Welcome racers, start up those engines — you have just come across part 1 of 3 of GameSkinny’s as-complete-as-possible 200cc shortcuts guide for Mario Kart 8. Looks like it is your lucky day!
To kick off our super 200cc shortcuts guide, we’re examining all the new courses and tracks unlocked in Mario Kart 8‘s full DLC collection. Not the 200cc shortcut tips you’re looking for? Be on the look out for the Original Mario Kart 8 Tracks and Retro Tracks 200cc shortcut guides coming next week!
Mario Kart 8 200cc Shortcuts – DLC Cups
There are four difficult cups in the DLC to master 200cc on, which means 16 exciting, over-detailed tracks that weren’t there when the game launched back in May 2014! If you need more tips on getting past the Egg Cup, Triforce Cup, Crossing Cup, or Bell Cup, then read on. You’ll be speeding around on 200cc like a natural in no time.
But first, here are 3 key Mario Kart 8 pro-tips to keep in mind while driving in the fast lane:
- Control Your Air Time – Pushing up or down on the analog stick while in the air will affect the direction the nose of your vehicle is facing.
- Cancel Drift Boosts – If you’re approaching a corner with a full drift boost that you know will send you flying off the track, ease up on the Gas (A or Y button) to neutralize it.
- Brake Drift – Holding down the brakes (B button) for a brief period will tighten your drift without canceling it. Results in traction loss if held for too long.
For more advice, make sure you check out our Essential Tips for Burning Rubber in Mario Kart 8!
Every shortcut we’ve found in 200cc we tested endlessly without mushroom boosts — so unless it specifically states that you need to use a mushroom, you will not need one. Any simple turf cuts with mushrooms don’t count for this guide and cannot be found here. With the rules of the mushroom in mind, here’s an in-depth look at every 200cc shortcut from the first bundle of DLC to ever appear in Mario Kart history!
Egg Cup – “The Legend of Zelda” DLC
The Egg Cup has an interesting selection of courses, mixing Mario Kart 8 up with throwbacks like Excitebike Arena and Mute City, returning Mario Kart Super Circuit track Yoshi Circuit, and the completely original Dragon Driftway (which is not-so-obviously based off Kung Fu Panda)!
dYC – Yoshi Circuit
Yoshi Circuit is chock full of shortcuts to utilize at blazing fast 200cc speeds! Of course, the first turn after the first set of item boxes is easily drifted over. The waterfall just past that turn is jumped through pretty easily with some clever maneuvering.
See most of Yoshi Circuit’s 200cc shortcuts in action!
Right after you’re past the tunnels, driving yourself behind the first Piranha Plant will practically clear the turf completely. Of course, if that shortcut doesn’t do it for you, you can always cut through the corner with stacked tires just past those man-eating flowers.
dEA – Exitebike Arena
For the most part, Exitebike Arena is as straightforward in Mario Kart 8 as it’s always been. This is possibly one of the easier tracks for getting used to the speed of 200cc.
The mud puddles are no longer a problem, seeing as you can just drift right over them. Boosted ramps are slower than sticking to the solid ground, so try to stay on the ground as much as you can and avoid getting hit.
dDD – Dragon Driftway
Dragon Driftway has a couple of notable boost-less shortcuts, though they are so close together it isn’t possible to take them in succession. Right after the tunnel past the starting line, you can cross the floating turf of grass without any issues — which is nice and better than simply following the road.
The faster but significantly more precise path to take would be just past the floating turf at the corner. If you aim for the space just to the right of the grass turf on the corner, you can easily clear the gap and grab an item box before your opponents can even manage to turn the corner.
Troy from MKBoards pulling off these insane shortcuts.
dMC – Mute City
Mute City is a fast track, and it only got faster with 200cc. For the most part, you just want to stay on the boost pads – missing even one could cost you a lot of time.
Once you’re nearing the end of a lap, you can take the typical shortcut without a mushroom so long as you trick on the jump and pull back on the analogue stick. If you don’t pull back on the stick you simply aren’t going to make it. But if you do, you can probably cross the finish line before touching down again.
Triforce Cup – “The Legend of Zelda” DLC
Kicking off the Triforce Cup are two fan-favorite tracks renewed from Mario Kart Wii: Wario’s Gold Mine and the re-returning SNES Rainbow Road. Ice Ice Outpost makes its grand debut along with the incredible The Legend of Zelda homage, Hyrule Castle.
dWGM – Wario’s Gold Mine
Since boost pads are all the more important in 200cc, going out of your way to hit them would be advisable, especially so in Wario’s Gold Mine, where no incredibly clever shortcuts could be found. There’s always tricking off of the side of the course in a few places, if you wish.
In 150cc, the shrouded path with boost pads wasn’t worth the extra distance, and taking the normal way ended up being faster. This is not the case in 200cc. Take it you glorious speed demons!
dRR – SNES Rainbow Road
Rainbow Road can be a pain in 200cc, considering this one has nothing to keep you from flying off the track if you make your turn too late. Keeping your racing lines straight is difficult, with Thwomps and other players constantly messing it up.
Luckily with the new speed, you can now easily use both ramps without any sort of boosting effect, though I advise you only use the first one consistently. The second one can be used if you’re trying to straighten out your lines, otherwise risking it with the Thwomps is definitely quicker.
dIIO – Ice Ice Outpost
Ice Ice Outpost, if anything, has less available in the means of shortcuts for 200cc than it did for 150cc. The shortcuts that were intentionally placed in by the developers are so difficult with the new speed that it’s likely not worth your time to try.
The gimmick of Ice Ice Outpost is two separate paths, a yellow and a green one constantly twisting and weaving around each other. Don’t feel stuck on one path, dropping down to another path that matches your momentum will help you get ahead and stay there. Also, try to use the glider near the finish line to its fullest – landing right is tricky and the last shortcut is the only one that’s really plausible.
dHC – Hyrule Circuit
Hyrule Circuit is a wide-open track at the starting line, with long expanses of turf splayed about, and a ramp sitting right in the center of it. That ramp is taken fairly easily in 200cc, though it is slightly slower than just taking the turn.
Just past the Master Sword there’s an obvious hole-in-the-fence turf shortcut that leads to a bunch of item boxes. Don’t take it. Instead, drift to the right and mini-turbo it past the trees in the turf and hop on out into the last stretch of woods before the finish line.
Crossing Cup – “Animal Crossing” DLC
In the Crossing Cup we see the return of the wildly popular 7-lap Baby Park from Mario Kart Double Dash, and the rather surprising return of Cheese Land from Super Circuit. Wild Woods is a creatively peaceful new track with a lot of attention to detail, and the unique random seasons element of Animal Crossing seems to really spruce up variety sweetly.
dBP – Baby Park
Baby Park is probably the most chaotic track to grace Mario Kart 8, and the fans have mixed feelings about it. Since the track is so short, there are racers all over each other who are rarely ever in the same lap.
The only real advantage to playing in 200cc is that the short strips of grass turf on corners can be drifted over without any issues. Make your turns that much tighter and you may be able to at least keep a decent heading.
dCL – Cheese Land
Cheese Land is annoying, with considerably low traction for the entirety of the race, but there are some massive shortcuts littering the track. If you charge a super mini-turbo (orange sparks) then you can use it (plus a few hops) to get through the holey block of cheese near the starting line.
A much more notable shortcut comes around after the first chainchomp if you happen to have a mushroom. Get as close to the side of the cliff as possible and hit the mushroom as soon as you’re about to hit the turf leading off the edge. If you got enough elevation, you should make it safely on the other side. Another mushroom would easily send you to the second glider shortcut, while hopping could get you back to the track.
Troy tears it up again, discovering a massive dCL shortcut!
dWW – Wild Woods
Wild Woods has some of the most delightful music and creative track details we’ve ever seen out of a strictly Mushroom Kingdom-based track in Mario Kart 8. The track design is rather simple, though.
The path split near the beginning is a part of preference, though the one with grass is a tad faster. When you get to the glider, land in a preferable way to easily drift down the water and try to stay in the water or the inside corners if you can. You can take the grassy turf shortcut nearing the finish line without an issue, but you’ll have to land on it, and it’ll really affect your speed.
dAC – Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing has 4 seasons that get picked at random, each with a slightly different track layout. In Sumer, Winter and Spring, there are ramps scattered about in various locations. In Autumn, instead of ramps there are piles of leaves on the ground that sometimes hide items.
The fruit that drops from the trees in this course acts like a mushroom boost if you run over it. Speaking of trees, the turf around them will not faze your drifting in 200cc. If you manage to find a ramp in front of Resetti, you can use it to help you across the turf towards the finish line.
Bell Cup – “Animal Crossing” DLC
Neo Bowser City makes a return from Mario Kart 7 in the Bell Cup, and an eccentrically remade Ribbon Road has made a surprise appearance. The shiny, new Super Bell Subway offers course details that help paint the picture of a World Map in Mario Kart 8, and Big Blue is a delightful point to point addition that has F-Zero fans swooning.
dNBC – Neo Bowser City
Neo Bowser City is a difficult track on 200cc. All the rain equates to a huge hit on your traction, which makes it hard to maneuver in most areas. There are plenty of corner cuts you can take to shave off minor bits of time, but nothing significant.
When you’re lapping the finish line, you can glide all the way out to the first turn without tricking in the air vent. The air vent will just slow you down in 200cc.
dRiR – Ribbon Road
Ribbon Road’s really got a makeover, and with it comes a lot of interesting shortcuts. There are a lot of corner cuts to be had here, but the one that stands out the most has to be one of the last turns on the green ribbon, where it curves out just slightly.
Both shortcuts off of the blue ribbon are still viable, if a bit more difficult to pull off. Commit to your turns early. Finally, on the final stretch before the finish line you can mini-turbo across the turf through the pillars instead of going all the way around the hairpin.
dSBS – Super Bell Subway
Super Bell Subway has to be one of the hardest tracks on 200cc, if only because of the trains that can really limit the amount of room you have to work with. Play this track a lot and get used to the patterns of the trains, you might be able to use them to your utmost advantage.
Take a moment to admire World 1-2 painted on the wall. When you finally come back up for fresh air, you can charge a mini-turbo and skid behind the fountain to slide ahead of the competition.
dBB – Big Blue
Big Blue is a massive course and has some pretty incredible 200cc shortcuts in kind. After hitting the second lap, the immediate turn to your right can be cleared with a nice drift. Just after jumping down on the left side of the next pair of tracks, go straight off the edge of the track and pull back the analogue stick to get as close to the next glider portion as you can without touching the ground.
After lap three starts, around the time you reach the purple and blue paths, take the purple one. Drift right and off the edge onto the blue path, where you’ll want to drift right again shortly after to aim for the end of the purple path. After that it’s nearly a straight shot to the finish line!
Troy’s at it again, absolutely shredding Big Blue!
Find Any 200cc Shortcuts Not Yet Included Here?
Please share all of your findings with us in the comments below or on our official thread on MKBoards! A great thanks to the contributors on MKBoards, they’ve been great help at finding and identifying crucial shortcuts in Mario Kart 8‘s insane new 200cc mode.
The Complete Mario Kart 8 200cc Shortcuts Guide will be updated gradually as new shortcuts are discovered. With your help, we can make the most accurate and complete 200cc shortcut guide on the net! Hope to see you in the discussion!
