If in previous games it was too hard to come first in several online races, imagine now in Mario Kart World’s Knockout Tour Mode, where twice as many racers are pitted against each other in a chaotic battle royale and the bottom four are eliminated at each checkpoint.
This guide to being the best in Mario Kart World’s Knockout Tour Mode collects (and will continue to collect with updates based on our experience) a number of tips and tricks, especially race strategy, to help you hold on to the top spot and attack the crown when possible.
However, most of the tips also apply to any other Mario Kart World mode in which you’re racing against other racers, so we recommend that you save this guide to your favourites and refer back to it regularly.
Without further ado, arm yourself with patience and get started: 3, 2, 1… Go!
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Straights are an opportunity, not a boredom.
There are plenty of long, wide straights in Mario Kart World, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit still and wait for a turbo or a boost to help you out.
The first thing you need to train is the Charged Jump, which is executed in the same way as the drift (with R) but in a straight line. On these “boring” straights, we recommend that you use it as soon as you see a clean section, even if it’s on its first charge (1/3). Also, if there are fences or railings, take advantage of this trick to ‘grind’ and gain more turbos than your rivals. Besides, if you jump over a car on the stage, or against an opponent, you will gain an extra boost!
That said, about the straights… read the next tip.
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Don’t go down the middle
This applies to any part of the race, but especially on the straights, because that’s what we tend to do, a professional deformation of the more realistic car games. You’ll always be tempted, especially if they’ve launched a Golden Coin Shell, which travels down the centre of the track dropping money in its way.
Instead, and especially if it’s too crowded, try to travel around the edges and draw as tight a line as possible, cutting corners. If you get caught up in the crowd, you’ll get beaten hard and will be eaten for lunch, but if you weave in and out of the pack, you’ll go unnoticed and can cut a few places off the pace stealthily.
Always use protection
Your mother told you this when you got your first partner, but it’s even more true in Mario Kart World. Don’t always think about attacking, no matter how much you’re driven by the urge to advance – use strategic thinking and protect yourself, because that buys you more time than slowing others down, more so in the KO Tour.
For example, you’re between the fifth and tenth and you get a trio of red shells from the next ? box. Well, don’t use them. Just think of the avalanche of bludgeons coming at you from behind and from the sides, bearing in mind that most of the fourteen or more runners behind you have also found an item. If you throw them at the head of the race, you can slow one down and overtake them, yes, but their items are not as aggressive, whereas they will try to hit you from behind.
Look mum, no help
Speaking of mothers, remember the joke “look mum, no hands; look mum, no teeth”. If you consider yourself a pro Mario Kart racer, the first thing you should do in your first race right after opening the game is to switch off the smart steering wheel assist, which is on by default and you probably didn’t see the little antenna on your car when you picked it up.
Press + to enter the pause menu and then X to open the Controller Settings. There you can disable this sort of autopilot that keeps you on the road… but also prevents you from reaching the third level of the Charged Jump or the rainbow-coloured drift.
Without these aids, you’ll be able to squeeze the most out of the two advanced techniques you need to master Mario Kart World, along with the grind and wall jumping, so this tip is great for both Survival Mode and the rest of the game.
Coins are worth more than ever
No, it has nothing to do with inflation, Trump’s tariffs or the devaluation of the yen and dollar. What I mean is that you shouldn’t let any coin you see on the road slip through your fingers, unless it means you’re straying too far from the ideal path.
Why is that? Because you’ll only reach your maximum speed with 20 coins (and not 10 as before), and you’ll rarely carry 20 during a race, given the sheer number of hazards. Also, apart from adding two coins to your counter, each coin you collect will give you a little boost, a little push that can’t be considered a turbo but helps in the end.
Of course, also squeeze in the two items intended for the same effect, such as the Coin Block and the Coin Shell, and watch out for them when they smack an opponent to try and collect the coins they drop.
If there is a platoon, do not cross the item boxes first
This trick is older than the one about pressing the accelerator on “2” at the start. When you’re all in a group and close together, if you’re in first place, sneak a little when passing through the item boxes. You know that if you pass third or fourth you’ll get much better items.
The horn for everything
The Super Horn was primarily used in Mario Kart 8 and Deluxe to defend you from the Spiny Blue Shell, but in Mario Kart World it’s expanded its range and now has a shockwave effect. If you don’t get blue shells thrown at you, be prepared to use it when approaching opponents who are following you in defensive mode… or even to mop up in your path in aggressive mode.
Getting into the top 4 is a win
If this series has always had an important luck and randomness factor, imagine in Knockout Tour Mode for all the reasons we mentioned at the beginning. Your first objective when you get the hang of the dynamic is to try to get to the last checkpoint and therefore fight for the first place in the top four. If you make it, great, because it’s very difficult to escape alone, but if you come second or third, don’t take it as a defeat: twenty players were left behind and, no matter how well you play your cards right, it may not have been your fault.
Use the rear-view mirror with X
Speaking of being first, be sure to check your rear-view mirror (X button) when you are being chased. Of course you should keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road to keep looking for the perfect line, but this way you can gauge the threat or distance of your pursuers, for example if you want to defend yourself with a Superhorn.
No Mushrooming on a straight line
If we told you before to avoid going down the centre on straight stretches, you shouldn’t use the Dash Mushroom either. Not one, not three, not the golden one. Even if you’re tempted to close the gap right away.
Instead, always use the mushrooms to cut corners, access off-track shortcuts or recover immediately after a hit. This is the most recommended tactic.
Grind like you are Tony Hawk
Your muscle memory and years of experience will have you thinking about drifting and drifting all the time, but you won’t get anywhere in Mario Kart World if you don’t learn how to grind and wall-jump.
But mostly the former. What looks like decorations can often be used to go faster and generate more boosts with jumps and tricks, so take a good look at all those elements you can grind in every game mode. Also, as we said above, you must train the Charged Jump and its different timing, because at the beginning you will usually crash into fences because you don’t charge it enough.
The best players in Survival Mode take advantage of every possible jump and trick; if you don’t know and don’t take advantage of all the grind points, you will be overtaken.
