In previous Mario Karts, I haven't had any trouble getting the turbo boost at the beginning of the race. But I can't seem to figure it out in Mario Kart 7 - how do I time the gas to get the starting boost?
To initiate a turbo at the start of the race, hold down the acceleration button right when the number "2" appears, or just a little after it appears.
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This question makes reference to the air-speed of the kart, thus implying that there are different stats for air speed and ground speed, however I can't seem to find any indication of this in-game.
How do I know the air-speed of my kart?
The chart JohnoBoy posted is close, but uses the wrong units. Super Mario Wiki's page on MK7 has all the values. Here's the short version for airspeed only:
Note that gliders have the strongest influence on airspeed - also note that the gliders with the biggest airspeed penalty have the biggest air handling bonus, so they're not total step-downs.
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Additional Kart parts are unlocked by collecting coins. That is all fine and dandy, but how do I know how many coins I've collected across all games? This would make it much easier to know when I've collected all Kart parts, and how far away I am from unlocking an additional part.
You must go to the Mario Kart Channel and investigate the face of your Mii in the bottom-right corner. There you'll see:
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I'm sure any Mario Karting knows that horrific feelings that comes along with hearing the sound of a blue shell coming ever closer. I recall that in some of the previous games there were methods for avoiding the blue-shell (although they were difficult).
What methods, if any, exist in Mario Kart 7 for avoiding the blue-shell once I know it's coming?
Right before a Blue Shell hits you, it stays stationary in the air for a split second before falling down and hitting you. Because of this, you can use a Mushroom to dodge one if you time it just right. This was easier to do in Mario Kart Wii than in Mario Kart 7, due to changes in the Blue Shell's mechanics, but it is still possible, as illustrated by this YouTube video.
(Of course, you could also use a Star or Bullet Bill before the impact of the Blue Shell, which would also result in your dodging it.)
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The title pretty much says it all. How do I unlock additional parts for my karts?
Here's a picture so my question can meet the quality standards:
According to GameFAQs:
You can earn 10 coins per race, 40 per cup.
Unlockable - How to Unlock
Random Part 1 - 50 coins
Random Part 2 - 100 coins
Random Part 3 - 150 coins
Random Part 4 - 200 coins
Random Part 5 - 250 coins
Random Part 6 - 300 coins
Random Part 7 - 400 coins
Random Part 8 - 500 coins
Random Part 9 - 600 coins
Random Part 10 - 700 coins
Random Part 11 - 800 coins
Random Part 12 - 900 coins
Random Part 13 - 1000 coins
Random Part 14 - 1200 coins
Random Part 15 - 1400 coins
Random Part 16 - 1600 coins
Random Part 17 - 1800 coins
Random Part 18 - 2000 coins
Random Part 19 - 2500 coins
Random Part 20 - 3000 coins
Random Part 21 - 3500 coins
Random Part 22 - 4000 coins
Random Part 23 - 4500 coins
Beast Glider - 5000 coins
Gold Glider - Connect with 100 people via StreetPass or collect 10,000 coins
Gold Standard (kart body) - Obtain a VR higher than 10,000 points or collect 20,000 coins
Golden Steering Wheel - Play 100 recent matches and use the first person gyro controls 80% of the time
Golden Wheels - Beat every cup on 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and Mirror Mode and receive a minimum of 1 star ranking for each cup to unlock
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The instruction manual leaves much to be desired. I know the karts themselves affect your stats, but does each player have the same base stats or do they differ?
From MarioWiki:
Just as in Mario Kart Wii, each character gets their own specific stat boost that accounts for kart customization, based on their weight class. The units are out of 6.[2] In general, light characters have high values of Acceleration, Handling, and Off-Road, while heavy characters have high values of Speed and Weight. Hover over the weight column to see the characters in the represented weight class.
Here are the different characters and their weight classes (unlockables are in spoiler tags):
Feather:
Toad, Koopa Troopa! Shy Guy, Lakitu
Light:
Peach, Yoshi,! Daisy
Medium:
Mario, Luigi! Mii
Cruiser:
Donkey Kong! Rosalina, Wiggler
Heavy:
Bowser! Wario, Metal Mario, Honey Queen
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I've collected over 500 coins so far and the only things unlocked from those were new kart customizations. I have also beaten every Grand Prix in 50cc with 3 stars (first time, no less!) but nothing got unlocked there.
There are some regular characters missing from the line-up (like my favourite, Wario) so I assume more can be unlocked at some point. How do you achieve this?
Here's the unlockable character list from GameFAQS.com:
Unlockable How to Unlock
=========================
Daisy 1st in Mushroom Cup 150cc
Honey Queen 1st in Banana Cup 150cc
Lakitu 1st in Lightning Cup 150cc
Metal Mario 1st in Special Cup 150cc
Mii Place 1st in all cups in one CC level.
Rosalina 1st in Star Cup 150cc
Shy Guy 1st in Shell Cup 150cc
Wario 1st in Flower Cup 150cc
Wiggler 1st in Leaf Cup 150cc
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