New Skip BREAKS Mario Kart DS After 18 Years

Abyssoft
26 Apr 202411:37

TLDRAfter 18 years, new skips have been discovered in Mario Kart DS, challenging the game's previously thought unbreakable tracks. These skips were found by a new player, Zumo de papaya, who, with persistence and curiosity, explored game mechanics and bounced over guardrails to achieve out-of-bounds shortcuts. Speedrunners like Guan and Robert 'imath' McKinnon refined these techniques, leading to significant time savings in races. The skips were particularly impactful on tracks like Luigi's Mansion, Waluigi's Pinball, and Delino Square, where precise bounces and strategic use of game mechanics allowed players to bypass sections of the track. The discovery of these skips has led to record-breaking performances and a renewed interest in the game's speedrunning community.

Takeaways

  • 🏎️ **New Skips Discovered**: After 18 years, three tracks in Mario Kart DS, previously thought to be unbreakable, had new skips found within a week.
  • 🎮 **Unconventional Discovery**: The new skips were found not by seasoned players, but by a new player, Zumo de papaya, exploring the game's mechanics.
  • 🕹️ **Exploration of Luigi's Mansion**: Zumo's initial exploration involved bouncing over a guardrail in Luigi's Mansion, which led to the discovery of new bounce mechanics.
  • 🤔 **Persistence Pays Off**: Zumo's persistence and curiosity, despite initial discouragement, led to significant breakthroughs in the game's skips.
  • 🔍 **Physics and Bounce Mechanics**: The script delves into the complex physics of Mario Kart DS, explaining how bounces work and the importance of steering during a bounce.
  • 🌟 **Sponsor Highlight**: The video features a sponsor, Brilliant, which offers interactive lessons in AI, math, data analysis, and programming.
  • 🚀 **Super Bounce Technique**: A key technique used to achieve the skips involves performing a Super bounce, which requires precise timing and conditions.
  • 🛤️ **Track Specific Skips**: The skips were found on specific tracks, including Luigi's Mansion, Waluigi's Pinball, and Delino Square, each with its unique set of challenges.
  • 🏁 **Checkpoint System**: Mario Kart DS uses a checkpoint system for lap progression, with certain 'key checkpoints' required for a lap to count.
  • 📉 **Time Savings**: The skips were theorized to save between 1 to 2 seconds per use, significantly impacting race times.
  • 💡 **Innovation and Improvement**: The process of finding and perfecting the skips involved continuous innovation, with different players contributing ideas and strategies.
  • 🏆 **Record Breaking**: The new skips led to broken records and intense competition among speedrunners, with several players vying to achieve the fastest times.

Q & A

  • How long has it been since the last new skips were found for Mario Kart DS before this discovery?

    -The last new skips for Mario Kart DS were found over a decade before these new discoveries.

  • Who was the first person to find the new skips in Mario Kart DS after 18 years?

    -The new skips were found by a new player named Zumo de papaya, not someone familiar with the game.

  • What was Zumo de papaya's initial attempt in Luigi's Mansion that led to the discovery of the new skips?

    -Zumo de papaya was trying to bounce over the guard rail to get out of bounds, as the walls surrounding the area have no collision.

  • What was the role of Guan in the discovery of the new skips?

    -Guan was a Tasser who helped investigate the bounce mechanics in Mario Kart DS, leading to the discovery of the Super bounce on Luigi's Mansion.

  • How does the Super bounce work in Mario Kart DS?

    -To get a Super bounce, you need to fall for a certain distance and hold down to tilt your cart, then press the Hop button on the same frame you hit the ground to transfer the extra height into the jump.

  • What is the significance of the steering while performing a Super bounce?

    -The steering while performing a Super bounce matters a lot, but the exact reason why was not well understood by the players.

  • How does the use of a mushroom affect the Super bounce in Mario Kart DS?

    -Using a mushroom before jumping provides more speed and thus more height for the Super bounce, but using it after the Super bounce won't affect the height as the game has already calculated it.

  • What was the first track where Zumo successfully hit the skip using task tools?

    -The first track where Zumo successfully hit the skip was Luigi's Mansion.

  • What is the concept of 'key checkpoints' in Mario Kart DS and how do they relate to shortcuts?

    -Key checkpoints in Mario Kart DS are invisible checkpoints that are required for progression to count towards a lap. A shortcut cannot skip any of these key checkpoints.

  • How did the discovery of the Super bounce on Delino Square impact the game's lap progression?

    -The Super bounce on Delino Square allowed players to skip the loop entirely, as it took place between two key checkpoints, without affecting the lap count.

  • What was the community's reaction to the new skips found by Zumo and Guan?

    -The community was shocked and excited by the new skips, leading to a flurry of activity where multiple speedrunners attempted and improved upon the newly discovered shortcuts.

  • What is the current status of the three-lap record for the Luigi's Mansion shortcut?

    -The three-lap record for the Luigi's Mansion shortcut is currently held by Marissa, and it has already been hit on the second lap of multiple runs, indicating that a sub-three-lap record is imminent.

Outlines

00:00

🕹️ New Skips in Mario Kart DS

The first paragraph introduces the discovery of new skips in Mario Kart DS after 18 years, which were typically found by skilled players or speedrunners. The recent finds were made by a new player, Zumo de papaya, who was exploring out-of-bounds areas in Luigi's Mansion. The narrative details Zumo's persistence and the involvement of a speedrunner named Guan, who helped uncover the mechanics behind the 'Super bounce'. The paragraph also discusses the game's physics, the role of the video's sponsor, Brilliant, and how the bounce mechanics work in the game, including the conditions required for a successful Super bounce.

05:01

🏎️ Humanly Possible Skips and the Lap Progression System

The second paragraph delves into the challenges and the eventual success of Zumo and Guan in executing a Super bounce on Waluigi's Pinball, despite the presence of an invisible wall. It explains the potential strategies to maintain in-bounds status after the bounce and introduces the concept of key checkpoints in Mario Kart DS's lap progression system. The paragraph also highlights the discovery of the Delino Square shortcut and the evolution of the Super bounce technique, which became more accessible and viable for real-time attack (RTA) speedruns. The narrative concludes with the achievements of various speedrunners, including the breaking of records and the ongoing pursuit of perfecting the two-shortcut run.

10:02

🏆 Record-Breaking Speedruns and the Future of Shortcuts

The third paragraph discusses the ongoing competition among speedrunners to utilize the newly discovered shortcuts in Mario Kart DS to achieve faster lap times. It mentions the significant achievements of speedrunners like Marissa, MK Dasher, and imath, who have been pushing the limits of what's possible in the game. The paragraph also addresses the feasibility of executing the Super bounce on all three laps and the strategic choice of karts with higher item stats at the cost of other stats. The narrative concludes with anticipation for the first two-shortcut run and a reference to a documentary about MK Dasher's career.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Skips

In the context of the video, 'skips' refer to shortcuts or exploits in the game Mario Kart DS that allow players to bypass certain sections of the track, thereby saving time. These skips are significant because they were previously thought to be unbreakable, and their discovery represents a breakthrough in the game's speedrunning community.

💡Mario Kart DS

Mario Kart DS is a popular racing video game developed by Nintendo. It is part of the Mario Kart series and is known for its competitive gameplay and the ability for players to find and use shortcuts to gain an advantage. The video discusses new skips found in this game after 18 years.

💡Speedrunners

Speedrunners are competitive gamers who aim to complete video games as quickly as possible, often discovering and utilizing hidden mechanics, shortcuts, or glitches to save time. In the video, speedrunners play a crucial role in finding and perfecting the new skips in Mario Kart DS.

💡Super bounce

A 'Super bounce' is a specific technique used in Mario Kart DS that allows a player's kart to bounce higher than usual, which can be used to access shortcuts or skip sections of the track. It is a complex mechanic that involves timing, kart speed, and the use of in-game items like mushrooms.

💡Steering

In the context of Mario Kart DS, 'steering' refers to the player's control over the direction of the kart during gameplay. The video emphasizes the importance of steering during a Super bounce, as it significantly affects the outcome of the bounce and the ability to execute skips.

💡Discord

Discord is a communication platform often used by gaming communities to discuss strategies, share findings, and collaborate. In the video, a player uses Discord to ask for help with a potential skip, which leads to the discovery of new game mechanics.

💡TAS (Tool-Assisted Speedrunning)

TAS stands for Tool-Assisted Speedrunning, a method where players use external tools or software to manipulate the game and achieve perfect or near-perfect runs. It is mentioned in the video as a technique that speedrunners use to explore and verify game mechanics, such as the Super bounce.

💡Checkpoint system

The 'checkpoint system' in Mario Kart DS is a game mechanic that tracks the player's progress around the race track. Certain checkpoints are 'key checkpoints' that must be passed for a lap to count. The video explains how skips must work within this system to be effective.

💡RTA (Real-Time Attack)

RTA, or Real-Time Attack, is a method of speedrunning where players compete to complete a game as fast as possible, including the time it takes to input commands. It is mentioned in the video in relation to humanly possible skips and setting new records.

💡Luigi's Mansion

Luigi's Mansion is a level in Mario Kart DS where one of the new skips was discovered. The video discusses the exploration of this level and the process of finding a Super bounce that allows players to skip part of the track.

💡Waluigi's Pinball

Waluigi's Pinball is another track in Mario Kart DS that is investigated for potential skips in the video. The discussion revolves around the challenges and strategies for executing a Super bounce to skip over an invisible wall on this track.

Highlights

After 18 years, three tracks in Mario Kart DS previously thought to be unbreakable were found to have skips.

The first new skips for Mario Kart DS in over a decade were discovered by a new player, not a skilled one.

Skips are typically found by players or speedrunners who know the game mechanics inside out.

Zumo de papaya, a new player, discovered skips while trying to bounce over a guardrail in Luigi's Mansion.

Zumo used the Tyrant cart, which is not typical for time trials, based on a theory about its bounce capabilities.

Guan, a Tasser, found that lighter carts achieve higher bounces, contrary to Zumo's initial theory.

The Super bounce on Luigi's Mansion was achieved through understanding the game's complex physics.

Brilliant is an interactive learning platform that helps with understanding complex topics like physics in gaming.

To perform a Super bounce, specific conditions regarding falling distance, cart direction, and timing must be met.

Zumo and Guan investigated the two-bounce method for achieving skips, which was difficult to replicate.

The Super bounce on Delino Square was theorized to skip an entire loop of the track.

Key checkpoints in Mario Kart DS determine lap progression, and skipping them invalidates the shortcut.

The game mechanics allow for skipping over key checkpoints if the player backtracks, as seen in the Rainbow Road skip.

Zumo's persistence led to the discovery of three new shortcuts within a week.

The single bounce strategy on Luigi's Mansion proved to be more effective and RTA viable than the two-bounce method.

Robert 'imath' McKinnon, a notable speedrunner, contributed insights on the relationship between cart speed and bounce height.

The Waluigi's Pinball skip was achieved, breaking a 2-year-old record by 6 seconds.

Marissa became the first person to land the Super bounce on all three laps, setting a new record.

MK Dasher shocked the community by hitting the Luigi's Mansion shortcut with a difficult two-bound strategy.

Delino Square remains a challenge for achieving a Super bounce on multiple laps due to game mechanics and cart stats.