Mario Kart Wii – Rainbow Road “ultra shortcut” achieved by a player for the first time after nearly 13 years
Mario Kart Wii, which is almost 13 years old, has something known as “ultra shortcuts”. The basic idea is that by using a high degree of skill, players can achieve massive lap skips. Doing so can let you finish a lap – or a course entirely – in just a matter of seconds. These special shortcuts involve tricking the game by going out of bounds, driving over “undrivable” terrain, and more.
Rainbow Road has two ultra shortcuts. There’s one in which Lakitu puts players on a specific spot on the track, though it has been accomplished by a number of players. However, there’s a second, trickier shortcut that was only previously completed with tool-assisted speedrun (TAS) software – until now.
Twitch user ArthurMKW is the first player ever to nail the second ultra shortcut in Rainbow Road without any outside assistance. In doing so, he has the course’s new world record.
Here’s a look at how ArthurMKW managed to execute the shortcut:
Despite it looking simple, there was a ton of skill involved here. Even after thousands of attempts, no player alone was able to pull it off. YouTuber Summoning Salt has previously said that flawless controller inputs are needed to make the shortcut a success.
