600 Ed the Moogle's Ultimate Mario Kart 64 FAQ Not official in any way Version 1.1 May not be used on other sites without permission. If it is, at least keep the text intact and keep it up to date. The latest version of this FAQ or any of my very cool N64 game FAQs are always available at www.gamefaqs.com. You'll love this game if you liked the SNES version. Take out the coins scattered around the road, throw in a thousand more cool features and you have Mario Kart 64. Koopa Troopa is absent, but Wario fills in for him (Rumor has it that he stole Koopa's Kart). Some new features from the SNES version are: Shortcuts Jumps Cool Effects (Ghosts, Jumping fish, Flying bats) Extra Mode More Powerups Two new racers. CHARACTERS Lightweight: They are very small, speedy, accelerate quickly and have good cornering. They do not lose much speed if they go offroad. However, they tend to be bullied around a lot by the Heavyweights and can be pretty mean foes. Toad: Toad is a very well-rounded character and can be one of the best if he doesn't get knocked around. Peach: Peach is the fastest of the three lightweights and is a favorite of many drivers. Yoshi: Everyone's favorite Nintendo Mascot has the best cornering of the lightweights. Middleweight: They are very well balanced and do not have any definite advantages or disadvantages. They are probably best for beginners. Mario: Apparently the star of the game, Mario is one of the best for beginners and pros alike. Luigi: While Luigi owns the easiest Raceway of them all, he can be a tough competitor. Heavyweights: Pretty much the opposite of the lightweights. They are slow to accelerate, lose lots of speed for going offroad and their cornering is not very good unless you power slide. However, they usually don't get slapped around too much and their top speed is unsurpassed. Choose them if you like to play rough. Wario: Has the best cornering of the three and is a very agressive Karter when controlled by the CPU. DK: Very good cornering and a seemingly limitless supply of banana peels when controlled by the CPU. Bowser: Very mean and very speedy. Will blow you right off the road given half a chance. Items: Effectiveness is rated by a star system. One is the least and Five is the most. Green Shell: Bounces around randomly until it hits a Karter or a trap of some kind. Effectiveness: ** Red Shell: Seeks out a nearby Kart and clobbers them. Stops if it hits a wall or trap. Effectiveness: **** Spiky Shell: Follows the road to seek out the Karter in first place and will rip through anything in it's way to hit them. The only ways to stop it are if you fire it straight into a wall or something like that. Effectiveness: ***** ************************************************ hsp@mbox.infomark.it writes: * there are some ways to avoid being hit by a Spiky Shell: - holding another Spiky Shell behind the leading kart; - activating a Ghost just before the Shell arrives; - letting the Shell collide with massive obstacles on the track, such as the ramps on Koopa Troopa Beach. ************************************************ Triple Red Shell: Surrounds your Kart with three red shells. These can be used as a shield or fired off as normal red shells. Effectiveness: **** Triple Green Shell: Surrounds your Kart with three green shells. These can be fired off as normal green shells or used as a shield. Effectiveness: *** Banana Peel: Drop or throw one of these to slip someone up. Best when used around corners or planted in places that are difficult to avoid. Effectiveness: * Banana Bunch: Five bananas trail behind you. These can be dropped or thrown or used for defense, though it shatters with a single hit into the remaining bananas. Effectiveness: *** Mushroom: Gives you a short boost of speed. Good for using up hills. Effectiveness: ** Triple Mushroom: Surrounds your Kart with three mushrooms (just kidding). Seriously though, you can get three speed boosts before it is used up. Effectiveness: *** Super Mushroom: A mushroom that can be used infinite times for as long as it lasts (15-20 seconds). Effectiveness: **** Fake Item Box: This cleverly disguised bomb will blow anyone that hits it sky high. Hide it among real items for best results. Just remember where you put it. Effectiveness: *** Ghost: Makes you temporarily invisible and invincible to harm and you rip an item off one opponent. Effectiveness: **** Super Star: Makes you invincible to dangerous items, makes your Kart handle very well and your speed temporarily increases. You also blow things out of the way on contact. The effect fades early if you fall in water or lava. Effectiveness: ***** Lightning: Shrinks everyone except for the user. When shrunken, the character's speed decreases, they cannot use items and their Kart handles slightly better. But they can be run over and flattened. Use it before someone goes off a ramp and he'll lose speed and won't make the jump. Effectiveness: **** ********************************************************* hsp@mbox.infomark.it writes: I disagree about the four stars you assigned to the effectiveness of the "lightning" item: I think that, if used in critical moments such as before a big jump, as you noticed, or during a sharp turn where the opposite player can even fall off the track, it would be the most powerful item in the game. ********************************************************** Some items I thought would be cool. Small shells (stick to your Kart and slow you down for 5-10 seconds) Yoshi Eggs (Hatch into little Yoshis, which jump onto char's karts and spin them out.) Poison Mushroom (If you get hit, you shrink.) Triple Mushroom Shield (If someone hits it, they get a boost backwards. If you use it, it boosts forward.) There are twenty tracks, rated by difficulty. One star is easy and Five stars is the toughest. Mushroom Cup Luigi Raceway* No hazards on this course. Grab the Item on the hot-air balloon for a Spiky Shell. Moo Moo Farm** The only real hazards are the moles that blow you sky high and the overpass that you can knock opponents into. Avoid both. Koopa Beach** There is a small shortcut if you loop around the rock shaped like a turtle. There are also two more: Go off the ramp and use a Mushroom to boost through the tunnel, and boost off the ramp before the big rock and grab the Item for a Spiny Shell. Kalimari Desert* If you can't boost ahead of the train, stop so it can pass. Use this to your advantage, as the computer opponents always stop at the tracks if the train is coming (there's actually two trains). Other than that, there are no real hazards. Stay out of the tunnel. It's not a shortcut (there is a trick to it though. See "tricks" at the bottom of the FAQ). Flower Cup Toad's Turnpike*** The main danger here is traffic. With a Star or Ghost, you can speed right through the cars. Pick up powerups on the left-hand side of the road. This is one of my favorite courses. Frapp'e Snowland *** Exploding snowmen and slippery roads are a lethal combination. But when you thought it couldn't get any worse... a field full of exploding snowmen! Go far to the left or right to avoid them all. Choco Mountain ** A pretty easy course, with the only major hazards being falling rocks and a section with no guardrail (if not racing on 50cc). The bumps just before the finish line may also prove hazardous. Plant items here to really screw someone up. Mario Raceway *** This course looks easy enough, but it's tight turns make it a challenging race. Plant Peels and Fake Items around the corners so your opponents will hit them. Star Cup Wario Stadium ** This is a very long course with hazardous bumps and the last turn is a deadly hairpin. Plant items to blow opponents off the road on both of these. Also try to pound someone with lightning or shells just before they go off the ramp so they miss the jump. Try jumping over the wall from one of the bumps. Sherbet Land *** Definetely the most dangerous thing here are the baby penguins that hop into you and spin you out. Make your best effort to avoid them and be careful of the big penguins in the cave. To the right of the blue rock just before you enter the cave is an Item Box that usually gives you a good item like a Triple Green Shell. Royal Raceway *** This course is pretty manageable until you go off the HUGE ramp and it is followed up by a wrong route and a deadly S-turn. If you're worried about falling into the water on the S-turn, go onto the grass instead. The main danger are the wide turns on the narrow road. Bowser's Castle ***** This place is a madhouse. Fire-spewing statues, smashing thwomps, lava, and even bushes that spin you out will make this one hell of a race. Just for the hell of it, Bowser also put in a corkscrew turn that is way too sharp for even a Power Slide. Special Cup DK's Jungle Parkway *** This place shouldn't be too difficult if you stay on the road. If you go off, you'll be pelted with coconuts. If you go off the ramp, hold Left as you go off for a small shortcut. But don't go too far or you'll land in the water. In the cave that leads to the Finish, rocket up the steepest part of the hill with a Mushroom. If you don't have one, go for the less steep part. By the way, this place is INSANE on 150cc! Yoshi Valley ***** There are simply too many hazards on this course. The porcupines, narrow roads with no guardrails, and multiple paths will wreak havoc on even the best Mario Karters. Worst of all, you can't even see what position you are in until it's too late. The shortest route is to go left at the fork, then take the narrow road with no guardrail at the next fork. But no matter which route you take, you will have to deal with the giant egg near the finish. Rocket across the grass as soon as you leave the bridge for a shortcut. Banshee Boardwalk **** There are several missing guardrails and a big crack in the floor of the ghost house that will trip you up. Just watch those turns and ignore the ghosts and you should do fine. Rainbow Road ** Ironically, the last course of the game is one of the easiest. But it is also the longest. There is only one real danger and that is the Chomps. Avoid them and you'll do fine. The VS Mode is very cool, but could have used a few more arenas. In this mode, you try to pop all three of your opponent's balloons before they can pop yours. Big Donut- A big round arena scattered with Items and lava in the middle. Knock in your opponent so they lose a balloon. Block Fort- A place with four towers, consisting of two levels each and bridges connecting each one. My friend absolutely LOVES this one. Double Deck- A three- floored hazard zone. Fill the bottom level with Green Shells, then dare someone to chase you down there! Skyscraper- The top of a big building. Knock someone off the edge or in the hole down the middle so they lose a balloon. One thing I like to do is get a Red Shell or Star and chase the other guys around the edge of the building. Tricks When you are in the lead you usually get crappy items and when you are farther behind you usually get good items (one of my friends once got THREE Spiny Shells in a row!) To make a tighter turn, hold R as you turn a corner. To do a power slide, hold R and wiggle the Control Stick left and right as you turn. Your smoke should turn from white to yellow to orange. Let off when it's orange for a small speed boost. All the courses are surrounded by water. If you get blown over a wall or something, you go into the water. In Kalimari Desert, grab a Star and turn left at the second train crossing and go onto the train track. Drive up until you come close to entering the tunnel and activate the Star. You'll automatically skip to the next lap if you do it correctly. In Frapp'e Snowland on the first lap, go backwards to the bridge and drive up the hill to the right of the bridge, staying off the road. Drive as far right and forward as you can before Lakitu picks you up. If you cross the Finish Line before he picks you up, you will advance one lap. In Wario Stadium on the first set of bumps, drive to the right of one of the bumps, facing the opposite wall. Drive up as quickly as possible and jump at the last moment. If you did it right, you can jump over the wall and save some time. In Rainbow Road you can jump down the first dropoff to save some time. You can also jump sideways from there and land on another section of the track if you are lucky. If you get all four Gold Cups on all three engine sizes, the title screen will change and you can now access the EXTRA mode. It is like a 150cc race, only the courses are reversed. By "reversed" I mean that a right turn becomes a left turn and vice versa (in Banshee Boardwalk, the fish even jumps the wrong way!). There are no "secret" characters in the game or even any codes. This nullifies the "Koopa Troopa is a secret Character" rumors. If you know of anything that I missed, email me at brunerp@juno.com or edthemoogle@geocities.com Check out my page at www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/5621