Mario Kart 8 Shortcuts

Aside from flinging shells and the rest of your arsenal at your opponents, an integral part of getting the upper hand in Mario Kart races is knowing the tracks and the best way to navigate them. Mario Kart 8 shortcuts are aplenty as ever in the series, and here we’ll take a look at where to find them.



Mushroom Cup

Mario Kart Stadium
Mario Kart Stadium doesn’t really have much in the way of actual shortcuts. There are however more than a few turns that you can cut out if you have a form of speed boosts in your inventory.

The first turn of the course is exactly one of those corners. Make sure you have at least a mushroom and boost through the grass.

The next available shortcut will be just after you enter the anti-grav part of the track. You’ll need a mushroom to boost through the grass again and hit the small ramp.

The final shortcut on this track will be right at the end of your lap through the dirt. Again, you’ll need a mushroom.

Water Park
The first and only real shortcut in the Water Park appears just after entering the underwater part of the track. Look for the merry go round and boost through.

Sweet Sweet Canyon
More shortcuts, more item boosts needed. When the path splits to a blue or pink track, each side will have a turn with chocolate icing mimicking what grass/mud will do to your kart if you try to drive through it without a boost. Boost through and sail up the positions.

The second shortcut requires a boost and quick reactions. Towards the end of the lap you’ll see a big chocolate donut. Boost through and be ready to turn left (or right if you’re playing on mirror difficulty) very quickly as the corner will sneak up very quickly after you’re through the shortcut.

Thwomp Ruins
Immediately after you pass the finish line or start the race, you can completely bypass the first corner entirely by boosting between 2 rock formations to the left of the track and onto a large stone ramp. Mushroom needed, of course.

The second Thwomp Ruins shortcut is one you actually need no form of item boost for. Instead, you just have to be very, very careful using it. Just before the section of the track where your glider comes out to play you should see a Thwomp doing his thing. To the left of him sticking out of the ground is a rock formation you can drive off the track and onto to cut out the corner.



Flower Cup

Mario Circuit
Much like Mario Kart Stadium, Mario Circuit doesn’t have any real shortcuts aside from boosting through various parts of grass and dirt with mushrooms to slightly cut corners. You’ll find opportunities to boost your way through these corners during the anti-grav section of the track and also just before the flying part though the dirt.

Toad Harbor
If you have a mushroom you can boost through the very first corner of the track (avoiding the box if possible). Keep going straight and you’ll end up hitting a couple of speed boost ramps and end up on top of the canopies of the market stalls. After coming down off the canopies take note of how the road splits. The fastest route is to take the right section of the road which will cut out a couple of corners for you.

The last corner of the lap also provides an opportunity for you to boost through the grass with an item.

Twisted Mansion
Just after exiting the anti-grav section you’ll come to a big looping left hand corner. Just before this corner will be a chance to use a mushroom to boost through and cut the larger corner out.

Whilst not necessarily a shortcut, a quicker way to navigate the track is to ensure you get to the top level of the mansion after you hit the jump where you start gliding.

Before the finish line you’ll come to a wooded section of the track, you can boost through the grass here to quicken your lap time but be wary of the various obstacles in the way.

Shy Guy Falls
The second turn of the track has a section of grass that you can boost through to help your lap time.

When gliding try to aim your kart for the small cave above the main track. After exiting this cave keep to the right and boost through to hit a small ramp to cut out a corner.

The turn just before the finish line also features a small patch of grass that can be boosted through to save a second or so.



Star Cup

Sunshine Airport
On the corner immediately before gliding up to the sky part of the track, you can boost off to the left to hit a small grassy ramp with a coin to cut the corner.

Just before the finish line at the end of the lap you’ll see a conveyor belt with boxes. Avoid slamming into the boxes and hit the jump for a small boost and corner cut.

Dolphin Shoals
Whilst riding the giant fish, constantly move your kart over the ridge on its back and perform tricks for as many speed boosts as you can possibly fit in.

The very last corner of the lap can be bypassed by boosting over the coral reef to the right.

Electrodome
Just after the start of the track there will be some dark shiny marble-ish pebbles for you to boost over and cut the corner (to the left of the 3 green cones).

The very last corner also features these pebbles for another opportunity to boost over and cut the corner. This time however there will be Piranhas waiting for you so drive wisely.

Mount Wario
Just before entering the first checkpoint and cave, the long right handed corner can be bypassed entirely by jumping off the edge of the track to the right, landing right in front of the checkpoint. There is a small but noticeable ramp to indicate where you should be aiming for.

Once you reach the forest area keep to the right path but keep your eyes on the trees. Shortly after picking the right path you should see an opening between the trees that you can boost through and hit a gliding pad for a corner cut.

The very last corner (unsurprisingly) has an area of snow indicated by blue cones that you can boost over.



Special Cup

Cloudtop Cruise
Again, the last corner before the finish line will give you an opportunity to bypass it. Just to the right you’ll see two overgrown leaves with coins on, you can also perform tricks off the edge of these leaves for mini boosts.

Bone Dry Dunes
The main tip for this track is to always look out for brown sand on corners. If you have mushrooms or any other speed boost item you can coast over it to shave off some time.

At the gliding section, locate the upper part of the track on the other side and aim your kart towards it, you’ll need to make sure you hit the sand geyser that pops up mid-flight to make sure you make it however.

Bowser’s Castle
Always look for the dark coloured mud as you can boost over it. You’ll find the most profitable place to execute boosting over the mud towards the end of the lap featuring a lot of turns, and a lot of mud.

Rainbow Road
At the part with the conveyor belts going separate ways, try to always ride the belt with the green arrow. Alternatively, use a mushroom to boost through the middle so you don’t have to go the whole way around the corner.

The final shortcut for the new Wii U courses is probably the most difficult to execute. During the gliding section make sure you land yourself on the top/left level. Take the corner as normal but immediately after exiting the corner jump off the left of track to land on the other track. Once you’re on here, drive straight past the boosting pylon and off the track, you should land on the original track you chose again and in the process cut out a fair few corners.

During the final turns of the lap there is also some grey substance on various corners that acts like mud. As you can guess by now, if you have mushrooms it’s possible to boost through and save yourself some time.
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