Even though the new Mario Kart doesn’t necessarily provide an entirely new and unique racing experience, it does have a new feature that will help you approach the race in a different manner: a pink drift state.
This third level of drift will give you the opportunity to achieve an even larger boost, although it is a bit more difficult to master, of course. To that end, here are some things you have to know about this new feature, as well as how to utilize it:
How does the new drift differ from the old?
When you press down the R button during a turn, you will start a drift. Then, you should keep it pressed down for a set amount of time to achieve a mini turbo. Firstly, you will see blue-colored sparks, then orange, and finally pink, the three different levels of drift.
This last stage is called the ultra mini turbo, and is only available on the Mario Kart 8 version.
However, keep in mind that you can’t achieve the pink drift state if you’ve previously enabled smart steering. So, make sure this option is turned off, either in the pause menu or the loadout screen.
How can you maintain a drift?
From ‘snaking’ to ‘fire hopping’, there are many different methods for maintaining drifts in Mario Kart. However, most of them are quite outdated now.
The most widely-used, and best strategy as of yet is to simply hit a drift every time you approach a turn. This will allow you to achieve a blue boost at the very least, and then speed through the straightaway parts.
If you want to practice this trick, the best option is the Baby Park map, as it has quite a simple curvy layout. Try to enter each turn a bit early by pressing on the R key, and then move the analog stick forward and backward in an effort to glide through the curve. Going into a curve early is advised in order to be able to begin a mini turbo before the actual turn, and then achieve the desired pink drift as you approach a straightaway.
Once you get the hang of it on this practice map, you can adjust your strategy more easily while moving onto more difficult tracks.
And there you have it; everything you need to know about achieving and maintaining drifts in Mario Kart 8.
