I'm looking for some tips if someone would like to help me out.
So I consider myself pretty good at this game. I've 3 starred all of 150cc and will eventually do Mirror once I have enough patience.
I'm a dad with other hobbies so I really only get to play two hours a week if that. Every time I've hopped online I, for the most part, come in first place. However last night I got destroyed by some kid. I couldn't wrap my head around how he consistently placed first by a large margin. My question is: how can I improve?
One of the things I notice in this game is the "get ahead of the pack" phenomenon. The person that can successfully pull ahead of the rest of the player becomes immune to all but Blue Shells and can easily maintain 10 coins. Meanwhile the mob canabalises itself only further giving that lone ranger their lead. However despite my best efforts and racing dang well perfect, he consistently could break away from the mobs chaos and I could not. The fact that he never got stuck in the mob, and had a 20+k score leads me to believe he's doing something right that I'm not.
As far as my own racing goes I play as Peach with the wire frame body, neon wheels and peach parasol. Chosen for max acceleration as I figure getting back up and running after the inevitable shell hit is more important than top speed. I corner tight and power slide at every single opportunity I can. I can upload a video of how I race on any course if it helps. Any tips?
1. Firehop every time you can. Right after every boost (mushroom/boost pad/piranha plant/draft) Hop like crazy right and left. It'll "extend" your boost.
There are a few "how to" videos in Youtube.
2. Super heavy characters are the best for WW races (Bowser, Morton and Wario) so think about choosing one of them if you want to have a higher chance of success.
3. Even tho you said you are trying to find a middle ground between accel and speed, I strongly suggest you to go all the way to speed. The first lap is usually a bloodbath so you want to be as far as you can of that mess.
4. Time trials definitely can help you to practice your strategy. Study the tracks, take turns as sharp as you can. Practice, practice, practice.
That's all I got lol