Starting Mario Kart Tour and feeling a little overwhelmed? While the tutorial does give you a chance to become acquainted with the touch controls, Mario Kart Tour doesn’t tell you about a lot about what’s going on other than how to not careen into walls. But we’re here to help! We have a list of nine Mario Kart Tour tips to make sure you know everything the game doesn’t explain. Read on below!
More Mario Kart Tour:
- Mario Kart Tour Multiplayer Guide – How to Add and Play with Friends
- Mario Kart Tour Ranking System Guide – Tips for Earning Ranks and Tiers
- Mario Kart Tour Coin Rush Guide – How to Play Coin Rush and Rewards
Smart Steering Is Automatically On, and You’ll Want to Turn It Off
Smart Steering is a feature in recent Mario Kart that can help players stay on the track. It’s very helpful for new or younger players, but if you’ve played a Mario Kart game before you’ll know that sometimes it can get in the way of your plans and prevent you from taking advantage of shortcuts. Make sure to turn it off in the settings.
Most of the Time, You Can’t Fall Off the Stage
Worried about falling off on Rainbow Road? Don’t be. You can’t fall off the racetracks in Mario Kart Tour which makes Smart Steering even less necessary. Though you may not even see a railing, there is an invisible wall stopping you from careening off the edge. Of course, if you do hit it, you’ll lose your speed and your drift, so it’s best not to avoid said walls.
However, there are a few exceptions to that rule. If a jump sends you into the air, there are some parts where you can jump over that invisible wall and fall into oblivion. For the most part, you’re safe from falling though.
You Can’t Add Friends Right Away
You can’t add friends in Mario Kart Tour right away. First, you need to get to the point where you unlock rankings. People can add you before you get to that point, however, so you’ll have to deal with that friend icon sitting there until you can add them back.
For more information, check out our Multiplayer guide.
You Don’t Have to Get First Place to Get Five Stars
Getting Grand Stars are important in Mario Kart Tour, as they’re the main way to progress in the tours and get rewards. Each normal race has up to five stars to earn, and how many Grand Stars you receive depends solely on the points you have by the end of the race.
While you get the most points if you end in first place, using the right glider and kart, performing tricks and using items properly can score you enough points for all five Grand Stars without winning the tour.
You Don’t Have to Get Five Stars in Every Race
Sometimes, you just won’t have the driver or setup to get enough points for five Grand Stars, even if you take first place on 150cc. You can come back later in the tour to try again with leveled up builds, or complete Challenges to earn more stars.
You’re Racing Against Bots
While the bots’ names are probably lifted from actual usernames, they’re not playing simultaneously with you. While it is a little lonely, it also helps to prevent issues with connectivity while playing on a mobile device. But yes, you did just lose to a computer AI.
Save Your Rubies
Each time you shoot an item from the pipe, it costs 5 Rubies. However, 10 shots at once costs 45 Rubies, so you get one pull for free. It can take a long time to earn that many Rubies, especially if you’re not paying in any way, but it’s worth the wait.
You Can Get a Free Two-Week Trial of the Gold Pass
The Gold Pass is a premium subscription item. For $5 a month, you’ll gain extra rewards from gifts you unlock during the Tour and get an extra set of challenges to work through. You can use the Gold Pass free for two weeks before you need to pay up, though, so go ahead and use it and cancel the subscription before the two weeks are up.
Our recommendation? Use the trial at the end of the ongoing Tour, so you’ll have the Pass and all its extra rewards available for two Tours’ worth of goodies.
The Coin Shop Updates Daily
The coin shop is pretty neat—instead of praying to the gacha gods for a good roll, you can buy any driver, kart, or glider that you need in the coin shop when it’s available. If you see something you need, though, act fast. The available items change daily, so hurry and grab as many coins as possible. Short on coins? Give Coin Rush a try.
