Advanced Racing Controls

Drifting

Drifting is known also as “controlled skidding” in gearhead lingo. What you need to know is it lets you round tight corners like a champ without slowing down. While steering through a turn, hold down to start drifting. Use the left stick to control the sharpness of your drift.

Drift/Air Boost

You’re sure to notice that as you hold your drift for a prolonged period, your kart’s wheels begin to spark dramatically. Don’t panic! Your kart is in perfectly fine shape. These sparks indicate that the moment you release your drift, your kart will receive a powerful boost of speed and surge ahead. The longer you hold your drift, the bigger and more dramatic the sparks become, which translates to a bigger boost.

Of course, drifting isn’t the only way to put a little more rev in your kart’s engine. When sailing off a ramp through the air, use or (or the right stick if using alternate controls) to perform a spin maneuver with your kart. When executed correctly, these airborne acrobatics provide your kart with a valuable boost upon landing.

In order to achieve an Air Boost, your kart must spin at least 360 degrees—or one complete spin. Each additional complete spin (720 degrees and 1080 degrees) rewards you with an even bigger boost.

Before starting a spin, be sure there’s enough time to complete it before landing. There’s nothing worse than a mistimed landing that leaves your kart pointed off course or in the wrong direction entirely.

Slap Attack

When side-by-side with another driver, trade more than paint and sparks—give ‘em a smack! Press or (or the right stick if using alternate controls) to swing your sack person’s arm out to the left or right, respectively, and lay a slapdown on the competition. Successfully connecting with another driver dazes them slightly, giving your sack person an opportunity to pull ahead.

Weaponators

Contending with the Hoard onslaught requires some more powerful equipment than the back of your sack person’s knitted mitts. Fortunately, the various tracks and arenas of the Craftverse are littered with assorted high-powered gear for explosive tomfoolery.

These Weaponators are powerful tools that can be acquired by driving over their floating pick-ups. The Weaponator your sack person receives is chosen at random and can be identified from its icon in the lower-right corner of the screen. Press to fire off your Weaponator at will. Offensive Weaponators, like the Straight Shot, launch ahead of your kart. Defensive Weaponators, like the Triple Mine, drop right behind your kart. Move the left stick and press to throw defensive Weaponators ahead of your kart.

It’s important to be aware that the available selection of Weaponators differs when playing a combat-focused battle level.