By: itsamepete@aol.com (ItsaMePete)

Mario Kart 64 Shortcuts, Glitches, and other Weird Things

Contents:
1-24 —  Each Individual Courses' Secrets
25 — Jump Techniques
26 — The Spiny Shell Trick
27 — In General
27.9753 — The Technique
28 — Further Explanations


1) Luigi Raceway
You can use the Spiny Shell Trick here, just park him at the place where
the gray wall in the middle of the course meets the round brick wall,
after making him do one lap to get the balloon down.  You can also use the
technique that will be described later.

2) Moo Moo Farm
Only the technique that will be later told of in detail can be utilized
here.

3) Koopa Beach
A) The spiny shell trick works here, just park the guy in the tunnel.  (I
find it easier to drive him in the wrong way; the waterfall.  You can use
the green rock to get spinies, which brings us to
B) You can hop the back of the green rock to grab a spiny shell.  Works
well in conjunction with the Spiny Shell Trick.
C) You can hop up the walls into the middle of the course in at least 2
different places.  You'll land in water and Lakitu will pull you out.  
c1)  In between the last two ramps, there's a spot where you can hop up
the rocks.
c2)  The other one that I know of is behind the Koopa Rock's behind.  At
the top there's a little moss where to show where you can go up, but it
actually spreads out a bit so you'll have to look carefully.
D) I'm not sure how to do this, as it happened by accident, but you can
get stuck in between two trees near the waterfall.  Yoshi just kinda drove
thru and got trapped, constantly bumping and rotating until he got knocked
out.  We've tried to recreate this trick, but haven't succeeded.  

4) Kalimari Desert
A) You can do the Spiny Shell Trick here, just put the guy in the train
tunnel.
B) There are actually 2 trains.  The manual, Nintendo Power, and others
say there's only one, but there are two!  We found this out by having
Peach tail one train, and Yoshi sit at the crossing, watching the trains
go by.  

5) Toad's Turpike
A) Only the Technique described later works here.  With it, you can fly
thru the walls, anywhere.






6) Frappe Snowland
There's only a few here, but they have so many variations it's almost like
having many more.
A) At the first jump, (the only one) if you jump over to the left without
touching any snow on the way and landing in the said object, then you can
continue the drive ‘til Lakitu picks you up.  He'll then try to put you
back on the track, but get stuck and eventually drop you behind the
starting line.  By driving to different places in the snow on the left of
the rack, possibly even getting to the other side of the river, you can
adjust how high Lakitu takes you before dropping you.  You can even get
him to take you up so high that you can see to the end of the track's
world.   This is a back cut, not a shortcut.  
B) At the first jump, (the only one) if you jump over to the right without
touching any snow on the way there and driving until you reach the tree,
Lakitu will pick you up and try to put you back on the track, but will get
stuck.  He will then (if correctly executed) will drop you in the river. 
But not in the ordinary way.  You'll fall into a void, and the only way to
get out is to have someone else jump in on you.  You can get a variation
on this by going to the left with the difference of not being able to get
out.  Ever.  Note: when you are in the void, you are actually underneath
the finish line, so shells will do some fancy stuff to try to get you.  In
fact, they'll stay there. 
C) This trick has only worked in a 4P game with 2P.  If you drive to just
past (I'm thinking like a scale inch) the end of the bridge, into the
snow, and then the water, Lakitu will put you down ina spot on the bridge
that isn't really there; you'll fall back in to the water.  You can always
leave, but it's interesting.  Especially if you try to start up before
you're down and spin out.  With all the other players, we just couldn't
get in, except for one weird part; the bridge has a spot, where, if you're
driving at the right time, will drop you into the water.  It may have
something to do with our trying ti fall thru the bridge repeatedly, but. .
.
D) You can hop up to the top of the walls of the canyon by going first to
where the walls start to form.  Hop repeatedly and don't stray to far from
the edge.
E) Because you can drive so far without touching the road in this track,
you can get really far away from where you started and get picked up by
Lakitu, to be put down far away again.
F) You can also drive around the Yoshi snowman, but can't climb it.

7) Choco Mountain
A) At the place along the long curve, where the wall on the left turns
dark, after the items, where the Mts.  on the right are striped, you can
climb up them to the top, where you fall in.  You can do this all along
‘Caramel Mt.' after the first spot.  
B) At the ‘falling rocks' sign, if you turn left, you can hop up the Mt.
after the part that juts out.  You can even see a part of the track that
lies ahead.  
C) At the next ‘falling rocks' sign, there's a tiny spot in the wall which
is just unsteep enough to climb.  You can go pretty far horizontally
before your fingers tire out and you drop, or you can just go up and fall
in.  
D) At the place where the track crosses over itself, after the big yellow
signs, you can hop down to the track below.  This is not a shortcut.  You
can get there by climbing the hills on the left of the track with the big
humps.  You'll have to go horizontally a bit before you're over the track
below, but it's possible.

E) At the place just after the item boxes, you can climb up on the right
to a plateau where you'll spin around and flip over until Lakitu pulls you
off.  You can even rotate up there if you go up at an angle.
F) Right after the tunnel, if you turn around, you'll see the Mario Kart
banner that's above the finish line.  But if you go up to the finish line,
you won't be able to see down there, or even how you could see up to where
you are.  There's a wall there!
G) I've never seen him do it, but my bro says he can get up to the track
at the place before Boulder Curve, right after the big bump, with a
mushroom.  This would be a good shortcut, and you may want to look in to
it.

8) Mario Raceway
A) The shortcut.  If you drive along the road until you come to the last
turn before the hairpin with the big mushroom, you can drive up the hill a
bit, drive down, use a mushroom as you hit the road, turn a little to the
right and jump.  This can send you over the wall, into the field on the
other side.  What a shortcut!
B) You can do the Spiny Shell Trick here, just park the guy at the first
corner, off to the left.  This causes the shells to take a strange, wavy
course. 
C) I haven't done it, but many say they can get eaten by a Pirahna plant.
D) You can also use the technique described below.

9) Wario Stadium
A) At the first set of humps, you can leap over the wall to left and a
part of the track ahead.  This is a shortcut.
B) After taking the first shortcut, or driving this far, you can jump up
the arrow wall at the next turn, and Lakitu will put you down on the other
side, farther ahead.  This is a shortcut.
C) After the item depression, and at the arrow wall, you jump over the
arrow wall itself, skipping the big jump entirely.  This is a shortcut.
D) If you cant get C, after the big jump, drive strait into and over the
wall to the finish line.  If you take the first three shortcuts every time
in Time Trial, your time will be under 2'30"00.  Or it should be.  
E) You can take every one of the aforementioned shortcuts backwards.  You
can actually jump
over almost any wall there is in Wario Stadium. 
F) At the big jump, you can turn left (or even right) and jump over one of
those walls.  If you do it right, you'll land almost half a lap backwards.

G) At the big jump, after you land you can turn around and jump over the
wall and take the big jump again.  This has a strange side effect;
everything goes dark, except for the sprites.  
H) The technique described later is also effectual here.

10) Sherbet Land
A) You can climb up the wall just before the finish line, but I have only
done it with a lighweigtht in 1P mode, tho.
B) Same thing, but this one is just after Penguin Cave's exit.  You can
even land in the cave, if you see a penguin when you hit.
C) The Spiny Shell Trick works here if you park the guy on the right of
the big blueish rock.
D) You can even throw bananas onto the big island if you get a running
start, and when Lakitu picks you up, throw them at the island.  You'll be
higher when he's lifting you so the bananas can make it.  
E) In Penguin Cave, if you hit a penguin hard enough, or with a starman,
he'll spin out!!  Well, actually not out, but he'll start spinning!
F) The technique which will be described later, can be used to reach the
island in the middle!  It's hard to stop once you land, tough.

11) Royal Raceway
A) The Spiny Shell Trick could work here if you park the guy next to the
big ramp leading to the jump, on either the left or right, but all the way
on the far side of it.  In any case, you can put the guy in the Castle
area. 
B) At the big jump, if you hop and turn right, you can land back on the
track far behind.  Or you can repeatedly ram the rail on the right as you
hit the Dash Zone, so you'll hit the brown part of the ground around
there.  
C) At the big jump, if you hit the railing on the last Dash, you can fall
straight down into the water.  
D) I've heard say that you can turn left on the big jump and land on the
track up ahead, but I've never done this.  You supposedly use a mushroom
somehow, I'm not sure how.
E) At the big jump, if you hop and turn slightly right in the middle of
the last dash zone, you can land on the right mountainside, and, with well
timed hops, reach a little plateau where you can actually drive around a
little.  You can also get here by driving around the bottom of the
mountain and hopping around the steeper part, but this is nearly
impossible without a lightweight.
F) The trees around the castle are not actually there.
G) After the castle bridge, you can climb up the lighter green hills a
bit, before crashing back down to the ground.
H) If you use a mushroom on the castle's stone walkway, you can launch off
and thru the castle wall and into another void.  The windows are all
floating in place, as are all the other things, except for the walls. 
I) The technique described later works well on the long, final, dash zone
jump.  You can even land back on the track a ways backwards.  

12) Bowser's Castle
A) The technique that's described below can put into use to get back up a
step, launch into the lava, jump over the small fire breathing statues,
and also the big guy,  or land back on the bridge that leads to the
spiral.  
B) After the big spiral, use a mushroom and rocket back into the spiral. 
You can land back on it if you go to the left, or just land in lava on the
right.  Lakitu will place you on the spiral if you miss.  You actually can
land back on the spiral on the right if you turn just right before jumping
off the edge of the . . . um, castle part.
C) You might be able to do the Spiny Shell Trick by placing him behind the
big Bowser statue that breathes fire.

13) D.K.'s Jungle Parkway
A) A semi-shortcut is at the 4th turn after the pit.  When you come from
the items, you can drive around the jungle plant wall, to a ledge that
leads to the bridge.  You don't need a mushroom, although it makes it
easier.   You need to drive towards the water, but turn so you have
turning momentum to fly around the plant wall.  You actually leave the
ground, only to land back on the grass on the other side.  It's tough and
might not be worth it, as you have to fall a long way to make it down
either onto the bridge (which is impossible without a mushroom) or into
the water, where Lakitu will pick you up and deposit you on the bridge.  I
have yet to try it in GP, so you can experiment with it.
B) In the tunnel, you can slide or hop up the wall, cutting off precious
seconds.  I find it's easiest to try and aim for an item box while sliding
up. 
C) There's a wall that doesn't exist at the 4th item group.  Turn left,
and drive up to the place where the wall sticks out.  Now drive behind it,
from Lakitu's point of view, and drive backwards into it and you'll go
right through!  But just try it the other way!
D) In the pit area, if you turn around, you can rocket backwards with a
mushroom and fall through the water, island, and everything, into a green
void.  I'm not sure exactly how to do this, except that you need a
mushroom, and to rocket into the water on the side of the island.  It
seems kinda erratic, though.  
E) If you drive up into the grass right before the big turn that leads to
the dash zone, you can leap up onto the turn, actually going over the
railing.  It's tough, but gets you ahead of anyone else, if only briefly. 

F) At the dash zone, if you turn left a bit, you can land pretty far up
ahead the track.  But you should only try to reach the items; otherwise
you'll fall in to the drink.  There's a tree that you can aim for, so
there is a reference point.  
G) At the 4th turn, if you don't take the semi-shortcut, you should power
slide early, so as to cut the grass.  It doesn't seem like much, but it's
actually a great shortcut.  Much bigger than you expect, especially
against the computer.  

14) Yoshi Valley
A) You can go backwards, even though it seems like there's no way to. 
There are actually 2 ways, but one requires you to use the technique
mentioned frequently above.  The easier one only requires a mushroom, and
a jump.  That's it, you don't even need a running start.  You just have to
position yourself right behind the last fence on the right after the big
mountain, and aim for the bridge landing.  You just hit mushroom and then
jump and voila!  You're back on the track.  If you miss, though, you'll
have to get another one and try again.
B) After you land from A, there's a little nook or cranny on the left,
unless you're going the right way, in which case it's on the right. 
Anyway, it's around the items which are before the bridge.  You can hop up
there, and if you time it right, can hop up onto the track above.  It's a
shortcut, of sorts, if you discount the time it takes to get up there.
C) If you get blown up while on the egg plateau, and hit the egg, you'll
get squashed in mid-air.  This is amusing, unless you're trying to race. 
It takes a long time to get back down.
D) Around the starting line, if you get a mushroom and jump to the left,
you can fly over the railing and into the side of a mountain.  
E) You can climb the side of the shorter mountain at the highest point of
the curve.  Once up there, though you have a good view of the track,
you'll be picked up by Lakitu.  You can also climb the side of the other
mountain horizontally and around to . . .  places.
G) I don't know if you can use the Spiny Shell trick here, but you might
be able to move the guy far enough away from the track to get it to work
at the grassy place.
H) The technique which you are getting so desperate to know about also
works here, almost anywhere.  

19) Banshee Boardwalk
A) You can drive behind the bat box.
B) You may have noticed that red and spiny shells fly around in weird
patterns in front of the ghost house.  And if you haven't, I think this is
a way to get them to do it.  Get a shell of said color, and put it out
behind you.  Jump into the water.  When Lakitu is picking you up, fire it.
 If it ‘locks on' before it hits the water, it will fly back up to the
track.  When it reaches the front of the house, it will begin to circle
the track in front.  Eventually, it will enter the house, and go on it's
merry way.
C) The lamp posts will kill your shells.  But only if they're circling
you, and you drive into the water, brushing the post with your shells. 
They'll just up and down, into the water.  
D) In the ghost house, you can jump the corner of the star shaped hole in
the floor.  Do this at the left of the post, and don't try to jump too
much, or you'll fall in.  
E) The Spiny Shell Trick works here, if you park the guy on the left side
of the star shaped hole in the house.  You'll have to make him go
backwards a bit, though.

20) Rainbow Road
A) At the first, big, huge, downhill slope, if you jump to the left, you
can land on the track below.  But be careful, as it's very hard to do. 
And you can't do it with a 50cc kart.  
B) The soon to be explained technique can be used to launch over huge
sections of track at the top of the big hill.  Or anywhere where the track
crosses over another part of track.
C) Just jumping straight down the hill is faster than just driving.  
D) I have no idea of what use the big rainbow ring is.  It seems to move
to get you through the center.  It doesn't make you go faster, or slower,
or anything.  It's weird.  

21) Big Donut
A) You may be able to blow up, fly forward, and fall into the big blocks,
but I haven't done it.

22) Block Fort
A) Get a turbo boost and push the guy ahead of you into the wall, being
careful not to spin him out.  Keep going till he's in the wall and you can
let go of the gas without the stars stopping.  Now move the guy who's
getting bumped with the gas.  Pop!  Into the water he goes!  

23) Double Deck
A) If you get blown up in just the right direction, you can fall into the
water, missing the track completely.  It's hard, but possible.  

24) Skyscraper
A) The Skyscraper is actually floating.  Take a trip down a hole with some
shells and fire them at the bottom.  You'll see what I mean.  Actually,
there's a weird wall that kills all shells that touch it, but it's black
and therefore invisible.  And you can't reach it because it's underneath
the regular concrete.  
B) You can drive through the walls that are at the top by going from the
side.  You know, the walls that have green stripes and are at your sides
when you start?  Those ones can be penetrated by getting a running start
and jumping from the fencing.  This is a quick escape, if you wanted to
know what use it is.
C) You can also drive straight over the holes if you've got enough speed. 
But not the edge ones.  

25) Jump Techniques
Throughout this list, I've mentioned climbing and jumping.  You can make a
little hop by hitting the R button.  This hop an be used to do many
things, among them, climb and jump walls.
A) Climbing Technique
Just go up to a wall that looks good, hold the gas, and start hitting
jump.  You should begin to climb.  Unless either the wall is unclimbable,
or you have heavyweight and he's too heavy for that wall.  But most walls
that can be climbed can be climbed by anyone.  In certain places, you'll
need to time your jumps to climb higher, but mostly it's just "hit the
buttons ‘til your fingers scream".
B) Jump Technique
This works best in Wario Stadium, but you might find other places to use
it.  Right when you hit a wall, jump.  This should send you up and over. 
You have to hit, bounce, and use your momentum to keep going over the
wall.  This is easiest for Bowser, as he gains a lot of momentum.  The
lightweights often need to bounce on the wall once, to get their speed
down, because if they don't, they'll go head over heels and land on the
ground again, without getting over.  Practice, and you should be able to
get it right, every time.

26) The Spiny Shell Trick
This trick will let the spinies circuit the track, not blowing up, or
anything.  You need to park the guy in first so far off the track, or in
such a strange place, that the shells don't know where he is and continue
going around the track.  You can do this almost anywhere where you can
drive off the track, such as Mario Raceway, but not like Rainbow Road. 
Sometimes the spinies will go around in strange, crooked paths along the
course, like in Banshee Boardwalk.  

27) In General
A) This is assuming you are using the normal courses, and not the reversed
ones.
B) If Toad is standing somewhere, someone else can land in the same spot
(via Lakitu) and push underneath the ground.
C) Every track is on top of water, so if you go off anywhere, you'll land
in it.
D) If you press the gas before the light turns blue, you'll get a rocket
or turbo boost.  It really depends on when you do it, who your driver is,
and what course it is.  If you hit jump right before you hit the guy in
front of you, you'll go up in the air, which brings us to. . .

27.9753) The Technique
This is the technique you've been waiting for.  So, without further ado,
here it is!
A) Get some one ahead of you.  He doesn't even have to stand still; you
can do it while both of you are moving fast.  But, it's easier (much!)  If
he's standing still.  The best ones to use are the heavyweights.  
B) Position him according to where you want to jump.
C) Get a mushroom.
D) Position yourself right behind him.
E) Hit mushroom speed.  You may want a running start first, though.
F) Right before you hit him, press jump.
G) This should send you flying way up in the air over him and whatever's
in front of him, including fences, walls, and rails.  
You can use this to get into places where you'd never dreamed of going
before.  Farther, higher, longer, it's all there. 
You can also give the guy a shell barrier, and let him sit.  If you ram
him now, you'll fly extra high, but not necessarily extra far.  You can
actually give anyone a shell barrier and park him.  It's fairly easy to
hit a shell barrier.

28) Further Explanations
If you need more detailed explanations, I'll first need someone with a
scanner and the Mario Kart 64 manual to send me some pictures of the
courses, so I can *show* you the places.  Or, if you have found a new
glitch, Found a new way to do an old one, or can't figure out how to do
one, E-mail me at ItsaMePete@aol.com. 


Does anyone have any oil?  Backpedaling with a rusty tricycle is hard!  -  Pedro Camino
Correct spelling is esential. - Aha! Gotcha!
Does anyone get my AOL name??