It’s no secret that Mario Kart is one of Nintendo’s most popular Mario spin-offs. Its controls are easy to learn, the series is bright and colorful, and it does well in balancing luck and skill. It’s this lasting quality of Mario Kart that makes it particularly special. A new player could win simply by getting lucky with item blocks, while a veteran player could counter that good luck through skill.
One of the best indicators of skill in Mario Kart is a player’s knowledge of shortcuts. Timely use of shortcuts can often mean the difference between coming in 2nd place or 1st, and the players who can best make use of those shortcuts are often some of the most skilled racers. Not all shortcuts are created equally though, and often the most rewarding shortcuts are the most difficult to execute.
10 Cloudtop Cruise Gives Players The Opportunity To “Leaf” Their Opponents In The Dust
Cloudtop Cruise is a level that appears in Mario Kart 8. In it players race across clouds, massive vines, and airships. The shortcut for this course comes right before the finish line where there are two leaves that players can hop across to cut the final turn. If done right this shortcut could land a skilled racer in 1st place. If done wrong, though, the player will find themselves falling off the course and getting slowly towed back by Lakitu.
The leaves are thin and spaced out enough so that players do run the risk of falling if they don’t time their jumps right, but the risk is well worth the reward.
9 Ribbon Road Tests Racers’ Ability To Drift
Originally from Mario Kart: Super Circuit this course also reappears in Mario Kart 8 where it gets a new shortcut to go along with its new look. Near the giant Teddy Buggy (the kart that looks like a teddy bear) there’s a ramp that can be used to skip the section of the course leading to the glider ramp. It’s a difficult ramp to reach, though, as it requires an extremely tight turn only possible by drifting.
For those players who have mastered drifting, this is an ideal shortcut.
8 The Train In Kalimari Desert Goes From Hazard To Helper With This Shortcut
A track from all the way back in Mario Kart 64 Kalimari Desert is one of the series’ more standard desert-themed tracks, with its main feature being the train that shows up at certain points to block the players from advancing. There is a way to make the train work to the player’s advantage, though. Racers who had stars available could follow the track at the second appearance of the train and use the star to move through the train’s tunnel and bypass the finish line to move to the next lap.
Between matching the timing of the train and needing a star this shortcut can be difficult to pull off but is absolutely worth it when done right.
7 Neo Bowser City Emphasizes The “S” In Shortcut
From Mario Kart 7, Neo Bowser City is a rain-soaked and Bowser-centric metropolis that seems like a straightforward track at first glance. However, underneath the S-bend in the track is a red tunnel that can be accessed either with a mushroom or by using the air current emitted from the Koopa Clown Car on the stage.
Accessing this shortcut requires quick thinking and the right item for the job but is sure to surprise opponents who aren’t paying attention to the stage layout.
6 Boo Lake Requires Caution When Using Its Shortcuts
Many of the tracks in Mario Kart: Super Circuit have excellent shortcuts. Most of them though, do not require the caution and careful driving that the shortcuts in Boo Lake do. The first of these two shortcuts resembles a ladder and can be found on the thinner of two branching paths early in the race. The second is a narrow bridge on a stretch of the stage illuminated by Boos holding lanterns. What makes both of these shortcuts dangerous is just how narrow they are. It’s all too easy for a careless player to go flying off the map, making the shortcut worthless.
For cautious drivers, these two shortcuts allow for daring jumps to the lead, while reckless drivers will find themselves losing ground.
5 Bowser’s Castle Asks Players To Literally Push The Boundaries Of The Track
There have been many iterations of Bowser’s Castle throughout the Mario Kart series. This particular track is from Mario Kart DS. For this shortcut, there is a gap in a wall in the castle that can be jumped through with enough speed and a precise hop. If done correctly players should be able to cross the finish line before the game considers them out of bounds.
The tricky part to this shortcut is nailing down the timing of the jump, as this shortcut can quickly go from landing racers in 1st place to last place.
4 Lakeside Park Takes The Player Water Skiing
Featured in Mario Kart: Super Circuit this track’s difficult shortcut comes right before the major jump of the course. There is a dash panel to the right of the track when coming up on the jump that can be used to launch the player. While in the air, they need to angle their kart to the right to hit a ramp in the water, then angle right again in order to not fall off the stage altogether. If done correctly, the shortcut should take racers directly to the straightaway leading to the finish line.
It’s a challenge to get the angles right for this shortcut, but anyone who pulls it off will get a significant bump up in the race.
3 Coconut Mall’s Shortcut Has Racers Do Some Off-Roading
Mario Kart Wii’s Coconut Mall has a bit of a bizarre shortcut that takes players out of a mostly indoor track to a dirt path outside the mall. After the first set of escalators, the track goes by a series of windows with Miis looking in at the race. There is a missing section of the window players can drive through, using a mushroom or golden mushroom to boost over the carpet that would slow them down. They then must veer hard to the right to reach the second part of this shortcut that takes them to an off-road section leading players past the second set of escalators.
Mushrooms are required to complete this shortcut, and the timing on the second part can be tricky, but the amount of time it saves makes this shortcut more than worth it.
2 Maka Wuhu Has Racers Falling To Success
Another track from Mario Kart 7 Maka Wuhu is one of the many courses based off of Wuhu Island from Wii Sports Resort. This track is unique in that it doesn’t have laps, instead it’s segmented into different parts that each count as a “lap.” For this shortcut, players will need to drive into the water on the right of the cave at the start of the second section. Lakitu should then take players out of the water and drop them at the bottom of the hill right before the start of the third section.
It may seem antithetical to shortcuts to purposefully throw yourself out of bounds, but Maka Wuhu rewards this action by propelling players forward a whole lap.
1 Mushroom Gorge Is Infamous For Its Shortcut
There are a lot of shortcuts that can be achieved in Mario Kart Wii through glitches and exploits, but none are as well-known as “The Mushroom Gorge Glitch.” In order to pull off, this shortcut players need to have a mushroom and must drive towards the arrow sign telling racers where to turn at the start of the track. They must then stop before reaching the sign, carefully turn around and drive about halfway back towards the finish line, aiming for a nearby bush. Once halfway to the bush players must stop and aim for the mushroom trampolines left of the finish line. Using a mushroom players have to bounce off the lowest of the mushrooms onto the mountain face next to it. Having the kart lean back will allow racers to ride along the mountain wall before landing behind the finish line. From there all they have to do is cross the line to complete the lap in mere seconds.
This is easily the most difficult shortcut to pull off, with a high risk of failure. The reward, though, is worth it. No Mario Kart has a better shortcut than one that lets you skip the whole track.
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