Advanced controls and techniques

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200359
[0:14 - quick start // 1:45 - boost // 3:58 - boost cancel // 7:00 - slope boost // 8:57 - ceiling boost // 10:08 - tube leverage // 11:57 - wall clip]

	Quick start
Before the beginning of a race, hold down A and B together. Release B when the announcer says "go." Slightly early is better than slightly late.

	Steep elevation
Hold Z and pull back or forward on the control stick. Use if you need to change elevation quickly.

	Boost
While accelerating, hold Z to drift and turn left or right. After rotating at least 45° (it's not exact, and you'll probably want to turn more anyway), let go of both A and Z. Then, press A to resume acceleration. You can press Z again to angle yourself back forward quickly, but it's not a requirement. It takes some getting used to.

	Boost cancel
After pulling off a boost, tap B. This will cut your boost short and you won't get as much speed, but your temperature gauge will also stop increasing. This is required with Prowler, which overheats after just one full boost.

	Slope boost
The game differentiates between flat ground and sloped ground, and machines behave differently on each. When you fly close to the ground, your max speed will be less than in air. On sloped terrain however, you can easily reach the game's speed ceiling. Do a boost while gripping (e.g., the machine's flames are red) a sloped terrain such as a curved side or a tube. If done right, cancelling a slope boost will not cost you any speed.

	Tube leverage
While in a tube, pull just slightly back on the control stick. Pull back less the faster you go. This will increase your speed in a tube as much as 200 MPH. Leveraging too much will make the machine hard to control. You'll usually just want to do a cancelled slope boost while in a tube, but if you have just boosted, this is a way to retain your speed for longer.

	Ceiling boost
When there is a ceiling made of invisible wall (e.g., you do not take damage), and it is angled upward and away from you, you can elevate up (pull back on the control stick) against the ceiling to be pushed forward. You can easily reach max speed while using steep elevation. The only place a ceiling like this exists is in Canyon Rush, on the upward slope after the beginning of the track, between the arching signs.

	Wall clip
At any corner, whether 90° or not, you can clip through the walls and go out of bounds. This is easiest on a 90° wall while moving perpendicular to it, but it can be done from any angle on any convex corner with the right setup. For the 90° setup, rest your machine close to the corner, perpendicular with one of the walls. Line your machine up so that about one third of it is in front of the wall, with the other two thirds off to the side of the wall. move slowly towards the wall. Once you're about halfway through, begin to turn in the direction of the corner. If everything was lined up correctly, you'll be through the wall and out of bounds. Note that this is only useful in one level, Neo Arena.

All unlocks (no Control Pad) guide

Timing begins at machine selection confirmation, and ends at hitting the last "next" button after racing Chinatown Jam with the last machine.

Short version:

1. Expert grand prix first overall with Avenger
2. Expert grand prix first overall with Shredder
3. Intermediate grand prix all first place (including qualifiers) with Black Lightning
4. Expert grand prix all first place (including qualifiers) with Hornet

The order of these 4 can be swapped to your liking, but the fastest route through 1 and 2 require grinding for good RNG (more on that below), so i recommend doing those two first.

----

Details:

There are 6 things to unlock, and 4 grand prix to complete to get them all. The unlockables are:
	the Neo Speed Way track,
	the Chinatown Jam track,
	the Vengeance machine,
	the Prowler machine,
	the Reaper machine, and
	the Dominator machine.
Beating grand prix on intermediate difficulty with all first place finishes (including qualifiers!) unlocks Neo Speed Way, and beating grand prix on expert difficulty with all first-place finishes unlocks Chinatown Jam. As for unlocking machines, all you have to do is finish an intermediate or expert grand prix in first (but not necessarily all first-place finishes) with a certain default machine. The corresponding default machine and unlockable machine pairs are:
	Hornet -> Prowler
	Avenger -> Vengeance
	Shredder -> Reaper
	Black Lightning -> Dominator.
There's one more unlockable machine, the N64 Control Pad, but we don't get it in the run because it's unlocked by getting a lap time ending in .064 which is extremely unlikely¤, and up to chance.

¤ At the time of writing, I actually don't fully understand how unlocking the CP even works! After getting lots of .064 lap times, I still haven't unlocked it. Something even stranger is going on here.

----

The run, with specifics:

	I will follow the route I listed in the short version of the run description above, feel free to do these in whatever order you like. Also as a beginning sidenote, you can confirm menu selections with this game with either the A button or the Z button. Use this to your advantage, spam with both buttons and stave off arthritis for another year!

	1. Unlocking Vengeance
	Set the game difficulty to expert in the options menu, and move to grand prix. Select Avenger and you'll see the confirmation dialog come up - press A to confirm this and to begin the run, and start timing. Complete this grand prix with a first place overall, no need to do any qualifiers: just retire as soon as youre able to. As for the races themselves, try to get first place, because you'll want to skip as many races as possible to save time and still come out in first at the end of the grand prix. The riskiest pathway is to skip both Chinatown and Chinatown Jam, which will leave you with 30 points at the end of the grand prix. This will sometimes be an overall first place in the tournament, but often not, so it's a battle with RNG. A guaranteed route you can take, losing 2 minutes, is to only skip Chinatown Jam. To skip the race, just retire as soon as the race starts. Note that skipping the other tracks would not save as much time: Canyon Rush and Bikini Island are short, and Neo Arena is the shortest of all with the out of bounds strat.
	As soon as the credits appear after completing the grand prix, reset the console. You can time this by listening for the music!
	
	2. Unlocking Reaper
	Set the game difficulty to expert again, and start a grand prix with Shredder. Complete the grand prix the same as the last one, that is, by getting first overall, no need to get first on all races, etc. Again, reset as soon as the credits appear.
	
	3. Unlocking Dominator and Neo Speedway
	Set the game difficulty to intermediate this time, and start a grand prix with Black Lightning. This time, in order to unlock the new track in addition to the new machine, you'll have to get first on all qualifiers AND races. This means that during each qualifying round, you'll want to get a quick time on your first lap, and as soon as you begin your second qualifying lap, retire. This works because the qualifying round takes your best lap time out of the two - if you forfeit one lap, then it will just take the one lap that you did as your best. Note that if you aren't confident about your first qualifying lap time, you might want to do another one, because not getting first will require you to start the grand prix over again. For the races themselves, just be sure you come out in first.
	Once again, reset as soon as the credits begin.
	
	4. Unlocking Prowler and Chinatown Jam
	Set the game difficulty to expert once again, and start a grand prix with Hornet. For this grand prix, you'll again have to get first in all qualifiers and races.
	As soon as you select "Next" on the grand prix final results screen and the screen begins to fade, stop the timer.

Basic controls

Acceleration: A
Brake: B
Turn: Control stick horizontal
Elevation: Control stick vertical
Drift: Z

Individual level strats

The routes are hard to explain in words, so here are videos showing the strats. I explain them as I go. If you're hearing-impaired or deaf, or otherwise have a hard time following along, send me a message on twitter (@ciwb_dust) and I'll write up transcriptions of what I say in the videos.

Canyon Rush: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200582
Bikini Island: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200463
Chinatown: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200347
Neo Arena: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200311
Chinatown Jam: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200395
Neo Speed Way: I don't race this IL... if you want to make a video of your next-level Neo Speed Way strats, be my guest. I'll add it here.

Stats FAQ

Speed: The Maximum Speed of the AeroMachine when in the air.
Steering: The Turning Capability of the AeroMachine.
Accele: The Acceleration of the AeroMachine, how quickly it can go from 0 to Max Speed.
Aero Limit: The Speed the AeroMachine needs to travel before it can get airborne.
Shield: The Endurance of the AeroMachine, how much damage it can take.
Stability: The Gripping Power of the AeroMachine.
In-game, there's also a temperature gauge which limits the amount that you can boost. If your temperature maxes out, you'll have to wait a long while until you can use a boost again.

Version differences, emulator, and frame timings

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/44200460
[0:48 - version differences // 1:50 - emulator // 6:27 - frame timings]

Nome	Autore
Advanced controls and techniques	JM 5 years ago
All unlocks (no Control Pad) guide	JM 8 years ago
Basic controls	JM 10 years ago
Individual level strats	JM 7 years ago
Stats FAQ	JM 10 years ago
Version differences, emulator, and frame timings	JM 7 years ago