A fast course that favors aggressive risk taking, the Thwomp Ruins are a perfect finale to the Mushroom Cup. Featuring multiple routes to follow across many sections of the whole course, skilled racers are afforded many different ways to overtake their opponents with more than just items.
Kart of Champions
Nintendo’s Best Time: 1:57.193 |
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Player: Greg R. |
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Racer: Mii |
Body: Gold Standard |
Wheels: Slick |
Glider: Bowser Kite |
Grand Prix
The first turn just beyond the start line can be bypassed with a Mushroom. Aim for the stone ramp on the grassy field on the inside of Turn 1. Be careful for Bananas that COM drivers might try to use to block the approach to the ramp.
The cave you enter after Turn 2 at first seems rather barren. On Lap 2, rollers will start barreling through the center of the road on the ground. You can either stick to this main road or use the antigravity panels on the wall to the right to ride on the walls. It’s faster to stay on the ground and hug the inside of the turn with drifts and Mini-Turbos, but the wall is good for collecting Coins.
Exiting the cave gives players many optional paths to race through. You can either stick to the middle and dive into the water 4, take the roads on the side 5, or even ride the walls on the side roads. Make sure to take advantage of any ramps and Jump Boost to keep up your speed.
On Lap 2, the rollers can knock down a wall at the center of the split in the road, where the small lake begins. Behind it is a glide ramp that can send you gliding over the water on a more direct path to the next cave. Just mind the Thwomp protecting the central island!
If you took the central route over and through the water, the stairs leading up from the depths can be Jump Boosted, which is a good way to speed into the second cave. You can also Jump Boost off the antigravity panel inside the cave itself.
Multiple Thwomps guard the stony S-curve just beyond the second cave. It’s safest to favor the inside racing line to avoid the Thwomps.
Staying on the inside line can also set you up for a risky shortcut over a narrow stone ramp. One false move will send you into the abyss and likely cost you a place or two. Be especially careful around heavier racers. They can push you off easily if you’re going in side by side.
The ramp, and the glide ramp it drops you next to, can be Jump Boosted. If you choose not to take this shortcut, be mindful of racers that do when you are taking the final turn, and be ready to use any items you have to ambush them if they land ahead of you.
The final stretch consists primarily of gliding over a chasm and down a hill towards the finish line. You can cancel the glide by landing early to Jump Boost off of one final ramp. If you time it right and land right on the ramp, and then jump just as you touch down, you’ll gain the speed boost and maintain the glider flight.
Time Trial Mode
This is one of the most demanding Time Trials for all the Mushroom Cup courses, and arguably one of the most intense in the whole game.
From the moment you start (with a perfect Rocket Start of course), begin drifting left, while trying to keep traveling straight down the track. The challenge here is to drift until you’re aligned with the ramp on the grass to the left 2. You should be able to Mini-Turbo off this drift. Ideally you are aimed perfectly straight at the ramp.
Boost with a Mushroom across the grass, avoiding the ramp and aiming to collect some Coins on the track beyond it. Make sure you don’t hit the wall on the left side of the track.
Next, avoid going onto the wall on the right, and drift and Mini-Turbo on the ground level, hugging the wall as best you can. As you exit the turn, dive into the water at the center of the course to collect two of the Coins there. On later laps, the glide ramp over the water in the center of the next area will be opened by stone rollers, and will be a straighter, faster route.
The underwater section of the course is actually faster than the wall rides on either side of the track. You can snag two Coins on either side of the central platform, and score a Jump Boost as you hit the edge of the stairs while exiting the water.
Drift through this cave, hugging the turn as close to the wall as possible. You can make up for passing these Coins later.
The next few turns can and should be drifted and Mini-Turboed through as tight to the inside as possible, while avoiding the Thwomps. Your entire goal in this section is to set yourself up to use another shortcut.
Take this stone ramp as opposed to taking the much wider route to the right of it. Jump Boost off the ramp, which should carry you to the glide ramp on the main track.
You can get one last burst of speed by Jump Boosting off one of the ramps on the hill facing the finish line. Time your landing and jump off the ramp right—you’ll be able to glide farther.
TM & © 2014 Nintendo.