Mario Kart: Why Drifting Is An ESSENTIAL Tool For Victory - CBR

Mario Kart is the undisputed king of kart racing. While Crash Team Racing comes close, it can't take Mario's crown. After all, Mario Kart succeeds by making the experience fun for everyone, while other racers are too technical for casual players. However, this leads one of the most common criticisms of the series: it's too random. While gameplay ideas like items act as equalizers, they add a level of Mario Party-like chance to the mix. However, the experience requires a clear degree of skill to win, particularly in relation to drifting.

Drifting is Mario Kart's one true technical element, and it has persisted in some form across the entire series. It's even present in Super Mario Kart, but in that title, drifting was largely just a way to stay on the course and not spin out. Beginning in Mario Kart 64, players could charge up Mini-Turbo speed boosts by drifting in a technical manner. This system was iterated on in each entry, with the most radical change occurring in Mario Kart Wii. Since then, earning Mini-Turbos was no longer about pushing the stick in the opposite direction to a drift, but instead drifting for longer periods of time.

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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's drifting and Mini-Turbo system works like Mario Kart Wii, although there are some ways to get stronger Mini-Turbos out of each drift. The Mini-Turbo system works in stages. As the player charges a drift, the Mini-Turbo's power increases, denoted by a change in color. Naturally, the better the Mini-Turbo, the better the speed boost. In Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, there are two tiers of Mini-Turbos: blue and orange. In the Nintendo Switch release, there are three: blue, orange and purple. However, purple Mini-Turbos (called Ultra Mini-Turbos) can only be earned if Smart Steering is turned off.

The trick is to get the biggest drift possible out of the smallest distance. Drifting wide around the outside of a turn will eventually result in a solid Mini-Turbo. However, most tracks don't consistently allow the player that sort of space. When items are being rained down one after another, making up for lost time with big Mini-Turbos on tight courses is essential. The best way to achieve this is to hug the inside of a turn and drift sharply. This will charge up Mini-Turbos much faster.

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In addition to drifting on the inside of corners, it's essential to start drifting before a turn starts and after the turn ends. This initially seems counter-intuitive, as the purest function of a drift is to get around a corner without crashing into a wall. However, by thinking about drifts beyond that, there's so much room to push Mario Kart's skill ceiling. Most tracks are wide enough that a player can start a drift on the outside of a straightaway, drift hard across the track to the inside of a turn, then out onto the next straightaway. By doing that and releasing the Mini-Turbo afterward, the drift and resulting speed boost will be much stronger.

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Mario Kart's drifting mechanic lacks the depth of those found in other racers. However, that comparative lack of depth is offset by how intuitive the system is and how much optimization it allows for. Understanding how to drift makes Mario Kart exponentially more enjoyable. With a little bit of practice, drifting skills can be applied to each track inventively, making the experience much more exciting and fast-paced.

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