The following items are obtained from the roulette you get when you obtain enough points. Note that the computer can and will use these against you, so you’ll need to learn to deal with their effects and not just how to dish them out.
Blocker
Prevents your opponent from using his special abilities
(
) for a short time. If this is done to you, you will hear a sound effect and your meter will take on the appearance of the icon of the Blocker item. Your character’s face will also change expressions.
Count-Up
Adds 10 points to your opponent’s counter, meaning he has to destroy an additional 10 obstacles before he can get an item. A nasty side effect is that this also destroys any items or roulettes the target had at that moment, thus robbing them of the chance to use them. Note that although you cannot use this against computer racers in the one-player mode, they can (and will) use it against you, so be careful.
Lightning Bolt
The Thunder Bolt from Mario Kart, essentially. This hits all other racers on the track and causes them to spark for a brief span. During this time their speed is reduced. Note that this effect is similar to driving over deceleration zones, or getting hit by a Shadow Blade.
Power Nitro
Basically the Star from Mario Kart. Makes you invincible (well, almost), and increases your speed and acceleration and handling. You generally will not spin out while using this, but some attacks can still harm you (not to mention falling into pits). Note that a Lightning Bolt will cancel a Power Nitro completely (and the computer just loves pulling Lightning Bolts out of its hat to zap you whenever you begin using a Power Nitro), but the reverse is not true. A Power Nitro activated after a Lightning Bolt will override the Lightning Bolt, thus negating it, but only for as long as the Nitro lasts. If the Nitro wears off before the Bolt (such as in the case where a Threefold Chance was used, which thankfully the computer never uses), you’ll still be Bolted afterward. In fact you can still see clouds of smoke trail off your machine while you’re Nitroing...
Remote Controlled Bomb
Pyramid-shaped mines. Press
to release the bombs, then
again to detonate. Tricky to aim and use intelligently, but you might hit somebody with them anyway. When using them against another player, you can watch the other player’s screen to know when to detonate. Against the computer in Grand Prix this is more difficult due to how the camera angle fluctuates, but, there is an icon on the mini-map at the bottom of the screen which can be helpful.
Threefold Chance
The next item you get will be three times as powerful. For most items this means their effective time span is increased. Get a Power Nitro after this and you’ll be zipping around the track seemingly forever. Another doozy is to couple a Threefold Chance with a Lightning Bolt...
Characters the player can control during games are already detailed in the
Weapons section, so this just covers everyone else.
Plum
This lucky (or unlucky as the case may be) gal gets to interview all of the racers before the match. It takes guts to interview Bass and Wily, I’ll give her that...
Ripot
The little green guy with the propellers is the main overseer of the races. He also gives out the prize money at the end.
Chest
This announcer mostly gives details of the next course to the player. Like Plum, he’s somewhat absent from the English game, making cameo appearances more than anything.
The following maps out how the various Parts go together to give your car its final statistics. The Engine, Wing, and Tires can all affect your top speed and acceleration. Conversely, the Body and the character you are using have no impact whatsoever on these.
Note: Due to the inability to test them in isolation, Duo’s parts will not be covered on this page.
To start out with, I use “normal” Tires driving on pavement as a baseline for determining base statistics for Engines. “Normal” Tires are those that do not affect your speed on pavement in any way. These include the All-Round Tire, the Sharp Tire, and the Fuuma Tire. The following chart lists these base statistics assuming no Wing is attached that affects them:
| Engine | Top Speed | Acceleration |
|---|
| Twin Engine | 464 | Average |
| Follow Engine | 440* | Average |
| L-Blow Engine | 496 | Poor |
| Double Engine | 464 | Average |
| Slope Engine | 448* | Average |
| Dash Engine | 472 | Good |
| Aurora Engine | 480 | Poor |
| Idaten Engine | 456 | Average |
| Device Engine | 448 | Average |
| Happy Engine | 480 | Good |
| Nova Engine | 488 | Good |
| Retro Engine | 500 | Good |
* The Follow Engine gives an additional boost of +48 whenever the driver is not in first place. The Slope Engine gives a +80 boost when going uphill; all other Engines lose speed on inclines.
Tires have almost as much of an impact on speed as the Engine. Given the above Engine ratings, the following modifiers are then applied to your maximum speed according to what Tires you are using as well as what surface you are driving over. Note that a “0” indicates no alteration.
| Tire | Road | Dirt | Water | Decel |
|---|
| All-Round Tire | 0 | -96 | -116 | -216 |
| Non-Drift Tire | 0 | 0 | -116 | -216 |
| Sharp Tire | 0 | -96 | -116 | -216 |
| Almighty Tire | 0 | -96 | -116 | -216 |
| Press Tire | -16 | +12 | -128 | -216 |
| On-Road Tire | +8 | -200 | -108 | -216 |
| Non-Slip Tire | 0 | -24 | -116 | -216 |
| Fuuma Tire | 0 | -48 | -116 | -216 |
| E-Guard Tire | -12 | +12 | -124 | -12 |
| Hopper Tire | 0 | -140 | -116 | -216 |
| Ultimate Tire | -16 | -128 | -128 | -16 |
| Blade Tire | 0 | -100 | -120 | -216 |
Note: Some of these values are approximate as they are percentages rather than actual values.
Decel = Deceleration Zones. Strangely, all Tires that are not immune to such zones are affected identically; there is no difference in speed. For Tires that are immune, the deceleration zone is treated the same as pavement; thus normal road penalties apply.
Ice is treated the same as pavement when it comes to driving speed and thus isn’t listed here.
Note: Power Nitros and Quick Man’s Quick Turbos ignore Tires altogether and give you a flat 580 top speed for their duration. Consequently both what Tires you have and what you are driving over are irrelevant while Nitroing. Slopes do, however, still make a difference.
The next thing to consider are Wings. A few of the Wings have an effect on your performance. They are:
| Wing | Top Speed | Acceleration |
|---|
| Starter Wing | 0 | + |
| Accl. Wing | 0 | + |
| Hi-Speed Wing | +16 | 0 |
| Rocket Wing * | +60 | + |
* The Rocket Wing’s boost only lasts for the first 50 to 60 seconds of the race; after that, the Wing ceases to have an effect on your car.
Overall you should now be able to see why certain combinations have the effects that they have and how certain Parts are better suited for certain tracks. In a lot of cases it’s give and take, however, and often your driving style can have a big impact—for example, sacrificing acceleration to max out your top speed only works if you don’t keep bumping into things that slow you down. Otherwise the high top speed isn’t worth it because you’ll almost never be actually driving at it.
Some suggestions:
- Engine: Spring Man’s Happy Engine is the best engine of the initial racers, until you can swipe Wily’s Nova Engine or earn the Retro Engine. Thus I recommend you get this as soon as possible.
- Tires: Guts Man’s Tires are probably the best all-around use tires. This is because they drive faster on dirt and are immune to mines. Most of the tracks have at least some dirt to take advantage of this. Wily’s tires slow down on dirt (as well as every other surface as you can see above) and are hard to control, so I don’t use them much. Napalm Man’s tires are not immune to mines, which tend to be more of a problem than deceleration zones. If you are not facing dirt, the tires of choice are the Sharp Tires—the extra cornering ability really comes in handy. Roll’s tires are nice for being able to drive on both dirt and road without losing speed.
- Wing: More so than the others, this is really personal opinion. It’s like an extra slot to use to add a feature to your car. My favorites are the Hi-Speed Wing and the Counter Wing, but the other wings are useful in situations as well.
