The Mario Kart Tour controls are awkward to figure out. Shifting all of the typical MK action onto mobile means that you won’t be using analog sticks and triggers to turn corners and drift, but rather swiping across the screen of your iOS or Android device. As such, players are left wondering how to drift, use items, and more.
Mario Kart Tour Controls Explained | Drifting
Drifting in Mario Kart Tour is the key to victory, but it’s not as easy as it is on the Switch. If you choose the recommended difficulty setting, drifting will always be enabled. This means that whenever you’re turning, you’ll also be drifting.
If you approach a corner awkwardly, you being thrown into a drift can lead to you spiraling out of control and crashing into the edges of the track. Forgivingly, Mario Kart Tour doesn’t allow players to go out of bounds — if it did, we suspect plenty of players would be left scrambling around in the grass.
To drift, you need to swipe left or right depending on the direction you want to drift in. You’ll see blue sparks from the tires of your kart to indicate that you are drifting. You can then increase the amount of boost you get from drifting by carefully navigating the turn.
Gently move in the opposite direction in which you are drifting in order to navigate the corner. When you drift for long enough, you’ll gain an additional level of boost, indicated by the sparks under your tires changing a different color. You can do this up to three times in order to gain three different levels of boost, from a small boost through to a large boost.
Mario Kart Tour Controls Explained | How to use items
Items make their return in Mario Kart Tour, and they can be just as debilitating as ever.
In order to use an item in Mario Kart Tour, you must swipe up or down. Swiping up throws them ahead of your racer, while swiping down throws them behind you.
As is the case in traditional Mario Kart, items have their own trajectories. Red shells, for instance, will serve as homing missiles and lock on to the opponent ahead of you. Meanwhile, banana skins will plop onto the ground and remain motionless until another racer crashes into them.
As always, it’s important to remember that items can not only be used to knock around other racers, but they can be used to save you, too. If an opponent is about to hit you with an item, throw something such as a green shell or banana skin behind you in order to prevent it from hitting you.
Mario Kart Tour Controls Explained | Starting boost
You can perform a starting boost, known as a ‘Rocket Boost,’ at the very start of a Mario Kart Tour race.
To do this, you must hold the screen as the ‘2’ is about to disappear on the pre-race countdown. Then, when the race starts, you’ll boost forward for a short burst of momentum.
You’ll know that you’ve held the screen correctly as orange sparks will appear around your wheels before you set off. Be sure to do this in every race to give you an advantage.
Mario Kart Tour Controls Explained | How to do tricks
Tricks in Mario Kart are typically pulled off by way of timing the press of a jump or drift button when you hit a ramp. However, in Mario Kart Tour, it’s much more simplified.
Whenever you hit a ramp or even a bump in the road that elevates your kart, you’ll perform a trick. These tricks will grant you a small speed boost, hurtling you beyond the competition.
