3 Shortcuts You Might Not Know About In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 

Mario Kart has long been a popular go-to within the gaming community. Its ability to allow players to race online, with friends, and against CPUs, means that it can be played by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

 

The game was developed as a spin-off from the original Mario Bros games and includes iconic characters such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Dry Bones, and many more. An assortment of karts and gliders are available, each with its own characteristics that can be affected by the character the player chooses to drive with.

 

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the latest in a long line of Mariokart games. It was released in 2017 and is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. Recently, Nintendo expanded the number of cups you can play from 12 to 24, with the 12 new cups coming out gradually over the next few months. These cups will cost extra money, as it is classed as an expansion pack.

 

Each course within the game has its own hidden shortcuts, but today we will focus on one course from every other cup out of the first 6, and expand upon the others in another series of articles.

 

The cups we will discuss today are listed in chronological order as they appear in the game, and the courses from each have been selected at random. Many of these shortcuts require mushrooms or any other boost item such as a star to successfully navigate, but the chance of you getting one of these items during a race is very high.

 

 

1) Mushroom Cup – Sweet Sweet Canyon

This course has two paths that mirror images of each other. You can choose to take either path, however, if you are playing against other people, note which path they decide to go down by looking at the mini-map, and avoid the one chosen by the majority of players.

 

This strategy means you are less likely to hit a trap item and subsequently save time that could have been lost, ultimately winning you the race.

 

 

2) Star Cup – Sunshine Airport

This shortcut may require a mushroom to carry out successfully, but it is a little-known method that can catch others by surprise. Towards the end of the course, you will see a luggage conveyor belt. Use a mushroom and jump at the same time to completely leap over it, cutting the last corner.

 

This may be possible without the use of a speed item too, but it all depends on your skill and timing. Give it a go!

 

 

3) Shell Cup – Cheep Cheep Beach

This shortcut is actually signposted within the game, but it is so subtle that you may not have even noticed it. It appears in the section of the track where the terrain transitions from the beach to a mud path, around the second to last corner.

 

Here, there is a row of coins hidden just below the surface of the light blue shallow water. Make sure you stay in the light blue water and don’t veer off towards the darker blue, else you’ll fall off, but aiming for these coins will give you a speed boost and allow you to cut the corner, saving a few milliseconds.

 

Did you know about any of these shortcuts? We will be expanding on others within the game in the next week, so keep a lookout if we haven’t covered your favorite course today!