Drivers Manual

Mario Kart 8 offers racers multiple ways to control the action. Choose the method you are most comfortable with and go!

GamePad

*Not Pictured: B Button for Braking

Classic Controller Pro

*Not Pictured: B Button for Braking

Wii Remote

Driving Techniques

There are a number of special techniques outside of “Keep Accelerating, Steer As Necessary” that are essential to success in Mario Kart 8.

Rocket Start

Timing a perfect Rocket Start can determine the whole nature of a Grand Prix race’s first lap, and this technique is essential for posting record-breaking Time Trials. When Lakitu begins the countdown, start accelerating when “2” is on screen and the second light is lit. If this is well timed, you’ll have a perfect Rocket Start.

Braking

Braking is under-appreciated! If it seems like you’re about to go out of control and hit a wall or an obstacle on the track, by tapping the brakes you can regain some maneuverability to get away from danger—at the cost of speed.

Jump

The drift button doubles as a jump button. Jumping won’t take you over items on the road, but it can lift you over small gaps in the road. You can cut corners that overlook bottomless pits this way, but it can be quite risky to try.

Drift

By holding down the drift button as you enter a turn, your vehicle will start to drift, locked into that turn. You can adjust the angle of your drift by steering to the left or right. The sharper your turn is while drifting, the faster you’ll build up blue sparks, and eventually orange sparks, to set off a Mini-Turbo or Super Mini-Turbo! Note that the various vehicle chassis heavily affect how you drift.

Mini-Turbos and Super Mini-Turbos

When you see large blue sparks coming off your back tires during a drift, release the drift button to perform a Mini-Turbo. This will give you a short speed boost that can help you exit your drifts even faster. However, if you hold on to the sparks until they turn orange, you’ll be able to perform a Super Mini-Turbo, which provides a longer lasting speed boost.

Jump Boost

By jumping just as you hit a ramp of some kind, you’ll perform a Jump Boost, which will give a short burst of speed. You can determine the trick your racer executes by pressing a direction on your analog stick or control pad. There are lots of things on every race course that you can Jump Boost off of, even if it doesn’t look obvious. Experiment as much as you can!

Drafting

If you stick behind a racer for a short period of time, you’ll gain a significant burst of speed by riding their slipstream. Drafting can be tough to pull off, as most racers will simply not let you stay behind them without a fight. Make sure you don’t accidentally run into any items a rival might be trailing when trying to draft behind them!

Ramming

There’s no special button to press when you want to ram an opponent—just steer into them! Heavyweight racers can typically run any other racer off the track with a few good bumps. But with enough speed, even the lightest racer is able to push aside heavier rivals.

Spin Boost

While driving on antigravity portions of a track, ramming racers will reward you with a Spin Boost. The increase in speed does come at a cost: steering can be a challenge while caught in a Spin Boost. You can also trigger a Spin Boost by driving into a Spin Boost pillar.

Spin Turn

A technique mostly reserved for Battle Mode, if you come to a complete stop and then hold Brake and Accelerate, you can turn in place quickly. This is a good way to reverse direction to try and ambush racers that you know are closing in. But you should never really have need to Spin Turn during a standard race, unless you have no other way around an obstacle you’re stuck against.

U-Turn

The U-Turn is a special technique allowed only in Battle Mode! To U-Turn, commence a drift. While you drift, let go of the Accelerate button to whip your racer around to face anyone closing in from behind. This move will allow you to stay mobile, and allows you to better aim any ranged items you have rather than blindly firing them behind you and hoping for the best.