F-ZERO GX - Max Speed Guide by AKC12
Copyright 2016-2024 © AKC12 (Angelo Coelho)
Version: 2.0
Version History
1.00 - October 16, 2016 - Version 1.0 completed!
1.01 - October 17, 2016 - Fixed a grammar mistake and added two videos in the Energy Management section
1.02 - October 18, 2016 - Added annotations on some of the videos I created for the guide
1.03 - October 25, 2016 - Added two sub-sections in the Energy Management section and some tidying up
1.04 - November 22, 2016 - Mentioned “banking turns” in the Loop track feature section, added a sub-section about MTSing into jump plates and mentioned that to gain speed in the air, you need to hold on the A button.
1.05 - December 13, 2016 - Clarified that Quick Star exits a MTS faster with a Strafe Turn. Before I stated that quick turn exits are always faster. Also mentioned about how stopping side attacks and braking in the air increases the machine’s hang time.
1.06 - November 3, 2017 - Big update! Added one main section and two subsections. The main section discusses consistent shift boost setups and the speed limit of dangerous downhills (Page 51). The subsections are Strafing Shift Boosts (Page 34) and Doing side attack exits for MTSISBs (Momentum Turbo Slide into Shift Boost, page 37)
1.07 - February 21, 2018 - Added a full section that fully details how boost state, boost plates impacts MT and DPDMT works. Also added a sub-section in the MTS section on how tapping the A button can help with regaining grip and changing direction
1.08 - August 21, 2018 - Added a sub-section called “Impact of Boost State while Gliding or Diving” which details how exactly boosting and MT impacts your machine while mid air. Also added more info on MTSing before a jump.
1.09 - October 10, 2018 - Added a section that lists out the inputs to doing all of the techniques
1.10 - March 6, 2020 - Updated summary of techniques at end of the document by putting the text in a table for more clear reading. Included video links as well.
2.0 - April 20, 2024 - Added full sections explaining the different categories, Expanded Max Speed and recommendations on what setting to use for it. Reviewed the entire guide and made various edits and additions, some of which is new knowledge that I have gained over the years
The various categories/playstyles of F-Zero GX 6
Brief history of the categories 7
No Side Attacks and other category variants 8
D and E rated body parts banned (plus no side attacks allowed) 9
Energy Refiller/Regenerator 10
Loops/Sharp Inclines/Banking Turns 12
The Different Properties of a Machine 13
Controlling Your Machine. Technique #1 - Quick Turning 18
Conditions for a quick turn to be executed 18
Which machines can and can’t Quick Turn well 19
Additional Quick Turning Advice and Tricks 20
Switching Quick Turn Direction 20
Drift (MTS) into Quick Turn 21
Basics of Dives, Jumps and Landing 22
Before and during the dive/jump 22
Increasing Hang Time/Brief Note on Spaceflying 23
Gliding to Clear Gaps and Perform Skips 23
Impact of boost state while gliding or diving 24
How to GO FAST and Maintaining High Speeds - Technique #2: Momentum Throttle (MT) 25
Momentum Throttle Point (MT Point) 25
Momentum Throttle Boost (MT Boost) 26
Boost Delay Table and Recommendation on when to start MT Boosting 27
Practicing Momentum Throttle 27
Brief note on boost plates affecting MT point and Boosting MT point 29
Boost Plate Impacting the MT Point 29
MT to reduce speed loss from Quick Turning 30
MTing right before hitting a jump plate or when starting a dive 30
Technique #3 - Momentum Turbo Slide (MTS) 31
Basic method to end a MTS (Strafe Turn MTS exit) 32
Performing a sharper MTS turn 32
Characteristics of Machines that can and can’t MTS well 32
Practicing Momentum Turbo Slide 33
Various ways of applying MTS 33
MTSing through a 180 degree turn and S turns 33
MTS into Jump Plate or Standard Jump 34
Tapping the A button to regain grip and change direction 35
Impact of Boost State during a MTS 37
Technique #4 - Shift Boosting (SB) 37
Inputs and Conditions to perform a successful SB 38
What determines how much speed you gain from a SB 38
Where can you perform a shift boost? 38
Momentum Turbo Slide into Shift Boost (MTSISB) 40
Boost State Impacting SB Speed Gain 41
Technique #5 - Side Attacks (SAs) - Yes, we are about to go even faster 42
What impacts the effectiveness of the speed gained from a side attack 42
Side Attack Utilizations on the Ground 42
Which machines are good at this? 43
Practicing side attacks during a Strafe Turn 43
Before performing a SA dive 44
Additional Side Attack Tech 44
Exiting a MTS with Side Attacks (Side Attack Exit) 44
MTS side attack exit into a Shift Boost 45
Technique #6 - Finishing the Run with Speed and Swag - MTRS and Broken Down/Suicide Finish 45
Momentum Turbo Railslide (MTRS) 45
How to execute a proper MTRS 46
Which machines are good at MTRSing 46
MTRS During the Middle of a Run 48
Broken Down Finish/Explosive Finish 48
Odd Broken Down Finish Physics 48
Practicing Broken Down Finishes 49
Broken Down Finish Examples 49
Energy Management - Advice on how to Best Utilize Your Boost Power 50
Using MT to conserve a boost for later use 51
Whether to boost or not boost in the refiller 51
Using speed gaining/conserving tech to conserve energy 52
Whether or not to Boost during a Dive 52
What NOT to do if you mess up 52
Developing your boosting strategy 53
Brief Guide on Custom Machine Parts 53
Note on “Arcade Exclusive/Gold” parts 54
Common difference between all three part types 54
Titan-G4 vs. A Rated Boosters 55
Parts to create notable custom machines 56
Machine recommendations based on the type of machine you want to make 56
KAZOON’s Custom Machine Guide 57
Final Technique - MTS Chaining and Turbo Sliding - Fusing MTS and Side Attacks 58
MTS Chaining (drift exit) Inputs 58
SA Exit Speed Comparison between Quick Star and Gallant Star/Black Bull 59
Avoid regaining grip while MTS chaining 59
Turbo Slide Chaining (TS Chaining) 59
Quick Tips on Grinding for the Run 60
Course Skips (Planned new section!) 61
Shift Boost Set Ups and Highest Speed Before Lifting Off from Dangerous Hills 61
Max speed before lifting off from dangerous hills 64
How Boost/Dash Plates and Boost State Impacts MT Point and Boost State MT Point 65
Boost State MT (Both with and without boost plate influence) 65
How Boost/Dash Plate influences the MT Point of a machine and Dash Plate Delay MT (DPDMT) 66
MT Points after hitting a boost plate (both middle and edge) 66
Determining at what speed you begin to MT for DPDMT (Fat Shark only) 67
Expanded Max Speed: Ruleset and guidelines when considering your machine setting 68
Pros and cons of lowering your machine setting 68
Pros of lowering machine setting 68
Cons of lowering machine setting 69
General recommendations on choosing your machine setting 69
To summarize and further reading 75
When to stick with 100%/higher machine setting 75
When to consider reducing your machine setting 76
Notable Expanded Max Speed Runs 76
Additional Reading and Resources 76
Introduction
Hello! AKC12 here. I’ve owned this game shortly after its release, and it’s my favorite game of all time. I still play it to this day because it is fun and exhilarating to go fast with the variety of machines and neat tech this game offers, and I still have goals that I want to achieve. But most importantly there is now serious competition and the community is both amazing and has been growing, despite it being released back in 2003.
I have decided to write out this guide for a few reasons.
One: Because I want to provide a single resource that will inform and teach players how to go fast in this game.
Two: Instead of having to retype long, detailed answers for the same questions over and over again, I figured I should create this guide and refer them to it.
And three: Because I feel it is my obligation for me to share my knowledge and around 13 years experience of owning this game. What’s the point of knowing all of this if I don’t share it?
F-Zero GX is an incredibly difficult game to even beat, let alone becoming a high level player. You will be tested, there will be frustration at times. You will need to invest many hours if you want to become as good as the high level players. But, when you do breakthrough and complete a clean, fast run that puts your skills and everything you’ve practiced to the ultimate test, it will all be worth it.
About this Guide
This is an informative guide with video demonstrations aimed towards new and intermediate level players who want to go fast with the Max Speed/Non-Snaking related categories. Advanced players may also find this guide helpful to perform and utilize techniques better or as a refresher. And perhaps learn a few new things too. This guide will go into great depth on explaining the basics of the game, machine properties, the game’s physics, how to execute techniques and how to best utilize those techniques.
While this guide will give examples to better explain where to use and practice certain techniques, it will not provide full course strategies, nor how to beat the story mode chapters.
This guide will contain a lot of information. If you are a new player, you may want to skip any technical information for now. What’s most important is learning about the different tech, executing them properly and understanding how to use them well.
Disclaimer
This guide can only be used for personal use. It will not be published on any website without my expressed consent. It can be copied and shared, but it cannot be monetized.
Controls
Controls are fully customizable in the Options menu
Default Controls
A: Accelerator
B: Air brake
Y: Boost
X (while turning): Side attack
Control Stick: Steering
Control Stick (in air): Steering and pitch
L or R: Strafe
Z (while turning): Spin attack
D-Pad up and down: Change camera angle
C-Stick: Nothing
L+Left or R+Right: Strafe Turn (Also referred as Strafe Turn)
L+R+Left (or right): Drift turn
It is suggested to swap the input to perform side attacks with Air brake or Boost to make it easier to quickly tap side attacks while holding the accelerator. Z is another option a few players use, but it is more taxing to your hand and wrist.
Control Stick calibration
The edge of the red octagon means your machine will not steer any sharper if the control stick input goes beyond the shape. If you even enter the calibration menu, it will change it to a much smaller zone compared to the original default, and it is difficult to recreate the original default zone precisely. Because of that I recommend leaving the control stick sensitivity menu alone, unless you need to adjust the deadzone (explained in the next paragraph). It does come down to preference in the end, but having a responsive control stick, which the default sensitivity provides, I feel helps with precise machine control, especially in moments when you need to react quickly.
With the D-Pad you can adjust the dead zone, where while the control stick input is within this zone, your machine won’t turn at all. There is a little dead zone by default. I personally expand it slightly since I think it makes it easier to perform very slight turns more easily.
The following image shows the differences in controller calibration between a new save file, after changing it to default, and maximizing the zone.
Created by Joselle
For more detailed information on control stick sensitivity, look at this informative document created by Joselle: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lhPvUVT9MO0J5U-bF9S9y3okGtPYD7UGvXNMCctJ3-4/edit
Quick Steering Tip
In those moments where you only need to do very gradual stick steering, pointing the controller towards the north direction will help out greatly with that. When steering left, doing a diagonal down left might feel more natural to you.
The various categories/playstyles of F-Zero GX
In F-Zero GX, due to the 101 different machine settings and a wide variety of machines, there are three main categories/playstyles you could participate in, with several sub-categories for the Max Speed playstyle. As stated earlier, this guide focuses on the Max Speed categories, but it will be helpful no matter your playstyle.
If you are already well aware of this sort of stuff, go and skip ahead to the next major section. Otherwise if you are new to the game or with Time Attacking it, this is where you’ll learn about the different playstyles. Who knows, maybe you end up preferring a different playstyle than you had intended to play.
Update (November 2025): I recently created a slideshow that provides an overview of the categories F-Zero GX Categories Overview
The Primary Categories
- Max Speed/Expanded Max Speed
- This is what this guide is primarily focused on. Currently on fzerocentral.com, you are required to set the machine to 100% settings to be able to submit times to the category
- There are several subcategories and an expansion of the Max Speed category called Expanded Max Speed which loosens the setting restriction and allows snaking inputs.
- Drift Highway WR: F-Zero GX - Big Blue Drift Highway - 0'43"069
- Snaking
- In F-Zero Central, you are required to set the machine to 0%
- Snaking is a technique where you do repeated L+Left and R+Right inputs to gain a ton of speed
- Drift Highway WR: F-Zero GX - Big Blue Drift Highway - 00'31"680 【WR】
- Open/Spaceflying
- Spaceflying let’s you gain height to perform massive skips that oftentimes skip the large majority of the track by hitting certain checkpoints in an unintended sequence.
- Machine is typically set to 0% which makes it far easier to gain height
- It has the fastest WRs nearly every track of the three primary categories
- Drift Highway WR: F-ZERO GX BBDH Flying 32"001 World Record
Most players prefer the Max Speed category. Far fewer perform snaking runs. While only a select few has ever participated Open/Spaceflying category seriously and at a high level.
A Brief History of the Categories
Initially at F-Zero Central (The website was called MrFixitOnline at the time), there was just a single category. Due to the strength of snaking, it was split into two different ladders - Open and Non-Snaking. At that time, there weren’t any setting restrictions for the Non-Snaking category. The only restriction was that you cannot use the snaking technique.
Not too long after, it was clear that a different solution was needed. Even if you are not snaking, you can still gain a lot of time by doing quick turns at 0% settings. At the same time, the Open category was starting to be dominated by spaceflying, so snaking players wanted their own category/ladder where spaceflying times were not permitted.
Discussions were had on how to proceed. I was barely a teenager at the time and wasn’t the most talkative person so I did not contribute much if at all to those discussions. Back then there were a lot of things about the game we did not know that needed tools to discover, particularly regarding which settings where snaking became effective and how those settings differed between machines and booster parts. Ultimately what was decided were the following:
- The Non-Snaking category is now called Max Speed which restricts the machine settings to 100%
- The Open category remained as is, allowing any sort of run to be submitted to
- The Snaking category was created which allows the technique and restricts settings to 0%
As I remember, reaction to this change was mixed. Spaceflying and Snaking players were happy to have their own ladders to compete in without getting into disputes. However, players who participated in the non-snaking category, but set times with sub-100 % settings were very upset. I recall at least one player who stopped time attacking the game because of it. Short tracks like Split Oval and Sonic Oval were commonly played with a custom machine using the Thunderbolt-V2 booster at acceleration-focused settings to take advantage of the dash plates and course length. But now, their times have moved to the Open ladder, where spaceflying dominates.
At the time I mainly stuck to the G4 based customs and Fat Shark so the decision didn’t impact me much at all. But as we learned more about the game and gained tools to extract the machine stats, it became clear to me at least that there needs to be another category made where more settings can be used without snaking becoming the meta.
Expanded Max Speed
I spearheaded efforts to create a new category that would allow players to utilize different machine settings without making snaking too powerful. This would allow certain custom boosters to be more viable, and make certain non-custom machines be more viable or be capable of setting faster times. Ultimately I wanted a category that encourages players to experiment with different settings and machines, which the 100% Only Max Speed category has stifled for too long.
Because snaking at Max Speed focused settings won’t be any more powerful than 100% Quick Star-G4 after testing confirmed this, I thought it is fine to fully allow snaking motions, which was another one of my issues with FZC’s Max Speed category. I even allowed spaceflying with the restriction that super skips were not allowed.
Initially, the settings were restricted to 70% to 100% for all machines, but KAZOON suggested the idea of allowing any settings as long as the Drift Accel stat is equal to or less than 1.0. This is the main stat that determines how well a machine can snake. This means the setting restriction differs by machine, which you can reference here: Expanded Max Speed (EMS) and Drift Accel<=1.0 Rules
At the end of the guide I will discuss in more detail about the category and the circumstances in which not going with 100% settings may be better.
I have a combined time attack leaderboard spreadsheet with ladders for this category. The spreadsheet includes all runs, including non-PB runs with non-meta machines, and combines them into a single leaderboard that you can sort and filter to your liking. You can check it out here: F-Zero GX Combined Time Attack Leaderboard (Updated April 8 2024)
No Side Attacks and other category variants
Even with these categories mentioned already, there is a need for even more sub-divisions of the max speed categories, mainly catered to the high number of players who do not wish to utilize side attacks.
No Side Attack variants
Several players have opted to not use side attacks in their piloting since it adds a lot of complexity to runs and you have to repeatedly side attack as fast as possible, which is understandably taxing physically and it gives advantages to players who can mash the fastest. FZC kept track of no SA world records up until a few years ago. My spreadsheet I linked in the prior section has ladders for the no side attack variants and includes current unofficial WR tables for it too.
Not utilizing side attacks at first will certainly help you master the basics more quickly and make you focus more on optimizing your piloting. Though it is considerably slower in most courses to not side attack, so if you’re aiming for the best possible times in the max speed categories, you will need to learn the side attack related techniques at some point, which this guide will go over.
Custom Only/Non-Custom Only
Some players have opted to not use custom machines at all, and some even stick with a very select few machines. There aren’t such categories in FZC. I did create a non-custom only, custom only categories in my spreadsheet for the fun of it. I also created a non-custom category that bans Fat Shark and Black Bull since those two are leagues above every other machine.
D and E rated body parts banned (plus no side attacks allowed)
This was a self imposed restriction that primarily some Japanese players have set for themselves very early in this game’s life due to the fact the machines gained speed when quick turning and snaking even at 100% machine settings. And the fact these machines gained a lot of speed from MTSing also played a part. Today we know that heavy machines are generally faster despite it mainly because they benefit much more with advanced tech and their boosters are considerably more powerful too.
Course Features
Boost/Dash Plate
Hitting a boost plate will give you a brief speed boost. It goes without saying that you want to hit these whenever possible (there are a few exceptions). The speed boost you get is not fixed. It depends on your machine’s current speed, its acceleration stat, its boost strength stat, its boost duration and likely a few other factors as well. There is a speed cap of sorts where you don’t gain any more speed, which varies by machine. For the top tier machines1, that is at around 2000-2200ish
The duration of the boost from the boost plate is always half of your machine’s normal boost2 duration. For example, Fat Shark, a commonly used machine for max speed time attack, its boost duration is exactly 2 seconds. So when Fat Shark hits a boost plate, the boost from that will last for one second. Incidentally, the boost plate sound FX that lasts exactly one second, so it is fairly simple to know when its boost plate ends when using Fat Shark.
If you drive across the boost plate with just the edge of your machine nearly and go across it parallel or nearly parallel, you will get a slightly bigger speed boost from it, saving you about a tenth of a second at least, so you definitely want to get as many as you can on lap 1. On boost laps, save for a few boost plates in generous locations, it is difficult to hit the edge while going at high speeds.
One thing that doesn’t seem too important, but it has a big impact, is that during a boost plate boost (and normal boost included), your machine’s acceleration is lowered temporarily. This has implications when it comes to Momentum Throttling and Shift Boosting.
1 When I mention top tier machines, I am referring to the following main 4 machines used in World Record runs: Fat Shark, Black Bull, Quick Star-G4, and Gallant Star-G4
2 By boost, I mean activating your boost with the Y button
Jump Plate
Driving over this will lift your machine into the air. The distance and height it takes you depends on your current speed, the machine’s weight (heavier = the higher, faster and farther you go), and how you pitch your machine’s nose in the air. There are only five courses in the entire game (story mode included) that have this feature, but in two of those courses it let’s you access some of the game’s bigger shortcuts. They are usually beneficial to take.
It should be noted that aerial control is different after hitting a jump plate compared to diving down from a large height. If you push the stick directly to the left or right, your machine won’t gradually go into a dive. This doesn’t happen while in the air without the use of the jump plate.
Later on I will go into more detail on how to best take jump plates, but in most cases you want to pitch the nose down immediately by holding up, which increases your speed significantly compared to leaving it level.
Energy Refiller/Regenerator
Every course has this zone which regenerates your machine’s energy that you have used from boost and sustaining damage. It always regenerates the energy bar at the same rate - It takes 1.5 seconds to fully refill the energy from nothing. If boost through it, it will take up to about 1.733 seconds.
Some of these zones are large and nearly effortless to stay on them, but others (most notably in Mobius Ring) are either narrow, are short in length or go through fairly sharp turns or tricky sections, so sometimes it’s beneficial to strafe to stay in the refiller to stay in it for as long as possible or to take your time to line your machine up. It can also be beneficial to not fly through it as fast as possible so you recover more energy.
There are some cases where you want to mostly avoid it in the final lap to be able to perform broken down finishes1, where you purposely break down your machine to gain a large burst of speed to finish the final lap of a run. I will go into some more detail of this towards the end of this guide.
1 Broken down finish is where you purposely break down your machine by hitting a wall with little/no energy to gain speed before crossing the finish line (or laser in this game)
“Ice”/Slippery Zone
Driving over the blue, ice like surface makes your machine lose grip very easily. You will still retain much of your forward momentum. If you perform a Strafe Turn before you enter this zone, you will not lose your grip.
This zone has the effect of making your speed increase slightly while turning over it, whether you do a Strafe Turn or you decide to drift over it. However take caution in courses such as Serial Gaps and Multiplex. If you lose grip but then re-enter the normal surface, your machine will drive towards where the nose is currently pointing, which will likely lead you to hitting the wall or falling off course.
To regain your grip, you want to counter steer. But don’t do this for too long or you’ll overdo it and start drifting the other way. When counter steering, hold the shoulder button in the direction you are counter steering. Once you finish counter steering and continue to hold down the shoulder button, you should regain your grip and control.
Dirt zone
Driving over this zone without boosting will cause you to slow down. This can be completely mitigated if you boost over it. Your machine is immune to the slowdown effect during the full duration of the boost (works with boost plates as well). It is also completely mitigated if you momentum throttle (MT) over it while going at a higher speed (MT will be mentioned later in this guide).
Mines
Driving over one can either give you a speed boost, be mostly ineffective or reduce your speed slightly. It damages your vehicle too. The damage your machine receives depends on the machine’s body strength. To get a good speed boost from a mine(s), you need to run over the center of the mine. Hitting it slightly off center will still give you a speed boost, but it will push you slightly to the left or right. Grazing the mine will either cause no real change to your speed or reduce your speed.
Machine’s with average or weak bodies will generally want to avoid them on boost laps, while machines with A rated bodies will generally get more off a good mine than a single boost.
After a mine is detonated, it will leave a small lava zone that can actually damage your vehicle if you run over it. While going at full speed it does negligible damage to your energy, but if you have no energy it will break down your machine, so keep that in mind when you are running with no energy.
Note: To get the speed boost from the mine, you need to be holding A when you go over it, otherwise you won’t gain any speed at all.
Lava
This type of zone only appears in story mode. Running over it will reduce your machine’s energy at a gradual rate, which is slower compared to the energy that gets refilled while inside a refiller. On lap 1 it is mostly inconsequential since there is no boosting and can be repaired easily, unless you run out of energy or an opponent deals enough damage to take you out. But you certainly want to avoid them as much as you can in boost laps, which is quite tricky to do in chapter 8 if you are boosting. If you hit this zone while your machine has no energy, it will break down.
Loops/Sharp Inclines/Banking Turns
Although this isn’t really a track feature, I want to mention this right now because of how it impacts the machine’s physics. While going through a loop, a steep incline, or banking turn the following things happen
- Your speed, especially while boosting, will be lower than usual until the end of the loop/incline/banking turn. The heavier your machine, the more speed you’ll lose
- On a sudden incline, your speed will be reduced. It impacts heavy machines more than light machines.
- Your machine’s handling becomes more unstable than usual.
- For some reason, if you approach the wall at a slight angle, instead of hitting the wall, your machine will glide right along it, as if there was a magnetic force between the wall and machine. You will still hit it if you approach it at a sharp enough angle.
How to best combat and even take advantage of these oddities will be explained later.
Machine Settings
Right before you begin a race/run, you will need to choose what setting to set your machine to. There are 101 different settings, so we simply call the exact middle setting 50%. If it’s set all the way to the left it’s 0%, while the rightmost setting is 100%.
This is a Max Speed focused guide, so for those who want to focus on the Max Speed category, I recommend setting your machine to 100% at the start. The current F-Zero Central max speed ladder rules only permits 100% with a couple exceptions for two different machines. But feel free to experiment while trying to unlock stuff and beat the game, especially with vehicles that gain speed when you quick turn. But with the machines you’ll want to use when you seriously do non-snaking time attack, 100% will pretty much always be the superior setting.
Update: A new category called Expanded Max Speed has been made to allow access to more machine settings without making snaking too overpowered. There has been a couple of WRs set in this category with potential for at least a few more. For more details, check out the dedicated section for the category and machine setting recommendations by clicking here.
For now though, I’ll explain how Max Speed and Acceleration settings differ with this table:
Acceleration (0%) | Max Speed (100%) |
+High acceleration +Smaller turn radius +Usually gain a lot of speed when turning, which let’s you snake (all variants) -Much lower top speed (usually under 1000) -Sustain slower speeds when boosting (assuming you don’t snake, although the main point of 0% settings is to snake or spacefly) -Very easy to lose grip -Very fast deceleration | -Worse acceleration -Larger turn radius -Less speed gained (potentially lose speed) when turning (all turning variants) +Much higher top speed (well over 1100 with some machines and custom boosters) +Sustain faster speeds when boosting (assuming the 0% machine doesn’t snake) +A lot more grip +Slower deceleration |
The Different Properties of a Machine
While F-Zero GX has 41 original machines which have various strengths and weaknesses and vary greatly in how they handle, it doesn’t really do a good job giving an overview of those things. In fact the stats it provides is often inaccurate. I won’t go over every machine in detail in this guide, but I will explain some of the different properties of machines and give some example machines that excel and are poor at them.
Body
This determines how much energy is lost when a machine hits a wall, gets attacked by other machines or when hitting a mine. This is the only stat that is fairly accurate, although the strength can vary even if two machines have the same letter grade. While this property doesn’t impact how fast your machine can go, it impacts how useful mines are to the machine, and how easy (or difficult) it is to perform broken down finishes with the machine.
Examples
Gallant Star G4 has one of the strongest body stats of the machines used for World Records
Quick Star G4 has the weakest body among top machines, although it isn’t too bad compared the likes of Twin Noritta (who has the weakest body of the original machines)
Fat Shark has the strongest body among the original machines
Boost
This determines the strength of your machine’s booster. The ratings the game gives is very inaccurate. Fat Shark has the best booster in the entire game and it is only rated B. How fast your machine accelerates when boosting depends on the machine’s acceleration stat. The speed the booster can reach depends on its weight, top speed, and the strength of the booster itself. Acceleration is likely a factor as well.
Examples
Fat Shark and Twin Noritta have the best boosters among the original machines, boasting both good acceleration and a very high end top speed (easily can break 1700 without boost plates)
Titan G4 doesn’t have the highest boost top speed among custom boosters, but its higher acceleration compared to the A rated custom boosters often outweighs this fact (and due to how time attack has just 3 laps).
Grip
I have no clue what definition of grip the devs used. They clearly thought of something other than how easy it is to break into a drift without using the L+R inputs.
When I talk about grip, I am talking about how easy or difficult it is to make your machine enter a drift.
Machines with strong grip are very difficult to enter a drift even if you smash the stick to either side. It would take going at high speeds (1500+) before it is susceptible to breaking its grip. Machines with low grip go into a drift at very low speeds easily (well under 1000).
Some machine’s grip is so strong that it’s difficult to enter a drift even if you hold both L and R. Certain machine’s don’t really drift sideways when executing a drift too, such as Mighty Hurricane or Hyper Speeder.
Examples
Quick Star is notorious for its low grip. Its very strong strafe and very wide drift makes it have the best MTS in the game (fastest acceleration, high top speed and very wide MTS turn radius).
Gallant Star-G4 has decent grip, but when boosting if you smash the stick it will likely lose grip. A custom machine with a different A rated body has a lot of grip even while boosting.
Black Bull has decent enough grip. But it is also very difficult to stop sliding and regain control as well, making it probably the toughest machine to use proficiently in this game.
Weight
Weight is among the most important stats in this game. The following table compares light and heavy machines
Light Weight (Under 1500 KG) | Heavy Weight (Over 2000 KG) |
+Glides in the air longer, making certain shortcuts easier. +Light machines tend to have more responsive steering/handling +Better turn radius +They also tend to be able to turn very sharply in the air +Lose less speed driving through loops/sharp inclines -Slightly slower max speed -Lower boosting top speed, especially for custom machines** -Gains less speed from shift boosts compared to a heavy machine with a similar acceleration stat -Gains less speed from dives -Gains less speed from side attacks -Weaker MTS -Retains less speed after a MTS **The one exception is if a machine weighs 1000 KG. Once a machine is at that weight, its boost top speed increases dramatically, by nearly 100 KMH compared to a machine weighing 1010 KG. | -Heavy machines glide a shorter distance -Heavy machines tend to have less responsive steering/handling -Worse turn radius -They tend to have poor aerial cornering -Lose more speed driving through loops/sharp inclines +Higher max speed +Higher boosting top speed, especially for custom machines +Gains much more speed from shift boosts compared to a light machine with a similar acceleration stat +Gains a lot more speed from dives +Gains more speed from side attacks +Stronger MTS +Retains more speed after a MTS |
There aren’t many courses that heavily take advantage of light machines’ superior mobility. I suspect the chapter 8 course would be one of those courses light machines might do better on.
Back in the late 2000s to early 2010s, light machines (Quick Star-G4) held 10 WRs at one point. But in the present day, heavy machines have 22 WRs out of the 26 different courses. The reason light machines were more prevalent is likely because Quick Star has a lower skill requirement to set fast times, its amazing MTS, and no one was fully utilizing side attacks and MTS chaining with heavy machines at the time.
That’s not to say you should just ignore Quick Star-G4 and other lighter weight customs altogether. In some of the courses where Gallant holds the WR, it requires an incredibly high level of mastery to achieve a better time with Gallant/Black Bull compared to Quick Star. Even for me, I still prefer to use Quick Star in three courses where Gallant and Black Bull holds the WR (inb4gitgud).
Acceleration
Other than determining how fast you gain speed (normally and with boosting), it also determines how slowly your machine decelerates. It is also a big factor, alongside with weight, on how much speed your machine gains from a shift boost. It also has a big impact on a machine’s MT points. Unlike some of the previous properties, there is no clear-cut answer on the best rate of acceleration (for the max speed category). It would mostly depend on the course.
Fat Shark by far has the fastest acceleration of the top tier machines. That, coupled with its very high boosting top speed, is why this machine has the WR in courses with several boost plates (It currently holds WRs on 10/26 courses, the most WRs held by any one machine)
Example of high acceleration machines
Fat Shark (compared to other top tier machines)
Twin Noritta, Astro Robin, Night Thunder, Blood Hawk
E rated custom boosters
Somewhere in the middle
Blue Falcon, Little Wyvern, Iron Tiger, Sonic Phantom
Titan-G4 based boosters (more towards the slower side)
Low acceleration machines
A rated custom boosters
Fire Stingray, Hyper Speeder, Big Fang, Space Angler
Strafing/Sliding
This refers to how quickly your machine shifts to the left or right when you hold L or R. How severe you might prefer your strafe to be is subjective, but the top machines all have fairly strong strafing at least. There are two main reasons for this:
- The strength of the machine’s strafe is a big factor on how strong a machine’s MTS/MTRS is
- It is much easier to perform shift boosts off the edge of the track with a strong strafe
Also worth mentioning is that strafing can have varying effects on your speed. Some machines are hardly affected or even benefit a tiny bit from strafing or strafe turning. But many machines lose some speed while strafing or strafe turning. The stronger the strafe is, the more speed you will lose while strafing. Fat Shark is impacted the most when strafing of all of the machines due to its high weight combined with a very poor/high value in a stat called Turn Deceleration.
Best strafing machine: Quick Star-G4
Strong strafe: Gallant Star-G4, Fat Shark, Black Bull, Great Star
Average strafe: Blue Falcon, Sonic Phantom
Weak Strafe: Hyper Speeder, King Meteor
Top Speed
It sounds self explanatory, but with boosting in this game there are multiple different types of top speeds
- Normal/Base Top speed: The top speed of a machine achieved without boosting or hitting a boost plate
- Boosting Top speed: The top speed machine achieved while boosting, without boost plates.
- Boost/Dash Plate Top speed: Top speed of a machine with any number of boost plates and boosting.
Normal/Base Top Speed
All of the machines used in WRs have a normal top speed of over 1100. The best original machines all have a top speed of over 1100 as well, although there are some machines with far less top speed that can duke among the high tier machines (Great Star’s good MTS, Twin Noritta’s powerful booster). The vast majority of original machines have a top speed of 1050 or under, which is always a huge disadvantage for those machines. Such a machine going against a high top speed machine will simply fall behind once that machine catches up. And that gap increases in courses with very limited energy refillers during boost laps. Although in shorter courses with boost plates, the higher acceleration machine might have a slight advantage.
Here are some notable normal top speeds
Fastest original machine: Black Bull (1130)
Slowest original machine: Silver Rat (1001)
Quick Star-G4: 1122
Gallant Star-G4: 1133
Here’s a list of the original machines and some of the custom machines normal top speeds: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_Anslffz9azuw0Fa3LqbnrfR1IlhBn0gtlzNLKyR-Wg/edit#gid=0
Boosting Top Speed
This can be broken down to Normal Boosting and Boost Plate top speed. Boost plates can make your machine reach speeds that normal boosting alone cannot achieve. The number of boosts it takes to reach the boosting top speed depends on the machine’s acceleration. Tool assisted testing needs to be performed to get accurate data, but here are some rough estimates.
Normal Boost top speed (All at 100% Settings)
Blue Falcon and many original machines: 1615
Fat Shark: 1758
Twin Noritta: 1742
Gallant Star-G4: 1779
Hyper Speeder: 1712
Death Anchor: 1705
Blood Hawk: 1567 (lowest in the game)
Mighty Typhoon: 1698
Boost Plate top speed
Fat Shark: About 2200ish
Controlling Your Machine. Technique #1 - Quick Turning
Going fast is all well and good, but if you can’t control your machine well enough, it won’t mean a whole lot. Controlling your machine all starts with your thumb. It needs to be precise and steady to keep your machine under control and to make it go where you need it to go. What is also important is knowing how the machine you race with will act under any circumstances, primarily getting a feel for when a machine will lose its grip when steering without using L or R. Getting to the point to become “one with the machine” will take a while. But in the meantime, learning how to quick turn will help immensely with taking sharp turns at full speed and taking long, gradual turns without losing grip and without the need to do the often speed-reducing Strafe Turn or the difficult to precisely control Drift Turn.
Quick Turn (QT)
When performed correctly, a quick turn will make your machine turn significantly more sharply and generally the machine loses less speed compared to a slide or drift turn (with exceptions). Japanese players initially called this technique Inside Drift, which is a very appropriate and factual description of the technique.
Inputs
Right Quick Turn: L+R, then turn right and let go of L at the same time
Left Quick Turn: L+R, then turn left and let go of R at the same time
Simplified: L+R > Right and R or Left and L
Alternatively: While the machine is drifting, hold L+Left or R+Right
Conditions for a quick turn to be executed
To perform a quick turn, you need to turn and hold the corresponding shoulder button while your machine is in a drift state1 (which is why you hold L and R initially before turning). If performed correctly it won’t look like you drifted at all, but there is a fraction of a moment where you turn while both L and R are held down before letting go of one of those buttons.
You can perform a quick turn without holding L and R initially if your machine is already drifting, whether you initiated it with L/R or not. This is why for many newer players, when they sometimes try to do a Strafe Turn, they end up accidentally doing a quick turn instead because when they smash the control stick, they put their machine into the drift state before the strafe fully kicks in. Since a quick turn is usually much sharper than other types of turning it throws them off.
Unexpected quick turns also happens if you’re already steering normally, but you then decide to strafe while still turning. Depending on the amount of strafe input (less strafe input seems to make it easier to lose grip) and how strong the machine’s Grip 1 stat is, it can cause your machine to enter a drift state and you will begin a quick turn. It will take some time to learn to avoid this, mainly by doing smaller quick turns instead or being very careful with your steering/strafe inputs.
1Drift State: Your machine is considered to be in a Drift State if it lost its grip, whether it is lost on purpose with L+R or by cornering at a high speed
Which machines can and can’t Quick Turn well
All top tier machines except for Black Bull benefit immensely from quick turning. Black Bull at 100% loses a lot of speed from it. Custom machines used in WRs gain some speed. Fat Shark loses some speed but far less compared to any other type of turning.
There are a number of original machines and certain custom machine combos that fall into the following categories
- Turns well but loses a lot of speed at 100% settings - Black Bull, Red Gazelle, Night Thunder
- Is difficult to perform it in the first place due to very strong grip and/or doesn’t doesn’t have a good turn radius - Mighty Hurricane, HARD BANGER
In the first case, sometimes you have to accept the speed loss in sharper turns, but you would want to perform a Strafe Turn or MTS instead whenever you can. Though you can use side attacks to minimize the speed you lose from a quick turn, which will be explained more later on this guide.
Also many of these machines form the red drifting sparks during the quick turn, Black Bull included. QT and drift turn for such machines are still fundamentally different on how it turns.
In the second case, usually a drift turn would be the best choice instead. Another thing you can try is to spin attack since spin attack makes the machine lose grip more easily.
When to use Quick Turning
This mainly depends on your current proficiency with quick turning and the machine you are using. If you are still getting used to it, then you’d mainly use them on any sharp turn. As you get better with them, you can use them on pretty much every turn if the machine doesn’t lose much speed from quick turns. Performing small quick turns on a long, gradual turn gives you better control of the machine compared to feathering the control stick.
It can also be used to make mini adjustments, particularly to get to a boost plate without strafing.
If you are using a machine that loses a lot of speed when quick turning, try to not use it unless you really need to.
If you are using a machine that loses a lot of speed from stick steering (Fat Shark), as long the machine doesn’t lose as much speed from quick turning, use it whenever at every corner.
Practicing Quick Turning
I recommend starting out in Multiplex when you first try to learn quick turning, due to its many 90 degree turns and the one 180 degree turn. Thunder Road and Spiral are also good courses if you have those unlocked. Focus on executing it without having any red sparks come out and getting used to the timing of when to turn. I imagine you may at first perform it too early and hit the wall or perform the inputs slowly. Performing all of the inputs can be done very quickly, like a tenth of a second quick. Try it out without boosting initially, but then try it out when boosting.
One thing to note is that when you start the initial L+R inputs for QTing, you DON’T NEED to hold both of them down all the way. As long both buttons are pushed down even just 10% of the way when you start turning, the QT will still be performed. It is ultimately better to not hold down both L and R all the way since you will be able to execute a quick turn more quickly. Also, it is easier to break your machine’s grip if one or both of the trigger buttons are only partially held down.
Once you get the hang of executing a single big quick turn on various courses, use either Fat Shark or Gallant Star-G4 and practice short quick turns in Surface Slide and Mobius Ring. What you want to do is get in a good, steady and consistent rhythm. After performing the first short QT, don’t rush it for now. Wait about nearly a full second before the next QT to release the shoulder button, reset your control stick to neutral. Once you get it done without boosting, try boosting through the turn.
Once you get the hang of it, see if you can perform smaller QTs at a slightly faster rate. You may get stuck and start messing up at a certain point, but that is okay. It’s not something that can be mastered overnight. It takes hours and hours of repeated execution to gain the muscle memory to perform it like the top players can.
Additional Quick Turning Advice and Tricks
Switching Quick Turn Direction
You may know this already if you’ve played the game a lot before, but it is possible to chain a left QT into a right QT by simple going from L+Left and R+Right and vice versa. It’s the same inputs used when snaking. There are certain S turns where this can be applied - Namely Surface Slide and Drift Highway’s infamous “chicane.” This can also be used to exit a quick turn without overturning inadvertently into the wall and going in the direction you want.
Short Quick Turns
I mentioned this in the “Practicing Quick Turns” section but I’d like to talk about it in more detail here.
When using Fat Shark or Gallant, whose turning capabilities without quick turning are rather poor, there are still turns they can make by using the stick alone or with strafe steering. Problem is, those machines (especially Fat Shark) will lose a considerable amount of speed when making a hard turn without quick turning. What you can do instead is to perform multiple short quick turns to go through the turn without losing as much speed.
The benefits of short quick turns isn’t limited to speed alone. Once you get proficient with them, you’ll find that you have much better control of your machine during the turn, even with machines that steer a lot better than Fat Shark or Gallant. It is easier because performing a long single turn with this game’s sensitive controls can be tricky at high speeds. But with short QTs, you aren’t performing one turn, you are performing several short turns. And in between those QTs the machine is going straight. When going straight you can’t lose grip.
You can also do multiple short turns with drift turns instead, but that is a lot more unstable with a slippery machine. And with Fat Shark and probably Gallant as well you lose more speed compared to quick turns. It is certainly more difficult to learn short QTing but it will most certainly be worth it later on.
And remember, you do not need to press both L and R all the way down when starting your quick turn. You can partially press both of them initially, then release one of them and press the other button down all the way depending on the direction you want to turn.
Short Quick Turning Video Demo
Drift (MTS) into Quick Turn
If you need to make a very sharp turn and a quick turn isn’t going to cut it, then what you would do is to perform a brief drift turn and then from that drift do a QT. Or once you learn how to MTS, which is covered later on, that let’s you get a temporary speed gain and rotate your machine to navigate a sharp turn, which is among the most satisfying things to do in this game for me.
Performed in Aero Dive run (Credit: CGN)
Extended Quick Turn
Some courses have long, sharp turns, but not sharp enough that if you do a sharp as possible quick turn, the machine will get closer to the inside wall. While stopping the quick turn briefly and performing another one would work, there is a way to perform one smooth QT, hugging the inside wall throughout the turn with some machines (Most notably in Loop Cross). There are two different ways of doing this.
- Tapping/holding the opposite shoulder button: When you tap or hold the opposite shoulder button without releasing the button and direction you were already holding, this makes the machine go into a drift. Multiple quick taps will suffice. Holding down the opposite shoulder button slightly for a longer time works too. This method works well with Quick, Gallant. It also works with Fat Shark, but I would use the next method since Fat Shark’s drift turn reduces his speed heavily.
- Feathering the control stick: This works with machines that are more difficult to regain grip after going into a drift. All of the top tier machines fit that bill, although Black Bull at 100% has no reason to perform an extended QT. But as the description suggests, you simply sort of wiggle the control stick as you perform the quick turn. Don’t return the stick back to neutral position as this might cancel the quick turn all together. Once you get too close to the wall, turn less sharply, but then turn more sharply again.
Of course if simply holding fully left or right gets the job done then do that instead.
Basics of Dives, Jumps and Landing
Jumps and dives are an integral part to many of the courses in this series, GX included. Performing these jumps optimally will greatly improve your times in courses with many jumps and/or have one large jump by granting you extra speed upon landing or accessing the various skips the courses provide.
Inputs
Pitch nose down: Hold Up
Pitch nose up: Hold Down
You generally want to do Strafe Turns if you need to steer mid-air (By holding L or R)
Before and during the dive/jump
Jump or dive, you want to line it up properly. In dives/jumps that don’t require you to turn at all, make sure you line up properly to minimize/eliminate any mid air adjustments.
For most jumps you want to dive down as much as possible immediately, so right before the jump or at the very beginning of it, you want to hold up. It only takes a brief moment for the machine to pitch down as far as it can. The reason you want to dive down is simple - because it’s faster in most cases. Your machine gains 100s of KM/H very quickly, especially with heavy machines. And that some of that speed gained from diving down can be kept if you land properly, which I will get into in the next subsection.
Once the machine is pitched all the way down, the pitch angle can only be adjusted if you press down on the stick. Setting the stick back to neutral position won’t adjust the machine’s current pitch angle.
Most of the time, you want to be holding the accelerator during the jump. If you don’t, you won’t gain speed from the jump while diving at all.
Aerial Cornering
If the jump/dive requires you to make a sharp turn, there are two different approaches you can take the jump and make sure you don’t miss the track.
- Line up the jump in the direction of the turn so you have to do little/no turning mid air to make the turn.
- When you are about to hit the jump plate, hold Up and perform a Strafe Turn.
Which approach you should take depends on the jump. You can combine both approaches as well. In Serial Gaps it is possible to hit the jump plate and land on the section with the ice, which requires turning sharply mid air.
You could also steer in the air without holding L or R. You would just steer less sharply, and with machines that steer very sharply in the air, the camera becomes janky. However it does have some uses in top level strategies.
Increasing Hang Time/Brief Note on Spaceflying
One thing to note is that during a dive (nose pitched down), if you perform a strafe turn in mid air (you should pretty much always strafe when turning in the air), while turning, the machine will descend more slowly, thus gaining some distance on your jump. On a simple, straight dive, doing this will be slower than diving down and staying straight, but this will help with performing certain skips. This same principle at the most extreme level (very light machine at 0% settings) will make the machine gain air, which is called Spaceflying.
A light custom machine with the Speedy Dragon body part (used in Quick Star-G4) at 100% can spacefly. However the use of spaceflying is heavily restricted in the max speed ladder. Checkpoint skipping is also banned.
Another way to increase your hang time, although it should only be used as a last resort, is to use the air brake. If you are in the air and you don’t think you’ll be able to turn the machine enough to make it back on the track (Happens a lot in Split Oval), it might just save you.
Gliding to Clear Gaps and Perform Skips
There are certain skips where you may have to not dive down to be able to clear the gap. The faster you are going before the jump/dive, the farther the machine will travel. So if you don’t clear the gap, then either you simply have to go faster or you can also use a lighter machine as the lighter the machine, the farther it will glide.
When performing a glide at high speeds from boosting, you can further extend the glide and maintain more speed by performing what’s called a Momentum Throttle (MT) while the machine is in the air. MT is a basic technique where you let go of the Accelerator at over a certain speed to make your speed decelerate more slowly. Let go of the A button right when your machine goes into the air. Press A again when you are certain the machine can clear the gap.
If you are diving down, but it looks like you won’t clear the gap, you can level your machine early by holding down for a short time and release A to glide a longer distance the rest of the way to hopefully clear it. But to get the proper angle to get back into a glide again is tricky. It is very easy to make your machine stall in the air instead. But if you don’t hold down for long enough you will still fall down quickly. Try it out in Aero Dive. Dive down after gaining speed but purposely make sure you don’t land on the track. Try levelling out the machine right when the machine is level with the track. If you perform it correctly, your machine will glide well enough that the track may end up being below your machine, allowing you to land back on the track (unless you use a very heavy machine and aren’t going fast enough).
Impact of boost state while gliding or diving
Being in boost state also can change how fast you are going in the air and how your machine glides. This is what I have observed
For jumps where you start off by gliding (not diving downward)
-If going off it at a fairly high speed (1400+), with boost MT ending right before or shortly after you catch air, you will glide the farthest
-But boosting right before the jump and MTing (or holding A until the boost ends) makes the machine lose air faster compared to the first method, but you will sustain more speed because the machine is boosting
-If you boost and don’t MT, your speed will rapidly decrease once the boost ends, thus decrease the distance you can glide greatly
For diving downward then transitioning to a glide
-Boosting before or after that transition will make you lose air rapidly. This effect is much more pronounced in this scenario compared to the above gliding only scenario.
For jumps where you dive down immediately
-Boosting will greatly increase your speed during and after the jump
-However being in boost state will make side attacks give less speed (Side attacks used properly gives you a lot of extra speed. This will be covered later in this guide in it’s own section)
To summarize
-To get the most out of gliding, increase speed (whether by boosting or through a dive), then MT when you begin a dive. Make sure the boost ends right before or shortly after you catch air.
-Boost state decreases how far your machine glides, but makes your machine go faster if you are on the throttle.
-You need to MT to be able to glide long distances. MT let’s the machine maintain a lot of speed after a boost finishes or when leveling off from a dive.
-Boosting while diving downward greatly increases your speed, but side attacks would not be as effective if the machine is in the boost state.
Sticking the landing
Pitching the nose down and not adjusting it before you land will make you lose a lot of speed when you land. If you instead press down at just the right time (Like about ⅓ of a second before you land I’m guesstimating), your machine will land with more speed. There’s no reason at all to not do this unless unusual circumstances prevents you from leveling your machine at all (like needing to keep on turning to make it back to the track).
If your machine is level in order to clear a gap and you are able to clear it with space to spare, you can do a brief downward dive and level off which will usually be faster than staying level.
In any moderately large jump/dive, you can land with even more speed if you boost right before you land. You can also land a big dive with more speed by performing Momentum Throttling (MT) right before landing. To do this you simply let go of A immediately after you begin to level the machine. If done right, you should notice the difference immediately even without looking at the speedometer.
Also, even if you land a decent sized jump below the machine’s MT point1 (Which will be covered in detail in the next section), it is still beneficial to land with a brief MT. Let go of A as you level your machine, and the moment after you land, press A again.
1MT Point: The speed where it is no longer beneficial to continue MTing. You want to end your MT at approximately the machine’s MT point.
Also, just to give a sort of tease of what’s to come, it is possible to go at very high speeds after landing (over 2000 kmh) if you use side attacks while diving. I will explain the best way of going about that when I talk about side attacks later in this guide.
How to GO FAST and Maintaining High Speeds - Technique #2: Momentum Throttle (MT)
I had already briefly introduced MT when talking about gliding and landing jumps. MT is much more than that though. Good MTing, coupled with good boosting (and shift boosting), allows you to better maintain your speed throughout the entire lap. It is the most significant time saving technique in this game. Here’s how it’s done.
Momentum Throttle (MT)
This is a technique where you let go of the accelerator input while going at a speed above the machine’s MT point to make your machine decelerate more slowly.
Momentum Throttle Point (MT Point)
The speed where it is no longer beneficial to continue MTing. You want to end your MT at approximately the machine’s MT point by holding A.
Input
You simply let go of the A button to perform this technique. And hold A again once it is no longer beneficial to MT. It may sound simple, but learning the timing to perform and end a MT, and the situations where it is beneficial to MT isn’t something that can be mastered right away.
When to use MT
While on the ground, you want to use it whenever your machine is above its MT point AND while the machine is not boosting, and end it when your speed reaches that same MT point or when you hit a boost plate/use a boost. Here are the MT points of some notable machines:
Fat Shark: 1273
Blue Falcon: 1186
Black Bull: 1342
Quick Star-G4: 1309
Gallant Star-G4: 1356
Omega Gantlet-V2: 1389
Spreadsheet with the rest of the MT points of the original machines
You also want to MT right before you begin to level off your machine to land a large dive. Optimally you want to MT 2-6 frames after you first hold down to level out your machine. The MT will allow you to transfer more of the speed gained from the dive to the ground.
MT can also be used during a sudden, steep incline (Think Multiplex and Aero Dive) to lessen the speed you lose from going up it. It is beneficial below the MT point as well, so don’t forget to MT whenever you go by one.
MTing Sharp Incline Comparison
Before I give you advice on how to practice it, I should mention a utilization of MT that deserves to be its own technique, MT Boost
Momentum Throttle Boost (MT Boost)
Did you know that after you activate a boost, after the boost finishes and going above a certain speed, the game prevents you from immediately boosting again for as much as 10 frames? We cannot boost in that period, so instead we can utilize the MT technique to minimize the speed you lose in the time between the end of the boost until we are able to activate the next boost
Inputs
Let go of A shortly before the boost ends, and then after the boost ends, hold A and tap the boost button at nearly the same time (A first, since it needs to be held to perform a boost in the first place).
Boost Delay Table and Recommendation on when to start MT Boosting
Below is a table created by Joselle on the delay in frames between boosts depending on your speed right as the boost ends
Basically the faster you are going, the longer you are locked from boosting again up until 1800 KMH. I’ll elaborate more on what I’m about to say in the next section, but I only recommend starting to MT boost once the boost delay reaches 4-5 frames, so anywhere between 1440 to 1560. From my testing it seems despite being above the machine’s MT point, a well timed boost without MTing is faster than MT boosting at these lower speeds. But since it’s tough to time it perfectly without practice, mashing the boost button until you exceed the mentioned speeds might be the way to go.
For more information on boost delay, check out Joselle’s article on it here - https://github.com/JoselleAstrid/fzerogx-docs/blob/master/mechanics/boost_delay.md
Practicing Momentum Throttle
Okay, that was a lot of info just now, so I will hold off from talking more about MT until later.
There’s MTing after gaining speed from boosts, between boosts, before landing a jump, and there’s even MTing during quick turns. There’s a lot to get used to, so I would recommend learning each utilization of MT one at a time initially. If you have played this game for a while already and never MTed, this will likely take a while for you to get used to, to break the habit of always holding the A button.
First off, about the MT point, while you eventually do want to remember the machines’ MT points, when getting used to MT, it isn’t super vital to press A at the exact speed. It is difficult to keep your eye on both the speedometer and the track while learning the game, so you don’t need to be perfect when ending the MT. 1300 is a good point for Quick Star and Fat Shark, while 1350 can be used for Gallant or other heavy custom machines. Take the machine’s MT point and round to the closest 50 kmh.
If you don’t have Sonic Oval unlocked yet, I would recommend first learning MT at Aero Dive in practice mode. On the long straight at the end of the lap or right after the jump, perform 2-3 boosts and try it out. While you may look at the speedometer a lot because you are going straight, try to get a feel for when your speed is near the MT point so you only look at it shortly before it reaches that point. Even top players performing difficult starts sometimes don’t get the luxury of keeping an eye at the speed.
While practicing, another thing you want to take note is your machine’s boost duration. Perform one boost, and focus on the sound of the boost and the color of the plasma fire. During the boost the color of the plasma changes. The moment it changes back to its original color, that is when the boost ends. You also want to take note on what sound the booster was making when the boost ended. You can use that sound as a cue as to when you should begin MTing after a boost.
Armed with this info and the sound cue, try out MT boosting at Sonic Oval or Aero Dive. Initially you can MT for about a half second before initiating the next boost. Then once you succeed with the current timing, try to shorten the MT. If you try to boost but it doesn’t come out, that means the boost you activated before is still ongoing, thus too early. To tell if you either started the MT too early or too late, you can save a replay (or capture the footage with a capture card or camera) and observe it yourself. If you see streaks of lines coming out of the engine for about a third of a second or longer during the MT, that means you are MTing too early. If you see your speed dip rapidly before you MT and see the color of the plasma change before you MT, you are MTing too late.
One thing to keep in mind. If your speed is still below or slightly above the machine’s MT point, you should avoid MT boosting. Either repeatedly tap the boost button or time it well. If there comes a point where it is awkward to MT boost or you lost the timing for it, then there’s no shame in mashing the boost button. It is very easy to lose track of when a boost ends when learning to MT. In general, I’d only start MT boosting once your machine reaches about 1400s to 1500s, depending on your machine’s acceleration and its top speed. The higher the acceleration, the sooner you start MT boosting.
At some point you want to take it to a course, perhaps Twist Road initially, to practice MT boosting while maneuvering through the course, and utilizing quick turns at the same time. And then just keep on utilizing MT from then on. As long as you continue to do that you will gradually get better and better with this technique. Do it enough and you’ll be as proficient as the top players.
As you reach higher speeds and get better with MT boosting, you might inadvertently finish your MT early and attempt to boost before the boost delay finishes.Once you get good with the timing at low/mid boosting speeds, it’s just a matter of remembering and learning to slightly MT for slightly longer once you approach those higher speeds (1600+).
Early vs Late vs Proper MT Boosting
Brief note on boost plates affecting MT point and Boosting MT point
There is one other type of MT point I should inform you of, and boost plates adds to the complexity. I’ll try to make this as simple as possible.
But before that, a new term! You probably realize by now there is a lot of jargon in this game
Boost State
Your machine is considered to be in a boost state if it is currently receiving a boost that is activated with the boost button or from a boost plate.
Now onto the explanation.
Boost Plate Impacting the MT Point
The MT Point temporarily raises during a boost plate boost. The duration this lasts for seems to be the machine’s normal boost duration, not the boost plate duration. The MT point after hitting a boost plate is always higher than the normal MT point. The MT points are different between hitting the middle of the boost plate compared to hitting the edge of it
For hitting the middle of the boost plate, It is approximately 200 Kmh higher than the MT point. While it is about 250 Kmh higher if you hit the edge of the boost plate. The reason this happens is because while your machine is in the boost state, your machine’s acceleration temporarily gets lowered by a significant amount. Use the same method as I mentioned earlier to determine when the boost plate boost ends, so you know when to begin to MT after hitting a boost plate.
Regarding the part I bolded, while I did want to mention it, I wouldn’t consider this when deciding whether or not to MT while you're still learning MT. The time you save from this is not significant.
Boost State MT Point
This is the speed where, below this Boost State MT Point, it is better to boost and hold A throughout the boost. While your speed is above it, it is better to boost and immediately MT afterwards (until the speed dips below it).
For the heavy top tier machines the boost state MT point is at around 2000 kmh. Fat Shark is around 1950ish. For Gallant Star and Black Bull it’s around 2100. For Blue Falcon it is at around over 1870 kmh.
And like with regular MT, hitting a boost plate raises the boost state MT point by 200ish or so
Initially you really don’t need to worry about these two types of MT too much. Just go with the estimate I provided for MT point after a boost plate. For the boost state MT point, it is difficult to reach those speeds unless you perform side attacks during a big dive or perform shift boosts. But if you notice your speed is above 2000, or you know your speed will exceed it after a jump, try it out.
I go into more detail regarding these more complicated MT matters towards the end of the guide.
Summarizing MT Points
Basic MT point=Applicable after gaining speed from a large jump or boosting
Add about 200 if you hit a boost plate. If you boost shortly before hitting the boost plate, don’t add the 200.
Boost state MT point=Around 1900-2000. When boosting at 2000ish or below, hold A through the bost. If you are at around 2100 or above, let go of A right after you initiate the boost.
MT to reduce speed loss from Quick Turning
This is most applicable to Fat Shark, Black Bull and machines that lose a lot of speed during a quick turn. When taking a sharp turn, most notably the hairpin turn in Multiplex, even the speed during the turn is below the machine’s MT point, it is faster if you MT during the quick turn. It isn’t as effective once the speed nears its normal top speed.
Boosting will prevent the machine from losing too much speed, but that boost would usually be better used elsewhere.
Sharp Turn Quick Turn vs MT Quick Turn Comparison
MTing right before hitting a jump plate or when starting a dive
Jump Plate MT
Right before you hit a jump plate, it is beneficial to do a brief MT before repressing A. The reason why it’s faster is because when you hit a jump plate while holding up, you gain a huge burst of speed. By MTing you get to retain more of that speed.
The faster you are going, the longer you will want to MT. At lower speeds (1100s) with at least a mid-weight machine (+1500 KG), you’d only MT for about a few tenths of a second or so. If you’re going 1600+, then you’d MT for closer to one second.
Machine weight matters since heavier machines gains more speed dash plates. If you’re using a lighter machine, you will want to MT less from jump plates compared to using machines like Fat Shark, Gallant Star, assuming you hit the jump plate at around the same speed.
All of these estimates are based on my and other players’ experience while Time Attacking. It has never been confirmed through tool assisted testing whether my figures are accurate, so it’s good to experiment against a ghost or your own testing to determine the right amount of MT after hitting a jump plate.
Start of dive MT
For a regular dive, it seems better to briefly MT when you are going at least 1500ish kmh when you begin your dive. Once your machine is pitched all the way down, press A again. But if you are in the boost state (and going 2000ish or below), it seems to be better to hold A the entire time.
Technique #3 - Momentum Turbo Slide (MTS)
High Speed Anti-Gravity Drifting?!?! Welcome to (in my opinion) the funnest advanced technique in F-Zero GX.
Momentum Turbo Slide (MTS)
While the machine is in the drift state, if you turn, let go of the accelerator and press and hold on the OPPOSITE shoulder button direction of the direction you are steering, all at the same time, the machine will quickly accelerate to high speeds during the drift and turn in the direction the control stick is pointing towards.
Wow, that technical description is really, really complicated. Let me break it down for you.
It’s a high speed drift. A MTS can exceed over 3000 kmh with the top tier machines if they are going fast enough before starting the MTS. Sounds broken right? It would be if the track goes in a tight circle. As the turn ends if you don’t change anything you will hit the wall. But avoid the wall by counter steering and you will lose a lot of speed. I’ll explain how to exit a MTS without losing too much speed.
Inputs and Conditions
Right MTS: L+R and Right. Then Let go of R and A. Keep on holding L and Right
Left MTS: L+R and Left. Then Let go of L and A. Keep on holding R and Left
Need to be in a drift state (breaking your grip) when letting go of A and holding the appropriate shoulder button to properly execute the MTS
Basic method to end a MTS (Strafe Turn MTS exit)
Press A, keep on holding the shoulder button and steer the opposite direction all at the same time
If you don’t need to counter steer to avoid the wall, just press A, reset control stick position and let go of the shoulder button
Quick Turn MTS exit
Press A, tap (don’t hold) the other shoulder button, keep on holding the previously held shoulder button and steer the opposite direction. All at the same time
Quick Star MTSing Demo (with all exits)
Performing a sharper MTS turn
There’ll be many times where, if left uncorrected, your machine in the MTS will hit the outside wall because it isn’t turning sharply enough. To avoid this, you simply have to tap or hold the unheld shoulder button while performing the MTS. But there is the drawback that you will lose some speed while the second shoulder button is held, so you want to aim to do this only when you absolutely need to.
Characteristics of Machines that can and can’t MTS well
Machines that form the red sparks and can perform a big, wide drift turn are usually capable of MTSing. Machines with a strong strafe and fulfills the condition in the previous sentence are usually the strongest MTSers. While machines with a weak strafe never have a strong MTS.
Best: Quick Star-G4 and Omega Wyvern-V2
Excellent: Black Bull, Gallant Star-G4 (after you boost a few times), Customs with E rated body
Very good: Customs with D rated body, Great Star, Fat Shark
Decent: Blue Falcon, Dark Schneider, Mighty Gazelle, Fire Stingray, Custom machine with Valiant Jaguar body
Not great or unable to MTS at all: Rest of the original machines, and a good chunk of customs with certain body parts (A rated ones other than Dread Hammer, Holy Spider can’t really MTS. C and B rated customs are in the Not Great category).
When to MTS?
This heavily depends on the machine you are using and whether you are in lap 1, or laps 2 and 3. With Quick Star and Black Bull, you generally want to MTS every corner unless it is too narrow on lap 1. On boost laps, you generally want to MTS less often and only corners where you can MTS for a long time in order to build more speed through boosting, as you typically come out with less speed than when you started a MTS (unless perform a MTS into a shift boost, more on that later on). While Black Bull still wants to MTS as often or nearly as often due to his machine losing a lot of speed from quick turning.
Fat Shark and Gallant in lap 1 typically only want to MTS after it gains some speed from a boost plate(s) or from a jump. Performing a MTS at normal top speed with them usually isn’t worth it. And on boost laps you want to use it going at high speeds (1500 and up in most cases) on wide, relatively sharp turns and really long turns.
Practicing Momentum Turbo Slide
Twist Road or Sonic Oval are the ideal courses to first try out MTSing. Although if you do Sonic Oval, you definitely do want to try out Twist Road soon since this game isn’t Nascar. Don’t worry too much about the MTS exit in the first few minutes. Just focus on being able to start a MTS consistently and cleanly. It is very easy to do with Quick Star. But it is slightly more difficult with Fat Shark since it has a lot more grip. With Fat Shark if you are having trouble starting one, you likely need to hold both L and R and the direction you’re steering slightly longer before you perform the rest of the inputs. And don’t forget to try MTSing only after boosting a couple times.
You generally want to exit the MTS just before or the moment your machine starts moving closer towards the inside wall. If you wait too long, you will likely hit the wall if it is too close to you. I would try performing both exits so you can feel the difference between the two and how it handles. Quick turn exits are faster for heavier machines, but there are times where a Strafe Turn exit is safer on certain turns. Strafe Turn exits is faster over quick turn exits for Quick Star.
Surface Slide is a good course to try out MTS on a variety of corners. So are Thunder Road and Spiral if you have those courses unlocked. At this point you want to try to perform MTSing without hitting the walls. All of the top tier machines have different MTS turn radiuses, so it will take some time to adjust if you try it out with a different machine. Quick Star has the widest radius, so that machine has to start the MTS earlier than any other machine. Gallant and Fat Shark are similar. For those two machines it is only really worth it to MTS once you gain extra speed from a boost or jump. Black Bull is in the middle if you really want to learn how to handle this wild beast so soon.
Various ways of applying MTS
MTSing through a 180 degree turn and S turns
In boost laps, you can take advantage of MTSing to go through hairpin corners more quickly. But MTSing the entire turn, and having to press both L and R to avoid hitting the wall costs you speed during and after the MTS. But if you switch the shoulder button you hold once you clear the turn and boost, you will still come away at a fairly high speed, saving time compared to taking it with a just a quick turn or a standard MTS. The most notable example of this being used in top runs is in Screw Drive and Ordeal.
Here are the inputs to do this
Going left: R and Left (Middle of left MTS) then let go of R and hold L at the sametime. Then press A again then boost
Building on this, you can then perform another MTS if there’s a second corner that is MTS-able. The main section this is done is in Ordeal after you enter the tunnel. Quick Star can utilize this by starting a MTS in the straight, and then MTS the other way for the next turn. Or exit a MTS on a turn with another one.
MTS into Sharp Turn (Quick Star)
MTS into Sharp Turn (Gallant Star)
Switch MTS (Quick and Gallant)
MTS into Jump Plate or Standard Jump
In courses with jump plates, you can gain a lot more height and distance from a jump plate if you MTS through a jump plate. Just like I mentioned before, don’t press A again until the machine starts descending (typically about a half second to a full second after hitting the jump plate). And in most cases, once you hit the jump plate you want to steer the other way immediately so you steer back towards the track.
You can also add in some side attacks to gain even more speed from the jump. I will talk about that in more detail later on.
Example in Undulation (Credit: Brave)
Example in Double Branches (Credit: superSANIC)
Doing the same before a jump without a jump plate has a similar but much less pronounced effect. Typically you hold L+Left or R+Right to steer back towards the track. The two combined will make your jump go noticeably farther.
Most of the time skilled players would start side attacking to gain a lot more speed and jump distance. That will be talked about in more detail later on.
Example in Meteor Stream, without Side Attacks (Credit: Mengsk)
Example in Serial Gaps, with some Side Attacks
Loop MTS
It is possible to MTS right next to the wall on a loop without hitting it if you build some speed and perform a shallow MTS right next to the wall. To perform this, when you initiate the MTS, you only steer for a split second. Then you reset the control stick to the neutral position. As long you hold L or R and not press A, the machine will oddly drift right next to the wall. Then, as the loop ends, you can steer in the opposite direction of the wall briefly before you hold A again. You can try this out in Loop Cross. And the first three turns of Dragon Slopes has the same loop properties. Just make sure you don’t approach the wall too sharply.
It’s better to perform a left MTS against the right wall and vice versa, but a left MTS against a left wall and vice versa could work as well, especially on banked turns like the final turn in Sonic Oval.
MTS into MT
In lap 1, if you end up getting a lot of speed, usually from a large jump, and then have a chance to perform a MTS going at around 1500 or faster, instead of pressing A and exiting while going at speeds above the machine’s MT point, just straighten the machine without pressing A at all, making the machine maintain more speed. It is a MTS that seamlessly becomes MT this way.
Example during run (Credit: Brave)
Quick Note on MTS Chaining
I will go into much more detail about this difficult, huge time saving technique in the MTS Chaining section of the guide. But basically MTS chaining is where you perform multiple consecutive MTSs in a row in a straight or in long, gradual turns. This can be done somewhat easily with Quick Star with the use of Strafe Turn MTS exits. But this technique is much more effective with the use of side attacks between the MTSs.
Tapping the A button to regain grip and change direction
This isn’t something that is exclusive to MTSing, but I felt this was the most appropriate part of the guide to mention this.
When using a fairly slippery machine, there will likely be times where you are going at high speeds and your machine loses grip on accident or perhaps on purpose (Eg. MTS Chaining). With certain machines, (Black Bull, Quick Star, Night Thunder) you would have a tricky time regaining your grip without slowing down too much or accidentally hitting a wall. Strafing normally prevents you from losing grip, but once you lose grip, if you strafe but still find yourself needing to steer, you will do a quick turn instead. And Black Bull and Night Thunder produce those red drifting sparks when they quick turn.
Strafing without steering is one way to get the drift to stop and regain your grip, but an easier way to do this (while maintaining more speed in most cases) is to quickly let go of A and hold it again. When you hold A again after letting go of it, it does two things
- You instantly regain grip
- Your machine goes in the direction it is pointing towards at the time you press A again
When you start trying to apply this tech of repressing A to regain grip, you maybe caught off guard by the direction change and hit the wall. You can avoid this by doing a Strafe Turn away from the wall (a regular turn might make you lose grip again).
If you have been doing MTSs for a while, then you should have an understanding of this, even if you were not fully aware that it can be applied in non MTSing situations (I never thought to do this until I saw a certain player doing this).
There are certain ways to take advantage of the direction change from tapping the A button. The main way is to do MTS before a sharp turn and pressing A to go through the turn more quickly. Here are the some of the main examples of this in Time Attack play:
Drift Highway (Credit: superSANIC)
Surface Slide (Snaking) (Credit: Battlestream)
The Properties of a MTS
There are three main properties of a MTS: Ease of executing a MTS, the speed that can be reached from a MTS, and speed retention after a MTS. I’ll rank the four top tier machines for each of these properties so you have a better idea of the differences between them.
Ease of executing a MTS
- Quick Star-G4
- Black Bull
- Gallant Star-G4
- Fat Shark
MTS Top Speed (starting from low speed - <1100 kmh)
- Quick Star-G4
- Black Bull
- Gallant Star-G4/Fat Shark
MTS Top Speed (starting from high speed - >1500 kmh)
- Gallant Star-G4/Quick Star-G4
- Black Bull
- Fat Shark
MTS Speed Retention (speed after a MTS)
- Black Bull/Gallant Star-G4
- Quick Star -G4
- Fat Shark
Impact of Boost State during a MTS
Being in the boost state when MTSing is often beneficial. You reach higher speeds, and your speed goes down more slowly during the boost state. If there is a boost plate on a turn you MTS, you’ll want to try to hit it while going at high speeds.
Though it may be slower if you start the MTS at lower speeds (1100s), or if the machine’s MTS top speed is considerably less than the machine’s Boost State MT. This was something I noticed when hitting early dash plates in Sonic Oval.
MTS Sweetspot Turn Angle
You may think that the more you turn the machine during a MTS, the faster the MTS will be. That is the case for Quick Star, but oddly that isn’t the case for Fat Shark, Gallant Star and Black Bull. This makes getting a perfectly optimal MTS with those machines impossible, but getting close to it can save a decent amount of time (Most notably Surface Slide and Sonic Oval with Black Bull).
The following link goes in detail about this. Here’s a summary of how much you have to steer to get the optimal MTS turn angle
Quick Star: Anything beyond 56%
Fat Shark: 91%
Gallant Star: 79%
Black Bull: 59%
Information on Optimal MTS Angle
Because I have the stick calibrated to the most sensitive setting the game gives you, I struggle with getting the ideal angle. I don’t bother with trying to get the optimal MTS any machine except with Black Bull, where it is important on Surface Slide. I wouldn’t worry about it while learning MTSing initially.
Technique #4 - Shift Boosting (SB)
You thought you were going fast? Just wait until you start to shift boosting.
Shift Boost (SB)
Shift boosting is where either going off the side of the track and getting back on within a few frames, or your machine escaping the track’s magnetic grip for a split second makes causes your machine gain speed
Why this even happens in the first place, nobody knows for sure. But the runs in this game are all the faster for it.
Inputs and Conditions to perform a successful SB
Strafe in the direction of the side you want to SB off of. Then once your machine is off track, strafe in the opposite direction immediately. When the machine is making the transition from off road to on road, you need to be holding the accelerator in order to get the speed boost.
Steering may or may not be necessary. The weaker your machine’s strafe is, the more necessary it becomes to steer to not fall off while performing this tech or to even execute it in the first place.
For the on road shift boosts, you need to be holding A during the time your machine lifts off from the track and lands back on the ground. Although it is possible for certain SBs to gain speed even if you don’t hold A (probably not as much speed though).
What determines how much speed you gain from a SB
Every machine can perform a SB, so I will discuss what determines the effectiveness of a SB instead. There are two main factors - Weight and Acceleration. Heavier>Lighter. Higher Accel>Lower Accel (for speed gained from SB).
There comes a point where a machine is too light to get any meaningful benefit from shift boosts, even if it has a very high acceleration (Twin Noritta). And an extremely heavy machine with poor acceleration will require several shift boosts to reach the speeds that Fat Shark or even Gallant Star-G4 achieves in just 2-3 shift boosts.
But what happens after the shift boost is just as important. A machine with high acceleration will lose the speed it gains after the shift boost(s) much more quickly compared to a machine with moderate or low acceleration. Gallant Star-G4 seems to be the best machine for courses that have shift boosts that are relatively spread apart and/or have large jumps, since it is heavy, and has just the right amount of acceleration to gain a decent amount of speed and losing that speed slowly. Whereas Fat Shark is better in courses that have many boost plates plus several shift boosting spots in a short span of time, accelerating his speed up to crazy fast speeds in a very quickly, putting him ahead of the pack despite the worse MT.
Where can you perform a shift boost?
For off road shift boosts, in most spots where there are no walls. Generally it is easier to execute a SB when the track is going downhill.
In Lateral Shift, you can perform a SB at the intersection of the “L” portion of the track, even though there is a wall at some of those sections. Similarly, you can also perform them right where the track begins to split into two or merge back into one in Trident.
For the on road shift boosts, it can be done on any part of the course that has a hump, as long you are going fast enough over it to lift off the course. But if the machine lifts off for too long it won’t be able to get the shift boost.
Practicing Shift Boosting
On Lateral Shift, use Fat Shark and try to get as many shift boosts as you can. Perform a strafe right at the corner where the track ends and where the track continues. If performed well, your speed will pick up quite quickly, especially if you have learned to MT well. Controlling the high speeds after doing a few SBs is something that less experienced players will need practice to get used to.
To practice off road shift boosts on other courses, I recommend trying it out in Trident first with Gallant Star. After the big dive (landing with MT). Approach the edge of one side of the track (doesn’t matter which side, do what’s most comfortable for you). I’d say the ideal distance away you should be is about...1-2 machine lengths. Wait until the track starts going downhill and then just go for it. If you were MTing, you have to tap and hold A briefly when your machine is off track going back on track. If you press A too late or release it too early, you won’t get the speed boost.
Try to get 3 shift boosts in a row. After you get the hang of the first one, the next two shouldn’t be too tough since the faster your machine is going, the easier it is to execute a SB. And once you get the hang of doing 3, see if you can get the SB where the track merges into one. At this point you might be thinking this is really fast. But then try another one when the track splits off again right after that (go into the middle path, it is much easier, trust me). If you pull off those 5 shift boosts with proper MTing you’ll really be flying.
The high speeds you’ll be going after 3 SBs might cause you to fall off the narrow track inadvertently. This is one of the reasons why developing a steady thumb in this game is so important. But the main point for now is getting consistent with performing SBs, controlling the high speeds will come with time. It is quite precise to perform, but the two courses I mentioned are some of the easier ones to get to help you get a feel for it.
Undulation is a good course to try it out once you get the hang of Trident. The section with all of the hills before the jump plate has many SB opportunities when going downhill. On lap 1 it can be done on all downhills, but if you pick up enough speed you will start lifting off the track. There are opportunities as well after the first bumpy section until right before the two boost plates before the big dive.
On boost laps, if you boost constantly then the two SBs you can get are right at the beginning of the lap, right before the first refiller. You can also get one after the second refiller. Attempting to get those shift boosts while boosting, MTing will be excellent practice for those techniques and with your machine control.
When you lift off a hill in Undulation, just like with a dive, you want to be holding up to dive down immediately. If you bounce off the track, try to go off the side of the track when after you lift off. That will avoid that bounce off the track which would usually slow down the machine.
Shift Boosting Demo in Lateral Shift
Shift Boosting Demo in Trident
Examples of on road SBs
There are SBs you can get on the road on nearly every track, and many of them have a specific way to get the shift boost. Sometimes it’s consistent, sometimes it isn’t. There are plenty of videos out there that demonstrate those SBs. Here’s a couple you try can out without too much difficulty
Half Pipe with Fat Shark
- Before that tricky 3 turn chicane towards the end of the lap, if you boost over the small mound right after the left turn with the boost plate near the left edge of the track, there is a decent chance you will get a shift boost. Video of this SB
- At the very start of an attempt, hit the right edge of the boost plate. When approaching the boost plate, don’t take the most direct route as possible. Turn left sliiightly more so you need to turn right slightly to line up to hit the edge of the boost plate. Keep on trying until you get it, it shouldn’t take too long. I won’t spoil what happens if you get it correctly, it’ll be a pleasant surprise ;)
Video of this SB
Meteor Stream
- In lap 1, after the S turns with the slippery zone, if you perform good turns and avoid steering too much, you can get a shift boost. The SB you can get is different for Fat Shark and Gallant Star
- Fat Shark: After hitting the boost plate, right before the downhill ends, you can get a SB if you are going fast enough. Video of this SB (Credit: Brave)
- Gallant Star: Shortly after hitting the boost plate, you will lift off the track if you were going fast enough. If you hold Up before lifting off, you will perform get a shift boost and perform a fast jump. Video of this SB
- At the end of the lap, on the right corner of the slight right turn, there is a noticeable hump there. In lap 1 you need to drive very close to the wall to be able to lift off and possibly get the shift boost. In boost laps when boosting you don’t need to be as close. Video of this SB
Another way you can get the SB is to perform a MTS before it and then exiting it right at the point you would get the SB. I will talk more about MTS into SB (MTSISB) right… now
Momentum Turbo Slide into Shift Boost (MTSISB)
Performing a MTS with good MTSing machines let’s you gain enough speed to be able to lift off on very gradual hills. Then if you time pressing A right when you lift off, you can get a shift boost.
Performing this is as precise as it sounds, but once you practice a certain MTSISB enough you’ll learn the proper timing, and positioning to get it consistently. Here are some notable MTSISB examples:
Thunder Road with Gallant (Credit: CGN)
Boost State Impacting SB Speed Gain
While the boost state at high speeds benefits with your speed retention, it severely harms how much speed you gain from a shift boost, since being in a boost state lowers your acceleration. You want to try to have a boost strategy where your boost ends shortly before a shift boost. But sometimes it can’t be helped, especially if the alternative is losing too much time and speed waiting for the next SB to come.
Though if you are snaking or using a machine with very high acceleration, it might be beneficial since the machine will still gain substantial speed. For higher accel machines or playing at acceleration settings, the speed retention granted by being in a boost state is significantly more important.
Strafing Shift Boosts
Like the title of this section suggests, this is where you get a shift boost simply by strafing, but without going off the edge of the track. Instead, when done on a part of the track that is convexed shaped going across the track, if the machine moves left or right fast enough, it will get lifted off and possibly get a shift boost.
The corkscrew sections in Twist Road, Meteor Stream, Spiral and Ordeal, and outer pipe courses often provide the right type of track curvature to get this kind of shift boost. Meteor Stream also has an opportunity to get this SB on a non corkscrew section. Dragon Slopes too although it requires very high speeds to get.
The heavier the machine is, the more strafe movement and/or speed is required to get the lift off, so much so that you may have to stick steer in conjunction with strafing (essentially a quick Strafe Turn) to get the lift off.
I don’t think it hurts to also do a side attack while attempting this kind of shift boost. It really hasn’t been determined if it helps with getting the SB, if it leads to higher speeds or increases the chance of possibly getting a double SB.
Here are some of the main examples of strafing shift boosts
Twist Road, Ordeal, Meteor Stream
Technique #5 - Side Attacks (SAs) - Yes, we are about to go even faster
Here and there throughout the guide I have mentioned side attacks, but never gave an in depth explanation because side attacks are more than significant enough to warrant its own section.
If you look at the speedometer when performing a single side attack, you’ll notice the speed will jump up a little during it and then drop back down to normal speed quickly. You probably know you can spam side attacks quickly, probably from Chapter 4, but doing it somewhat erratically won’t do much speed and time wise. Here’s how you harness the potential of side attacks.
What impacts the effectiveness of the speed gained from a side attack
The first main factor is one that I’ve said a lot. It starts with a W, ends with a T… Yes it is weight, how did you know? The heavier the machine, the more speed you can gain, both in the air and the ground.
On the ground (ignoring MTS chaining for now), weight is still a big factor, but other factors like turning radius, speed loss from strafing impact how usable side attacks are in the ground for a machine. Although Fat Shark is a heavy machine and relishes side attacks in the air, on the ground? Not so much compared to Gallant due a stat that makes it lose a lot of speed whenever it turns.
Acceleration also is a factor for both ground and aerial SA usage. The higher it is, the more difficult it is to gain speed while performing side attacks since in the time between two side attacks, the machine’s speed will drop much faster compared to a low acceleration machine.
Side attacks can be used in conjunction with the three different types of turns. I’ll start with the most useful for SAs.
Side Attack Utilizations on the Ground
Side Attack+Strafe Turn
Inputs
Strafe Turn+Repeatedly press the side attack button
When to use this?
Mainly only on lap 1. Either on long, gradual turns (such as the first few turns in Aero Dive), or sharper but very wide turns (Thunder Road).
Which machines are good at this?
Machines that have a poor turn radius like Gallant, and do not lose much speed when Strafe Turning normally (which is why Fat Shark doesn’t gain much speed from it).
Practicing side attacks during a Strafe Turn
Try it out first on Twist Road with Gallant to get a feel for it. If you SA fast enough , the turn radius is larger compared to a vanilla Strafe Turn. To get the most out of it in gradual turns you want to point the machine somewhat away from the direction of the turn so you avoid hitting the inside wall right away. And obviously the faster you SA the faster you go, which is why I suggested switch side attack from X to Y or B.
On Aero Dive, try it on the first 4 turns. If you perform the SA fast enough, you’ll notice that you are not turning sharp enough to avoid hitting the outside wall. To prevent crashing into the wall, you can hold the other shoulder button briefly (while keeping the R button held the entire time) to turn slightly more sharply. But don’t hold it for too long or you’ll quickly turn into the inside wall and/or lose control of the machine.
SA+Drift Turn
Black Bull is the only machine among the top machines that has a real reason to use this, but Gallant can make use of it as well if SA+Strafe Turn isn’t sharp enough for the turn. Even then its uses are very niche. Black Bull likes this option if you are at low speeds (below 1000). Usually for Black Bull it is better to MTS and exit with side attacks once it is running near its normal top speed
SA+Quick Turn
Like the drift turn, there are few situations where this is the best option to turn. On very sharp turns, you can use side attacks during a quick turn to gain some speed where MTSing isn’t suitable. With Black Bull, that will prevent the machine from losing speed at max speed settings.
Side Attacking in the Air
I stated earlier that the heavier the machine, the faster it accelerates while diving in the air. I’ll explain the other main factor in detail:
Turn Radius: You want to switch the direction you are turning in the air as few times as possible, since having to do that will cost you some speed when you land. For machine’s like Quick Star, this can be mitigated by MTSing hard to the left, so you have to turn to the right hard when you begin SAing (and vice versa). But in larger dives such machines still have to change direction at least once to continue side attacking while Gallant doesn’t have to do that at all or far fewer times.
Before performing a SA dive
You usually want to position your machine towards one side of the track. Then you perform either a MTS or a drift turn towards the opposite side right before falling off. Then you have the option to continue steering the same way if you need more distance to make sure you don’t have to switch your direction mid-air while SAing. Or you can immediately turn the other direction and start side attacking.
Middle of the dive
Spam side attacks as fast as you can (yes this deserved its own sub-section).
Also, if it seems you won’t make it back on the track while performing the side attacks, stop doing them. The machine will turn more sharply in the air while you don’t side attack. Preferably you want to avoid doing this since not SAing will reduce your speed.
Right before landing
You ideally want to keep on side attacking as much as you can until right before you need to level your machine properly. Otherwise you will lose much of the speed you would have gained when you land.
On boost laps, what you can do instead is boost before you land. The timing of the boost can vary, as long as you are still in the boost state when you land.
Additional Side Attack Tech
Exiting a MTS with Side Attacks (Side Attack Exit)
Video Demonstrations: Gallant Star / Quick Star
Inputs
When exiting the MTS, at pretty much the same time, press A, steer the opposite direction, hold the unpressed shoulder button (so both shoulder buttons are being held), and perform side attacks quickly. (This is the Drift turn exit version)
Alternatively, you can do a quick turn exit with side attacks. It looks similar and there doesn’t seem to be much difference speed wise, but a quick turn exit makes you turn more sharply during the side attacks compared to the drift turn exit.
Practicing SA exits
The first two turns of Dragon Slopes is the easiest area to learn this. Each machine behaves differently during the SA exit so practice each of them for a decent amount of time to understand those differences. And it goes without saying, the faster you SA, the better.
Exiting with 3 side attacks is usually ideal for all of the top tier machines. If the track is very wide then you can extend the MTS more than usual and then perform 4-5 SAs to avoid the inside wall.
In boost laps, Black Bull still wants to exit most MTSs with SAs. For Quick Star and Gallant Star, it may be beneficial to extend your MTS a bit and then do a SA exit. While non SA exits would make you hit the wall if you MTS for too long, exiting with SAs will make the machine turn sharply enough to avoid it. But there are also times where it’s faster to do a standard QT exit and boost. Fat Shark will almost always want to avoid SA exits on boost laps due its high speed loss during the drift.
MTS side attack exit into a Shift Boost
It was found out by Zewing in 2016 that performing a side attack exit for a MTSISB can increase your chance of getting a double or even triple shift boost on tracks like Twist Road. It works with both Strafe Turn MTS exits and quick turn exits, though particular MTSISBs with side attacks may work better with one type of exit over another.
When you learn how to perform MTSISBs, there really isn’t a drawback to adding a side attack to the MTS exit. Except with Fat Shark due to the high speed loss when he does a Strafe Turn MTS exit. And with Fat Shark, doing a quick turn or drift turn MTS exit with side attacks is only worth it if you do 3+ side attacks, but in boost laps there aren’t too many cases where that’s faster as opposed to simply doing a standard exit into a boost and/or shift boost.
But fair warning, the speeds you achieve after a successful double SB off a MTSISB are very fast and can be hard to control without hitting a wall or even going off course unless you practice it or anticipate it. To give you some idea of the speeds you can possibly achieve, here’s the most notable example
Technique #6 - Finishing the Run with Speed and Swag - MTRS and Broken Down/Suicide Finish
One would normally think that the fastest way to finish a run is by boosting as much as you can. Nah, there’s a much faster and cooler way of doing that. One way is to perform a MTS along a wall. This is known as Momentum Turbo Rail Slide. The other way is to intentionally break down your machine to get a large speed burst, often times by crashing into a wall with a MTS or breaking down your machine during a MTRS.
Momentum Turbo Railslide (MTRS)
This technique makes your machine gain a lot of speed by MTSing into the wall at a shallow angle. The machine will ride the wall for a brief time before it slows down.
How to execute a proper MTRS
Slowly approach one side of the wall (preferably a straight wall). When your machine is very close to the wall or just about to hit it, perform a MTS into the wall. But stop steering completely once your machine is close to perpendicular to the wall. Keep on holding the shoulder button and keep the A button released.
Here’s a very crude diagram of how your machine should look during the railslide
|
|______/_______
The vertical lines is the finish line. The horizontal line is the wall. The slant is the machine. That is the approximate angle you want the machine to be at.
You will want to perform a boost shortly before performing a MTRS if you can, as it would make the railslide be much faster compared to not being in the boost state during it.
Here’s a much better visualization of how you should approach a wall when MTSing. It also shows what not to do. (Credit: superSANIC)
Which machines are good at MTRSing
Heavy machines that have a good MTS have a superior MTRS. Although lighter machines with an okay MTS and a decent strafe can still perform a good MTRS, such as Blue Falcon, and Big Fang.
Practicing MTRS
There are many courses with a straight wall at the end of the lap - Split Oval, Multiplex, Aero Dive, Long Pipe, Cylinder Knot, Intersection and Half Pipe are my suggestions from the first three cups. I would use either Gallant or Fat Shark. While Quick Star can MTRS, it doesn’t sustain the high speed as long and it’s more tricky to properly execute well.
Try it without boosting first. A good one would bring your speed to over 2000 kmh. After getting the hang of it without boosting, try it with boosting beforehand. You can exceed over 3000 kmh if you start the MTRS going around 1500. You can even break 4000 if you are going 1700+.
A MTRS doesn’t last indefinitely. A well performed MTRS in Half Pipe can last from the very beginning of the wall until the finish line if you start it at around 1500 or higher. Same thing with Long Pipe. The ideal MTRS in Aero Dive starts shortly after entering the refiller and your speed sustains at least 3000 kmh until the finish line. Use the following video to compare your MTRSs to.
The key to a good MTRS is the approach to the wall. The initial impact has to be soft instead of a hard, head on type of crash. Once you get that down, it’s just a matter of getting the inputs just right.
Other Applications of MTRS
Although the massive speed loss after a MTRS heavily limits its use during a middle of a run, when used properly in a select few courses it can save you some time. There are two main ways of performing a MTRS.
MTS into Railslide
There’s only a few courses where this can be applied to, but it is a decent time saver if you know the proper way to do it. Just like with the MTRS, the softer the entry to the wall, the better.
The walls in Mute City and Aeropolis are relatively forgiving compared to other courses it seems. In Twist Road, on the latter half of the long turn with the refiller, you can perform a MTS into railslide or even a straight up MTRS. You want to be turning, while performing the MTRS, but once the machine is about perpendicular or slightly past perpendicular to the wall, if you continue the railslide like that for a little bit longer, the machine will lose a lot of speed upon exiting the railslide.. With Fat Shark or Gallant, starting at their normal top speed, you can easily exceed 2000 and exit with about 1000 KMH.
Sonic Oval is another course where you can perform this maneuver. Although it would be used to finish a run, it is possible to MTS the entire final turn and then transition into a MTRS. It is tricky at first to transition into a fast MTRS. Don’t be scared of hitting the wall too early, because if you do that you may be able to get the entry correct.
Example in Twist Road (Credit: Brave)
MTRS During the Middle of a Run
There are only a few courses where you can perform a MTRS on a straight wall and benefit from it. It only works on lap 1. Mobius Ring before the second turn, Thunder Road at a few areas, Ordeal on the narrow section at the end of the lap, Surface Slide Lap 1 before the refill area and Screw Drive before the hairpin turn (although it is faster to MTS chain with a good chaining machine). It is imperative you perform an optimal MTRS otherwise it would not be worth it.
When exiting the MTRS, it is faster to use side attacks when exiting. If you happen to be in those courses, or even any other course, you can practice your MTRSs on the sections I mentioned. See how often you can perform a good MTRS.
Broken Down Finish/Explosive Finish
This refers to intentionally breaking down your machine, oftentimes with a MTRS or a MTS, to finish a run with a big burst of speed.
How to perform it
First, you need to have just the right amount of energy. Usually none or very little health, but sometimes you can get away with 10%-20% if performing a MTRS with a less sturdy body. Then, at the appropriate spot, perform the MTS or MTRS. And then hope for the best.
For MTS into a wall hit, you often need to hit a somewhat specific area at a certain angle to perform a larger broken down finish. A few of the largest suicides are seemingly dice rolls.
The simplest broken down finish can be done on Ordeal. Enter the narrow section with little to no energy. If you still have energy left, use the rest of it. When the course begins to go uphill after the brief downhill dip, hit either side of the wall and hope you get a good one. The faster you’re going when your machine breaks down the faster you’ll go
Another simple one is in Meteor Stream. MTS into the wall on the left side right before the final right turn.
Odd Broken Down Finish Physics
Speed is the most important factor with broken down finishes. But certain ones allows your machine to jump up to well over 5000 kmh. This appears to happen when the machine tumbles and fumbles across any gradual decline or incline on the road… as if it is getting a shift boost. It also happens the machine bounces off the walls a few times. Also a very quick MTRS will make the machine fly off once broken down into past mach 7 (That is about 8643 kmh). For this kind of interaction, it does seem heavier machines are able to sustain that speed gained from it better than lighter machines.
If you go fast enough and break 10000 Kmh, then your machine will inexplicably come to a sudden stop, as seen here. It sucks if you stop just meters before the finish, but hey, if this happens to you, then you know what you are doing when it comes to MTRSing and energy management at least.
One important thing to take note. For the broken down finish to count as a lap, the machine has to be level with or above the finish line. If it is below it, then it WILL NOT count as a lap. Also if your machine goes too far off the side, it may not count as well.
Practicing Broken Down Finishes
The main thing to practice is getting the right amount of energy from the final refiller before performing the finish. It’s course dependent, so pick one you are interested in learning first. While experimenting make sure to take note of how much energy you pick up. If it’s too much, take less energy. Too little, take some more. Then you’ll figure out long you have to stay in the refiller.
There’s not a whole lot more I can say without explaining each one in detail, which I won’t do here. Observe the videos in close detail, and in slow motion. See where the machine is positioned before the MTS/MTRS, how fast it’s going, the amount of energy and where it impacts the wall, and try to emulate it. Some broken down finishes are very tough. There is no shame in not going for a broken down finish that you have a very low success rate with. Ones like the Meteor Stream and Sonic Oval super broken down finishes are only done to set WR or near WR runs.
Also, if you use practice mode to practice, make sure to turn off Restore. That option will make your machine slow down to a crawl when your machine breaks down.
Broken Down Finish Examples
Drift Highway (Credit: Zewing)
Energy Management - Advice on how to Best Utilize Your Boost Power
On top of trying to control your machine and going as fast as you can, you might be thinking “While doing all of that I have to manage my energy too?!!?”
Well, it probably isn’t too important if you are just starting out, but once you get down into setting times that surpass the staff ghost and beyond, it becomes incredibly important, especially in courses with small and few energy refillers. It eventually becomes a simpler matter of learning the start you want to use and making sure you get all of the energy you can get, but knowing about what I’m about to present to you will help you create good boosting starts, no matter your current skill level.
About the Energy Meter/Bar
A single full energy bar contains 10 seconds of boost for every machine. Here are the boost durations (how long a single boost lasts for) of the top machines. Do some simple math and you’ll find out how many boosts they can use before they run out
Fat Shark: 2.0 sec (5 boosts)
Gallant/Quick Star-G4: 1.7 (5 boosts plus 0.88 of a boost)
Black Bull: 1.85 sec (5 boosts plus 0.4 of a boost)
Blue Falcon: 1.5 (6 boosts plus 0.67 of a boost)
Refilling the energy meter will take 1.5 seconds if you don’t boost. It becomes about 1.733 sec if you boost through it. There are many shorter refillers in the game where you won’t be able to refill the meter completely without slowing down severely. Some courses will give you plenty of refill zones while others will only give you one. With all of this in mind, here are some pieces of advice that will help keep your machine’s speed high throughout as much of the course as possible.
Boosting Basics
Everyone new to the game tends to either hesitate before boosting, or keep on boosting without really thinking much of it. Whether you wait a few seconds after a boost before boosting, or boost all out only to be low in energy when the next refiller is literally miles away, you lose a lot of time either way. You may still beat the Story and GP modes, and even some staff ghosts boosting like that. But if you want to set top 50 times and beyond, you’ll need to boost without hesitation, but smartly at the same time.
Firstly, you almost always want to begin to boost as soon as you enter Lap 2. Even on very long courses with few or only one refiller you still want to start building up your speed ASAP.
Second, you want to learn and get comfortable with boosting immediately after a boost ends, typically with a MT boost. This by association means learning when a boost/boost plate boost ends (covered earlier in the MT Boosting section). Losing well over 100 kmh between boosts is a huge time loss at higher levels of play. With proper MT boosting the top machines can maintain a speed of about 1700 kmh without any boost plate assistance.
If a boost ends during a turn, with certain machines like Fat Shark, if you try a MT boost during a quick turn then that will change the way the machine will turn, throwing you off. Either spam the boost button or try to time it as best as you can in this situation.
Here’s a set of 3 videos made by Brave, showing the difference between spreading out your boosts too much, overlapping a boost with a boost plate and not overlapping a boost with a boost plate. I’ll go into more detail about overlapping a boost and boost plate in the very next section.
Boost Usage Comparison (Credit: Brave)
Using MT to conserve a boost for later use
Once you get up to speed, a common thing to do is if your boost will run out shortly before a boost plate, unless you have excess energy to spare, MT until you hit the boost plate instead of performing another boost. While overlapping a boost with a boost plate will bring your speed up even higher, running out of boost well before the next refiller will cost you much more time. You can boost instead if you know you will be going fast when you enter into the next refiller.
You can also extend the duration of the MT between boosts if, even if you followed the above tip, you will still run out well short of the refiller. A good MT boost will have you MT for 10-15 frames before the next boost. You can extend this to up to around a full second if needed. If you do this for 5 boosts, you will extend the time you will have boost for by up to around 4 seconds.
You can also land a big jump with a MT before boosting again. This is done in the top runs in Multiplex and other courses to delay the activation of a boost without losing much time.
Whether to boost or not boost in the refiller
If you boost and end up refilling or nearly refill the bar, then boost. Not boosting when your bar refills completely well before you leave the refiller just means you are losing time and going slower for no reason at all. This case is fairly simple to figure out.
In the case where boosting will lead you with far less than a full meter, then you may want to not boost or perhaps delay your boost, unless, through the use of speed gaining tech or multiple boost plates on the course, you can still make due with less energy. A good example of this is Ordeal on the final lap. If you boost through the first refiller with no energy, if you are still not proficient with aerial side attacks and MT, there will be a large amount of time where you’ll be going at lower speeds. But with the speed you gain from side attacks, that becomes irrelevant.
Here’s a prime example of how going fast through a refiller could cost you a good chunk of time compared to taking the time to gather more energy in a course with very limited refillers
My (old) Drift Highway Run vs Mengsk’s Run
So sometimes, whether you boost or not comes down to your current skill level and which techs you are good or not too good with. But other times it depends on the course itself. Large jumps and boost plates may help negate any loss of time of having one or two fewer boosts to use. Sometimes there really isn’t a clear answer and the only way to figure it out is to experiment and compare it with a ghost.
Boosting through vs Not Boosting through comparison
Using speed gaining/conserving tech to conserve energy
Multiple shift boosts is the most effective way of doing this. As mentioned before, you want to try to avoid being in the boost state when performing a shift boost. And if your speed is well over 2000 and there are no upcoming SBs, you can boost and immediately MT until your speed is below the boost state MT point. Even if you can’t get all of the SBs, it will still greatly help keep your boosts for much more of the course. This is so effective in Lateral Shift that the world record run doesn’t boost at all (Update: Latest WR from Oct 2024 does a boost into MT to go faster)!
MTSing helps as well, although not as much. The speed you gain alone helps a good deal. If you really need to delay using a boost, you can MT (after a boost, shift boost or jump) and then MTS. Doing this with Fat Shark on Drift Highway is a big time saver if you boost through the refiller at the end of lap 2.
If you are proficient with MTS chaining, then it can really help with stretching your limited boost until the next refiller.
It goes without saying that side attack dives helps a lot. There is no need to boost right before or after a SA dive unless you have extra boost to spare or need to use it up to prepare a broken down finish. Side attacks on the ground can help too. There aren’t that many courses where this comes into play, but it may certainly come in handy in Aero Dive.
Whether or not to Boost during a Dive
Except for performing SBs, being in a boost state is beneficial. But boosting in the middle of the jump is one of the less effective ways of using your energy. It certainly is fine if you have enough energy to spare (such as Dragon Slopes or Trident), but it is usually better to use it either right before landing or shortly after landing with a MT.
However when it comes to jump plates, boosting before one can save a lot of time. The extra speed alone will make the machine launch off faster and make it jump further. And you still want to MT right before you hit the jump plate. You generally want to press A again once the machine starts descending, whether you side attack or not.
What NOT to do if you mess up
Often times you will miss a boost plate, or come to a hard crash and lose a lot of speed. And in a bit of a panic to gain back speed you end up boosting. However that’s usually very poor usage of your precious energy, especially if you are far from a refill zone and using a machine with poor acceleration.
On whether you should use an extra boost after missing a boost plate; it depends on quite a bit. If the boosting start requires you to just keep on boosting, then you have little choice but to keep on boosting. But if energy is a limited resource in the course and it is very important to have for later, then don’t use an extra boost that you wouldn’t use otherwise. Stick with the boosting plan you have.
If you crash and your speed goes down below 1000, wait until your speed goes back up to around 1000 before you boost. Using a boost while you are still getting back up to speed is very inefficient, unless there's a refiller nearby or you are using a higher acceleration machine with energy to spare.
Developing your boosting strategy
With all of this in mind, you should be able to develop a boosting start that works for you. If you already have done time attack runs and saved the replay, you can review it and see how you can improve it. Or you can go straight to the track and come up with it as you do runs.
If you like to refer to videos, here is the spreadsheet with runs with every original machine on every course: Staff Ghost vs Machines Spreadsheet
In recent years I made a spreadsheet leaderboard containing all of the videos I could find, no matter the level: F-Zero GX Combined Time Attack Leaderboard (Updated April 8 2024)
If you’re playing GX Unleashed, I have a spreadsheet for the mod as well: F-Zero GX UNLEASHED Combined Leaderboard (Updated March 28 2024)
While you may not be able to copy them, especially if you are using a different vehicle or if you are yet able to play at their level, it is certainly good material to study from. Mengsk, Gray Fox, SkiVeKt’s videos in particular are very good to watch, in part because they don’’t use side attacks in his runs, making them have to develop well thought out boost starts. Not to toot my horn too much, but my videos are good to watch too, especially if you are utilizing side attacks.
Brief Guide on Custom Machine Parts
There are 25 body parts, 25 cockpit parts, and 25 booster parts in the game. That means there are 15625 possible combinations of custom machines you can make. The vast majority of them are mediocre to downright useless. While this guide only made mention of Quick Star and Gallant Star, those two machines are quite difficult to handle and optimize for players starting out. There are other machines that are still quite good, but are a lot easier to handle. Or perhaps you simply haven’t unlocked those parts yet but want to try out the custom machines. If you just want to stick with Gallant and Quick only, that’s fine as well. For those who don’t want to struggle too much with controlling a machine initially and go fast more easily, then this section is for you.
I’ll break down the fundamental differences between the A and E ratings for each part type which should help you come up with your own custom machine that suits you and the track. I will also suggest a few myself, and describe what type playstyle it caters to.
Note on “Exclusive/Gold” parts
There are 15 parts in total that cannot be unlocked through normal means. Unless you were in Japan and attended the events to possibly obtain them, you can only unlock it through the use of a cheat device or using homebrew.
The cockpit part Maximum Star is an arcade exclusive part that is used in the machines I repeatedly mention. You can replace it with either Combat Cannon or Garnet Phantom without any major differences. It changes the middle word from “Star” to “Cannon” and “Phantom” respectively.
Here are the instructions: http://www.fzerocentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=13767 / https://crazygamenerd.web.fc2.com/FZGX_SP_Machines.html
Common difference between all three part types
It’s something you may come to observe pretty quickly. The higher the letter grade a part has, the heavier it is. So it’s pretty simple on what you want to do if you want a lighter machine.
Body parts are the heaviest part type. Boosters are the next heaviest then finally cockpits are the lightest.
Body Part Comparison
The main handling characteristics of the machine comes from the body part you pick.
E Rating | C Rating | A Rating |
+Better turning +Loses less speed from turning/strafing. Potentially can gain speed with quick turns. -Takes more damage from hits -More slippery handling +Has a very strong MTS | -Sort of in-between for all of the attributes mentioned here -But the strafing of all C rated body parts are weaker than every other body part -Thus, they have poor MTSing capabilities | -Worse turning -Loses more speed from turning/strafing. +Takes less damage from hits +More grippy handling -Has a poor MTS (Dread Hammer the is the notable exception) |
Cockpit Part Comparison
This mainly determines the strength of the grip and how sharply the machine will turn
E Rating | A Rating |
+Makes the grip of the machine very strong -Cornering becomes worse | -The grip of the machine is weaker +Improved cornering |
Booster Part Comparison
The booster part determines the machine’s top speed, acceleration and boosting strength. It also somewhat impacts a machine’s handling in various ways (this hasn’t really been tested extensively).
E Rating | A Rating |
+Better acceleration -Worse top speed -Worse boosting strength (lower boosting top speed) -Shorter boost duration | -Worse acceleration +Much higher top speed +Better boosting top speed +Longer boost duration |
As for a couple examples of how the booster impacts handling, Thunderbolt-V2, compared to Titan-G4, loses some speed when quick turning (and probably with other forms of turning too).
Titan-G4 vs. A Rated Boosters
Why is Titan-G4 the most prominent booster used in max speed? Although it doesn’t have the highest boosting top speed, its acceleration gives it a big advantage due to the prominence of shift boosting locations in most of the courses. But in the same vein, how about the A rated booster’s deceleration advantage? At best it is only a real advantage once your speeds are well over 2000. But when starting out a run/while below 2000 Titan G4 gains a considerable amount more speed from a SB that the A rated booster’s deceleration advantage is mostly moot.
Another advantage it has, although it’s a minor one, is that its top normal speed is the highest of them all, even though it is a B rated booster. Why this is the case, I have no idea, but that’s how it is.
However, you might want to consider or experiment using an A rated booster if you are yet unable to perform those SBs on certain courses. I think Triple-Z or Hornet-FX would be the better choice in a few courses, but I honestly can’t say anything with certainty. I think they would be just as good or better primarily on longer courses where you can’t spam SBs, MTSing, and there aren’t too many consecutive boost plates (Fat Shark wrecks in courses with many boost plates). Who knows? It might turn out to be faster for you.
Update (Mid-Late 2017):
The Dragon Slope WR now uses the Thunderbolt-V2 booster. As I mentioned above, the advantage the A rated boosters have when going well over 2000 lends itself very well on that course. The booster is also 200 KG heavier. That, plus the lower acceleration means it does the jump faster than Gallant Star-G4 and lands at a higher speed as well.
Also some lap records use the V2 booster, including Twist Road with the Speedy Dragon custom part. The additional weight makes its MTS stronger, gains a lot of speed despite the lower acceleration, and the speed retention is what truly puts it over the top compared to Titan G4 as mentioned before. And it likely is also beneficial with regards to super suicide finishes.
Update 2 (Mid 2023):
The V2 booster has now set 3 lap WRs for the Expanded Max Speed category. Omega Wyvern-V2 and Speedy Star-RX are shown to be effective on short courses when set to its lowest allowed setting. I also now think that Omega Gantlet-V2 and sub 100% settings can be used to set WRs on courses where Gallant Star-G4 and Fat Shark currently hold WRs. I will go into full detail on the Expanded Max Speed category at the end of the guide.
Parts to create notable custom machines
Quick Star-G4
Body: Speedy Dragon (E)
Cockpit: Maximum Star (A)
Booster: Titan-G4 (B)
Omega Wyvern-V2
Body: Speedy Dragon (E)
Cockpit: Maximum Star (A)
Booster: Thunderbolt-V2 (A)
Gallant Star-G4
Body: Dread Hammer (A)
Cockpit: Maximum Star (A)
Booster: Titan-G4 (B)
Omega Gantlet-V2
Body: Dread Hammer (A)
Cockpit: Maximum Star (A)
Booster: Thunderbolt-V2 (A)
Machine recommendations based on the type of machine you want to make
I want a machine that MTSs easily and well like Quick Star, but is slightly easier to handle
Two options. First you can try replacing the cockpit with a lower grade one.
Or you can replace the body only. From Less grippy to most grippy (still fairly slippery)
Splash Whale
Brave Eagle
Galaxy Falcon (AX Part)
Liberty Manta
Rage Knight (AX part)
Funny Swallow/Optical Wing
Or you can always do a combination of both to fine tune the handling further.
I want a machine that is heavy and has good grip like Gallant but with slightly better cornering and/or more responsive handling
Replace Dread Hammer with a B rated body part. They all (except for Wild Chariot) have an easy to handle quick turn
Valiant Jaguar has the best MTS of the B rated bodies, but has poor and not too responsive normal steering
Giant Planet is the heaviest, has good normal steering, but has a very weak MTS
Fire Wolf has the best cornering of the B rated bodies (gains the most speed from quick turns), but its grip and MTS is comparatively weak.
Mad Bull (AX only) has slightly better grip than the above body parts, and its MTS is a better than Giant Planet, but still worse than Jaguar
Metal Shell is the grippiest of the B rated parts and can quick turn on a dime, but it can’t MTS at all and has somewhat odd normal steering handling (for me at least).
I want to go fast without losing control so often, but at the same time I want the machine to steer well without having to Quick Turn. I also don’t MTS that much.
This is what the C rated body parts are for.
Aqua Goose and Sky Horse with an A or B rated cockpit are popular choices.
Rapid Barrel is similar to the above choices, but I feel it is slightly inferior.
Holy Spider has very good grip and hardly has a drift at all. Its handling can be wonky if you are reckless with the control stick however
Space Cancer has superior grip, but its turn radius can be lacking at times
Giant Planet (B Grade) is still a good option if you need a machine with more weight.
KAZOON’s Custom Machine Guide
He also has made a custom machine guide which employs data collection into his findings. Check it out here!
Final Technique - MTS Chaining and Turbo Sliding - Fusing MTS and Side Attacks
Aside from shift boosting at a high level, MTS Chaining and Turbo Sliding (TSing) are the most difficult and complicated techniques to learn, which is why I left it for the end of the guide. I will do my best to make it as easy as possible to understand.
MTS Chaining
A MTS chain is a series of MTSs that can be performed on both straights and in long turns. It is performed by using side attacks during a drift or quick turn MTS exit. Immediately after the side attacks, another MTS is initiated
MTS Chaining (drift exit) Inputs
Step 1 - Perform MTS
Step 2* - Begin drift turn exit (Press and Hold A, turn opposite direction, hold both L and R)
Step 3 - Immediately after, side attack 2-4 times (the faster the better)
Step 4* - Immediately after the final side attack, simultaneously let go of non MTSing shoulder button, A, and steer in MTS direction
Step 5 - Repeat Steps 1 through 4
Note on Step 2: When pressing on the shoulder button that was previously upheld in Step 1, it is likely better to only press down the button partially instead of all the way down. I think the less you press, the better. I explain why this is helpful shortly, but basically it makes it easier to maintain your MTS chaining.
Note on Step 4: When chaining with Gallant and other higher grip machines, at times you will need to hold on to both L and R for a brief moment longer to be able to initiate the next MTS properly
MTS Chaining Demo (Quick Star)
MTS Chaining Demo (Black Bull)
MTS Chaining Demo (Gallant Star)
Practicing MTS Chaining
I’m starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but Sonic Oval is where I would start out. Use Quick Star-G4. Position the machine at around the center of the course when you first initiate the MTS.I recommend using 3 side attacks while MTS chaining on the straight. During the turn, do 2 SAs, but 3 can be used if the machine is heading towards the wall at a very sharp angle.
As a general rule of thumb, the more sharply you need to move your machine away from the wall, the more side attacks you use. Three SAs is usually the default number of SAs in straights. Black Bull and Gallant use 4 more commonly compared to Quick because it doesn’t turn as quickly. Quick Star and Black Bull sometimes uses 2 on straights on narrower parts of the track or if it would be more beneficial to fit in more, but smaller MTSs.
When you try it out with Gallant Star, you will probably need to hit a boost plate to be able to initiate the first MTS chain more easily. You will likely find it to be much more difficult to sustain the MTS chain throughout the lap. I would recommend learning it with one machine to try to get the hang of it before worrying about Gallant Star chaining.
SA Exit Speed Comparison between Quick Star and Gallant Star/Black Bull
Take a look at the speed at the end of lap 1 for both videos below
You will notice that after the final MTS chain, Black Bull is going much faster than Quick Star. It is yet another reason why Heavyweight > Lightweight. Although Quick Star gains speed more quickly during the MTS, during the side attack portion of it, Black Bull and Gallant are quicker. And while Quick Star’s lap 1 is about 0.400 faster than Black Bull’s, the difference of speed at the end of the lap is a huge advantage for Black Bull for the beginning of lap 2.
Avoid regaining grip while MTS chaining
This is most relevant for Gallant based custom machines, but I imagine it is useful to do for any machine.
It is difficult to keep a MTS chain going with Gallant Star-G4. However Zewing taught me that your machine will not regain its grip as easily while MTS chaining if you only partially hold down on the trigger button that you are temporarily holding. So for example if you are steering left for your MTS chains, when you re-press A and start doing side attacks, you lightly press on the L button during this portion of the MTS chain and you release L when initiating or after initiating the next MTS. This one minor adjustment made MTS chaining with Gallant Star-G4 immensely easier to execute. Now I perform MTS chains like this no matter what machine I use.
Interestingly, I later found out that it is also easier to enter a drift turn if you only partially press L and R instead of all the way down. This isn’t too useful with most machines but for super high grip machines like Hard Banger, Deep Claw, Mighty Hurricane to name a few, this will often be the difference between performing a drift/quick turn or not.
Turbo Slide Chaining (TS Chaining)
A Turbo Slide is essentially a MTS, except that the Accelerator input is held the entire time. Typically used at the start of a run and at lower speeds (1100 and under)
Inputs for TS Chaining
Step 1 - Hold L and R
Step 2 - Steer and let go of one shoulder button (just like MTSing), but DON’T let go of A
Step 3 - Steer the opposite direction and side attack 2+ times
Step 4 - Stop side attacking and steer the other way to start the next TS
TS Chaining Demo (Black Bull)
TS Chaining Demo (Gallant Star)
Practicing TS Chaining
With Quick, to immediately start TS chaining at the very start of a run, for a right TS, hold A, L and right. The moment it says Go!, briefly tap the R button. If you time it well you will perform a wide TS. Slightly mis-timed you’ll perform a slower TS. Tap it too early and the TS won’t come out at all. Quick will want to convert from TS to MTS chaining once it is up to speed (usually after the 4th TS).
Black Bull has to wait a brief time (about a half second at least) to be able to begin TS chaining. Steer one way slightly then start the TS going the other way. As for whether it is better to continue TS chaining or not, after a few of them, you want to begin MTS chaining. If you compare the exit speeds for the videos provided in this section, you’ll see that Black Bull exits with more speed when MTS chaining.
With Gallant, just like with MTS chaining, assistance from a boost plate is needed to be able to perform multiple TSs in a row. The interesting thing with TS chaining with Gallant is that it seems to be at least just as effective as MTS chaining at lower speeds. And it is easier to perform without messing up too. So with Gallant, just use the one that you’re better with.
Quick Tips on Grinding for the Run
- If you’ve been doing attempts for a few hours and you notice the quality of your attempts are going down and making more and more mistakes, it may be a good idea to take a break to rest, drink water, and/or eat something energizing. If it’s late and you are starting to feel sleepy, then consider calling it a day.
- Extended breaks (a few days to even weeks) after playing a lot in my experience has helped a lot with improving my performance on a particular course.
- If you mess up a run, use the rest of the run (or until you retire) to practice the rest of the start or to experiment with a more difficult or different start.
- If your fingers, hand, wrist or anything else starts to get sore or hurt a lot, please don’t overdo it. Take a few minutes break, and stretch them. If the soreness persists or if you are feeling sharp pain, you should stop. If the pain is recurring and not getting any better even after an extended break, you may want to consult a doctor.
- If you are having trouble with a start or performing a specific shift boost, MTS, etc, compare how you are doing it compared to a video. And you can always ask us in the Discord group.
- As for how to stop choking a run on lap 3 and how to not get so nervous… that’s still a mystery to me. The only thing that really helps is improving your control over your machine, mastering your start as best as you can and just stay focused on the game and not think about anything else. If consistency of performing a difficult start is a problem, you might want to make the start slightly easier for lap 3 until your machine control and consistency improves.
- Recording your runs and showing them to skilled players is always a great way to get feedback. Even more so if you are able to stream.
Course Skips and Tips (Planned new section!)
To be written at some point
Shift Boost Set Ups and Highest Speed Before Lifting Off from Dangerous Hills
There are quite a few on-road shift boosts that can be gotten consistently by driving over certain hills at a specific speed and in just the right way. There are also some shift boosts that can be gotten simply by strafing/doing a Strafe Turn at a specific location with enough speed. This section will also explain the fastest speeds you can go before getting lifted off the track on sections where you usually want to avoid lifting off at all costs, as it can slow you down or even make you fall off course.
I will label which machines the set up refers to, but in general, a heavier machine will require more speed to get the lift off. In the case of strafing shift boosts, weight is also a factor. Also the better the strafe, the easier it is to lift off. In most cases with heavy machines, you would need to do a brief Strafe Turn to be able to get the lift off for a strafing SB.
Shift Boost Set ups
Twist Road - At the final boost plate of the lap
Position yourself closer to the right wall than the left, and then strafe to the left right at the final boost plate.
If you’re using Black Bull or Gallant, you’ll need to do a Strafe Turn to get the shift boost.
https://youtu.be/n75e4eCKw7U?t=40s
Loop Cross - On the downhill before the second to last turn (the one that banks a lot)
Around 1350ish with Quick Star-G4. https://youtu.be/gMHtrqw8kIQ?t=1m22s
1380ish with Black Bull. However there is a high risk of getting thrown off course. https://youtu.be/sn3mlOg5zpk?t=55s
Multiplex - On the first hump after the first left turn.
Fat Shark: 1300 as you drive over the first hill after the first turn. At the very start, there are two methods to get the required speed with
- The first is to MTS into the jump plate and do side attacks. You don’t want to do them too fast or you’ll go too fast unless you brake: https://youtu.be/J-7nr2-qoYo?t=5s
- The second method is to hit both boost plates (on the edge for the first one) and then MTS the turn and exit it with a quick turn. However this method is a lot more precise since you need to minimize the speedloss from Fat Shark’s turns with quick turns and minimal stick steering: https://youtu.be/2KFBOID5it8?t=4s
Aero Dive - on the steep uphill at the end of the lap
Gallant Star - 1650ish minimum, and make sure to hold A before getting the lift off. After getting the SB you usually want to point the machine down a little to maintain more speed. If you catch a lot of air you will want to dive down ASAP, especially to regain as much energy as possible for the end of lap 2. https://youtu.be/iXVHx2_owhk?t=1m11s
Cylinder Knot - After the second boost plate
After going over the second boost plate, if you simply go straight at a certain angle, the machine will lift off and usually get a single SB. Double SBs can happen as well but it requires a much more specific angle and position
https://youtu.be/YF7iydqLJ4Y?t=11s
Cylinder Knot - On the “inflated pipe”
With Fat Shark, hit the boost plate in the center going 1070-1090s, hold up before going up the inflated pipe. If done right you’ll likely get a double shift boost.
Also as you go through the humps right before that boost plate, you’ll get lifted off if you’re going over 1080 and drive through the very center of the humps. You can avoid this by either slowing down a tad by briefly letting go of A (which is what I prefer to do), or avoid the center as you drive over the humps (demonstrated in the video).
https://youtu.be/YF7iydqLJ4Y?t=32s
Cylinder Knot - On the “U” section where the second to last boost plate is located
Go straight after the boost plate and hold up. Minimum speed as the course begins to curve down is around 1250ish it looks like with Fat Shark.
https://youtu.be/YF7iydqLJ4Y?t=46s
Half Pipe - On the slight dip right after the first boost plate of the lap
Fat Shark on lap 1: Do a slight turn to the left, then a slight turn to the right. Hit the edge of the boost plate and go straight. https://youtu.be/xxMtK2qMeyk?t=21s
Fat Shark on boost laps: Hit center of boost plate going low 900, no higher than 920ish.
https://youtu.be/xxMtK2qMeyk?t=1m1s
Alternatively you can hit the edge of the boost plate, but then you’ll have to further reduce your speed until around 850: https://youtu.be/NaRYJgQrunU?t=41s
Naegleria has his own set up, where you count the number of signs that you pass by up until 7, where you let go of the accelerator at 7. I would also look at the speedometer so you can try to press A at the right time so you hit the boost plate going at 900, but doing this guarantees that your speed will dip down just enough before the boost plate.
Double Branches - Third fork, left path, going up the hill right before the series of boost plates
Fat Shark: You need to be going about 1475ish after hitting the boost plate. There’s a risk of falling off course if you’re going too fast. It likely also works on the right path.
https://youtu.be/dbfHXh8_CtU?t=1m29s
Ordeal - Towards the end of the giant corkscrew at the end of the lap.
Gallant Star: Strafe turn at around this general area shown in the video. The faster you’re going the easier it is to get the lift off.
https://youtu.be/cyhx6uULJew?t=1m21s
Trident - First fork, right path
There are two areas where if you approach the edge of the track very slowly in a particular way, your machine will wobble and then get a single shift boost or a double/really good shift boost. It is very tricky to get and sometimes you’ll fall off course or simply wobble without getting a shift boost.
Super SB from first wobble SB: https://youtu.be/tPDDrniSLw0?t=8s
Super SB from second wobble SB: https://youtu.be/jyAktSWJlQY?t=10s
Trident - First fork, middle path, right after the refiller
Gallant Star: Must be going at least 2500. Tap A as you drive through the small dip after the refiller https://youtu.be/tPDDrniSLw0?t=44s
Undulation - Between the two mini refillers
Pretty much any machine - Stay on the right side of the track as you drive through the first refiller, then as the track starts going down hill, do a left quick turn. Minimum speed with Fat Shark is probably around 1250ish with this method.
https://youtu.be/NqB8_sr2lQQ?t=42s
Dragon Slope - After the final refiller, right before banking turn
Pretty much any machine: Just drive though going at least 1600 for heavier machines. The closer you are to the left wall, the more speed is needed to get the lift off. However going too fast will make the machine catch too much air to get the SB. If you’re going 1700 or higher, position yourself closer to the left wall. Position yourself to the right if you are going 1600 or lower.
https://youtu.be/m7ftHWhrDFU?t=1m20s
Phantom Road - At the start of the massive downhill
For mid-weight/light machines: The speed needed to get the shift boost that leads to the big jump lessens the closer you are to the right wall. The minimum speed is around 1100 right next to the right wall, meaning it’s possible to get the big jump on lap 1 this way. If you are approaching it going 1200ish, then you should probably be on the center of the track. Be sure to hold up before getting the jump. https://youtu.be/SNDTk-CHcHI?t=27s
For heavy machines: The minimum speed for the method light machines use is around 1170ish (guesstimating). However on lap 1, you can get the jump by doing a mini MTS and then exiting it with side attacks (doing a Strafe Turn) to get the speed needed to lift off. https://youtu.be/Zp29V1u6-NM?t=21s
Meteor Stream - On the hill after the first ice turns (Lap 1)
Fat Shark: Just drive cleanly with proper quick turns, and that should give you the speed needed to get the shift boost after the boost plate. https://youtu.be/2Zjit1umg_Q?t=9s
Gallant Star: Same deal as Fat Shark, but you’ll be going fast enough to get a SB right after the boost plate. Hold up before that and you’ll get a fast jump. https://youtu.be/M2QM1T6llaI?t=13s
Meteor Stream - Before the first ice tunnel
Gallant Star: Position yourself towards the left side of the track, going at least 1700, and perform a quick Strafe Turn. A larger Strafe Turn is needed the slower you’re going.
https://youtu.be/bvsyJJBs7rk?t=33s
Cylinder Wave - Where the two paths meet
Generally done after going through the left path. Position your machine right where the two paths merge into one. Although it seems like you would crash, the machine will go right through and if positioned properly, you can potentially get a double/triple SB. You want to be slightly off center to the left. If you’re too centered you’ll just go through the track and fall off course.
https://youtu.be/jb0Yg71p3KU?t=27s
Spiral - On the pipe section shortly after the refiller begins
Position yourself to the right of the refiller, then do a Strafe Turn to the left with 1-2 side attacks.
Gallant: https://youtu.be/OZyq3v5c_Os?t=15s
Spiral - On the pipe section before the refiller begins (boost laps)
Quick Star: Position the machine slightly to the right of the line, and then do a brief strafe to the left. Seems to only work beginning at around 1350+ KMH https://youtu.be/G3NgSvzCNRc?t=2m26s
Chapter 8 - On the uphill section before the second refiller
On lap 1 if you drive over the hill fairly close to the left wall you should usually get a shift boost. You need to be positioned more to the right side of the track going over the hill the faster you’re going.
https://youtu.be/cC5u30_m8zA?t=1m33s
Max speed before lifting off from dangerous hills
Loop Cross - On the downhill before the banking turn
Going over 1600/1700 puts you at risk of flying off
Double Branches - On the downhill of the third fork and on the final downhill towards the end of the lap
Generally 1400ish max with Fat Shark. On the right path of the third fork, it will take more speed to get lifted off the closer you are to the right wall.
Lateral Shift - On the second to last turn
1800 with Fat Shark
Phantom Road - Large downhill
High 1300s to 1400s. Definitely want to go for this to go fast. But don’t go too much faster or you will have a difficult time landing without losing too much speed
Phantom Road - On the final turn
1250-1300, varies by weight
How Boost/Dash Plates and Boost State Impacts MT Point and Boost State MT Point
Earlier I gave a brief overview on the approximate MT points with boost plates and boosting involved. Here I will discuss it in much greater detail and give specific numbers. I would only recommend trying to put this into practice once you are proficient with MTing.
Full credit goes to Naegleria and superSANIC for testing this and figuring out these MT points
Boost State MT (Both with and without boost plate influence)
I’ll start with this since it’s the simplest to talk about. The Boost State MT point is the speed where it is better to not hold the A button at all while you are boosting. So if you are over that Boost MT point and you initiate a boost, it is faster to MT immediately after you perform the boost instead of holding A throughout the boost (you need to hold A to perform a boost).
The MT point is considerably higher if you go through a boost plate, which I will call Dash Plate Boost MT Point. Hold A if you are going below that speed. If you’re going faster, continue to MT.
Boost MT Points
Fat Shark Boost MT Point: 1956
Gallant Star -G4 Boost MT Point: 2135 according to superSANIC
Quick Star -G4 Boost MT Point: 2055
Omega Gantlet-V2 Boost MT Point: 2252
Dash Plate Boost MT Points
Fat Shark Dash Plate Boost MT Point: About 2250
Gallant Dash Plate Boost MT Point: About 2340
How Boost/Dash Plate influences the MT Point of a machine and Dash Plate Delay MT (DPDMT)
In the first MT section I talked about how boost plates raise the MT point by about 200 KMH (250 KMH if you hit the edge of the boost plate). But there is a range of speed after hitting a boost plate where it is better to continue holding the A button, but then once your speed goes down by a certain amount you would then start to MT. This is called Dash Plate Delay MT (DPDMT) (Coined by Naegleria).
Before I go into more detail about DPDMT, I will first give the speeds where it is better to simply NOT MT, and the speeds where above it, you should always MT.
One important thing to note:, If you perform a manual boost right before hitting a boost plate, or perform a manual boost after a boost plate, the MT point reverts back to the machine’s normal MT point.
MT Points after hitting a boost plate (both middle and edge)
Fat Shark: Middle of boost plate (Basic MT Point = 1273)
Below 1495: Don't MT
DPDMT applicable between 1495 and 1517 (Barely saves time, so not worth doing)
Above 1517: MT right away
Fat Shark: Edge of boost plate
Below 1540: Don't MT
DPDMT applicable between 1540 and 1630
Above 1630: MT right away
Gallant Star -G4: Edge of boost plate (Basic MT Point = 1356)
Below 1564: Don't MT
Between 1564 and 1599: Optimal or near optimal MT needed for MT to be faster than no MT. Probably not worth doing.
Above 1600: MT is always better
No testing was done for Gallant Star when hitting the middle of the boost plate. Most likely it is slightly higher compared to Fat Shark. No testing was done for Quick Star-G4 and Black Bull. It is safe to assume that Quick Star G4 has slightly lower MT points. I would guess that Black Bull is similar to Gallant Star -G4
Determining at what speed you begin to MT for DPDMT (Fat Shark only)
After hitting the edge of the boost plate with Fat Shark, if you speed tops out at between 1540 and 1639, doing a DPDMT is faster than not MTing and MTing right after the boost plate duration finishes.
This is only significant for Fat Shark since Naegleria determined DPDMT doesn’t save much time at all for Gallant Star -G4, and likely most other machine by extension (at least with 100% settings).
Also this only applies for hitting a boost plate on the edge, since DPDMT saves so little time otherwise.
There is a simple formula to use if you want to take advantage of DPDMT
Y = X - (1630 - X)
Where Y equals the speed at which you start to MT
X is the top speed you reach after the dash plate boost ends
So for example, if your speed tops out at 1570…
1570 - (1630 - 1570) = 1510
You would begin to MT when the speed drops down to 1510
Until you memorize the proper MT points for each speed, trying to calculate the proper MT point quickly while playing the game to pull it off properly will be quite difficult. So here’s a table you can refer from if you wish to memorize this and implement DPDMT properly
Dash Plate Delay Momenteum Throttle Table (Fat Shark only) | |
Speed after boost plate | When to start MTing |
1540 | 1440 |
1550 | 1460 |
1560 | 1480 |
1570 | 1500 |
1580 | 1520 |
1590 | 1540 |
1600 | 1560 |
1610 | 1580 |
1620 | 1600 |
1630 | 1620 |
1640 | 1640 |
Expanded Max Speed: Ruleset and guidelines when considering your machine setting
The Expanded Max Speed category is, as the name suggests, an expanded version of the Max Speed category where its primary draw is the use of non-100% settings, but without making snaking any more powerful. I initiated the creation of the category after discussions to change the current Max Speed rules came to the conclusion that a new category is required in the interest of preserving the historical context of the 100% only Max Speed category.
Rules
Initially, the main changes would be as follows:
- Allow machine settings to go as low as 70%
- Allow the full abuse of snaking inputs
- Spaceflying with the restriction of not allowing super skips
However, KAZOON has suggested a category that would allow any machine setting as long as the machine’s Drift Acceleration stat remains equal to or less than 1.0. The Drift Accel stat is the key stat that determines how much speed is gained when drifting/quick turning/snaking. The top machines used for snaking have a Drift Accel stat of 2.0 at 0% settings.
Under Max Speed’s 100% only setting restriction, Quick Star-G4 is the best machine for 100% only snaking. Its Drift Accel stat is always 1.0 starting from 50% settings, and it turns out it is most effective at snaking at 100%. After some testing, I am confident in saying that even in the Expanded Max Speed category, 100% Quick Star-G4 remains the best “snaker”. Due to this, snaking in the new category won’t be any more powerful than it would be if the 100% only Max Speed category allowed snaking.
Under KAZOON’s proposal, the lowest allowed setting varies by machine. Here is the full ruleset and setting restrictions for the category. His version of the category is the favored one, as it allowed for new WRs to be set for the category with new custom machines that take full advantage of the relaxed setting restrictions.
Pros and cons of lowering your machine setting
At the beginning of the guide I gave a run down of the pros and cons of higher vs lower settings. I’ll summarize them here first:
Pros of lowering machine setting
- Better acceleration (both with and without boosting)
- Better cornering (both ground and air)
- Slightly wider drift, thus perhaps a slightly better MTS too
- For certain machines, the speed loss from drifting and quick turning gets reduced dramatically
Cons of lowering machine setting
- Worse deceleration
- Reduced top speed and boost strength
- Easier to lose grip
- For certain machines, the speed loss from non-drifting cornering and strafing gets increased
- It also influences the speed loss/gain drifting and quick turning. I will elaborate on this later since I listed this as a pro just earlier.
- This also has an impact on how much speed you sustain while MTS chaning
General recommendations on choosing your machine setting
Here I’ll provide recommendations based on the type machine you’re using, your playstyle and the course. Much of it is based on data, my own and others’ experience with trying them out. It won’t always mean it will always be the optimal recommendation once you try it out. But I do think it is at least worth experimenting and has promise that it would be faster.
If you’re using a custom machine with the Titan-G4, Triple-Z or Hornet-FX boosters
Almost always stick with 100% settings since these boosters lose too much top speed from reducing machine settings. This advice also goes for any machines with a base acceleration stat of 0.39 to about 0.34 or so.
The one main exception might be if you’re racing on the shortest of courses, but you’ll likely be better off utilizing the Devilfish-RX and Thunderbolt-V2 boosters instead. Or if MTS chaining isn’t hugely important, Fat Shark may be the better pick instead. Here’s a table that shows the difference in top speed between 100% and 70% for the machines where I’d recommend 100% settings.
The recommendation applies to the following machines as well: Black Bull, Hyper Speeder, Sonic Phantom, Wild Boar, and any custom machines with the aforementioned custom boosters.
If your machine has an extremely low acceleration (~0.34 base accel or less)
Space Angler, Fire Stingray, Big Fang, Dark Schneider, Hyper Speeder to a lesser extent, and heaviest boosters, Thunderbolt-V2 and Devilfish-RX. All of these machines have very low acceleration, so much so that it is often better to decrease their machine setting. Compared to the machines in the prior section, their top speeds do not decrease as drastically as you go down in setting. In the case of Space Angler and Dark Schneider, it even increases for specific settings
The shorter the track, the more likely reducing settings will be beneficial. But even in longer tracks, depending on how much their top speed drops and how much the other benefits helps (cornering, extra acceleration for dash plates, slow sections), lowering the machine settings still may be worth considering.
If your machine has a base acceleration stat between 0.5 and 0.59
Such machines, with Fat Shark being the most relevant example, do not lose too much top speed and boost top speed from lowering settings from 100%. It is very likely in shorter courses it would be faster. It might also be beneficial to reduce settings in long courses too, especially if the condition I mention in the next section also holds true.
Compared to the first table where the difference in top speed is as much as about 60 KMH, the difference in top speed here is only up to about 10 KMH.
Below are the rest of the machines and custom boosters who’s acceleration falls in the 0.5 to 0.59 range
If your machine’s base Drift Acceleration stat is greater than 1.0
First I’ll list off the applicable machines and custom boosters:
The Drift Accel stat has the biggest influence on how much speed is gained or lost when in a drift state, which includes drifting and quick turning. At 100% settings, the Drift Accel stat for these machines is 10% of the base Drift Accel. This will lead to losing a ton of speed from quick turning with the accelerator on.
Reducing settings will significantly raise the machine’s Drift Accel stat. On courses where you need to quick turn often and for prolonged amounts of times, doing this may be well worth it… as long your machine’s top speed doesn’t drop too much. This especially holds true if the machine you’ve picked has a poor MTS. You can MTS or release the A button when quick turning to mitigate this weakness instead. This is most effective with Black Bull.
The following link takes you to a table that shows each machine’s Drift Accel stat at 70% and 100% settings: How F-Zero GX Setting Affects Drift Accel, Turn Decel and other attributes
If your machine’s base acceleration is less than 0.572 and has at least a decently high Turn Decel stat
Well that’s oddly specific, let me explain one part at a time.
For machines with a base acceleration stat of at least 0.572, their turn decel stat will always remain the same no matter what machine setting you set it to. That is because the Turn Decel stat will only start to decrease when the acceleration stat after you applied the machine setting (I will refer to this as ‘calculated acceleration’ from here on out) is less than 0.4 and the machine setting is greater than 50%. Machines with at least a 0.572 base acceleration will always have a calculated acceleration greater than 0.4.
As you increase the machine setting, once the calculated accel goes below 0.4, the Turn Decel stat will keep on decreasing until it hits 0.01 or reaches its lowest value at 100%. So this section applies mainly to machines with a base turn decel stat that is at least 0.015 and has a base acceleration of 0.57 or lower.
Okay, with that explanation out of the way, let’s discuss. Turn deceleration affects the speed you lose whenever you turn or perform a strafe. The type of turn doesn’t matter. On courses with many decently sharp turns, you will want to consider sticking to a more Max Speed centric setting if your machine’s turn deceleration would increase a lot otherwise. The same reasoning applies if you will be doing a lot of MTS chaining. Fat Shark is unable to MTS chain for prolonged periods of time even at 100% settings since its turn deceleration is insanely high.
Another thing I should mention is that there is a certain point where a machine’s turn deceleration value makes a big jump. The first big decrease happens when the machine’s calculated accel goes below 0.4. The next big decrease happens when the machine’s calculated accel goes below 0.31. Depending on the machine’s current turn decel stat, there is an even bigger decrease at <0.31 acceleration. The following link is a table that shows the machine setting these turn decel jumps happen and the turn decel figures themselves at various settings: Turn Deceleration Table
Course length considerations
I’ve brought this up a few times by now. The shorter the course, the more likely reduced settings would be better. As tracks get longer, that gives 100% setting machines more time to get up to speed and go at higher speeds on average until they catch up and overtake the same machine with lower setting.
Dash plate considerations
The speed gained from dash plates is very significant and allows you to reach higher speeds than if you used your machine’s booster alone. On courses with a lot of dash plates, both short and long, I’d at least experiment with lowering your machine setting. Conversely, on courses with few dash plates, you’d probably want to stick with 100%, even for machines that have other reasons to reduce settings.
However you also want to consider how the dash plates are spaced out. If the dash plates are tightly packed, like in Split Oval, at some point the machine set to 100% will reach higher speeds as long you’re able to properly maintain that speed. Or if you have enough energy to boost between each dash plate most of the time, then maybe 100% may have the advantage still.
Additionally, how early the first few dash plates appear could be hugely important. A very early dash plate, like in Loop Cross, Multiplex and several other courses gives an even bigger advantage at the start of runs to higher acceleration machines and settings. Though at some point they’ll start losing their advantage, that advantage alone still may be enough to end up with a faster time.
Machines with longer boost lengths will gain more speed from dash plates, such as Fat Shark, King Meteor and the A rated custom boosters. It’s more important for such machines to consider maximizing what they get from dash plates.
Energy considerations
It is a bit more ambiguous on how much energy refill you get influences your machine setting decision. On courses with less energy refill, you’d probably want to stay with full max speed settings to take advantage of your machine’s unboosted top speed advantage. Otherwise the other features of the course and your machine itself would play a bigger role on courses with a lot of energy refill.
If your selected machine sucks at turning
Mighty Hurricane is a classic example. This can also apply to Astro Robin and certain custom machines with an A rated body part, including the famous Hard Banger.
As lowering the setting increases a machine’s steering potential, it would greatly help the machines who can’t steer to save their lives at 100% settings. Being able to take turns without hitting walls and even simply taking shorter, tighter lines on the sharper turns will be well worth trading off some top speed on the right courses such as Spiral, Multiplex, Ordeal and some other courses.
If you’re racing on courses with a jump that involves a sharp turn, such as Split Oval or Undulation, performing these jump turns will be easier at reduced settings.
Advanced tech considerations
Machine settings have an effect on several machine stats that influence the various advanced tech. I’ll go through them one by one
Shift Boosting
The proper setting and acceleration mainly depends on the track itself. On tracks where the only limit is your own skill, if you can reach those extremely high speeds, then you will want to stick with 100% settings to take full advantage of the slower deceleration with MT. On the other end, if you can only get shift boosts in specific sections of the track and they’re spread apart, perhaps the extra burst of speed you get from increasing your acceleration might be better. Or maybe your machine’s acceleration is too low to get enough speed from shift boosts, so you can reduce your settings to make SBs more effective.
Side Attack Dives
The lower your machine’s acceleration, the less speed you lose between side attacks. On tracks with massive jumps, you typically want to stick with 100% settings if you are going to use side attacks on those jumps. Also the reduced cornering at 100% may mean you won’t need to change directions as much mid-dive, which I’ve explained is something you want to avoid as much as possible for doing side attack dives.
In addition, with the reducing turning capabilities of 100%, your descent to the ground isn’t slowed down as much compared to sub 100% settings where the increased steering makes you stay in the air for longer if you’re strafe turning, slowing you down. You can manipulate how much you strafe turn by adjusting how much you press on the trigger buttons, but that adds additional complexity and difficulty to performing the side attack dive.
Side Attack Strafe/Drift Turns
The setting considerations for this tech is similar to side attack dives. An additional reason to stick with 100% is the turning radius. If you turn too sharply while doing this tech you might end up approaching the inside wall without making some mid-turn adjustments.
MTS Chaining
As I mentioned earlier, if you will be MTS chaining a lot, utilize machine settings where the machine’s turn deceleration is at its lowest point, typically 100%. But some machine’s turn decel stat is always 0.01 or has a wider range of settings where that’s the case, in which case you have some flexibility on which machine setting you use.
Recommendations for Black Bull and customs with the Titan-G4 booster
This one is simple, stick to 100% settings all the time. These machines lose too much top speed reducing their settings, plus their turn deceleration increases somewhat which would further hamper their MTS chaining speeds.
Even Black Bull’s Drift Accel stat, which is 1.3, isn’t enough of a reason to lower its settings, as it can basically ignore that issue with its MTSing and its very effective drift turn side attacking.
Recommendations for Fat Shark
I think 89% Fat Shark should be tested more, especially on shorter tracks or tracks with a decent number of dash plates. Due to its 0.52 base acceleration, reducing settings barely makes a dent to its top speed. And 89% is the lowest setting before its turn decel stat shoots up to 0.07. For reference here are its turn decel figures:
0% to 88%: 0.07
89%: 0.0413
100%: 0.03325
For longer tracks or tracks where you can sustain its high boosting speeds for most of the time, perhaps 100% or something higher than 89% is still likely better. In Split Oval for example, I do think 100% is optimal, but if you’re having trouble with the jump, I would try 89% or even lower to increase your odds of getting the jump until you learn how to get it at 100%
Recommendations for customs with the Thunderbolt-V2 or Devilfish-RX booster
This heavily depends on the course. On medium/long length high speed courses with large jumps, shift boosting or both, 100% is likely the way to go if you know how to extract all of the speed with the advanced tech. If you aren’t the best at the advanced tech(s) needed to reach those high speeds, the G4 version of the machine might be better suited for you. You can also consider slightly lowering the machine setting.
On short courses however, especially with the Speedy Dragon body part, the lowest allowed setting for the boosters (39% for RX, 42% for V2) has been proven to be faster than Quick Star-G4 on Sonic Oval and Screw Drive. Twist Road and Drift Highway are likely candidates for Omega Wyvern-V2 to have the potential to take the WR someday. Despite the higher turn deceleration at these lower settings, the extra weight provided by the heavy boosters more than mitigates the speed loss from turning by granting the machine a much more powerful MTS, much stronger shift boosts, higher acceleration and higher boosting speeds compared to 100% Titan-G4.
Granted, I must mention that for all of these benefits, an often unspoken drawback of reducing settings is the added difficulty in piloting the machine. Extra cornering means less grip and it is more difficult to make the proper slight positional adjustments without losing grip or hitting the wall. Going from 100% to as low as 39% will take some practice to get adjusted to these changes.
For Omega Gantlet-V2 and other heavyweight customs, I do believe they can outdo Fat Shark and Gallant Star-G4 in more courses if non-100% settings are utilized. Perhaps by not going all the way down to 42% except in the shorter courses (42% Omega Turtle-V2 does hold the Split Oval WR currently). The extra 320 KG of weight is something I don’t think shouldn’t be ignored with all of the jumps and shift boosting out there. Then by choosing an appropriate setting for the course, I’m sure such machines are more than capable of taking out the old guard in many more courses.
To summarize and further reading
I know that was a lot and I may have left you with more questions than answers. Expanded Max Speed is a relatively new category that not many players have participated in yet. So a lot of what I said has not yet been put into practice. The only way we can find out is to play the game and experiment.
To conclude I will summarize below when to stick with a higher setting versus when to consider lowering your setting
When to stick with 100%/higher machine setting
- If you’re using Black Bull or a custom machine that uses Titan-G4, since those machine’s top speed gets greatly reduced at lower settings
- On longer tracks
- On tracks with many shift boosts and/or large jumps, and you/the machine are capable of reaching very high speeds.
- On tracks where you can MTS chain or do side attack turns+dives often
When to consider reducing your machine setting
- If your machine’s acceleration is awful (about 0.34 base accel or lower)
- Examples: Custom Machines with the V2 or RX booster, Fire Stingray, Dark Schneider, Space Angler.
- If your machine’s drift accel stat decreases greatly at 100% (Any machine with a base drift accel of over 1.0)
- If your machine’s base acceleration is between 0.5 and 0.59, since such machines’ top speed are not affected too much by machine settings (Fat Shark is the main example)
- On shorter tracks or tracks with several, but spaced-out dash plates or shift boosts
- If your machine’s turning at 100% settings is abysmal, or just need the extra cornering power for a specific sharp turn in general.
Notable Expanded Max Speed Runs
- 【F-ZERO GX - EMS+】Casino Palace - Split Oval - 42"426
- 【F-ZERO GX - EMS+】Aeropolis - Screw Drive - 44”997
- 【F-ZERO GX - EMS+】Mute City - Sonic Oval - 35”969
- 【F-ZERO GX - EMS+】Mute City - Twist Road- 42"964
- F-ZERO GX: Casino Palace - Split Oval - 56"634 with Space Angler at 70%
- F-Zero GX - Spiral with Mighty Hurricane (70%) - 3'20"409
Additional Reading and Resources
Earlier I have referenced the following document that discusses in detail how machine settings affects various machine stats. If you want a more in-depth reading on this, here it is once more: How F-Zero GX Setting Affects Drift Accel, Turn Decel and other attributes
KAZOON has a spreadsheet that lists the important settings for each machine and some stats at those various settings: F-ZERO GX - Calculated stats at all settings
And finally I have created a resource containing all of the information you need to know about the machines, and that data is visualized and presented in various tables. It has data for each non-custom machine and various custom machines at each key machine setting. If you want to analyze and compare these machines in full detail, which can aid you in determining which machine+setting to use, you can do so here: Machine Stats Visualized
Additional Resources
F-Zero Central - The home of the ladders across every game. Also has various guides and articles.
F-Zero Discord group - Discord is basically a chat room with voice chat support. This is where many of the F-Zero players and followers are at.
F-Zero GX Ultimate Compendium - A collection of resources compiled by AfterDawn, ranging from guides, community links, data and research gathering and more.
My F-Zero GX Documents, Guides and Research - Contains the various documents and spreadsheets I made. Also contains many of my ghost and replay files.
F-Zero GX Combined Time Attack Leaderboard (Updated November 22 2025) - Leaderboards that include every run on video for each player, and all runs no matter the category are put into a single leaderboard for each course. Includes several categories, WR lists, shows the most recent runs added on and tracks various stats.
Naegleria’s Techniques Tutorials / Max Speed Track Tutorials - Naegleria does live recordings of his tutorials/guides which you may find to be helpful to learn from.
Story Mode Guide - Written by Valyssa. Also includes brief descriptions on the techniques mentioned in this guide.
WR List with videos - A collection of WRs of all categories and major sub categories created and updated by CGN (Last updated in 2021)
Collection of player video channels - This has a list of every player who has time attack videos uploaded on Youtube and other sites.
Collection of best runs with each machine - There is a video for every original machine and track combination. There are also videos of runs with various custom machines too. Good to refer to to see how to drive cleanly and optimally.
Collection of data gathered using tools - Much of the data testing/extracting is done by Naegleria and Joselle. Includes the approximate MT points and all of the stats for the machines and body parts.
List of MT Points - Data gathered by Naegleria. Useful to refer to if you need to know or forgot a machine’s exact MT point
Speedrun.com - This is the main website for viewing and submitting speedruns.
F-Zero Central Twitch Group - Many of us are part of this group.
Playlist of Tutorial Videos - All of the videos I created for this guide are all together here.
F-Zero GX Categories Overview - Summary of all of the major and lesser known categories and playstyles
Glossary
Acceleration (0%) Settings
Refers to setting the machine to the very left side in the Settings screen. Used to perform the snaking and flying techniques and is a requirement to set to this setting to post your times in the FZC Snaking Ladder
Boost Delay
This is the period of time that you are locked from boosting again after you perform a boost or hit a dash plate. This starts happening at 1200 KMH and it maxes out at 10 frames when you finish a boost going 1800 KMH or higher.
Boost Duration/Length
This refers to how long a machine’s boost lasts for.
Boost State
Your machine is considered to be in a boost state if it is currently receiving a boost that is activated with the boost button or from a boost plate.
Boost State MT Point + Dash Plate Boost MT Point
This is the speed where, below this Boost State MT Point, it is better to boost and hold A throughout the boost. While your speed is above it, it is better to boost and immediately MT afterwards (until the speed dips below it).
The Dash Plate version of this is similar, except it is the Boost State MT point during the duration of the boost state originating from a dash plate..
Boost Top Speed
The approximate top speed of a machine that is achieved through its own boosts.
Boost/Dash Plate Top Speed
The approximate top speed of a machine that is achieved through its own boosts and any number of boost plates.
Broken Down Finish/Explosive Finish/Suicide Finish
This refers to intentionally breaking down your machine, often times with a MTRS or a MTS, to finish a run with a big burst of speed.
Dash Plate Delay Momentum Throttle
This refers to how if your speed tops out between a range of speeds after a boost plate, it is optimal to start a MT only after your speed goes down a certain amount. For Fat Shark, the formula to determine this speed after hitting the edge of the boost plate is described in page 57.
Drift State
Your machine is considered to be in a Drift State if it lost its grip, whether it is lost on purpose with L+R or by cornering at a high speed
Drift Turn
One of the types of turns that is performed by holding down both L and R and steering. As the term suggests, the machine will break its grip and perform a drift.
Edge Boost/Dash Plate
Passing through the edge of a boost plate with the edge of your machine let’s you get extra speed off it compared to hitting it any other way.
Expanded Max Speed
An expanded Max Speed category that allows sub-100% machine settings, snaking inputs and spacefyling that doesn’t perform super skips. Ruleset here: Expanded Max Speed (EMS) and Drift Accel<=1.0 Rules
F-Zero Central (FZC)
This is the name of the website with the ladders across all F-Zero games. http://www.fzerocentral.org/home_fzero.php
Max Speed (100%) Settings
Refers to setting the machine to the very right.side in the Settings screen. Setting your machine to this setting is a requirement to post your times in the FZC Max Speed Ladder
Momentum Throttle (MT)
This is a technique where you let go of the accelerator input while going at a speed above the machine’s MT point to make your machine decelerate more slowly.
Momentum Turbo Rail Slide (MTRS)
This technique makes your machine gain a lot of speed by MTSing into the wall at a shallow angle. The machine will ride the wall for a brief time before it slows down.
Momentum Turbo Slide (MTS)
While the machine is in the drift state, if you turn, let go of the accelerator and press and hold on the OPPOSITE shoulder button direction of the direction you are steering, all at the same time, the machine will quickly accelerate to high speeds during the drift and turn in the direction the control stick is pointing towards.
MT Boost
Utilizing the MT technique to minimize the speed you lose in the time between the end of the boost and the activation of the next boost
MT Point
The speed where it is no longer beneficial to continue MTing. You want to end your MT at approximately the machine’s MT point.
MTS Chaining
Stringing together consecutive Momentum Turbo Slides through the use of side attacks between MTSs
MTS Exit
This refers to ending a MTS by repressing the A button, and often time steering the other way
MTS into Shift Boost (MTSISB)
This refers to performing a MTS in order to go fast enough to perform a Shift Boost over a very gradual hill on the course.
Normal Top Speed
This is the machine’s top speed without boosting or hitting any boost plates.
Quick Turn (QT)
The technique to perform a much sharper turn that is often better than both Strafe Turning and Drift Turning.
Shift Boost (SB)
Shift boosting is where either going off the side of the track and getting back on within a few frames, or your machine escaping the track’s magnetic grip for a split second makes causes your machine gain speed
Side Attack Dive
Using side attacks in a large dive or jump to gain speed
Side Attack Turn
Using side attacks on a corner to gain some speed
Strafe Turn
One of the types of turns that is performed by holding L and Left or R and Right
Strafing Shift Boost
A shift boost that is gotten by strafing or doing a Strafe Turn, generally on a corkscrew.
Snaking
This refers to the technique where you gain a lot of speed by setting your machine at 0% and alternating between L+Left and R+Right when driving the machine.
Spaceflying
This refers to using a very light machine (typically at 0% settings) to make your machine fly by alternating L+Left and R+Right in the air.
Strafe/Sliding
This refers to holding L or R to shift your machine to the left or right without changing the machine’s direction
Turbo Slide (TS)
A Turbo Slide is essentially a MTS, except that the Accelerator input is held the entire time. Typically used at the start of a run and at lower speeds
Turbo Slide Chaining
Stringing together consecutive Turbo Slides through the use of side attacks between TSs
Input List for Techniques
Table in Separate Document Linked here
Technique | Inputs |
Slide (Strafe) Turn | L+Left or R+Right |
Drift Turn | L+R+Left (or right) |
Quick Turn | L+R into Right and R or Left and L |
Momentum Throttle (MT) | Release the A button when above the machine’s MT point (Or right before landing a jump) Comparison with no MT / MT before landing big jump / MT on Sharp Incline / MT with heavy speed loss turn / MT on Jump Plate / MT before landing at sub MT Point speeds / Using MT to glide farther Note: When going faster than a machine’s Boost MT Point (typically over 2000 kmh), going over a boost plate or performing a boost before MTing will make the MT even more effective |
MT Boost | Right before the boost state ends, let go of A briefly, then press A and boost again, with the A press coming immediately before the boost button press. Note: The faster you’re going, the longer you will need to wait until pressing A again, maxing out at 10 frames when going over 1800 kmh |
Right MTS (Momentum Turbo Slide) | L+R and Right. Then Let go of R and A. Keep on holding L and Right |
Left MTS | L+R and Left. Then Let go of L and A. Keep on holding R and Left Sharper, but slower MTS turn: Quick / Gallant |
Momentum Turbo Rail Slide (MTRS) | When your machine is right next to the wall, perform a MTS into the wall., Once your machine is close to perpendicular to the wall, do not steer any further and keep the shoulder button held down. |
Slide (Strafe) Turn MTS Exit: | During a MTS, to end it, press and hold A and steer in the opposite direction while holding onto the shoulder button that was held during the MTS |
Quick Turn MTS Exit | Same as a Strafe Turn MTS exit, but right as you press and hold A, tap the shoulder button that wasn’t held during the MTS. For a left MTS, you press and hold A, steer to the right, and tap the L button while holding onto the R button the entire time |
Side attack MTS exit | Press and hold A, steer in the opposite direction, hold both L and R (all at same time). Then immediately after spam side attacks. |
Shift Boost (off side of the track or across a gap) | L until you’re off the track, then R (or vice versa). Make sure the A button is held down when you transition from being off track to going back onto the track. Steering can help with executing this kind of shift boost. |
Shift Boost (off a mound/hill on a track) | In the moment you lift off the track, press and hold A (if you aren’t already holding it) until you get the speed gain. It must be pressed before the machine ‘lands’ back onto the track. Basic example by Brave / Quick Turning over hill to get a SB / Strafing SB / MTS into Shift Boost (MTSISB) Examples |
Side attack dive | L+Left-Up or R+Right-Up, hold A, and repeatedly tap the side attack button |
Side attack turn | Side attack turn: While turning, repeatedly tap the side attack button. Can be used effectively with strafe turn, drift turn and quick turn. |
MTS Chaining | Step 1 - Perform MTS Step 2 - Begin drift turn exit (A, turn opposite direction, hold both L and R) Step 3* - Immediately after, side attack 2-4 times (the faster the better) Step 4* - Immediately after the final side attack, simultaneously let go of non MTSing shoulder button, A, and steer in MTS direction Step 5 - Repeat Steps 1 through 4 Note on Step 3: When chaining with a higher grip machine like Gallant, when you press down on the unpressed shoulder button right before side attacking, holding it down lightly instead of all the way down will make your machine not regain its grip as easily. This makes it easier to MTS chain, as you need to be in a drift state at all times to MTS chain. Note on Step 4: When chaining with Gallant and other higher grip machines, at times you will need to hold on to both L and R for a brief moment longer to be able to initiate the next MTS properly Demonstration: Black Bull / Quick / Gallant |
Turbo Slide Chaining (TS Chaining) | Same inputs as MTS chaining,except you hold down the A button the entire time. Quick / Gallant / Black Bull |
Snaking | Cycle between L+Left and R+Right while using a machine that is good at snaking. Set your machine to 0% for best results |
Spaceflying | With a very light machine with excellent air cornering, after going off track or off a jump, continuously hold L+Left and/or R+Right to gain height. Set your machine to 0% for best results |
Credits and Special Thanks
Miyamoto for creating F-Zero
Nintendo for publishing the game
Sega and AV for developing one of the greatest games ever
Iwata, who was the Executive producer at the time of the game’s release, and an inspiring man who connected to all gamers. Rest in Peace.
Locks and anyone who developed and runs FZeroCentral (formerly MrFixItOnline.com)
Everyone who contributed to the development and optimization of high level GX
CGN for inspiring me to get back to playing this game to set new personal records with your AGDQ run
Zewing for helping me out with getting good at MTS and TS chaining
The F-Zero community as a whole. Such an amazing group of people.
And finally, YOU for playing this game or about to play this game
Closing
I hope you found this massive guide to be easy to follow and helpful for whatever purpose you have for reading it. I tried to address everything, but if you still have questions or you have trouble getting something, either ask me at Discord or Twitter, or you can email me at gcubemaster12@gmail.com if you prefer. Also feel free to point out errors of any sort in this guide and I’ll be sure to correct them.
If you are newer to playing GX seriously and read through much of this for the first time, I’m sure the overwhelming amount of info is a lot to take in. It’ll take some time to digest it all. The important parts won’t take as long to remember. Integrating the various techniques into your play will be a rocky process, and becoming proficient with them will take some time and a lot of repetition. Take it one baby step at a time. Learn the inputs. Then learn to execute. Then do better at this, and then this, and then that and so on. And then it’ll all click for the particular technique or course start.
Don’t ever expect to be perfect, but always strive to hone your skills and do better, even if it seems out of your reach. You may at times seem you’ve reached a limit, but those are the times you need to keep trying and believe in yourself.
Enjoy this amazing rollercoaster of a game, and remember, GO FAST!