Super Mario Kart Time Trial World Records and Players' Site 
"Boosting for Dummies"

  Boosting Techniques Strategy Description  

by Joe Bernier and updated History by Sami Cetin with input from various players of Japan.
Some History of Boosting / NBT

Today, we refer to the official term as just "Boosting". When the SMK Community discovered that boosting could be used on off road terrain and in other ways, it was very new to us. Thus the name 'New Boosting Techniques (NBT)' was created and used for a long time. However, boosting was already utilised as an official technique in Japan since the game's release. After the fastest Japanese player of the time, Junji Oki, reached 0'58"69 on Mario Circuit 1 Time Trials on Super Mario Kart in 1993, he was invited to Japanese TV where he demonstrated a 0'58"93 time and a lap of 0'11"68 in that same run. Sometime between then and the next 10 years other players in Japan pushed the off road boosting records further, adding boosts to cut other corners, bringing the record down to 57 seconds. They simply named the technique "mini turbo" which interestingly has been the name given to boosts in some of the later Mario Kart Sequels.

Boosts (or "NBTs" in the old terminology) are hard to define, and sometimes even harder to achieve. As for a generalisation, they are any boosts gained through motions on the d-pad or B button that require more than one countersteer. They allow you to keep full-speed through portions of water, mud, or sand, or allow you to boost off-road as a means to cut portions of tracks. The term "Non-NBT" was then defined, which is also not used much today. Now we just refer to it Officially as various terms such as "Normal Driving", "Standard Way of Driving" or "Core Driving Mechanics". This is basically the classic way of driving fast, by hopping and sliding around corners, but without using boosts to cut off-road terrain.

It is also very common to perform a boost on the road. Today, this doesn't have any specific name, so again we just refer to it as a 'boost'. Previously this used to be known as a 'Non-NBT' boost, because it is done on the road (no off road boosting), and is simple to do. Pick ANY turn where you are powersliding for more than a full second such as a hairpin turn (e.g. DP1, DP2, MC2 (before the jumpstrips)). Make a normal powerslide while HOLDING R throughout the entire duration of the turn. When you've completed the turn, make ONE countersteer and then directly after that motion, release R. If you've performed this right, you'll notice your kart stick in one place and your engine will rev a little higher sounding than usual. This is how you perform a normal boost on the road (or Non-NBT boosts with the old terminology).

A list of all the different kinds of "boosts" will follow (please note that the old terms "NBT / Non-NBT" may be used):

Off-road
Boosts Off-road boosts allow your kart to cut through any small (sometimes large) amounts of sand, mud, or water without losing any speed at all. You can achieve these boosts with either a Non-NBT boost (which calls for a big looping turn before hand and only one countersteer before you enter the sand), or through a series of zigzags which can allow you to take previous turns sharper and thus minimize the build-up time for your off-road boost.
General Off-road Boost Rules
In order to make your boost optimal, you really need to figure out the timing in which you can JUMP off-road and release the boost (in mid-air) and make your boost last until you reach the road again. In order to reach the road (in SOME cases), you'll need to release the B button (also called the GAS) about HALFWAY through your boosts existence. This will cause your kart to boost for an extra amount of time and clear the off-road portion of the track easily. In order to maintain full speed upon exiting off-road, hit the gas IMMEDIATELY after you exit. This means you have to hit the gas AS SOON AS YOU REACH THE ROAD. I can't stress that enough.
The MC2 Longboost
I'll get right to the point on this one. When coming out of the looping turn, you'll gain the aforementioned Non-NBT boost following the turn. Release the boost, and then halfway through the boost, release the gas. This is VERY important. Now, line your kart up so that you hit either the first or second set of arrows from the left. When you hit the very first arrows, NOT THE SET BEHIND THEM, jump. This will make your kart hit the wall behind the arrows, bounce back, and hit the arrows a second time, throwing your kart around the track. DO ALL OF THIS WHILE HOLDING R BUT NOT HOLDING B. That's very important. Once you get the hang of longboosting, start to experiment with the timing and the placement of the kart so that you can fully use the power to your advantage. You can jump the wall on the other side and cut the following corner very sharply if you do it correctly. There are various World Record videos which show the best angles to approach the yellow arrows which generate faster long boosts. Please check those out for more details.
Zigzag Boosts, Controller Modification and Standardisation for Worldwide use of NBT
By far and away the hardest boosts to perform, and not until recently, proven to be impossible on some sets of controllers. There is a solution to manually modify your controller to make it "Pro-NBT". Here is a more detailed explanation. The original SNES controllers have a pivot point on the back of the d-pad. This pivot is generally too high to make the left-right input register easily for all of the NBTs. Some pads which are worn down and used over time have been known to work for most of the NBTs, then there are 3rd party controllers that are "NBT ready" or as mentioned automatically "Pro-NBT". As time goes by, the original controllers are becoming more rare, and the various remaining controllers can either perform NBT or not at all. Therefore the Super Mario Kart Worldwide Community decided to level the playing field in that players are allowed to remove some of the pivot (bump) underneath the d-pad to allow the left-right input become easier across the board and match that of any controllers that can automatically do it. Important Note: This does not make the kart go faster in any way, it only allows for the NBTs that are more difficult with some controllers to work normally. Therefore this is a standardised way to compete with NBT around the Globe. This system has been in place since around 2005. If you have any questions, there is also a Forum topic regarding making your controller Pro-NBT, please contact any of the players there if you would like to know more.
To perform a zigzag is difficult, and picking the spots in which you'll do them to save time is even harder. For example purposes only, let's use the track that I learned zigzag boosts on: BC1. BC1 has 90 degree turns, so it's impossible to gain Non-NBT boosts (that save time, I know it's possible, but it's not worth it, and is ultimately harder than just doing a zigzag boost). The entire point of zigzag boosting is to create a boost in a place that would otherwise not be able to be performed in order to save time on a track. With BC1, the first and second turns will be your teacher. On the first turn of BC1, take it normally, which means line up your kart for the turn, powerslide, hold R, and make it to the next straightaway with ease. Now, instead of just releasing R and going on your way, press to the RIGHT for a little bit, then LEFT for a little bit, and then RIGHT again VERY quickly at the end, and then release R. If you've modded your controller, you should hear and see the same things as the Non-NBT boost. The quick countersteer to the RIGHT followed by the release of R is the most important part to ANY boost, so make sure you have that down to a science. It all relies on timing, and if you've done it right, you can do it anywhere you'd like.
The BC1 boosts are called "straightboosts", as you're boosting on straightaways, and can gain them using only 90 degree corners. It's also important in the length of time you press RIGHT and LEFT on the controller; you want to do it so that you've held it just long enough so that your kart is almost facing directly straight ahead of you. You DON'T want to just tap each direction; I don't think that this can benefit in creating a boost.
Other Zigzag boosts can be seen at MC1 at the very first turn. For this zigzag boost, I start zigzagging very early as to not risk not gaining the boost in time for the turn. I basically jump and hold R, and then make numerous (too many to count) LEFT and RIGHT motions until I reach the point in which I'm ready for the off-road boost. When I'm about to hit the sand, I jump into it, make ONE FINAL COUNTERSTEER, release R, the boost releases, and then I'm boosting through the sand. This will take a lot of time to master, so if you aren't able to get it right away, then I suggest you mod your controller in order to make it easier on your fingers...
Helpful videos
The BC1 videos, MC1 videos, and CI2 f-lap videos show great use of zigzag boosts. Those are the lines you'd like to follow, and if you make your zigzags a little bit wider than those shown, it's alright as long as you make the corners nice and tight.
Gas-Releasing
Up until recently, it was never known to be a major part of NBT. I found it to be very key in maintaining full-speed through off-road boosts, so I thought I'd throw it in here for good measure. It's very simple. Release the gas halfway through your normal off-road boost, clear the obstacle, hit the gas immediately upon returning to road. Simple, right?
KB1 - Example by Joe Bernier
I've come to be a master at KB1 NBT, but that doesn't mean that I know what the hell I'm talking about...
Explaining the NBT waterslides in KB1 is hard...
The way I do the KB1 is a lot different than the explanation from Pierre and SeB. I'll just go through a typical lap for me.
  • Slide 1- The basics: the first waterslide is the most basic waterslide you can do, in which all you have to do is start turning early before the water, jump (but don't hold R) into the water sideways, and only do minor steering adjustments until you get to the other side.
  • Slide 2- The Huge Water Boost: you'll have to start your zigzagging as soon as you come out of the water and are in no real danger of clipping the water on either side of you. Once you have zigzagged all the way until you are ready to hit the water, do the waterslide mechanics for the first part. This should bring you about 1/3 of the way through the big water area. The boost should release (if you've zigzagged enough), which will bring you another 1/3 of the way through. Now, about halfway before your boost is over, release the gas. This will bring you out of the water with full speed (granted if you've done a good waterslide for the first part, and not just started your boost at the very beginning of the turn).
  • Slide 3- Coming out of the water: this is where I lose the most time in most 5-laps. I haven't quite figured out why some laps I'll come out of this "slingshot waterslide" with full speed, and some without, but I think it's due in part with the shoreline being random. Anywho, what you want to do to lineup for this slide is to start turning right while you're still in the water from your big water boost. Once you hit the really small strip of land there, hit the gas and jump into the water with the little bit of sideways action you'll have going on. For this waterslide, I've learned that if you HOLD RIGHT through most of the turn, you'll sort of slingshot out of the water with a great amount of speed, which will get you to the big island with a good head of steam.
  • Slide 4- The last corner boost: you'll need to start zigzagging as soon as you're out of the water here, too. Again, once you feel like you've zigzagged enough for a boost, jump into the water but RELEASE R and HOLD RIGHT. This will make that slingshot move that you've just learned from the previous slide and will make you not lose any speed from hitting the water. I've been calling this turn a "zweip" for some reason, but Chris and I both like the term, so we'll stick with that. If you've jumped and zweiped at the right part of the water and cleared the deep water entirely, you'll end up at the other side with full speed and a boost release.