The 'Shroom:Issue L/MK:WTC

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Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner

by Coincollector (talk)

Hey Paisanos! This is Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. Your friend Coincollector is here to tell you, not the tip of this month, but THREE tips this month. Why? because the ’Shroom forced me to is celebrating its special issue this month, and therefore I’ve made the biggest Mario Kart tip ever. I call this the Triple-Mega-Combo-Mario-Kart-Tips-Pack. I don’t want to talk more, so go ahead, take a look by yourselves.

Item of the Month

Artwork of a Golden Mushroom in Mario Kart Wii
All hail the Golden Mushroom.

The item that I’m gonna talk in this month is the Golden Muushroom. This golden and regal toadstool is an upgrade of the normal mushroom. What I mean by upgrade is that it works better than its ordinary counterpart. If a single Mushroom is able to give you one momentary speed boost when you use it, then a single Gold Mushroom is able to give you infinite speed boosts when you use it. That’s right, infinite. After you use this item, you’re still able to use it again and again, making your way to first place. However, once you use it for first time, the Golden Mushroom is only available to be used again for a brief period of time; once that time is up the item vanishes and can no longer be used. In some games where it appears, the Gold Mushroom can be used for a second time within eight seconds.

Basically the mushroom makes you go faster, but sure, you can also use the golden mushroom to take shortcuts and then keep using it to steal your opponents’ places. Nonetheless, in some games where it appears, the golden mushroom has other, not notable, but interesting uses. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the golden mushroom is a special item that only Toad, Toadette, and King Boo and Petey Piranha can get. If you use a golden mushroom and ram another racer in your way, the opponent will suffer a brief lag and drop the item they’re holding. The mushroom also be used to steal the opponent’s item, but this requires accurate timing. That is, you must time it so that you ram the opponents after the Golden Mushroom has vanished, so there is room for it in the item slot. In Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, the golden mushroom lost this feature. In these games if you use a golden mushroom, you can push other vehicles out of your way. This becomes more useful for medium-to-heavy weight vehicles and characters as they can push other karts very far.

The item can be obtained if you are in a low position, especially if you go from sixth to last place. In Mario Kart Double Dash, Toad and Toadette regularly obtain a golden mushroom if they are in a place that is not first.

The golden mushroom can also be used in battle mode. In Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, the item tends to appear when a player is very disadvantaged. The golden mushroom can be used to steal a balloon from the opponent in balloon battles, Shine Sprites in Shine Thief (MKDD) & Shine Runners (MKDS), or Coins in Coin Runners (MKW). In my opinion, the item is not really useful during battles. The main problem is when having this on hand, the player is open to any opponent’s attack. The best way to avoid this muddle and risk oneself just for stealing something is getting rid of the item at once.

Course of the Month

Screenshot of SNES Mario Circuit 1 featured in Mario Kart DS
Good memories come back to me. Oh no! It’s that catchy tune!

The course of the month is SNES Mario Circuit 1. Regarded by many as one of the shortest courses in the Mario Kart series (only beaten by Baby Park), Mario Circuit 1 is just a flat raceway without many notable hallmarks. The track starts near to an abrupt bend to the left that becomes a long straightaway. After that, the road turns to the left and a bit later, another turn to the left. The curve leads the racers to a short straightaway followed by a turn to the right. The road makes a U-turn to the left that sends the racers back to the starting line to complete the lap. The road is surrounded by a extensive zone of rough terrain that makes any kart that runs over it go slow. Pipes serve as obstacles in some curves of the track, specially the second and third ones. Right after the third curve, the player will see a large area of loose ground to the right of the track. As I said before, this ground makes vehicles slow, but using a mushroom, jet propulsion or a star, you don’t need to worry. Here there is a shortcut to reach the last bit of the course and finish the race. As curious note, this is the only course that has a single set of item Boxes.

Another Tip of the Month

Artwork of the Green Fire from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Yeah, it’s just the Red fire without red.

For my next tip, I’ll talk of a kart that appeared in Mario Kart Double Dash!!. It’s green, has a letter L on its hood, and is Luigi’s personal vehicle. Did you get it? Yup, it’s the Green Fire. In order to get and use the Green Fire, you must complete the Mushroom Cup in 50cc – a very easy task to complete if I do say so. The kart can only be driven by putting together two middleweight characters or a middleweight with a light character. As seen in the game, these are the Green Fire’s stats:

  • Speed: Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.
  • Acceleration:Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.
  • Weight: Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.Power Star icon from Super Mario Galaxy 2.

As you can see, the Green Fire’s highlight is speed, a characteristic not very common in karts of this weight class. On the other hand, its acceleration is low, as is its weight. In truth, the Green Fire shows bizarre traits; it has great speed that can be compared to many karts of the heavyweight class that are also speedy. However the kart is very light, so it’s susceptible to being pushed around by heavier vehicles. Curiously, the kart is the heaviest within its level, as karts that have the same number of stars (these are the Koopa Dasher, the Para Wing and The Bloom Coach) are lighter. Besides, Its acceleration is quite low for a middleweight kart. Last, the kart shows good traction, which is very unusual in speedy karts seen in the game. This prevents the Green Fire from going off road if it slips out of control. In my personal experience, the Green Fire is certainly suited for advanced players. The only thing an expert would look for in this kart is its speed. Although its other stats seem very unusual, it may be no problem to those who know how to handle it regardless of its less-conventional aspects.

And that’s all Shy Guys, hope you enjoyed the Triple-Mega-Combo-Mario-Kart-tips-Pack that I made for you for this month, and always remember to look both ways before crossing the road or else the Green Fire will run over you.