MKDS Snaking

[Hirocon]

I can't snake in Mario Kart DS.  I know the concept, because I can snake in F-Zero GX.  I know how to get the slide boost.  I just can't do it fast enough and with enough control to snake.  It's occurred to me that I might have more difficulty snaking because I have a DS Lite.  It might be easier to jam the D-pad back and forth with the regular DS's clicky D-pad.  Can anyone out there successfully snake with a DS Lite?  Can you give me some pointers?  Please help, I'm tired of getting pwned online.

[Vidgmchtr]

Though it's usually annoys the snakers, I leave the game if there's a snaking racer. I know it's a part of the game, yes, but it's quite hard to master and I'm too lazy to learn how.

Sorry that my post does not help you in any way.

[MaxVance]

Yeah, snaking has driven (no pun intended) me to stop playing Mario Kart DS online. Too many people do it now.

[bobman37]

One logical solution: Become a successful snaker. Use it when you race against snakers, and don't when you don't. Time trials are a good place to practice, especially Figure-8 Circuit. Hirocon, since you are (I'm assuming) starting MKDS on a DS Lite, as opposed to a regular DS, I would think that it would be even harder to learn to snake since the DS Lite has a soft D-pad. If it turns out snaking works fine on a DS Lite, and all you need is to master it, then here's my advide: Practice makes perfect. Snake enough so it is mostly muscle memory controlling your thumbs and fingers, and eventually you will be right up there with them hooligans on Wi-Fi.

[Lizard Dude]

I love snaking. I snake all the time. Snaking is soooo fun.

But seriously, I naturally started snaking within an hour of getting the game on my own, because I thought that's what you were supposed to do! It makes you go faster!

But seriously, successfully snaking the whole way through Shoom Ridge without hitting a vehicle or falling off a cliff feels really good.

[SolidShroom]

Although I don't totally get pwn3d at MKDS, I don't even know what snaking is, could someone tell me what it is? I can do the slide turbos really well, but I don't know what snaking is all about.

[BP]

You probably already do it, but don't know snaking is the term. Snaking is basically performing power slides repeadtedly and not only on curves. It's easiest on the long, broad, straight parts of Figure 8 Circuit--you power slide back and forth, thusly recieving the speed of a mini-boost for the whole straight road. Snaking is easiest with karts that have good acceleration ratings since their power slide boosts last longest.

[bobman37]

Snaking is easiest with karts that have good acceleration ratings since their power slide boosts last longest.

Turning and weight are important too. Horrible turning does not work well with snaking at all, because while you are in that power boost (or using a mushroom), your turning is increased heavily, thereby allowing you to make the next turn in the snaking process while boosting without running out of room on the track. Bad turning will run you off of the track because you don't turn enough so you stay on the course. Light karts mostly coincide with good turning, so the heavy ones (such as Bowser's) are no good. My favorite snaking combo is Luigi in his Poultergust 4000.

[SolidShroom]

I can snake with R.O.B.... He's pretty heavy. In fact, I can't snake with Dry Bones, and he has the highest acceleration in the game!! Explain that one...

[Suffix]

I certainly can't explain that one-- It seems to me that Dry Bones (especially in his Dry Bomber) were built for snaking.

[Hirocon]

Turning and weight are important too. Horrible turning does not work well with snaking at all, because while you are in that power boost (or using a mushroom), your turning is increased heavily, thereby allowing you to make the next turn in the snaking process while boosting without running out of room on the track. Bad turning will run you off of the track because you don't turn enough so you stay on the course. Light karts mostly coincide with good turning, so the heavy ones (such as Bowser's) are no good. My favorite snaking combo is Luigi in his Poultergust 4000.

When I attempt snaking, my problem is that I turn too much.  If I start a slide to the right, even if I'm moving to the left when I start the slide, I'll end up crashing into the right wall before my tires catch fire.  I've primarily been attempting to snake with Egg 1 and ROB's default cart.

[bobman37]

I can snake with R.O.B.... He's pretty heavy. In fact, I can't snake with Dry Bones, and he has the highest acceleration in the game!! Explain that one...

I agree with Suffix. Maybe you are not snaking properly, or as quickly as the lighter vehicles can. Again, acceleration plays a big part in snaking, but not as big as weight and turning. I find that when you get used to snaking with a kart, and then try snaking with a lighter kart that has better turning, you will mess up as badly as a heavy kart with horrible turning. It's all personal skill and what you get used to.

When I attempt snaking, my problem is that I turn too much.  If I start a slide to the right, even if I'm moving to the left when I start the slide, I'll end up crashing into the right wall before my tires catch fire.  I've primarily been attempting to snake with Egg 1 and ROB's default cart.

The problem here is that you are not moving the D-pad left and right fast enough to activate the red sparks you need to do the mini boost. Like I said earlier, practice makes perfect. You need to do it fast and often enough so your muscles know exactly how many times or how fast to wiggle the D-pad. If you end up drifting too long, which is your problem, you are going to run into the wall.

[Bodknocks]

For me, snaking came natural. I own all the previous Mario Kart games, and for me, it only makes sense to boost as often as you can on a track. I really have no love loss for the people who give up the game because of snaking. It's not even something you can draw a line with. For example, when I can I use boosts? Just once per turn? Can I boost going into it or coming out of the turn? It's just too hard to define where this technique begins. All that aside, the designers intended to put snaking in the game, so if you don't like it... um, play Tetris? :-"

Anyway, simply put, snaking is just boosting back and forth on a straight, wide path. It's fairly simple to do on most online-available tracks -- even more so because it's always 100cc online. My tip for those of you who haven't got it down yet is to try and get the red sparks as fast as you can. When I miss a boost, it's usually because I didn't get red sparks soon enough and I have to drift hard back on track or risk boosting right into a wall. Get those red sparks fast, go back and forth drifting continuously, and you've got it!

[Gargle]

You just gotta get real good with the pattern of snaking, such as Right+R(hold R), left, right, left, right, let go. Then the next would be the same thing except Left+R(hold R), right, left, right, left, let go. This pattern usually becomes habit and it'll come naturally to you.

Hope this helped.

[Hirocon]

I got it!  I slowed down my finger-jamming so that my direction pushes actually registered.  More importantly, I've learned that you need to hold down the original direction until you land the jump: e.g. if you start a slide to the left, don't switch from D-pad left to D-pad right until you land.  Now I can beat staff ghosts!  Now I can dominate online!  My, how the pwners have become the pwnt!  Muhahahaha!