N64 Mario Raceway
N64 Mario Raceway is the fourth and final course of the Shell Cup in Mario Kart Wii. Its first appearance as a course was in Mario Kart 64.
Overview
| Type | Unrestricted | No Ultra | No Glitch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3lap | 1:35.910 | 1:38.895 | |
| Flap | 8.777 | 24.517 | 30.564 |
N64 Mario Raceway has a 3lap viable ultra shortcut, and currently benefits from the use of supergrinding, superhopping, supersliding, and a large shortcut currently deemed a community shortcut. Hence, it has three 3lap and three flap categories. The Unrestricted 3lap record is technically the No Ultra 3lap record since no run exists using an ultra shortcut.
Unrestricted 3lap
Despite the run being created in 2025, it does not reflect the best known strategies in the category.
The hill shortcut is performed twice. A supergrind is started at the pipe exit, carried all the way to the big hill after turn 2, and clears over the entire hill with a supergrind ejection. The Bullet Bike is used for being the fastest IDB that can perform the hill cut using only one mushroom; Baby Daisy is used for the speed bonus.
The route involves driving most of lap 1 following most strats from the NG 3lap, starting a supergrind at the end of lap 1 and performing the hill cut on lap 2. The offroad on the next turn is cleared shroomless with another supergrind upon landing. The lap is driven normally, until the end of lap 2, where another supergrind is started to perform the hill shortcut on lap 3. On lap 3, the last turn is driven normally.
Unrestricted Flap
The current strategy for UR flap is to perform the ultra shortcut with a delayed lap count. The Quacker is used due to having the highest handling among IDBs, while Baby Daisy is used for her top speed stat bonus.
The setup starts by performing a wallclip at the giant mushroom stalk, to land on the seam of the track. This is done shroomless, by initiating a small supergrind on the banked offroad to the left and ejecting. After seam riding all the way to the finish line, the delayed lap count is performed by turning around, using the first mushroom, doing a spindrift, and getting a big landing bounce. The bike lands and stops on the other side of the seam, without updating its lap progression.
After seam riding back to the finish line, the lap is started in front of the finish line. The second mushroom is used repeating the method above, crossing over to the other side. The third mushroom is used immediately after, to cross the chasm between the seam and the last key checkpoint, concluding the ultra shortcut. The turnaround movement is optimized with a spindrift into the last key checkpoint, followed by a grounded hop and two miniturbos into the finish line.
No Ultra Flap
The current strategy for NU flap is to perform WBSS for the entire lap, and as such uses Wario Bike. King Boo is used to increase the handling stat.
The setup involves using a mushroom to wallclip over the invisible wall, then landing on the road seam. This is done by clipping the giant mushroom stalk; there is a convenient gap in the invisible walls here. After landing on the seam to the right, the WBSS state is entered. The flap begins after building an excess of EV, such that almost the entire lap is spent at the speed cap of 120 u/f. The bike ejects from the superslide near the end of the lap, then cuts through the offroad at the last turn with the two leftover mushrooms.
No Glitch 3lap
Funky Kong + Flame Runner is optimal; the Spear is too long to perform the shroom strategy, and its drift is too low for many of the turns.
- First + second turns: Delayed softdrift to the right, with a quickhop realignment, followed by a regular hard drift to the right. On lap 1 only, a startslip is used to avoid having to hop.
- Third turn: A combination of softdrifting and counterdrifting. Due to the awkward shape of the road, the miniturbo can't be released earlier without getting a bad exit line, while hopping later into the turn results in a bad line through the turn.
- Fourth turn: Some wheelie turning preceding a delayed softdrift. Offroad is clipped for 2 f during the miniturbo release. Starting the drift further left saves time, but having too much left rotation at the exit is bad.
- Piranha cut: It's possible to fit between the Piranha Plant and the brick wall for a tight cut. This is set up with a short right drift without a miniturbo, followed by a spindrift at the edge of the road, to get good rotation to drift tightly upon landing. Landing bounces are minimized, but several 1 f air pockets during the mushroom cannot be avoided without sacrificing the line.
- Ramp trick: While it's possible to get significantly lower tricks, the fastest strategy involves performing a wheelie trick, by driving off the edge of the ramp and quickly getting back on with a left trick. This saves time over a simple lowtrick due to the miniturbo boost. The increased height also delays the trick boost; adding a slipchain allows to remove the chain wheelie outright.
- Fifth + sixth turns: Basic turns, with some softdrifting to accomodate the shape of the road. A chain drift is done on the fifth turn, holding the first miniturbo briefly due to the length of the turn.
- Pipe tricks: Two drift tricks are done to greatly reduce the airtime from both tricks, and quickly realign during boost acceleration.
- Last turn: Also a basic turn to the right, with small amounts of softdrifting.
- QM locks: Shroom (saving time results in hitting the offroad, doing the spindrift 1 f early results in a poor drift line); pipe tricks (the second one in particular is very strict).
No Glitch Flap
Like for the NG 3lap, Funky Kong + Flame Runner is the optimal combo.
- Lap entry -> piranha cut: Same strategy as the 3lap. The lap is entered on the right side of the road to reduce distance driven.
- Ramp trick: The wheelie trick strat is not performed because it was not known at the time. It would still save time, even if the wheelie cancel is not applicable.
- Fifth + sixth turns: The second and third mushrooms are used here to cut through as much offroad as possible. The hop before the third shroom is done to delay the mushroom usage.
- Pipe tricks + last turn: Same as the 3lap.
History
TODO: History of all strat developements. Section devoted to the ultra shortcut and its many variations, the no glitch optimisation development, and supergrinding/supersliding.
TAS Competitions
N64 Mario Raceway has featured in four tasks of the MKWii TAS Competition (Task 8 2020, Task 1 2021, Special Task I, Task 6 2023) and one tafk of the MKWii TAF Competition (Tafk 1).
Future
Known timesaves
UR 3lap
- Implement the ultra shortcut and supersliding
UR Flap
- Velocity stacking + banana clearance sale using Wario Bike
NU 3lap
- Implement supersliding
NU 3lap
- Redo with automatic transmission and better optimization.
NG Flap
- Add the ramp wheelie trick.
Potential timesaves
(none)
References