New Mario Kart DS Shortcut Found Almost 20 Years Later

The Mario Kart DS speedrunning community have discovered a new shortcut in the almost 20-year-old game, unlocking a new way for speedrunning die-hards to shave some more time off a lap, as picked up by GoNintendo.

While most Mario Kart fans have probably moved on to more recent titles in the kart racing series, speedrunners are still putting the older games through their paces, and discovering new tricks in the process. The latest development sees a new shortcut in 2005’s Mario Kart DS, which was discovered in the Waluigi Pinball level.

The potential shortcut was initially unearthed by players doing tool-assisted runs, but for the first time speedrunner iMathll has managed to hit the tricky shortcut during an actual race. “It’s been a very long time coming for this game,” iMathll says in the video description, celebrating their first world record in Mario Kart DS. You can see how it plays out in the video above.

After landing the difficult shortcut, the speedrunner challenged other players to try and land the same trick in order to beat the newly-set world record–and other speedrunners rose to the challenge. The world record for a single lap in Waluigi Pinball has been fiercely contended over the last three days, with speedrunners using the new technique to shave multiple seconds off their runs, setting multiple new world records in the process.

Nintendo’s popular Mario Kart series has gone a while without a major release, with 10-year-old Mario Kart 8 the last major entry in the franchise. While Mario Kart 9 is reportedly in development according to a 2022 inside scoop, Nintendo has still yet to reveal any details about the next major installment in the franchise.