Mario Kart Stadium

The starting course of your Mario Kart 8 career, the Mario Kart Stadium features long stretches of track connected by easy-to-drift-through turns. While it’s not a particularly difficult track to race on, it’s a good preview of what you can expect in later race courses in this cup and in future cups!

Kart of Champions

Nintendo’s Best Time: 1:44.503
Player: Addison K.
Racer: Bowser	Body: Sport Bike	Wheels: Slick	Glider: Bowser Kite

Grand Prix

The second turn of the race provides an example of a common Mario Kart 8 dilemma: taking the corner wide will push you along a series of dash panels and a set of Coins. Taking the inside route is faster, but has no Coins. Your first laps in every race should be about building up your Coin count. Afterwards, consider the inside path every time.

You can cut this corner with a Mushroom, if you have one. Just mind the pipes!

Just past the second turn is an antigravity panel that lets you stick to the track as it twists around. The next corner can also be cut with a Mushroom if you have one, and has a ramp you can Jump Boost off of.

The hairpin turn near the end of the antigravity section of track leads to a small ramp that will let you glide over a chasm. If you’re far behind and have a Lightning Bolt, you can send racers into the chasm as they try to glide across. Don’t miss collecting Coins on the way over the gap!

The last set of turns presents another split roadway, with the wider racing line taking you over a set of dash panels and more Coins. The wider line ends with a ramp you can Jump Boost off of for additional speed.

Alternatively, you can cut the corner even tighter by using a Mushroom and going through the sand. Many pipes are set up here, so be careful about how you blast through this area. This is also a good tactic to defeat incoming Red Shells, as they might hit the pipes.

Time Trial Mode

Lap 1 of any Time Trial should be focused on snagging as many Coins as possible. Turn 1 has a pair of Coins to snag, followed by four more on the outside of Turn 2. It’s actually faster to ignore those Coins on the outside of Turn 2, and instead take the inside of the turn as close to the grass as possible. You can use a Mushroom to cut across the grass, but you might want to save that for later.

It is reasonable to want to use one of your Mushrooms to hit the ramp on the grass on the inside of Turn 3. However, this is not the best use of a Mushroom on this Time Trial.

Turn 4 has five Coins located on it: two on the inside line and three on the outside. Stay inside on the first lap, and every lap thereafter. Ideally you should have eight Coins after navigating this turn.

Set up your drift on the Turn 5 hairpin as early as you can. You can score a Super Mini-Turbo and boost back downhill towards the glide ramp.

Mid-air from the glide ramp, you have some work to prepare for the end of the lap. On Lap 1, you can snag your final Coins to reach ten while in mid-air.

As you’re gliding down, avoid the ramp at the center of the course. As you pass up the ramp, drift towards the sand and the pipes on the inside of the final turn. You should be able to pull off a Mini-Turbo just as you reach the sand.

The scattered pipes on the sand can be devastating to hit during a Time Trial, but the best time to use Mushrooms is to blitz through this pipe forest across the sand. By doing this, you cut the corner and practically have a straight shot at the finish line!

TM & © 2014 Nintendo.