Mario Kart Tour: How to Jump Boost, Drift, and Slipstream

There are three ways you can get a quick boost from your vehicle in the middle of a race. Here’s how these three mechanics work

Mario Kart Tour is all about how effectively you can maneuver around the track. You’re facing off against numerous AI units which are relentlessly chasing you, or they’re gaining a significant lead on your driver. The best thing for you to do is to learn how to position your driver to gain minor speed boosts while you race across the track. There are analytical techniques you can do to achieve these slight boosts, such as drifting, using a jump boost, or even taking advantage of a slipstream.

How to Jump Boost, Drift, and Slipstream in Mario Kart Tour

Jump Boosting

An easy thing you can do to gain a little bit of steam ahead of the competition is to take advantage of jump boosts. Drivers are naturally going to perform a jump boost whenever their vehicle lifts into the air. For example, if they go off a ramp, fly into the air due to a blast of water, or leap over a tree stump, they’re going to leap up and do a little animation. The jump provides players with a brief forward push after they land the jump boost. You’ll know your driver performed a jump boost when they lift into the air and stand up from their seat.

You’re going to learn not every object on the track is going to be an obstacle. If you aim your driver correctly, you can jump off of it. There are fallen trees on one track players can use to launch themselves off of, getting a jump boost in the middle of a race. Potential objects do include the oysters under the water. However, you’re going to need to learn how to time and aim your driver to get the jump off correctly. Jump boosts take time to master and optimally develop.

Drifting

You’re going to learn about drifting during the tutorial of the game, and you get to practice it on one of the starting tracks. It’s great to go through this process a few times, but you may find it gets tricky on other tracks, especially when you have to account for other drivers. When drivers bump into you or throw dangerous items at you, they’re going to disrupt your attempt at drifting. Unfortunately, without a defensive item like a green shell or banana on your back, you’re going to get interrupted. Despite this, drifting is a central part of Mario Kart Tour. You’re going to find if you want to land the top spot, you need to master it. The best way to do this is much like getting the best jump boost: practice and memorize the tracks.

An excellent way to demonstrate knowledge of a track is to angle your driver roughly 30 to 45 degrees when you’re getting close to a turn. A rookie mistake is leaning too hard into a turn. You’re likely never going to get the drift to activate because you need to hold it for a few seconds. You need to do it roughly three or four seconds before you get to the turn, too. Hitting a drift too late means you’re going to land into the opposite wall and struggle to regain composure on the track.

When you hit the ideal drift, blue sparks are going to shoot out at the bottom of your car. You want to hold it for a few seconds, and then let go when you’re ready to even out, and you’re going to receive a boost from this action. You’ll launch forward, much like you would from a jump boost, and gain a bit of traction. While the boost doesn’t last forward, you can use the momentum to edge ahead of a troublesome driver or extend your lead.

To get a bigger, more useful drift you want to hold it until the blue sparks become orange. Doing so gives you a super mini-turbo, along with a longer, more useful boost.

Slipstreaming

Now you’re ready for the advanced. You know you’ve become a more invested Mario Kart Tour player when you start to think about how to slipstream. You’re going to use this technique when you’re behind another driver because there’s no other way to have it happen.

A slipstream occurs when you position yourself behind a driver in the race. You’re going to maintain a short distance behind them, holding it for couple seconds, and then you’re going to receive a burst of speed. The burst of speed is going to shoot out of your exhaust in an orange burst, propelling yourself ahead in a short boost. The key is to maintain the composure behind the opposing driver. You also need to find the best way to take advantage of this mechanic. You don’t want to do it at the beginning of a race because getting too far ahead is going to place a target on your back. However, doing it during the second lap, in the middle of the track with little to no item blocks ahead is going to give you the boost you need to take first place.

By utilizing and optimizing your craft to use these techniques during a race in Mario Kart Tour, you’re going to see yourself taking the top spot more often. All three of these mechanics take a great deal of practice, so don’t be afraid to redo tracks you’ve already completed.