Mario Kart. Unlike most video games, they’re designed to give the advantage to the losers. The worse you are, the better items you get, so the better your chances are of getting back into first. This balance makes it a terrible game for anyone who’s competitive, since much of the game is luck based as opposed to skill based. However, you still can use skill use a couple of things to boost your odds of success.

1. Play it by yourself

My first and best advice. If you only play it with friends, you will have the same amount of practice as they do. Playing by yourself gives you the experience you need to have an edge. Time trials are your friends here. Doing a time trial removes all variables out of your control. There are no blue shells, no items-save for three mushrooms. This lets you try to find the best shortcuts-as well as the best alternate paths when the track branches.

See, when you play time trials you race against “ghosts”-game developers who worked on the game, and recorded a run-through of the lap. So, you get a chance to see the best shortcuts straight from the creator’s mind. You naturally learn the best tips and tricks for how to stay on the track and go fast-such as staying on the inside of the turns, since the inside is much shorter than the outside.

Time trials are a great method to choose your ideal character/cart combination. Find the simplest track there is-usually the first circuit in the game-and practice. Take the same exact route each time. If you take a shortcut, make it the same one every time. Beat your best time over and over again with each different character and kart until you have your ideal combination.

At least, I found this matters in Mario Kart Wii. Mario Kart Wii’s mechanics are immensely different from Mario Kart 7 and 8. I found that character/kart combination doesn’t seem to matter that much in Mario Kart 8, whereas it’s one of the most important things in Wii.

2. Use Items Infuriatingly

Picture credit goes to Nintendo.

Okay, so you’re at the point where it’s between you and your buddy (well, you know, enemy, there aren’t friends in Mario Kart) at getting first and second place. Literally one second of extra speed will win the day-a second is an age in Mario Kart. So, what do you do? Use items. Aim your green shells before you fire them. Drag items behind you by holding down the item fire button, which protects you from red shells.

But there’s more tricks. When you have banana peels, don’t waste them. Place them in places you know that your rivals will have to go through. Favorites include behind item boxes, on the finish line, and in shortcuts you know your rival likes to take-although you have to be wary, because you’re as vulnerable to hitting your own banana peels as someone else is.

Remember to save your items. In Mario Kart Wii, you can stock up two items at once; use one right before you hit a row of item boxes, so you keep your stock up. In 8, you can only have one item at a time. Since one of the items you can get in first places is coins, which don’t have an offensive or defensive use, you might want to keep an item in defense when you have a rival on your tail in the higher places. On the other hand, keeping your items in rotation gives you more chance to trip up your opponents-that’s a call you’re going to have to make. Also, remember in 8 there’s an item called the Super Horn, which can destroy Blue Shells. Save it if you’re in first place, but use it to get into first if you need to.

Also, under this category, the lower your place gets, the better items you get. So giving your rivals a head start means that you get better items right from the off; being in first does give you an advantage, but staying in the back makes everything more exciting. Maybe that’s just me, because I like showing off.

3. Ditch the Motion Controls

Picture credit goes to Nintendo

I would like to take this moment to defend motion controls. I love games that use motion controls correctly and effectively; Mario Kart is not one of those games. In an actual car, you have to flip the wheel completely around to turn; in Mario Kart, even the slightest adjustment sends you flying off of the course.

That’s not to say that you can’t be good with the motion controls-but if you drive an actual car, your muscle memories will conflict. I recommend a nunchuck or a classic controller; a joystick is a much more pinpoint controller. Better controls mean that you don’t go off course nearly as much. You might be at a disadvantage for the first few races until you get used to it, but it’ll give you more wins in the end.

4. Learn to Drift

In Mario Kart Wii, there’s a manual and automatic drifting; in 8, drifting’s always on. Either way, you need to learn how to drift; it shaves multiple seconds off your racing time and gives you a professional edge.

Basically, you’ll have to hit whatever button it is before entering a turn; you’ll then have to adjust the joystick to keep yourself properly on the turn. It gives you a slight speed boost, which is enough to give you an edge over your opponents.

Like with most video games, practice is the most important thing to getting better at them. Yes, with enough practice, even you can get first in Rainbow Road.