A Mario Kart Wii speedrunner has made history after pulling off an insane Rainbow Road shortcut that saw them skip to the end of the course in record time. Here’s how they did it.
The world of Mario Kart speedrunning is notoriously competitive and players from around the world are constantly competing for the best times. One course that has remained a popular pick amongst Mario Kart speedrunners is Rainbow Road. This colorful course is one of the most difficult in the game thanks to its sharp bends, speed-inducing dash panels, numerous jumps, and complete lack of railings.
For many Mario Kart players, Rainbow Road is a test of skill and one that requires a huge amount of luck to get the best run times. This is especially true in the speedrunning community. However, one Mario Kart Wii speedrunner has smashed the previous lap world record after becoming the first person ever to pull off the notoriously difficult Ultra-Shortcut. Here’s how he did it.
Rainbow Road world record smashed
To understand how Mario Kart Wii speedrunner ArthurMKW managed to make history, we first need to look at how Ultra-Shortcuts work. Unlike normal shortcuts, Ultra-Shortcuts enable the player to skip vast amounts of the race track. They are incredibly difficult to pull off and often require huge amounts of practice and precision.
This is particularly true in the case of Rainbow Road’s Ultra-Shortcuts. However, the one used by ArthurMKW was once thought to be impossible due to the sheer amount of precision and luck involved. Even the Speedrunning Reddit page put up a bounty if any player managed to successfully achieve a fast-lap record using it.
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“This glitch is infinitely precise for many reasons,” says Reddit user thaumoctopus_mimicus. “Simply getting behind the railing is difficult. Then, you have to just barely touch the closest tip of the first checkpoint region, or the lap won’t count, and the rest of your attempt won’t matter. You can’t really tell if you hit it though, you just have to use visual markers and try to aim for the right spot to hit it.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, players would need to hit a perfect spindrift to ensure they get enough air time to clear the gap down into the next zone. Had ArthurMKW strayed too far, then the ever-helpful Lakitu would pick him up and ruin his run. Fortunately, this wouldn’t be the case and he secured his 2’14″677 world record run, almost 10 whole seconds faster than the previous record.
After years of attempts and hundreds of hours, ArthurMKW has seemingly done the impossible and secured a truly incredible Rainbow Road lap time. Whether you’re an avid Mario Kart fan or love watching insane speedrun records, there’s no denying just how crazy this clip is — and it will be a long time before this record is broken.
