In Wario's Stadium, turn left towards the wall when you hit the four mini-bumps. If you double hitthe jump button while on the top of any of the mini-bumps right before you hit the wall, you can jump over that wall and just about skip half the course. This takes some practice and the smaller characters usually work best.
When you hit a bannana peel put on your brakes immediately. This will prevent you from skidding out. This is very helpful in Battle Mode because you will NOT lose a balloon. This will save you valuable seconds in anny race.
When driving, if you get directly behind a racer for a short time, you'll see air come off of both sides of your kart (like when you go off a ramp), and you'll get a short burst of speed. Not much, but enough to pass whoever is in front of you. This is a great trick to increase your speed.
There are many short cuts in Mario Kart 64, most of which are easy to see and to execute.
1. Koopa Troopa Beach- The waterfall: Many people believe this is only accessible with a mushroom power-up, but this is false. Players can make the jump off the ramp without a power-up. Just aim straight into the cave, use jump (the right top button.) Make sure not to hit the walls, and jump right out from under the waterfall.
2.Banshee Boardwalk After driving through about half the course, your driver will enter the ghost house. Upon entering, take a right, but not as sharp as normal, and you'll pass by a wall on your left. Instead of aiming toward the bats, aim slightly left and pass on the left side of the wooden pole. This might look like suicide, but jump over the edge of the star-shaped pool and you'll pass up that first-place player.
3. Rainbow Road Right at the start of the race there is a large hill from which each racer makes a slight jump. Manytimes if you're aiming too far left or right your racer will fly off the course, which is not a short-cut. What to do: Just as the slope begins to go down, go to the far left and try to jump over the wall. You will see the track to the left of you if you get over. If you aim it correctly, the track will be right in front of you. If you see it, slam on the brakes. You should land in the track perfectly and be far ahead of everyone else. WARNING: This takes A LOT of practice. you will get it eventually.
4. Yoshi Valley This course is a tangle, as shown in the introductory map, but here are a few short cuts that will enable you to beat just about anybody. Follow the course until you hit the mazey part. Immediately go left and stay left. The first part of the short-cut is to stay left and on the narrow part of the course. After managing to do that, you'll hit a little checkered ledge, and you'll see a big red and white sign on the left pointing right. This is the hard part. Accelerate as fast as possible and stay to the far right. As soon as the rail on the left side ends pull a hard left powerslide off the road. You'll continue the powerslide onto the upcoming road after you land, and if you do it right, you'll have shaved off at least 10 seconds or lead the pack. Of course, this one takes a lot of practice, but once mastered, it can't be beat.
5.Donkey Kong Jungle Near the
beginning of the race is a self-propelling ramp which sends your
racer across a giant river. This one is quite simple. Instead of
jumping straight off it, aim to the far left and you'll be ahead
of the crowd by a few seconds. It works. Second, when you enter
the cave, accelerate as much as you can and aim toward the steep
slope. If your racer is going fast enough then pull a hard left
powerslide and you'll slide right up the slope, thereby shaving a
few seconds.(You can also jump over and over to get up.)
On your first or second lap of D.K.'s Jungle Parkway, turn around
at the starting line and head into the cave. Once inside, head
toward the wall just to the left of the exit. Jump just before
you hit. Angle a bit to the left as you jump.If you aim just
right, you'll fall into a dark space. Lakitu will pick you up. If
he brings you back to the cave, head through the finish line and
you'll advance to the next lap! Code contributed by D.G. Hall
Ghost Rider: Luigi Go to the Luigi Circuit and race the course under 1 minute and 52 seconds (1:51). If you're able to do it you can then race against your ghost. What's even better is that the ghost is permanently saved into the game. This trick adds much more challenge to the single-player format. To race your ghost select RETRY when your race is over.
Ghost Rider: Mario Raceway Like all of the courses, Mario Raceway has a ghost to race against in Time Trials. Try to beat this time: 1'30"00 to get the ghost to appear.You have yo use all of your weapons and tricks to beat the 1 minute, 30 second mark.
Ghost Rider: Royal Raceway Go to the Royal Raceway and race the course under 2 minutes and 40 seconds (2:40.00). If you're able to do it you can then race against your ghost. This course is large and full of winding turns, and requires every single shortcut possible.
Hidden Courses These hidden courses,(courses which are mirrored, you race in the same direction, but the courses are flipped,)can be reached by receiving the gold cup the 150cc class, not all 48 courses. The exception of these courses is Toads's Turnpike, in which you race against the traffic). Once you've done it, the title screen will change. This title screen appears once you've achieved the gold cup in the 150cc courses.
Big Rainbow ShortCut (Re-explained) Here's a massive, risky shortcut that'll absolutely blow the socks off anyone who challenges you to a game of Mario Kart 64. Go to the Rainbow Ride Course, and at the start, before you get air on the big, long hill, take a wide turn left off the course and into midair. If you've got the correct angle and speed (which will take some practice), you'll fly through the air for nearly 10 seconds, and will land on the same course below with a sizeable bounce. While you're in mid-air pull your hand off the accleration and hit the brakes because when you land your speed will cause you to bounce right off the course. If all goes well, you'll be so far ahead of everyone else the rest of the race should be a breeze (that is unless the cheating AI kicks in...). This takes some practice, but is absolutely the biggest shortcut of any course.