Words: Mio Farrenden

The most recent Mario Kart game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, has several modes all the way from 50cc to 200cc. Some of these are terribly easy and the others can be terribly hard, which is why we’re here to help!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the expanded version of the 2014 Wii U game Mario Kart 8. The deluxe version was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2017 and was met with immediate support from Nintendo fans. The game received a metascore of 92/100 from the acclaimed games critic Metacritic alongside reaching No.1 in the sales charts, making Mario Kart 8 Deluxe the first nintendo game to reach No.1 since Pokémon White Version in 2011. It was also the fastest selling Mario Kart game ever, with 459,000 sales on it’s US launch date, this is with 13 other Mario Kart games to compete with!

With 45% of US Switch owners purchasing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on it’s launch date, I’ll be surprised if there’s any Switch owners reading this that haven’t given it a go. Even if you haven’t, if you were born anywhere between 1995-2005 then you have probably played Mario Kart Wii with the surprisingly satisfying use of the Wii Wheel. Regardless of which Mario Kart game you’ve given a go, you can’t deny the difficulty of reaching 200cc or doing a Rainbow Road track past 50cc. That’s we’ve put together a list of the three most important tips that should help you out when attempting to complete the game in its entirety. 

The first skill you’re going to want to master when starting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the drift function. This can be done by holding down the R button while turning. Doing this makes doing sharp turns easier and long turns more interesting. If you’re holding down drift for long enough you’ll get a boost starting with the smallest at blue sparks and it builds up to pink which is the quickest and lasts the longest. Drifting will also come in very handy when you hit 200cc and your kart is too fast to move around corners sharp enough. 

Next is to get used to using bikes. The motorcycles are considerably easier to use once you hit faster speeds and if you haven’t played Mario Kart properly since Mario Kart Wii then I’ll just go ahead and presume that you are used to using the default kart for your character. My recommended combination of kart parts is The Duke with the Triforce Tyres and the Paper Glider. This will allow a decent amount of speed with a good amount of control at the same time. 

Finally, complete the Mirror stage before you finish the 150cc stage. Once you’ve done all the tracks at 50cc-100cc you’ll begin to remember the layout by heart so doing the Mirror stage in the correct order will be considerably harder. Ideally you want to do it once you’re familiar with the tracks but don’t yet know them extremely well. 

You should now be fully prepared to max out Mario Kart 8 Deluxe!