Miniturbo

The miniturbo, or mini-turbo is a speed boost technique present in every Mario Kart game.

Overview

When performing a drift, assuming you are using manual transmission, a miniturbo will charge up after a certain period of time, and when you release the drift, you will get a boost from this miniturbo. Miniturbos charge at different rates depending on the joystick direction held during the drift. Although the GCN joystick has an input range from 0 to 255 on both axes, all inputs are simplified and reduced down to an input range from 0 to 14 on both axes. These are also referred to as -7 to +7 to ease understanding even more. Miniturbo charge is a numerical value that counts upwards from 0. If you are performing a right drift, any input from -7 to +2 will increase that value an increment of 2 every frame, and any input from +3 to +7 will increase that value an increment of 5 every frame. Conversely, if you are performing a left drift, any input from +7 to -2 will increase that value an increment of 2 every frame, and any input from -3 to -7 will increase that value an increment of 5 every frame.

Types

There are three types of miniturbos in Mario Kart Wii:

Standard Miniturbo

These is the most common type of miniturbo. It is charged when miniturbo charge reaches 271, and is possible on both bikes and karts. Upon reaching 148 charge, blue sparks begin appearing at the back of the bike.

Super Miniturbo

This miniturbo is only possible on karts. It is charged when miniturbo charge reaches 571. The player may be tempted to release the miniturbo after a standard miniturbo is charged, but should they continue to hold the drift, orange sparks will appear, indicating a longer miniturbo.

Standstill Miniturbo

This miniturbo can be charged by holding accelerate and brake (A and B) simultaneously when IV is between -10 and 10.

Luke's Rule

Reference Campbell's sheet here

Relevant code

For Vabold.