maintain first and get consistently fast lap times.

Just like in SMK, coins increase your speed until you get 10 of them. From thereon it remains the same. Never compensate your driving in an attempt to get more coins. Stay on the road (avoid shallow water, since that slows you down), and get a big victory margin in terms of time. (You'll want to get the maximum amount of points everytime, goes without saying.)

Andreas

I played a lot on GP, and for some Cups (like the most difficult to reach ***, the Extra-Lightning 150cc), coins DO matter. Sure ! But for Extra-Mushroom 150cc for example, coins don't matter (I already reached *** with only 36 coins).

The link of my vid (*** at Extra-Lightning 150cc) seems always good, you can have a look : http://s49.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0ZQ1XO8LE49M1DVC19N1XNHHV !

Alicia Kart wrote on 11/26/05 at 13:05:48:


How big's this file, KartSeven? I might have a look at it if it's not too big.

mike89 wrote on 11/27/05 at 00:12:40:


When you click the link, you see that it's 14.48 MB.

Andreas

I'm having a problem downloading KartSeven's video. It finishes downloading in less than a second and then won't play in Windows Media Player. It should take a couple minutes if it's 14MB so I'm not getting the file downloaded for some reason. Also, I always use Toad when trying to get the three star ranks if that makes a difference. I always get the rocket start and power slide around turns and get a mini boost if I can hold it long enough for that. Can anyone confirm the requirements for Extra Lightning Cup 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and the same for Extra Special Cup? Does 50cc require more coins than 150cc? In Lightning Cup 50cc I've collected over 180 (I think I got one star for this because I had to slow down a lot for coins), over 140, and many other amounts but still get two stars. I'd like to see a video or a good explanation of what strategy to use on 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc for these two cups. I know the coins didn't seem to matter that much in the other cups.

Sorry to bring this up again but I have searched all through Google and all through the guides on GameFAQs and can't find an answer anywhere. I also read the topic below titled three stars but that didn't help much either. I've spent many hours trying to get a three star rank on 50cc in Lightning Cup, and also spent a lot of time on Special Cup. If there was another topic, where is it? I can't find any others about this subject.

I haven't tried Lightning Cup on 150cc that much; it is 50cc that I have tried at least 100 times. On 150cc Bowser Castle 2 I seem to average 20 seconds per lap without any mushrooms or stars, so how do you get 1:31? What items are you using and what character? It seems pretty difficult to pull off those times without a few mushrooms or stars. And why isn't the link KartSeven's video working ?

I do always get the turbo start. I'm not able to stay completely off the water because when I jump I land on the water just before the sand, but that's on 50cc. Those are some really amazing times and I think I'd need a very different strategy to reach times like those. What character are you using? I'm always using Toad. Do you jump over all the yellow jumps yourself? When you power slide around turns, how tight do you make the turn? And do you remember any of your records from getting three stars on 50cc??

I use Bowser, and yes I jump over all the yellow jumps !

I play only on 150cc, so I can't give you times for 50cc... But I can do one Cup on 50cc, and I'll send you my times to have an indication.

About coins, I did once *** with only 96 coins, but it's very, very difficult ! I did 4 perfect races (I wrote the splis in the topic "Three stars" I think) and it's simply too hard ! With 120 at least it's "easier".

At KB1 I already did some races over the water (as on Time Trial), but the most often I take less than 20 coins and it kills me for ***. Once I reached only 3 coins at KB1 (but I did a 0'41"), 3 others good races, but finished with *... So, I always drive on the sand at each lap.

Oh and at MC3 I always slow down at the hairpin... Possible to pass it at full speed, and reach the boost on the sand after, but it's hard !

I'm pretty sur I'll be able to upload my vid tomorrow.

My guess is that they didn't, but the shallow water on KB1, and the mudpool on CI2 are two places where you easily slow down. Jumping over the bumpers in BC2/CI2 shouldn't be as vital, but hitting them accounts for some loss of speed, more obviously so compared to the CPU since seem unaffected by them, in terms of slowdown. The combination of this makes it overall a bit more difficult, I suppose, but I don't think they tried to make it more difficult than others, since they most likely are using the same formula to calculate the grade system.
It's just that this Cup has more unfortunate circumstances than most.

Andreas

How do you get 1:01 on Koopa Beach 1 50cc without items? I stay on the sand, use Bowser, don't use any items, and I get 13 - 14 second laps usually with a total time of around 1:10. Are you sure you stay on the sand the whole time and only go on the water in the one part that it's too long to jump? I'm two or three second behind all your other times even when using every item I get.