4: Special Cup Tracks

4: Special Cup Tracks
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Special Cup Tracks

Dry Dry Ruins

Dry Dry Ruins, like other Mario Kart desert tracks, is pretty shortcut-friendly, especially around the vicinity of the starting line.

Bridge shortcut: After the first turn after the start, you'll come down to a bridge with a Pokey on the other side. Off to the left of the bridge is a nice wide-open patch of sand that you can boost through and get quicker access to the Item Boxes. If not that, then you can blast through the corner next to the items for a secondary shortcut.
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Into the ruins: When you first approach the ruins, columns will crash down into the sand outside. They're half-sunk into the sand, and if you haven't realized from the other columns earlier on the track, you can actually use them as little jumps, which means a chance to trick boost! 427x240
Once you're in the ruins, you'll come upon some half-pipes. You'll pretty much have to use them, since sand has spilled out onto the track and can slow you down. Treat the sand like the snow at DK's Snowboard Cros and use the boosts from the half-pipes to get through. 427x240
The sand pit: Just before exiting the ruins, you'll come upon a large bowl-like indent in the middle of the floor with a few Pokeys crawling around, and sand pouring in from the ceiling. For the first lap, it's totally possible to just speed straight through, but by the last laps, the sand will have accumulated and it will be better for you to go around. 427x240
Exit boosts and last shortcuts: Get two free boosts by tricking off the jumps that follow after exiting the ruins. Once you touch down and happen to have a Mushroom, you can skip the last turn by blasting behind the large brown cactus and straight ahead to the finish. 427x240

Moonview Highway

It's a highway track! One of the more unpredictable track types in Mario Kart. Moonview Highway is definitely the most dangerous, since there are plenty of turns that don't give you a good view of what's up ahead. Try not to get blindsided! It's one thing to be flattened by a regular car; it's another to be toasted by one of the Bob-omb-mobiles (though it's always great to duck in front of them and lead a zealous opponent to their own pain).

Early shortcut: On the first turn after the start, you can run up the rock wall to the right of the track and get up to a hidden ledge, where you can drive up along the wall and then end with a boost-jump off the edge. On 150cc, try not to cap that off with a trick-boost, or you may find yourself disoriented and fling yourself off the edge.

If you missed the ledge, though, you can use the plant box on the right (below the Item Boxes at the end of the ledge) as a small jump that you can trick-boost off of. 427x240
Tollbooth boosts: After passing through the striped gates of the first toll line, you'll hit a large boost strip, and then a few smaller ones will be dotted up the track and into the tunnel. The small strips follow a nice diagonal line leading from the left up to the right, so you can keep up a nice continuous line that way. Otherwise the boosts will be staggered a bit going into the tunnel.

In the tunnel will be more small strips, and then you'll exit out another gate and pass the finish line. 427x240

Bowser's Castle

Bowser's Castle can do a good job of undoing a winning streak, due to the fact that it's nearly-nonstop action from start to finish.

Wavy hall: Like the net on Maple Treeway, you'll soon enter the trippy, waving hallway that throws you up and down as you drive through. And like the Treeway, you can repeatedly trick-boost through the entire hall. 427x240
Mecha Bowser's gauntlet: After taking some corners, you'll be launched into a large half-pipe arena, with the huge Mecha Bowser spitting huge fiery bombs straight ahead at you. Sections of the pipe are separated by patches of mud, so to ensure that you get through here safely, you'll have to launch off the sides of the pipe and then boost once you hit the ground, and hopefully speed away from the fake Bowser's attacks. If you fancy yourself as a daredevil, there's a small little ramp just before the second patch of mud that you can use for a trick-boost and get by.

After that, you can take either the left or right paths to get out of the gauntlet.
Watch the lava: Take the corner after the gauntlet and the track will be somewhat broken away to the right, exposing two lava geysers. Not much to say, except: stay on the actual road! 427x240
The home stretch: Lava geysers will give you one last obstacle before the finish line, but they're pretty easy to get between. Plus, you can use the geysers' mounds as little jumps for trick boosts. 427x240

Rainbow Road

The grand finale of the new Mario Kart Wii tracks, Rainbow Road is one of the meanest iterations of the track yet. Allow us to explain:

Know the arches: Right after starting, you'll be zooming down the track, and two arches to the right and then the left will signify boost strips for you to hit. Hit both to maintain max speed. 427x240
Half-pipe boost: A blue half-pipe ridge will appear shortly after. It's probably a good idea to take it, since you'll probably be barreling down this section, and the short moment of midair floating will be a nice little breather. Plus it shouldn't keep you out of place too long.
Ride the waves (again): After that, the track gets wavy, meaning you can happily trick-boost through. 427x240
The figure-eight of death: Two very large holes will come upon you next, and on the sides are more half-pipe ridges that you can use to zig-zag your way down the track. If you have a Mushroom, you can actually boost across the holes easily, or you can approach the first one after a trick boost, trick again then pass the second one with another boost (though in that case, it might be better doing on 100/150cc).

If you don't/can't jump the holes, it's safer not to use the ridges until the second hole, and even then use the left-hand one, since coming down from it will position you perfectly and send you right out the exit and down the next curve.
Star fork: Shortly after being blasted out of the star cannon, you'll reach a fork in the road. The right-hand path is easier to take, but the left-hand one is shorter, so do try to go down there if you have an opening. 427x240
The last arches: You'll enter a star tunnel (tip: you can still fall off the edge) with three more arches to the left, right and left that will boost you through to the finish line.