Mario Kart World: TOP Very best moments & highlights so far

Mario Kart World turns three weeks available as of today. However, it's already one of the best-selling games of the year and, along with the resounding success of Nintendo Switch 2's launch, it's going to be one of the most played games this summer.

Users have welcomed it with open arms, especially its new possibilities of jumps, tricks, bounces and stunts to achieve insane shortcuts. In just a few days, you're already seeing some online barbarities that would take the average gamer months of training. Of course, there's also plenty of mayhem and hilarious situations, and we've been compiling it all in this Mario Kart World: TOP Best moments to date.

• But before we start,what does "strat" mean in Mario Kart World? Good question. In this, as in other video games, the word "strat" is an abbreviation of "strategy" or even "stratagem", to define the tricks and techniques that can be applied to get the best result in a particular challenge.

1. Mad cow disease

There are no words to describe this trick on the Rainbow Road. Well, no, we'll stick with the best comment: "I call that move the Milkshake".

2. Who said green shells weren't homing?

"Hit the craziest green shell snipe of my entire career". Of course, what you see in the video wasn't calculated, but it's definitely the coolest green shell impact we've ever seen.

3. "Mario Kart is for casuals" and "The open world is boring"

If you thought that all the 'hardcore' Mario Kart World videos out there are because pro gamers have managed to exploit the game in some way or by taking advantage of glitches and things that shouldn't be there, nothing could be further from the truth. Mario Kart World is prepared for all of that and more, and actually encourages you to actively try out stunts, wall runs and trick bounces. For example, in the so-called "Special Missions" of the P-Switches, like the one in the video. There are several similar challenges in this open world that has been otherwise called "empty and boring"...

4. "He ran over you".

Literally. Another thing that Mario Kart World encourages is its "platform racing game" nature, because it has more jumps than ever before and rewards you if you land on an opponent's head. I'm sure you've had a few of these, but... Right at the finish line? Double pleasure.

5. The fifth way to dodge a spiny shell

The 'artist' titles it "the beauty of improvising in Mario Kart World", oil on canvas. Well, it's the best way to illustrate the fourth possible way to dodge a blue shell. Come on, I'm sure you already know the previous four by heart:

1. Using the Superhorn


2. Consuming a Dash Mushroom or similar just as it's about to hit you, to escape the impact with the boost. It doesn't work with the Dash Food - did you know you only have 0.11 seconds to nail it?


3. Making you invincible with a Mega Mushroom, Bullet Bill, Boo or Superstar. It's rare that you'll have them available when you're first (maybe the ghost), but the transitions from last to first and vice versa are faster than ever...


4. Rewinding. Doesn't make much of a difference as you lose valuable time anyway, but it hurts less...

Bonus: Having more luck or "flower" than Zidane's Real Madrid and finding a mushroom that someone has left on the ground just as the blue shell is about to hit you. It could be from a delivery truck like the one in the video, from an opponent who has been knocked down.... or even a boost from the road! Without a doubt, the hardest and luckiest way of all.

6. 2x1: The Toad Factory shortcut and throwing the green shell sideways.

"Guys, I've done the thing." It doesn't refer to the Toad Factory shortcut where, instead of climbing up the walls, you climb up the... beams. It refers to the move that one player discovered shortly after the game came out where you can throw the shells sideways, for example at an opponent who is overtaking you. It's done by turning the camera and shooting, as you can see in the video.

7. "Like to scare a casual player".

This Parabiddybuds doing devilish things on the tracks and guardrails of Whistlestop Summit is one of the many videos in this compilation that you can show to friends who tell you that Mario Kart World is all about casual luck and that technique and skills are useless. While it's true that the new Knockout Tour Mode is tactical but leaves a lot to chance, only the drivers who can climb the walls to make a great short cut will succeed in the online Grand Prix Mode.

8. Not even Tony Hawk in his heyday

We're still at Whistlestop Summit, in case you want to compare. The user says he has "developed the hardest strat in the game, enjoy the grinding'". No doubt Tony Hawk would be proud. But go on, there's science behind it all:

"If done perfectly, this strat saves ~1 second off WR per lap. I've calculated the times from the end of the big bridge at the start (point A) to the flag shadow next to the finish line (point B): WR takes ~23.503s from point A to point B in lap 2. My strat takes ~22.617s".

Here is another alternative strat for the same track:

9. Bowser's Castle shortcut: A lava bath

"Addiction intensifies"... Of course, taking this "lava shower" to cut out a good chunk of Bowser's Castle makes it one of the hardest and hottest shortcuts in the whole game.

Here's another version:

10. The detail of the wrench

Monty Mole was taking a Mountain Mole stroll around the DK Pass track and suddenly decided to go off the road and run into a lamppost. Accident? No, totally intentional and calculated: a little bit of grinding and, at the end, a spanner strategically placed by his colleague Rocky Wrench by the game so that you can take this delicious hidden shortcut and leave them all frozen.

11. The hidden shortcut in the Air Fortress

It's not clear to us that this Baby Rosalina intended to grind around in the jaws of Bowser. Rather, we think she found this marvel by pure chance, as geniuses are wont to do.

12. Bouncing on Wario Shipyard's Palm Tree

The same user as two points above shows a slightly slower, but safer alternative on the stormiest track in the game - and how's this man the 24th!

13. The Cataquack shortcut at Shy Guy Bazaar

Another mind-blowing one from the starting line. They didn't tell me that's what Super Mario pipes were for....

14. Epic comeback in Faraway Oasis

It's not the most spectacular in terms of strats, tricks and shortcuts, but don't say it's not great to fight for first place in the last minute.

15. Beatdown on the finish line: the same old story

You already know this one. It's the definition of Mario Kart. You're in the lead, but don't expect them to throw everything they can at you in the final stretch. In this case, three red shells and a bonus spiny shell to ruin the victory, sending dear Pauline from first to seventh place.

16. May you be (twice) struck by lightning!

This one is the other way round, from zero to hero. From twentieth to first, by lightning. "They really said shock was going to be a lot worse," scoffs this user who, at the tail end, took advantage of not one, but two lightning strikes. The first, by himself from 19th place, and then he ran over all the drivers with a triple mushroom, and the second, launched by another rival just as he was coincidentally invincible, right after consuming a Bullet Bill when the leader had already been overrun.

17. Acorn Heights shortcut: Look mum, no mushrooms!

This sort of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" garden unveiled a lot of potential in the early days of Mario Kart World already, showing off its shortcut possibilities through wall-jumping and various grindings. This strat has been tested without the use of mushrooms, are you able to imitate it?

18. The legendary Great ? Block Ruins shortcut

...but if there's one track famous for its shortcuts, it's definitely the Great ? Block Ruins. At the south-eastern tip of the map, this jungle-and-ruins enclave allows for crazy stunts like the one in the video, in a way that will make you rethink your approach to each section.

Here are two more at the temple:

19. "Who's gonna stop them now", with these shortcuts in Wario Stadium

A perfect start, like Fernando Alonso, and immediately afterwards a wall-to-wall pirouette exhibition to escape from the pack. Undoubtedly, the best demonstration for the audience in the stands...

20. Shortcut in Salty Salty Speedway: farewell to the terrace...

But who would think of driving through the tables of an Italian seaside restaurant, with what those licences cost, and then jumping between two columns and the trunk of a tree? This Pianta to score a WR.

21. What about a spiny shell? Then I'll throw myself off the cliff

Above we talked about up to five ways to dodge a blue shell, but what to do when it's hopeless? This user has it clear: "sure it's faster" to throw yourself over the abyss and be picked up by Lakitu than to suffer the impact and its major setback... What do you think?

22. Yoshi's shortcut compilation

When this game falls into the hands of experts... Here you can see several strats on different tracks that you can try at home. There are opportunities where you didn't see them before, aren't there?

23. "If you feel nothing from this clip, you might be dead inside"

Because Mario Kart World isn't just about strats and impossible tricks, and stress, and anxiety, and the tension of winning. Because the open world in Free Roam Mode also makes for some lovely, relaxing moments with some emergent gameplay. This is one of them.

24. "Goodbye, Mario Kart World".

This is the title of this user's tweet. The guy kept a blue shell until he was first, and then threw it at the first person who dared to overtake him just before the finish line. Pure cinema and it would be the best way to close our top best moments of Mario Kart World... if it wasn't for the following.

25. Can't get radder than this

This other user also took a spiny shell to the first position, but they did it along with a dash mushroom to throw at themselves and dodge it, using method 2 of how to dodge blue shells. *Cigarette emoji*