Reverse Drifting & Tips [MODERNIZED] (From an Iron Rank Lounge Player)
Page: 1
213 - 
56723 pts ★ Titan
4987 pts ★ Budding pilotYesterday at 00:09:15
-Reverse Drifting-
Wha? What is a "reverse drifting"?: "Reverse Drifting" or "RD" is a technique used by experienced MkPC players that allows you to retain a speed of 80km/h (spiking to 120km/h every interval) while having complete control of your kart. This speed is equal to about .4 seconds of a mushroom. It is not to be underestimated.
Oh cool. Wait, how do I reverse drift?: It is laughably easy to spark up a reverse drift. All you must do, is initiate a standard drift, left or right. While in this drifting state, you then want to hit the key or button that is mapped to your [brake]/[move back] input. This will cause you to go the inverse direction of the drift. This is what is intended, this control is the key to reverse drift. When it comes to the "reverse drifting technique" there is a golden rule. Stay on the road. The whole point of reverse drift is for you to be on ground that is classified by the game as "road" the entire time, as that's what allows you to build up a boost. You don't need to mash brake or anything, once you've learned how to do it, all it takes is using the tool correctly.
Then how do I use the tool correctly??: If you've hovered over competitive Mario Kart for any time, hell, any competitive racing game, you've likely heard of the term "line". Lines are the fundamental aspect of saving time on the road, and they are no different when it comes to reverse drift. Your drift is stronger than your base turn, so it might take some getting used-to, but once you get a feel for your directional influence in game, you can move on to control. Control comes in the form of that reverse/brake button. If you're headed towards the sand, reversing will redirect your kart back to the road! Think of a Geometry Dash clip where the arrow transformation takes center stage. You're toggling drifting, and reversing, drifting, and reversing. Holding both for different periods at a time per-toggle, but still, toggling. I promise that if you just practice, you will get better and better at getting a feel for when to toggle, and when not to.
But... What about the speed?: Once you've gone long enough without hitting the road, you're off to the last optimize-able step: Boosting! Once you hold a drift for 0-1 seconds on max handling, you get a blue mini-turbo. Releasing this mini-turbo gives you a constant 80km/h, making you the world's fastest snaker. But if you hold a drift for 2-3 seconds on max handling, you get an orange SUPER mini-turbo. This mini-turbo, once released gives you the same 80km/h, with a BONUS .4 seconds of 120km/h, from which it sinks back down to 80km/h for 1-2 seconds! This speed change is revolutionary! Going this fast, simply staying on the road, turns the SLOG of WorldWide Mario Circuit 1, into a fast paced luck race where anything can happen, ran OR bagged. By getting this timing down, you turn 3 minute tracks into 1 minute tracks, even SUB 1 minute tracks. But it requires dedication, timing, and muscle memory.
So, with all of that, allow me to grant some tips that'll help you get off on the right foot!
Oh cool. Wait, how do I reverse drift?: It is laughably easy to spark up a reverse drift. All you must do, is initiate a standard drift, left or right. While in this drifting state, you then want to hit the key or button that is mapped to your [brake]/[move back] input. This will cause you to go the inverse direction of the drift. This is what is intended, this control is the key to reverse drift. When it comes to the "reverse drifting technique" there is a golden rule. Stay on the road. The whole point of reverse drift is for you to be on ground that is classified by the game as "road" the entire time, as that's what allows you to build up a boost. You don't need to mash brake or anything, once you've learned how to do it, all it takes is using the tool correctly.
Then how do I use the tool correctly??: If you've hovered over competitive Mario Kart for any time, hell, any competitive racing game, you've likely heard of the term "line". Lines are the fundamental aspect of saving time on the road, and they are no different when it comes to reverse drift. Your drift is stronger than your base turn, so it might take some getting used-to, but once you get a feel for your directional influence in game, you can move on to control. Control comes in the form of that reverse/brake button. If you're headed towards the sand, reversing will redirect your kart back to the road! Think of a Geometry Dash clip where the arrow transformation takes center stage. You're toggling drifting, and reversing, drifting, and reversing. Holding both for different periods at a time per-toggle, but still, toggling. I promise that if you just practice, you will get better and better at getting a feel for when to toggle, and when not to.
But... What about the speed?: Once you've gone long enough without hitting the road, you're off to the last optimize-able step: Boosting! Once you hold a drift for 0-1 seconds on max handling, you get a blue mini-turbo. Releasing this mini-turbo gives you a constant 80km/h, making you the world's fastest snaker. But if you hold a drift for 2-3 seconds on max handling, you get an orange SUPER mini-turbo. This mini-turbo, once released gives you the same 80km/h, with a BONUS .4 seconds of 120km/h, from which it sinks back down to 80km/h for 1-2 seconds! This speed change is revolutionary! Going this fast, simply staying on the road, turns the SLOG of WorldWide Mario Circuit 1, into a fast paced luck race where anything can happen, ran OR bagged. By getting this timing down, you turn 3 minute tracks into 1 minute tracks, even SUB 1 minute tracks. But it requires dedication, timing, and muscle memory.
So, with all of that, allow me to grant some tips that'll help you get off on the right foot!
-Tips-
- Don't read the timing: This is not an insult, but you're not going to jump in, learn RD, and then learn the perfect boost timing immediately without issue. The biggest indicator- the only visual indicator for a boost- is the sparks. Simply, only release drift on orange sparks. By training your brain to only release drift when you see the orange sparks, you're inadvertently also training it to expect WHEN the sparks will turn orange, a generally very helpful step of the process.
- Golden Rule (Stay on the road): In order to retain a boost, you need to be on the road. Hitting off-road while pressing your forward/drive button for even .1 seconds automatically gets rid of your drift and boost progress while in a drifting state. Something to keep in mind, is that no matter how slow you think you might be going, in the beginning, play it safe. Losing a super mini-turbo does NOT lose less time than hitting off-road, especially while in a drift, causing a weird juxtaposition to occur to even the toughest players.
- Play as Daisy!: This is not a requirement. Play as whoever you'd like to play as! But max handling and acceleration makes for a very fast combination competitively, which, Daisy provides. Now, this is not to say that you have to "Play as Daisy", but rather a suggestion to give a custom character Daisy stats. Both are, however, optional. What is NOT optional is that handling, it needs to be high enough to start mini-turbos quickly. Otherwise, you will not be able to reverse drift as efficiently.
This is far from everything you'll need. Information is just as important as its role. But this information is an excellent jump-start into seeing yourself as a high level MkPC player. Practice is heavily advised, and, to me, from experience, essential to becoming better. If you want to get better, practice. It will feel at times that you don't know what you're doing, or if you're getting better, but it's all incremental. You ARE getting better. So what are you waiting for? Take the next step! It's quite fun to play this game at a high level, so why not give it a go? If it's not your cup of tea, that's understandable, but, as I always say, there's no harm in trying. Have fun!
Helpful Links:
Reverse Drift Practice Track - https://mkpc.malahieude.net/map.php?i=183456
Reverse Drift Visual Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhDiQNndEJ4
Professional Reverse Drifting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg_rIIvT44s
- Golden Rule (Stay on the road): In order to retain a boost, you need to be on the road. Hitting off-road while pressing your forward/drive button for even .1 seconds automatically gets rid of your drift and boost progress while in a drifting state. Something to keep in mind, is that no matter how slow you think you might be going, in the beginning, play it safe. Losing a super mini-turbo does NOT lose less time than hitting off-road, especially while in a drift, causing a weird juxtaposition to occur to even the toughest players.
- Play as Daisy!: This is not a requirement. Play as whoever you'd like to play as! But max handling and acceleration makes for a very fast combination competitively, which, Daisy provides. Now, this is not to say that you have to "Play as Daisy", but rather a suggestion to give a custom character Daisy stats. Both are, however, optional. What is NOT optional is that handling, it needs to be high enough to start mini-turbos quickly. Otherwise, you will not be able to reverse drift as efficiently.
This is far from everything you'll need. Information is just as important as its role. But this information is an excellent jump-start into seeing yourself as a high level MkPC player. Practice is heavily advised, and, to me, from experience, essential to becoming better. If you want to get better, practice. It will feel at times that you don't know what you're doing, or if you're getting better, but it's all incremental. You ARE getting better. So what are you waiting for? Take the next step! It's quite fun to play this game at a high level, so why not give it a go? If it's not your cup of tea, that's understandable, but, as I always say, there's no harm in trying. Have fun!
Helpful Links:
Reverse Drift Practice Track - https://mkpc.malahieude.net/map.php?i=183456
Reverse Drift Visual Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhDiQNndEJ4
Professional Reverse Drifting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg_rIIvT44s
3
Yesterday at 00:28:18
One additional thing that helped me learn/get better was changing from default controls. I changed my accelerate button to x so I don't have to hold up and down at the same time.
Yesterday at 01:17:53
Also, when RD, you can skip inches of off road, making it a bit more faster. Though it may seem it's not doing anything, it will do a good amount.
Yesterday at 01:18:29
Make sure to rd with the track turns and stuff
Yesterday at 10:48:47
Thank you for your RD lessons!
Yesterday at 17:08:59
One additional thing that helped me learn/get better was changing from default controls. I changed my accelerate button to x so I don't have to hold up and down at the same time.
This. I knew I was forgetting a tip, yes. Changing your inputs is very useful, it's what I ended up doing in the beginning, and I can RD very efficiently now.
1Page: 1