It’s no big secret that in Mario Kart, you can start each race with a turbo boost by punching the accelerator at the perfect moment before the race begins. The question is: How do you get the timing right?
The starting boost in each Kart game works a little bit differently. In Mario Kart 8, the easiest way to master the starting boost is to watch the numbers on the screen as they countdown, specifically the 2.
The key to getting the maximum boost is to hit the accelerator right as the 2 reaches the bottom of its drop:
It’s tricky to get it perfect, so you’ll want to practice. If you hit it too early and the 2 is still on its way down, you’ll spin out:
If you hit it too late, as the 2 is already fading, you’ll still get a boost, but it will be a lot shorter:
One way to help yourself get the timing right is to listen to the beeps as the numbers count off. If you hit accelerate right as the beep for the 2 sounds, you should get the maximum boost.
Watch and listen to the 2 carefully and with a little bit of practice, you’ll be flying out of the gate every time, leaving your friends spinning in your wake.
Of course, that means that they will start the race with better power-ups…
Update: A reader points out that you can also time it by watching Lakitu’s stoplight in the upper right, punching the accelerator immediately at his second light. It works, particularly if you follow his hand as he sets up the switch:
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19 responses to “How To Get A Perfect Starting Boost In Mario Kart 8”
Doesn’t matter in single or multiplayer cups though, as there will always be a computer player that gets some magical super speed boost at the start.
It gives you a much better chance of easily grabbing an item at the start.
What this article fails to mention is that there are actually THREE levels of boost start in MK8. It took me a while to actually see this myself but yes, there are most definitely three. I used to think the AI cheated on the boost start too until I realised this.
Yes, three. The differences are easiest to spot while on a bike.
– The first level of boost start is the shortest one, which is the “smaller boost” alluded to above. It’s just a quick puff of fire out the back of your kart.
– The second level of boost start is slightly longer, and if you’re on a bike will make them do a short wheelie. The article does not mention this level of boost start but it exists. This is the level of boost start you’re probably achieving.
– The third level boost start is the hardest to hit and is the one explained in the article. If you’re on a bike you’ll do a much longer wheelie and your character will yell “woohoo!” or something along those lines.
If you’re only hitting the second level of boost start, and the AI that starts in second place hits the third level, then they’ll boost past you at the start.
Could be the computer has really really high acceleration (lets them jump out in front of everyone) but poor top speed (soon overtaken)
Sick…. I figured this out on SNES when I was 14 and every iteration of MK since then… but thanks for the reminder.
It was different on MK64 AFAIK. You hit gas and hold just before the green?
It’s different in every MK game actually. They change the timing for every game. Also this is the first time from memory that there are actually different levels of boost start.
I’m pretty sure they’ve had it in other ones. Particularly the last two entries. Though this time it’s different in that you get the maximum boost by hitting it at the start of the boost period (as soon as the countdown hits 2). In the previous ones you actually got more boost the later you put it off, so you actually had to count down to the right fraction of a second to time it right. I liked that way better, felt like it actually required more skill. This one just makes it too easy.
Yeah, I can’t recall every MK off the top of my head but I remember just feeling out the differences… takes a couple races and you’re good to go.
I Just lolled at this article because it’s like “DAMN… do people need to be spoonfed this info these days”.
I had this down for MK64 and have never been able to get it right since.
Nice try, but it’s been different each time. Clearly a mario kart poser.
Still a boost in every game…. clearly a kotaku troll.
This reminds me of all those explanation videos for GoT, I’m like “you’re kidding right? How thick can you be?”
Bingo
where is the tutorial for boosts from sliding? also, a chart on how to use items. lets just make everything about the game tutorialised to you know….add to the fun : |
I’ve got gold trophies on every single cup, from 50cc to Mirror, and I’m still yet to master the speed boost (I can hit it most times but I didn’t know there were three levels of boosting) so I did actually find this article somewhat beneficial.
As I said the article only talks about 2 levels of boost start (plus the blowout option if you are too early). There are in fact 3 levels of boost start in MK8.
yup… by “article” I was referring to the comments as well… your comment was beneficial thank you 🙂
I’ve always used Lakitu’s hand to guide myself. Using that, I’ve found out that for the best starting boost you must start pressing the moment Lakitu’s hand reaches the lowest point in his second wave. This is slightly earlier than it was in MK Wii, where you needed to wait till the moment the hard started going up.