It's the most difficult ! Don't give up.

It had been a long time I didn't play the GPs. I stopped when I obtained all the golden cups in the Extra cups (didn't care about the rank) and I also obtained the night mode.
I tried to play again yesterday and I got the 3 stars at 50Cc mushroom cup (Extra tracks off course), and I got 156 coins!!!    

How can you do to put a picture?  
I tried but then it just gives me a red cross. Look at my previous message

That's it!!!
I've succeeded thank you very much Luca.
I've just modified my previous message

Finally got triple stars on Lightning cup 50cc.  

BC2 - 1'59"01 - 46 coins
MC3 - 1'46"16 - 43 coins
KB1 - 1'08"83 - 42 coins
CI2 - 1'22"70 - 36  coins

So that's 167 coins total.  I had so many runs like this and better but I tried to avoid going off the road a lot on MC3 and KB1.  I guess that helped me get the 3 stars this time.  Just have 7 cups left to triple star now.

█ wrote on 09/25/08 at 08:52:27:


I've been stuck at 50cc Extra Special for weeks and just can't seem to get more than **.
I'm now 99% convinced that consistency of lap times matters a lot.
Here's what I just achieved:

• Koopa Beach 2: 1'09"43 - 50 coins
• Ghost Valley 3: 1'31"08 - 33 coins
• Vanilla Lake 2: 0'59"50 - 31 coins
• Rainbow Road: 1'43"03 - 44 coins [158 total]

My times were much faster than yours and I got a lot more coins as well. You were awarded ***, I was just awarded A SINGLE FRIGGIN STAR!

- I bumped into 4 or 5 racers total, no walls. 3 of those bumps were on GV3.
- I got 3 Mushrooms on GV3, did the bumper jump at the beginning of the lap with two of them. This resulted in considerably faster-than average lap times on 2 laps. No other items were used in the cup.
- I tapped the breaks for a second while mid-air on both of the jumps so that I wouldn't jump too far. I didn't use the breaks on any other occasion throughout the cup.
- No retries.
- I obviously didn't fall into deep water on VL2 or any pits.

I achieved ** with much slower times, less coins and more bumps. I didn't use items or break in my ** runs. So either lap time consistency matters a lot, the use of mushrooms kills your rating or tapping the breaks even once absolutely kills your rating...or a combination of these factors.

Has anyone had experiences relating to mushroom usage and the rating? This is so frustrating...


UPDATE:

This attempt I drove consistently good lap times, never used the brakes and didn't use any items. Here are the stats:

• Koopa Beach 2: 1'10"55 - 50 coins
• Ghost Valley 3: 1'37"80 - 35 coins
• Vanilla Lake 2: 1'00"00 - 35 coins
• Rainbow Road: 1'43"63 - 43 coins [163 total]

I achieved ** (as usual... ) and the only mistakes I can think of were 1 bump into another driver on GV3 and another on RR.

I guess I'll just have to try until I complete this damn cup without bumping into anyone...

UPDATE #2:

• Koopa Beach 2: 1'10"46 - 50 coins
• Ghost Valley 3: 1'37"55 - 36 coins
• Vanilla Lake 2: 1'01"50 - 34 coins
• Rainbow Road: 1'43"90 - 46 coins [166 total]

I hit an ice block on VL2, which resulted in a slow 1st lap...no other mistakes => **

UPDATE #3:

• Koopa Beach 2: 1'10"45 - 50 coins
• Ghost Valley 3: 1'38"56 - 36 coins
• Vanilla Lake 2: 0'59"76 - 35 coins
• Rainbow Road: 1'44"21 - 47 coins [168 total]

Bumped into another driver on GV3, purposely didn't drive through water, dirt or snow as much as I could...**

I'll update this post until I hit *** (if ever..). I hope that this will help everyone understand why this square guy is achieving a higher rank even though my driving seems to be much better on paper. I'm thinking that driving style might be an issue...I let go of the acceleration in most turns for a split second so that Bowser doesn't slide into walls, an abyss, etc and I hardly ever drift (apart from the 2 MT turns on GV3). Since the game counts the frames you don't step on the gas, my driving style might automatically result in a bad rating...just a thought.

ATTENTION!!!

I think I've found out why the ranks are so confusing!!!

I've finally achieved *** and it was the worst Extra Special Cup I've driven in weeks. Here are the stats:

• Koopa Beach 2: 1'12"56 - 50 coins
• Ghost Valley 3: 1'38"88 - 31 coins
• Vanilla Lake 2: 1'08"76 - 28 coins
• Rainbow Road: 1'53"66 - 30 coins [139 total]

Here's what went wrong:

- Drove through a lot of water on KB2.
- Bumped into Luigi and a wall on GV3.
- On VL2, I drove into ice water twice as a ghost attacked me, bumped into a few drivers and bumped into several ice blocks.
- On RR I got attacked by 2 ghosts, bumped into another driver and drove off the track.
- I generally sucked at getting coins.
- I didn't use items nor retries.

So exactly how the hell did I get ***????

Well, I completely changed my driving style. I hardly ever let go of the acceleration button. When cornering or aiming for coins, I either drifted, hopped around to get on track or did regular turns without letting go of A. Only on a few occasions did I let go of A for more accuracy in my turns. This resulted in many mistakes and a pathetic statistic...and a *** rating.

Since the game counts every frame you let go of A, I think it's safe to assume that driving style has a enormous impact on the rating. I've been driving this cup for weeks and got to the point where I'm driving pretty much flawlessly, with amazing statistics but could never get higher than **. After only one attempt where I drove through more dirt, bumped into more objects, drove off the track and got less coins with dreadful lap times, but hardly ever let go of A, I finally was awarded the *** rating. Driving style is what makes the ranks seem so random - and yes, it's absolute bullshit.

Amazing job ! Did you keep your times and the number of coins ?

it is my 3rd MKSC game pak, but still have not the 3 stars everywhere...


Lightning Cup and another (don't remember), both RETRO, are my problem.


Any tips?


= /

Here.

I should upload it on Youtube...

I've heard you shouldn't let go A at all while driving GP's. This is probably the problem.
Try using a slower character (DK ?).

OK, I will practice RR without letting go of A. Speed isn't that much of a problem, I just find it too risky to drift while lapping opponents - bump and you drive straight into the abyss. I'm sure the 2 coins on GV3 weren't the problem...Chiko only got 18 on 150cc and his time isn't anything special (no shortcut). It's either letting go of A or jumping the gap at the beginning of GV3. I did it every lap, so consistency isn't an issue, either.