Cory's Mario Kart 64 FAQ Version 1.43

Welcome to my Mario Kart 64 FAQ. I'm Cory Bruner. I'll be your guide
today. Print as many copies of this FAQ as you want, as long as you don't
alter it in any way!

Special thanks to Nintendo Power for including maps and the hazards in
Issues 93 and 94! Also thanks to Greg, who made this FAQ possible!

P.S. When you print stuff directly from the Internet, it usually cuts off
the bottom line of the page.

Contents of this FAQ:

1 Introduction to Mario Kart 64
2 Characters and their abilities
2.1 Character Individual Abilities
3 Items
4 Controls
5 Tracks
6 Tricks and strategy
7 Scoring in Mario GP
8 Battle mode tracks and tricks
9 Battle mode strategy
10 EXTRA mode
11 The differences between 50cc, 100cc, or 150cc
12 Memory Pack Info
13 Extra Stuff
14 Hints and Tricks
15 Reader Hints

1. Introduction to Mario Kart 64
If you liked Mario Kart for SNES, you'll love the N64 version!!! In the
last game, you had to have coins to avoid spinning out. Well, not this
time!!! There are more Items, better graphics, and a few less tracks.
Koopa Troopa is missing, but Wario fills in for him (rumor has it that he
stole Koopa's Kart). DK Junior is gone, but Donkey Kong is here instead
(maybe he is DK Junior, he's just older now). But overall, this game
rules!!!

Idea of Mario GP is to outwit the other opponents and come in 1st, 2nd,
3rd or 4th place. If you come in 5th-8th, you get no points and are
disqualified, but you can retry as many times as you want. Only available
on 1 or 2 player mode. In 2 player mode, if one person qualifies and the
other doesn't, they both go on anyway. If both of them don't qualify,
they must retry or quit.

The idea of VS mode is to get to the finish line before your opponent(s)
do. You can use items against opponents. The first place person is the
winner, while the other(s) lose(s).

The Battle Mode is an all-out fight to the end. Throw and drop items to
hit your opponent and make him lose a balloon. If you lose all 3
balloons, you lose. In 3 or 4 player mode, the first (and 2nd in 4p mode)
loser turns into a bomb on roller skates. They can ram into one of their
opponents and cause them to lose a balloon. After that, they can not
participate. They can also be blown up if two of them collide or an
opponent uses a Star on you (see Items). Last one remaining is the
winner. Yes, you can ram into opponents to make them lose Balloons if you
are a Heavyweight (see Characters and their abilities).

Time trial is a race against the clock to get throught the level as fast
as possible. You start with 3 Mushrooms. These can be used anytime during
the race. You can't get items and you don't race anyone, but you can race
your mirror image of you didn't mess up at all during the race and you
choose Retry after the race. You can also save your mirror image to your
Memory Pack (see Section 12)

2. Characters: The Select Screen is arranged in this order:

Mario   Luigi   Peach   Toad
Yoshi   Wario  DK       Bowser

There are three racer categories:

Lightweights: Yoshi, Toad, Peach
(Toad is my favorite racer! In fact, he's almost everyone's favorite
racer!)

Advantages: They have good speed, very good acceleration, and don't lose
much speed if they go off the road. They also recover quickly.

Disadvantages: They lose lots of speed on turns if they don't power
slide, get pushed around a lot by Heavyweights, and they're very annoying
competitors if you don't choose them in Mario GP!!

Middle Weights: Mario, Luigi

They are very well-balanced and don't have extreme Advantages or
Disadvantages.

Heavyweights: Wario, Bowser and DK.

Advantages: They have very good turning, don't get knocked around a lot,
and they have very high top speed.

Disadvantages: They accelerate kind of slow, lose lots of speed if they
go off the road, and tend to cheat a lot in battle mode (they can ram
into you and knock 2 or 3 of your ballons off right at the beginning!
Seems like the computer controlled DK has an almost unlimited supply of
Banana Peels.) They also don't recover very quickly.

2.1 Character Individual Abilities

Toad: He is good in speed and turning.
Peach: She has the highest top speed of the Lightweights.
Yoshi: He has the best cornering of all the Lightweights.

Mario and Luigi are both average, Luigi is slightly faster.

Wario: The best of the Heavyweights. He has high top speed.
DK: He has the best cornering of the heavyweights.
Bowser: He dishes out the most damage.

3. Items: You get these out of item boxes laying around the track!!
(yes, those cubes with a ? in them)

Red shell: Seeks out an enemy kart close by and hits them. Both kinds of
single shells can be held behind you by holding the attack button. It is
destroyed if it hits a wall.

Green Shell: Bounces around until it hits another Shell, Banana,
Character, or fake item box. Throw them all over the place in narrow
pathways! Can be shot backwards by holding Back and pressing the attack
button. Yes, it does bounce off of walls.

Spiky Shell: Chases after the person in first place until it hits them or
a wall. It can knock others out of the way while chasing the leader. Only
available in Mario GP mode and VS mode. DON'T fire if you are in first
place. It will loop around the entire course and hit you, or stop on a
dime, turn around and blast you. If you do fire a Spiky Shell while in
first place, get behind the person in 2nd and make absolutely sure that
you don't get in first place.

Banana Peel: Hold them behind you, drop or throw them. If someone hits
them, they spin out. Drop them on speed ramps so they slip and don't make
the jump!!!

Banana Bunch: Makes 5 Bananas trail behind you. Drop or throw these, one
at a time. If someone hits them while they are following you, they spin
out.

Super Star: Makes you invincible to anything, makes your kart steer
better and faster while invincible. If you run into anyone, they get
blasted out of the way. You can also knock over obstacles, like Thwomps
and trees. It goes away if you fall in the deep water or lava.

Mushroom: Gives you a quick burst of speed. Only available in Mario GP
and VS modes.

Triple Mushroom: Same as Mushroom, but you can use it 3 times. You start
with one of these in Time Trial Mode. Only available in Time Trial, VS
and Mario GP Modes.

Nuclear Mushroom (Super Mushroom): Same as Mushroom, but can use it as
many times as you want for 5-10 seconds. Only available in VS and Mario
GP Modes.

Fake Item Box: Cleverly disguised bombs. If someone falls for it, they
blow up. Put them by the real item boxes to fool people! Just remember
where you put them. The only way you can tell them apart is that the fake
ones have upside-down ?s. Also drop them on narrow passageways so they
are unavoidable. Can be dropped in mid-air, but they don't do anything if
someone hits them.

Triple Red Shells: Surrounds you with 3 Red Shells. you can use these as
shields or shoot them at opponents. Can't hold them behind you, otherwise
they're pretty much the same as Red Shells. Not available in Battle Mode.

Triple Green Shells: Surrounds you with 3 Green Shells. You can use these
as shields or fire them off. Can't shoot or hold them behind you, all
other Green Shell rules apply.

Lightning: Miniaturizes everyone except for the person that used it. You
can run people over when they are miniaturized, but watch out if you are
miniaturized. Can't use most items while miniaturized. Only available in
Mario GP mode and VS mode. Also use it when your opponents are about to
go off of a ramp. They'll lose speed and won't make the jump.
P.S. When you're miniaturized, your kart handles a little better, but you
slow down, too.
 
Boo: Makes you invisible and invincible to enemy firepower and steals one
enemy's item. 'Nuff said.

Can lose speed in these different ways:

Fall- Lose a lot of speed and wrecks invincibility.

Spin out- Slip on a peel or other object, can sometimes be stopped by
rapidly tapping B while slipping, but before spinning.

Hit-Get hit by a shell,Fake Item or enemy kart. (Heavyweights usually
don't have the problem of getting hit directly by enemy karts)

Explode- Get blasted sky-high. Takes away lots of time.

Flattened- Get smashed like a bug. Takes away a lot of time.

Fall in water or lava: Fall in and Lakitu has to fish you out. If you
start holding down the gas to go as soon as you're back on land, you'll
lose even more speed.

4. Controls

A  Gas, Select option

B  Brakes, Cancel

C\/ Use Item (if you have one) Stop items from scrolling

Z same as C\/

C> Switch between Speedometer, Map or Distance Meter

C/\ Close or Far-Away view (even works while paused)

C< Nothing

Press B and Back on the Control Stick to reverse.

Press A and B plus left or right makes you spin around. Useful if trapped
against a wall.
 
R Jump, Go to Data Screen when you push it on Course Selection Screen.

L Go to Options Screen when you push it on Course Select Screen. Adjusts
Music Volume when playing.

To Slide, hold R while turning. This keeps you from losing speed.

To Power Slide, Hold R while turning and move the Control Stick left and
right. Do this until the smoke turns yellow, then red. Release R when the
smoke is red and you'll get a mini-boost.

When you slip on a Peel, but before you spin out, tap B and you can
sometimes avoid spinning out.

Control Stick is used for this game.

5. Tracks

(I rate them on a scale of 1-5 stars, 1 star is the easiest and 5 stars
is the hardest)

Mushroom Cup

Luigi Raceway 717 meters *
Moo Moo Farm 527 meters *
Koopa Troopa Beach 691 meters **
Kalimari Desert 527 meters**

Flower Cup

Toad's Turnpike 1036 meters ***
Frapp'e Snowland 732 meters ***
Choco Mountain 687 meters **
Mario Raceway 567 meters ***

Star Cup

Wario Stadium 1591 meters ***
Sherbet Land 756 meters ***
Royal Raceway 1025 meters ****
Bowser's Castle 777meters *****

Special Cup

DK's Jungle Parkway 893 meters *** (****on 150cc)
Yoshi Valley 772 meters *****
Banshee Boardwalk 747 meters ****
Rainbow Road 2000 meters ***

6.Track Strategies and Tricks

Mushroom Cup

Luigi Raceway: Use mushrooms to get up the hill past the tunnel faster.
If you're lucky enough to catch the Item Box hanging on the ballon, it
will land on the Spiny Shell if you don't stop it. Happens only the first
time, though. Watch out, cuz the trees will spin you out if you hit them.
A good place to practice Power Sliding. If you're good, you can get in 3
or 4 of them on a turn!

Moo Moo Farm: Watch out for moles, they'll blow you up! Ram opponents
into the overpass so they crash! Another good place to practice your
Power Slides.

Koopa Troopa Beach: Try to stay out of the water-it slows you down. The
Crabs will spin you out if you hit one. Look for a hole in the big rock
in the middle. Go off the ramp and fire a mushroom so you fly into the
hole. You'll end up at the waterfall near the trees that spin you out.
Rocket up the big skinny ramp with a Mushroom and get a Spiny Shell. Get
a small shortcut by going around the rock right after the first set of
Item Boxes.

Kalimari Desert: If you know you can't get past the train, then hit the
brakes and wait for it to pass. Stay out of the tunnel. It looks like a
shortcut, but it's not. Sometimes the train is really short, others it is
really long. There are actually TWO trains. The length of them may vary.
The real challenge is just staying on the path.

Flower Cup

Toad's Turnpike: This is a very long course. Not much to say, except
watch out for cars. They'll blow you up!! Also try to get a Star or
Ghost, so you don't have to worry about traffic! You'll be too busy
dodging trucks and other Karters to try to Power Slide. Watch out for the
first truck if you get a Speed Boost at the beeginning of the race.

Frapp'e Snowland: Watch out for snowmen-they blow up if you run into
them. Also be careful on the bridge so you don't fall in the water. Go to
the right in the Snowman Field to avoid the snowmen. Be careful on your
Power Slides, cuz there's lots of explosive Snowmen on the corners.

Choco Mountain: Watch out for the boulders and be careful to not fall in
the pit. Not much else to say, except to be careful on the big bumps
before the finish. Power sliding will help a lot on the big turn.

Mario Raceway: Sharp Turns and sand slow you down a lot. At the turn just
before the tunnel, use a Mushroom to blast across the corner and get a
small shortcut. Also rocket across the first corner if you get a speed
boost off of the starting line. Watch out for Pirahna Plants and trees.
Good place for Power Sliding.

Star Cup

Wario Stadium: Very long, very bumpy course. Watch out for the big jump.
If you miss it, you'll have to repeat part of the course. Rocket up the
ramp with a Mushroom to get a small shortcut. Watch for the killer
hairpin turn. There's lots of places for Power Sliding.

Sherbet Land: Be careful to not fall in the lake and watch out for the
penguins. Ram people into the penguins to make them crash. Look for a
secret item box behind the first blue rock. Let is go by itself and don't
stop it and it will usually land on a good item like a Triple Red Shell.
Watch out in the cave, cuz the path is narrow.

Royal Raceway: Be careful to not take a detour to the castle-it's a waste
of time. There's a HUGE jump, followed by two sharp turns. Watch out for
the tilted road-you'll easily fall in the lake. Watch out for trees and
Pirahna Plants. There are several sharp turns, good for Power Sliding.

Bowser's Castle: Lava Pits, a giant turn, Thwomps and Fire-shooting
statues make this a hard course. Also watch out for the bushes that spin
you out. If you fall in the lava after the mega turn, you'll start all
the way back at the bottom of the turn. Try to do a few Power Slides on
the MEGA TURN.

Special Cup

DK's Jungle Parkway: Look out for flying coconuts and the boat. You can
get a shortcut by shooting left off of the ramp, but don't go too far or
you'll fall in the lake. Drop Green Shells, Bananas and Fake Items behing
you on the bridge and you're guaranteed to hit someone. There are a few
sharp turns good for Power Sliding.

Yoshi Valley: You can take several routes through this level. If you
fall, you'll lose lots of time. Watch out for an area with no walls,
porcupines that spin you out and a giant egg. The shortest route is Left,
Right, Left at the turns. You also don't know what place you're in until
the end. Drop Fake Items and Peels on the bridge so people won't be able
to dodge them.

Banshee Boardwalk. Watch out for bats and narrow roads with no walls.
Also watch out for a big hole in the floor of the Ghost House. Don't let
the ghosts or the big fish distract you.

Rainbow Road: Watch for the big turns and Chomps. Other than that, enjoy
the (VERY long) ride. Also, jump down the first dip to save some time.
Watch out, though! You can fall off easily! There are HUGE turns here, so
Power Slide a lot in this level.

At the start of any race, press A at every light and hold it at the Green
Light. You'll get a Speed Boost and take the early lead. If you mess up,
your kart will be messed up for a couple of seconds and you'll be in 7th
or 8th place. If you don't push anything except at the green light,
you'll take off normally.

7. Scoring in Mario GP mode

If you come in:

1st             9 points
2nd             6 points
3rd             3 points
4th             1 point

The person with the most points at the end of all 4 tracks is the winner
of the round. Person with 2nd most points is the 2nd place winner. Person
with 3rd most is the 3rd place winner. All other racers will not be shown
on the stand. A tie will always go to the player. If it is a tie between
2 Computer-Conrolled racers, the person that was leading coming into the
race will come in above.

1st place player wins GOLD TROPHY.
2nd place player wins SILVER TROPHY.
3rd place player wins BRONZE TROPHY.

36 is a perfect score!!
4 is the lowest score that you can get if you qualify in every race.

(It's really dumb that only the human player gets the trophy. If there
are 2 human players, the one that got a better placing gets the trophy.
Maybe in the sequel [if there is going to be one] all players, Computer
or human, will win the trophy)

8. Battle Mode Tracks

Big Donut- Has 4 walls that you can hide behind. Fall into the lava in
the middle and you lose a balloon. Drop Fake Items next to real item
boxes to fool your opponents, just remember where you put them!! If
someone fires a shell at you, you can hide behind one of the 4 walls. If
they come after you behind there, either retreat or blast them with a Red
Shell (if you have one).

Block Fort- Has 3 different levels with pathways to other areas on that
level. Shoot a Red Shell when you're on the top and you're opponent(s)
is/are on the bottom and you'll hit them almost 100% of the time. You
start face to face with your opponent, so be careful! Also drop Banana
Peels and Fake Items on the narrow pathways if someone is following you.

Double Deck-Has 5 different platform areas. When you're at the top, fire
a Red Shell at someone below you. They'll never know what hit them!!!
Also fill up the bottom level (the dark green area)with Green Shells.
Just be careful that you don't fall into your own trap!

Skyscraper-The most dangerous Battle Zone of them all!! It's easy to fall
off, and when you do, you lose a balloon. Try to knock your opponent's
off. There are no guardrails at the edge of the level, so be careful!

9.Battle Mode Strategy

Hold all shells and peels behind you in case someone fires a shell at
you.

Hang on to your Triple Shells. Only fire them if your opponent has no
items.

Drop Fake Items next to real items to fool your opponent(s). Just
remember where you put them.

Drop Banana Peels under real item boxes, so your opponent(s) can get the
item, but they lose a balloon.

Drop Banana Peels next to lava pits or  other traps so they slip and fall
in.

(Most of the above are also good Mario GP and VS strategy.)

10. Extra Mode

If you're good enough to win all 4 races in 150cc with a Gold Trophy in
all of them, you can race the Mirror Version of each course (the Title
Screen changes if you did it right.) If you want to race the mirrored
tracks, choose Extra in the 50, 100, or 150cc selection screen.
They are much tougher like this, in Toad's Turnpike, the cars are driving
at you! In every course, all the turns are reversed.

11. The differences between 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc

You can choose any of the 3 engine sizes mentioned above. The more
powerful the engine, the faster you go, but it's also harder to steer
with the more powerful engines. The other guys are tougher, too. Also,
some levels become tougher (like Choco Mountain, the guardrail disappears
in one section).

12. Memory Pack Stuff

You can save your "Ghosts" to your Memory Pack, then race them again at
any time. See the Mario Kart 64 Insruction Book for more info.

13. Extra Stuff

This FAQ is far from being complete!! If you have any suggestions, codes
or something that I have left out, E-Mail me at:

[email protected]

Rumor has it that Game Shark is coming out for N64. If it does, and you
have any Mario Kart codes, E-Mail me and I'll put them in!

This FAQ will be updated every once in a while, so watch the version
number!

14. Hints and Tricks:

Go to VS mode and let only one player control. Set the camera view to
close-up, get a Nuclear (Super) Mushroom and turn around. Keep firing so
Lakitu Keeps doing something stupid. HE HE HE HE!!!! Well, I thought it
was funny.

I have a  few hints also: Avoid Coconuts, Bats and almost anything when
you are miniaturized. You can get flattened easily and lose tons of time.

If somone is tailing you, fire a Green Shell backwards, or stop suddenly
and let them hit you if you have a Red or Green Shell shield. This also
works if you just hold a Shell behind you and stop.

Hold a Spiky Shell behind you until you are ready to use it, cuz if
anyone hits it, they get hit and you don't even lose your shell!!!

You can view the fastest time on Mario Raceway by pressing R on the Title
Screen.

Drop Banana Peels on ramps so people miss the jump. Just be careful that
you don't fall into your own trap.

Don't hold A as soon as Lakitu drops you off or you'll spin out and lose
even more time.

Seems like whenever you're in 6th, 7th or 8th, you usually get really
good items like the Lightning Bolt or Star and whenever you're in first
place you always get crappy items like Bananas.

Don't trail someone if they're going to drop a Fake Item or Banana Peel.
They'll blast you for sure! You can have this work for you if someone is
tailgating you. Also works for backwards Green Shells.

Sometimes when trying to pass someone, you get an automatic mini-boost.
Not much, but make the most of it!

Beat these times in Time Trial mode to race the Course Ghosts:
Luigi Raceway: 1'52''00
Mario Raceway: 1'30''00
Royal Raceway: 2'40''00

Hold shells behind you in case someone shoots a Red Shell at you, then
you can block it. If they shoot at you from thr front, fire the shell at
the last possible moment.

Seems that the enemies recover faster than you do! Fortunately, their
items don't last as long!

All of the levels are on top of water! Go out and you'll fall in the
water!

When you finish a race, hold a shell or something behind you as you cross
the Finish Line and blast someone when everyone is driving around.

Don't race a green shell, cuz you're more likely to get hit than to win.

I've heard of a code where you can race as Koopa Troopa! If anyone can
confirm this, or knows how to do it, mail me!

The red arrow signs in all the levels aren't even there! You can drive
right through them!

14. Reader Hints

Thanks to [email protected] for sending in this one: Use a Lightning
Bolt to shrink someone just before they go off a ramp in a level like
Wario Stadium or DK's Jungle Parkway. They'll lose speed and fall, and
lose lots of time in the process. He/She also sent in a shortcut for
Yoshi Valley. After the bridge, use a Mushroom or Star to blast across
the grass to the Finish Line. This saves you some time.

Thanks to Nintendo Power for including these shortcuts: In Rainbow Road,
jump off the ramp at the third yellow tile and try to land on the track
below for a shortcut.

In Kalimari Desert, if you have a star, turn left at the 2nd train
crossing and use the star just as you enter the tunnel. You'll advance to
the next lap.