Transcription
Mario Kart Wii is known for its absurd glitches and shortcuts, some so absurd that no human has pulled them off in real time without the use of tool assist.
Hey guys, it's Troy here, joined by N Need as a goin' my fellows, and today we'll be delving into the hardest shortcuts this game has to offer.
One's not even implemented yet by time travel world records. Some of these shortcuts appear to be impossible because they require the use of techniques known as rapid-fire and super grinding, which require too many button inputs per second for a human to execute.
Others haven't been executed due to their pixel-perfect precision, but that doesn't mean they are impossible. Players have been finding ways to pull off near-impossible glitches for years, always trying to break the game one more time.
In June this year, many of the community's most experienced TASers came together to demonstrate a culmination of years of work breaking the game, which was showcased at SGDQ 2019.
Today, we'll be highlighting the greatest shortcuts done so far with tool assist. If you don't know what a TAS, or tool-assisted speedrun, is, it could be described as playing Mario Kart Wii through an emulator on your computer with save states, being able to play the game one frame at a time and rewind each frame.
After hours upon hours of trial and error, this leads to things in the game being done that we never thought could be possible. I recommend checking out all these MKWii tool assist channels; I'll be putting them on the screen as the video progresses.
They do truly amazing work for the community and provide lots of entertainment. All their channels will be linked in the description.
Alright, starting things off, we have number 10: Mario Raceway super grinding mountain shortcut. This was discovered by MKW Luke and Luigi Em in 2018.
It's very similar to the 200cc shortcut on this level; however, it's insane you can pull this off on 150cc as well. It won't be possible humanly because super grinding is not possible in real time.
Super grinding abuses rapid-fire hopping and gets you stuck in the floor, losing traction and building up ridiculous speeds. When hopping out of a super grind, a jolt upwards allows for shortcuts like this.
Malayil has a really detailed video on this technique, and I will link it in the description below if you want to know more. More recently, he improved the TAS fast lap record by over 2.5 seconds using the shortcut.
Number 9: The Delfino Square fountain shortcut, discovered by Martha in 2019. He was able to combine super grinding with a crazy high wall clip and was able to launch his bike into uncharted territory, skipping the 270-degree turn altogether.
This is useful for only fast lap times at the moment. If you don't know what a fast lap is, aka flap, it means achieving the fastest lap time possible with all three mushrooms on a single lap instead of a three-lap run.
Even though this glitch has never been executed by a human, it may be possible without super grinding, as it is brand new and hasn't been tested out too much yet.
Heading on to number 8: The Bowser's Castle ending glitch. This was discovered by Blaze MSX in 2016. Because of this two-shrimp shortcut, TASer Zack proved it was possible to sub 2 minutes on Bowser's Castle.
With TAS, Zack achieves this two-shrimp shortcut using rapid-fire hopping, getting massive airtime and bypassing the collision of the wall to cut the last turn of the track.
Rapid-fire hopping is a chain of successful hop inputs every other frame, which allows you to build up speed. This strategy is unrealistic for humans to do, as it requires way too many hop inputs per second, and this shrimp shortcut saves roughly 3 seconds.
Number 7: The DK Summit glitch. This new glitch was made public at SGDQ only a few months back, with an audience of over 130,000 people watching.
By being able to rapid-fire hop every other frame, you can chew through the zipper and skip the U-turn altogether. The previous TAS record without the glitch was by Zack, with a time of 136.1754, and the TAS record with the glitch is 133.61.
This was a massive collaboration by Zack, Jello Puffs, Luke, Malayil, RS Luigi, McF Akari, Martha, Thomas, and Rocky.
Number 6: The Toad's Factory glitch. This is another new glitch that was discovered in 2019 by Blaze MSX. This bizarre glitch is accomplished by getting a clip off of a crate, which bypasses the U-turn at the end of the street and half of the conveyor belt turn.
This is unique in comparison to other clip glitches, where you're trying to clip off a moving object and is cycle-based. If you end up being too fast or too slow for each lap, you will need to wait for the box to be in place to execute the glitch.
This saves a total of 6 seconds compared to the no-glitch time. This glitch is very plausible to hit humanly if you clip the box the right way in the right spot, and I personally feel this will be done humanly at some point.
Number 5: Ghost Valley - double clip ultra shortcut, discovered by Charlie in 2018. By crossing back to the beginning of the track with a second pull clip, you can drive to where the last key checkpoint is and finish a lap.
This was later perfected in a 2019 TAS by Akari, Snoop, RS, Jello Puffs, MKW Luke, Malayil, and Thomas, where they were able to finish a run with a time of 46.407.
The current form of this ultra shortcut looks absolutely absurd; definitely one of my favorite shortcuts I've ever seen. I think Charlie's version of the shortcut will eventually be used in world record runs by humans, although it might take a few years.
Number 4: We have the Waluigi Stadium ultra shortcut. This is one of several tracks that Blaze MSX broke within a short period of time back in 2015.
This is broken into two sections: first, bypassing the first three turns to the double flip trick on the left by getting a clip on top of the finish line. The second and most significant part of breaking this track is through using rapid fire to clip through the zipper panel, bypassing essentially more than two-thirds of the track.
To me, this is one of the most visually satisfying ultra shortcuts to see. The premise of how this works is basically identical to the DK Summit glitch. Due to rapid fire, this is not possible humanly in its current form.
The current TAS record by NVM performs this ultra shortcut all three laps, completing Waluigi Stadium in 50.53.
For number 3: The notorious Rainbow Road ultra shortcut, discovered by S Delay 62 back in 2016. Rainbow Road was broken with a major ultra shortcut.
Visually, it's very clear that this ultra shortcut is beyond precise and complex, but nothing here is technically humanly impossible. You are temporarily leaving and landing back on the track, riding in between the guardrail, using your first mushroom to gain momentum, and having a perfectly timed spin drift to barely pass the out-of-bounds zone and land on the zipper at the end of the course.
This is the holy grail of Mario Kart Wii ultra shortcuts, and humans have gotten close to pulling this off, but none have been successful yet.
I think the first person who successfully pulls this off and completes a run will have major bragging rights, and it will be one of the most significant accomplishments in this game's history.
Number 2: N64 Bowser's Castle ultra shortcut. Like many of the shortcuts on the list, this ultra shortcut was discovered in 2019 by MKW Luke, with the help of CF Key, REO, Malayil, Marth, and Thomas.
This is yet another ultra shortcut which uses super grinding and is only possible due to the uneven surface of the bridge. They were able to build up speed leading up to the finish line, and upon being ejected from the ground, they executed a wheelie, cleared the wall, clipped the pole, and plunged into the lava at the very end of the track.
Once respawning, they need to go back to hit the last checkpoint before finishing the lap. Luke's video description states this saves roughly 20 seconds in a three-lap speedrun.
Alright, Nicholas, before we get to number one, let's look at some honorable mentions—really cool shortcuts that did not make it onto your list.
First up, we have the Moonview Highway slope super grind shortcut. This super grind spot was discovered by Charlie, and the shortcut by Martha saves about 0.3 from the flap record that did not use this strategy.
I think it's great how he actually made use of that pointless slope that no one ever used prior and turned it into a mini shortcut.
Another honorable mention here we have the DK Mountain trick, which was showcased in Malayil's 154.803 three-lap TAS. Trickling during the glitch gives you a speed boost while landing; however, this leads right into the gap shortcut, and you're working with more speed than usual on a very precise shortcut.
This pretty much explains why we've never seen this used in a world record.
Next up, another honorable mention, this time on Peach Beach glitch from the beginning tree, which was discovered by Mark in 2012. Although this has likely been pulled off by a human, we still wanted to mention it because it has never been done in a world record.
Getting this plus the regular Peach Beach shortcut twice in a single time trial is something we may never see.
Another honorable mention goes to the Sherbet Land one-shroom ultra shortcut, which was discovered by Swaraj Ong in 2019. The one-shroom ultra shortcut requires a very precise clip that allows you to land without needing to respawn, like in previous world records.
Humans have made the one-shroom pole clip, but only with a respawn, never actually making it back on the track.
Last, we have the Maple Treeway top route lunchroom ultra shortcut. It took humans five years to implement the one true Maple Treeway ultra shortcut into world record runs.
This takes it a step further by clipping the wall and landing onto the bridge up top. The Maple Treeway TAS record is probably my favorite one; I definitely recommend you check it out on Malayil's channel.
Alright, and without further ado, number one: the Koopa Cave ultra shortcut, discovered yet again by Blaze MSX in 2019.
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This respawn glitch requires a lot of setup, and you must super grind and rapid-fire hop your way to the upper cliff section, performing a balancing act to stay out of bounds but not fall off the edge.
After riding inside the rail for quite some time, you shoot off to the right side and respawn at the end, receiving a lap count, cutting off the entire track.
This one is extra special because of how many times the Koopa Cave ultra shortcut has been used as an April Fool's prank. It's been a running joke in the community for a decade now, and it's pretty great to see this track finally broken.
It's an incredible achievement; the amount of game knowledge necessary to pull this off is really something. This is not humanly possible, and we'll never see it in a world record, but it truly exemplifies how far the tool assist community has come.
Their efforts demonstrate how exploitable Mario Kart is by using many convoluted game mechanics and showcase the deep understanding we have of the game eleven years after its release.
And that concludes our list of the top ten inhuman Mario Kart Wii ultra shortcuts and glitches. Who knows what will be discovered next? If 2019 is any indication, there is still plenty left undiscovered.
I hope you guys enjoyed the scripted commentary video. N Need does an entire series of scripted Mario Kart Wii world record recaps on his channel; be sure to check them out.
Shoutouts to the tool-assisted community for their amazing work on breaking this game. We've been thoroughly entertained for years, watching on the sidelines as we look forward to seeing what they have in store for the future.
We highly, highly recommend watching the SGDQ TAS showcase for full three-lap runs and checking out all the TASers' channels below. If you enjoyed what you saw, there's plenty more where that came from.
Alright guys, that is all we have for this video. Give it a like if you enjoyed, comment on what your favorite shortcut was, and enjoy Funky Kong dancing.
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