Choco Island 2
The Choco Mountain track from the SNES version of the game is jam packed with
rough terrain and nasty Piranha Plants. The Piranha Plants are found mostly
on the inside edge of some of the sharper turns, so while drifting do yourself
a favour and slide out a little to avoid the plants. The bumps won't really
slow you down all that much, but you'll still go faster if you hop over them
instead. When you come to the large muddy area, try to drive toward the small
patches of normal ground in the middle. The less time spent driving through
the mud the better, and that way you'll also avoid the Piranha Plants. It's
almost impossible to Drift Boost around a corner with the small bumps but you
can try. If you can't manage to do it then just turn normal and try and hop
over them whenever possible. The finish line comes just after this turn.
Banshee Boardwalk
Opting against gradual curves and safe barriers on the sides, the ghost house
is full of hard angle bends complete with a free fall into the ghastly waters
at every turn. When you approach the ghost house you'll see a red arrow
painted on the wall, but there's actually a shortcut you can take here. Go
left instead of right and stick close to the left wall. The road ends and
drops off ahead of you, but just before it does if you jump left you can land
on safe ground and drive straight ahead to save some time. Drift Boost to the
right immediately to avoid all the bats flying directly at you. Coming out of
the haunted house it's no different than it was at the beginning of the race.
If you're good you can actually drift through a good two thirds of this last
section of the race and let loose a Drift Boost toward the finish line.
Sky Garden
This is one of the few courses in the Retro Cup which actually offers a decent
amount of shortcuts. Right at the beginning of the race when you go left, if
you've got a Mushroom you can boost over the jump at the beginning and then
hop across the clouds saving you some good time. After going around the next
corner you get that chance again. If you've got a Mushroom or a Star hit the
jump while angling yourself to the right so that you don't keep going over the
edge. If you don't have a Star hit the actual Booster Jump and get the item
in mid-air, but still angle yourself a bit to the right. After crossing the
bridge you'll turn left, and then make a big "U" turn to the right. After
coming out of this "U" turn look to your left and there's a cloud you can jump
across to circumvent the second bridge. Make a left on the other side and
drive off toward the finish. Combine all three shortcuts for record time.
Yoshi Circuit
The final course in the game is the Yoshi Circuit, a familiar track from the
Gamecube version. The track is wide and the turns are big, allowing you to
really let loose with the Drift Boosts. If you're got a Mushroom or Star with
you then you'll have the opportunity to take advantage of a great shortcut
almost right away. Turn right out of the starting gate and then left, but
don't turn again. Instead use a Mushroom to boost over the grass under the
arch when you're angled a little bit to the right, this will save an enormous
amount of time. It's really the course's only shortcut so for the rest of the
race you can use Mushrooms to cut corners a little closer if that's what you
want. Remember to drift like mad here, the course is designed for it.
