N64 Yoshi Valley

Don’t be deceived by the appearance of the Leaf Cup finale! Yoshi Valley opens with a deceptively complex, maze-like design, but it is actually quite simple to push through this maze to quickly get to where you need to go for the second half of the course.

Kart of Champions

Nintendo’s Best Time Trial: 2:08.495
Player: Jeff C. M.
Racer: Wario	Body: Sport Bike	Wheels: Slick	Glider: Parafoil

Grand Prix

After the first turn, you enter the “maze” of Yoshi Valley, a series of interconnected paths that all eventually connect to where you need to go. Red arrow signs show points where you can choose a different branch in the road. These roadways are much thinner than most of the other parts of the course, so expect some chaos as racers arm themselves with items!

Going right twice takes you to a cannon that will blast you to where you need to go, but ironically this is one of the slowest ways to accomplish this.

Going right at first towards the cannon, but choosing to make a left as soon as you can and then following this route, will take you into a Swoop-infested cave. As scenic as this route can be, it’s definitely not the most efficient! There’s some extra Coins to collect for your trouble.

Going to the left and following the track while navigating around Goombas will take you on a direct, and fastest, path to the next real section of the course. You can also use a small wooden bridge shortly after your first left, though that route is slightly longer despite being more direct in nature.

As you break out of the maze on your chosen route, you’ll ultimately end up on a long and wide stretch of curvy road. Watch yourself near the edge of this section of the course, as there is a conspicuous lack of guardrails throughout the area. If you’re a heavy racer, definitely try to force your lighter rivals off the course by any means you see fit.

The massive Yoshi’s Egg rotating around this mesa is fairly easy to evade. The real problem is the small bridge behind it. It’s narrow enough that the right items applied here can make life very difficult for anyone following you.

The final series of turns up a grassy hill can be made much shorter with smart Mushroom use.

Time Trial Mode

Don’t waste time in the maze! Take the left side routes on every lap. On Lap 1, don’t take the bridge that comes just after your first left turn. Take the path right next to it, slip past the Goombas, and collect two Coins in the process.

Your third Coin on Lap 1 can be retrieved on one of the final ramps you can Jump Boost from on your way to the second half of the track.

The winding path to Yoshi’s Egg has seven Coins to collect. When you finish Lap 1, there should be seven fewer Coins in this section.

If you still haven’t reached ten Coins by the time you reach Yoshi’s Egg, you can snag at least one or two more from the line of Coins chasing the egg.

After the bridge crossing, take the first left, then line up with the Coin pictured here, aiming for the grass beyond it. Mushroom boost across the grass through this Coin, drifting and turning to the left as you go up the hill between a pair of trees. It’s a straight shot to the finish from there. This shortcut should be taken on every lap, so save your Mushrooms for it!

TM & © 2014 Nintendo.