Winning Mario Kart World Means Skipping the Start Boost

Mario Kart World‘s sophisticated item distribution system holds the answer. While the technique was designed to maintain excitement by offering better items to racers further back in the pack, it often gave those leading weaker defensive options. At the very beginning of the game, players have adopted this strategy of intentionally holding back, sacrificing the initial speed burst to fall into a lower position immediately after the race commences. Due to this calculated drop in placement, the odds of acquiring powerful items from the first set of item boxes encountered significantly increase.

According to popular YouTuber and Mario Kart content creator ShortCat, this growing approach to playing the game is widely used because racers are almost guaranteed to obtain triple mushrooms right at the start. Notably, Shortcat credited a smaller creator named Gyrados and numerous other community members for the discovery and popularization of this counterintuitive method. Additionally, Shortcat stated that Gyrados rigorously tested the strategy across every race, consistently avoiding the Rocket Start.

Ultimately, this systematic approach yielded impressive results, with Gyrados securing victories frequently despite the unconventional opening. Furthermore, Mario Kart World‘s balancing mechanics allow the tactic to work. Specifically, the immediate advantage of the Rocket Start is traded for the substantial long-term benefit of accessing high-tier items like triple mushrooms much earlier in the race. By simply taking this approach, fans can access powerful catch-up maneuvers and strategic shortcuts to make their victory much more secure.

Track Success Requires Skipping Mario Kart Boost

Gaining an early item advantage often proves critical for achieving high placements on numerous Mario Kart World courses. In particular, these featured shortcuts are only accessible with mushrooms shortly after the race begins. Mainly, this principle is best exemplified in various courses, including Peach Stadium, Peach Beach, and Dino Dino Jungle, where a mushroom obtained from the first item set enables drivers to zoom through an off-road path and gain significant positions.

Following this approach offers Mario Kart World players a better chance of winning, making these tracks perfect for skipping the Rocket Start. That said, this technique seems to falter on other circuits, but why? Going by Shortcut’s observations, the strategy’s effectiveness is inherently track-dependent. Notably, courses like Shy Guy Bazaar and Boo Cinema proves difficult to use this technique, as having an early lead is the optimal approach to win.

Previous Mario Kart titles held different approaches that significantly differ from this strategy, partly due to the current course designs, which frequently incorporate early shortcuts demanding specific items. For example, Peach Stadium features a shortcut requiring mushrooms located right after the initial item boxes. A driver intentionally starting poorly significantly boosts their chance of obtaining three mushrooms, enabling them to blast through that shortcut and surge into a leading position almost instantly.