Mario Kart DS/Driving techniques

Rocket boost
To obtain a rocket boost press and hold right after the two in the countdown starts to disappear. If done correctly, your kart will receive a powerful boost right from the starting line. The amount of boost varies slightly depending on how precisely timed the button is pressed and held.

Alt: Hold down as soon as the count begins, then release it and press it again quickly right before 'Start' appears.

Alt: hold during each number of countdown. hold while '3' is on screen, release when it disappears, etc&hellip; hold after 1 disappears.

Powersliding basics
To powerslide, simply press and then either left or right. If done correctly, your kart will swing around in a wide arc. Powersliding is most useful around corners, as it allows you to turn them faster and in a smaller distance.

Powersliding boosts
Performing Powerboosts is done by pressing to hop, then holding down the  in the direction you want your cart to drift, after your Kart starts to drift, immediately begin to press  and  quickly and rhythmically.

This will take much practice, both mentally, and physically.

Advanced powersliding
This technique is exploiting the powerslide boost function in Mario Kart DS and using it to its fullest advantage.

The simplest form of powersliding is performing it at corners&hellip;Advanced Powersliding is performing it as much as possible without being hindered by the course.

Snaking


Snaking seems like a disadvantage at first, but if performed quickly enough, you can gain a significant speed boost over the competition.

One-sided boosts
This is Powerslide boosting from just one side repeatedly. It can be used on smaller straightaways where going in an actual snake-like pattern will only get you into the grass.

To perform, Powerslide boost, making sure you can squeeze enough room to not slide onto the grass. After the boost, perform a hop or two to realign yourself, then boost from that side again.

Best karts and characters
The best Karts to use for Advanced Powersliding would be very light characters that have a low drift and high acceleration. The downside is that this limits a large amount of characters that can be useful.

Famous combinations are Yoshi and his Egg One, Dry Bones and his Dry Bomber, and Luigi and the Poltergust 4000.

Blue shells
To dodge blue shells(this can only be done in 150CC), first go into a powerslide. Turn your sparks red by pressing and  repeatedly. When the blue shell comes, it will hover over you for a split second. Then it will tip downwards. Right when it does this release your power slide and press. If your timing was correct, you should have successfully dodged a blue shell.

Another way you could dodge a blue shell is by planting a bomb behind you so that it explodes right when the blue shell is flying over it. But the above method is better since your chances of getting a bomb in first place are low.