Mario Kart 64 / Battle Mode
 
Big Donut
As its name suggests, Big Donut is shaped like a circle with a large hole in the middle. The course surface slopes up and away from the fiery central pit, and there are sections of wall situated around the track. Use these walls to hide from your opponent.
 
Block Fort
Block Fort is a multi-level arena with three levels of platforms linked by ramps and elevated roads. The four blocks that make up the arena are color coded so you can tell where your opponents with a glance at their screen.
 
Double Deck
Even though Double Deck is about the same size as Block Fort, it seems like the largest of the Battle Mode arenas. Double Deck has multiple levels but the different sections are not color coded, so it can be difficult to locate your opponents. This is a good arena to play with four players.
 
Skyscraper
The Skyscraper arena is situated high atop a skyscraper. If you fall off the building, you will lose one of your balloons. Heavier Karts can knock lighter ones off the roof without using an item. Since this arena is the smallest of all, you can't hide, and it's a good idea to keep your speed down. It's also easy to ambush you opponent when he is put back on the course by Lakitu.
Battle Mode Tips
1. First of all, be aware! Know where your opponents are at always! Try to be able to watch all of the screens at the same time.
2. Stay moving! Don't just sit there, if someone dangerous approaches you won't be able to move away fast enough. And try not to move in a systematic fashion or in straight lines, try to move at random.
3. Arm your self! You can almost always have two items at once. Two of my favorites are Triple Green Shell with a Star or Another Triple Green Shell in reserve. If you pick up single bananas or fake item boxes get another item as soon as possible.
4. Surprise your opponents! Don't ever follow someone, the person will know you are after them and will be ready to give you the slip should you get a good item. Coming from above or around a corner works much better. I much prefer to destroy my opponent by surprise.
5. Make the best out of what you get! If you're being followed by someone with a red, even a banana or a fake item box will save you. Just hold it behind you by holding the Z Button. When they fire it will just hit the item behind you and nothing will happen.
6. You can bomb you opponents from above with a Red Homer, like on the block fort, even if they have a Triple Green activated it will still hit them. It also works good one the Double Decker, just be sure you are at the top and the opponent is in the middle section, it will almost always hit them.
7. Like the heavyweights? Try ramming your opponent at the beginning, if you manage to get a turbo start, you can hit them and make them lose a balloon! This also applies to the middleweights hitting the lightweights.
8. Using Bananas and Fake Item Boxes on narrow passages and bridges also works very good. One of my most favorite things to do is after you get a Banana Bunch is to put them on a ramp, fast driving unsuspecting opponents won't know what hit them (well, okay, they will figure it out)!
9. Keep getting those so called useless Fake Item Boxes? Not so useless if you put them near the real ones. On the Big Donut they are very hard to depict from the real ones since the real ones have no pattern to them. But remember, after you lay them they are just as hard to tell which ones are real and which ones aren't!
10. Someone following you with a star on??? Do a U-Turn! Don't wait to long to do it or you'll get hit, and don't do it too early or they will cut you off. They are going so fast that by the time they finish their U-Turn that their star will be gone, or they won't even bother to try and turn around.
11. Have a Star??? Tired of using it and hitting no one??? Act like you don't have it and are not paying attention, act like you are going to run into them when they have Three Green Ones, and at the last second BAM!!! turn it on and hit 'em. Do the same thing to an opponent who doesn't follow rule one, when they are following behind you and not paying attention, act like you don't see 'em and at the last moment slam on your brakes, turn on your star and bang they'll get hit!
12. Have an opponent coming at you with a Red Homer? Have nothing to fight with? Pass by him and as he fires try to get him in between you and the Homer, when it comes back it'll hit him if he is in the way. I can hardly ever do this on purpose since my first reaction is to turn around and run, most the time I do it by accident. And remember don't be the one shooting hoping that it'll come back and hit the guy who just passed, 'cause it'll hit you!
13. Getting ready to use a Red Homer? Keep this in mind, after you fire it doesn't lock on right away, it goes straight for a second, this can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on how you use it. If you are near your opponent fire it to the side of him so that it will pass him and when it locks on to him it'll slam him in the face! If you are near a wall be sure not to aim it at the wall and that it goes into a clear area otherwise it'll hit the wall.
14. The Triple Green Shell, one of my favorite items. It acts as a shield and protects you from bombs, shells, and bananas. It can also be used to hit the opponent and pop all three balloons in one sitting. This can be considered "cheap" though.
15. Possibly the most important tip is to come up with new strategies and ways to surprise your opponent, keep them on edge. Sometimes the opponent is trying so hard that he/she forgets a simple strategy, so be ready to use one!
Strategies
These strategies are named to help make them easier to remember.
The Minefield - This is a strategy which is very simple and effective. Basically you just set Fake Item Boxes in with real ones and watch your opponent's blow up! In the Big Donut you can basically set these bombs anywhere and they are hard to tell which are real and which aren't. Just try not to set them near a real one cause you can see that it is out of place and will more than likely be fake. You can also use Banana's, which are effective in narrow passages, bridges, and on ramps, especially ones that are right after a sharp 90 degree turn (Double Decker and Block Fort). I like to line up a whole row of Bananas on a ramp on the Block Fort course, usually the opponent don't see it 'till it's too late!
The Sky is Falling! - This is one of my most favorite strategies! It's my signature move and I love to see the shock on the other guy's face! The most often thing said after this move, "Where that come from?". You can use this strategy on The Block Fort and The Double Decker, here it is... When you have a Red Turtle shell (Red Homer), get up on the top level and fire it at your opponent who's in a lower lever (on the Block Fort make sure the opponent is near you or it won't work, like in the same color block just a level lower. In the Double Decker make sure you are on the top level and the opponent is in the middle level.) if you are close enough it will hit them from above and it don't matter if they have a Triple Green shell, because since it is coming from above it hits them in the head! Sometimes it helps to jump of the side and shoot but I don't like to do that because then it will leave you more vulnerable if the guy you just hit has a weapon. Pretty clever, huh???
The Nukem - Sort of like The Sky is Falling! strategy, just with a Star. What you do is when you see a guy near you on a lower level (looking at the map helps) drive off of that level hit the star a BLAM!!! If you are lucky you will have landed on 'em, which is very hard to do, but most of the time it'll set you up to chase for the kill! Don't go off of the side at to sharp of an angle, like almost parallel with the side, because you will flip and fall then you won't have any velocity to go after the guy and will more than likely miss him. And I always hit the star in mid air because if I do flip and fall I won't waste it, because if you fall like that it will cancel your star.
Battering Ram - This is a cheap hit but here it is! It works best with the Heavyweights, but can be done with the Middleweights on Lightweights and even Lightweights on Lightweights. What you do is after the second light on the stoplight goes out, hit the gas. This will give you a turbo boost and when you run into the other guy he will spin out and lose a balloon. Each character time varies a little bit, after the second light goes out, to hit the gas. The Heavyweights are a bit before it goes out and the Lightweights a tad after. But we are talking split second timing. This strategy only works on The Block Fort and The Double Decker. Your opponents will begin to hate you for it, if you get good at it, but it is a way to get ahead. And remember if you have a Heavyweight, you can use this at any time during the game seeing as you have enough speed!
Weapons Grab - Hate it when you need that weapon now, and you have to wait for it to cycle? Well I have found a way to speed that process up! Just hit the Fire Button 1-2 times after you run over an item box. If you hit it more than that you run the risk of using it before you knew what it was. This will speed up the cycle process a whole lot!
Slaughter House - I love this one, it is my next favorite and a good way to get people to hate you too! If you have a Triple Green shell, go by and hit someone (don't shoot them), while they are spinning out and trying to recover and get the heck away from you, turn around and hit them again, (or you can just pull DOWN on the control stick and hit B to backup!) then again. It is a good way to kill someone fast! I love seeing someone's ego pop when I do this! You can also do this with a Star but don't be going full speed because by the time you turn around the guy is already gone.
The Ambush - This one only works on the Skyscraper. After the guy falls off of the side, go to the middle of the course, and when the Lakitu puts him back down go over there and slam 'em! The player will always be put back in the same spot, Player 1 is in spot 1, etc.. The spot's are numbered so it's not that hard to find 'em.
Evading A Stalker - *The First Tip-* Trying to get rid of that guy with the star? Usually a sharp turn around skid at the right moment (not to soon or he'll adjust and run into you, and not to late 'cause he'll more than likely hit you anyway) will get rid of him because he is going so fast that he can't turn around fast enough and if he does he's bound to run out soon, so just do it again. Up high? Just take a dive off of the top and then do a sharp U-Turn to confuse and lose 'em. He's bound to run out soon anyways!
The Second Tip - Tired of the doh-doh falling you trying to get something good to shoot at ya? If you have a Triple Green shell or a Star, just let off the gas to get him a bit closer, then slam on the brakes. More times than not he will hit you!
The Third Tip - If you have a Single Green shell, shoot it at the wall and take a sharp turn to the left or right, the shell will bounce back and hit them! They usually don't see it coming because your Kart is blocking their view.
The Fourth Tip - Got a dumb bomb trying there little heart out to blow you up and get some shred of revenge? Get you a Star, then slam on the brakes and turn it on! Boom, their gone. Or you can fire a Single Green shell backwards (hold 'DOWN' on the control stick and then 'FIRE'), it won't kill them but it will slow them down! Same thing goes for Fake Item Boxes, and Banana's.
|
|
