Try and play on Manual as soon as you feel comfortable as it is a huge advantage and will help you get better at the game.
Automatic is better for beginners, as you do not have to constantly hold B whenever you turn but Manual allows you to use mini-turbo which can be used very cleverly. Tilting your Wii Remote from side to side while holding B and turning makes the mini-turbo charge faster. Orange Mini-Turbos are only possible using karts. Manual drifting does allow you to use Mini-Turbos, which can be activated by releasing B (the drift button) when you see blue or orange sparks from behind your vehicle as you drift. Automatic allows you to drift (turn easily at corners) automatically without pressing buttons, but does not allow the usage of Mini-Turbos, which are miniature speed boosts. The Bowser Bike/Flame Runner has better speed and a much higher weight, but its other stats are not as good as the Bullet Bike's.Ĭhoose which drift type you'll be using - Automatic or Manual. The Bullet Bike, which is a light vehicle, has slightly less speed and a lot less weight then the other, but makes up for it with better overall stats. They both have similar statistics, but since they're from different weight classes, they have slight differences.
Light characters give less speed and weight bonuses, but are better at everything else. More important to take into consideration is the weight class, divided up into Light, Medium or Heavy characters. Although these certainly do not make too much of a difference (with some characters it's really not even noticeable), it's fine to look them up in depth. All of the Mario Kart Characters have stats that are not listed in game.