What follows below are my initial impressions when I first discovered the Toad's Turnpike Shortcut. I e-mailed Jerad Rose, former owner of an awesome SMK/MK64 web site, as well as n64hq.com and n64.com at the same time. I enjoy looking back at these old e-mails to relive the moment and to see what kind of progress I made. These are my first two e-mails regarding the revolutionary shortcut: >Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 14:03:37 >To: jeradr@campbellsvil.edu >From: David Wonn >Subject: Shortcut on Toad's Turnpike! > >Jerad, > I have discovered a strange shortcut for Toad's Turnpike! I must point out first that it is EXTREMELY rare that this one will ever work, so don't be too disappointed if it seems nearly impossible. I have only managed to do this one six times so far, but the results are very rewarding. First, have the map selected, and look for the place where the road crosses over itself. When you get there, turn your kart 90 degrees to the left so that you are facing a guardrail. Now use a mushroom and jump with the R button. About 99.9% of the time you'll either bounce off the rail or land on top of it so that Lakitu has to take you back onto the course. However, if you are REALLY lucky, you may be able to jump through the wall and off the course. If you fall into a hidden lake outside of the course, then consider yourself very fortunate! At this point Lakitu will tow you back onto the course, but you will skip a large section of the course. So far, I have only been able to jump off of the left side, and I have never actually landed directly onto the track below. The precise location where I jumped is near the second street light on the left, but as I stated before, this has only been done six times. My best score so far is 2'32"99 and my lap score is 44"45, both with Toad. > > I would be very interested in knowing if you have any success with this trick, and if you have found any way to do this at will. I'm still trying to improve the trick, but so far it seems that it only works by sheer luck. By the way, I have sent e-mail to you via jeradr@cygnus.campballsvil.edu, so I was wondering if the mail still reached you (e.g. 2/24/97 and 1/23/97). > David Wonn > Gahanna, OH > >Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 22:57:57 >To: jeradr@campbellsvil.edu >From: David Wonn >Subject: Update on the Toad's Turnpike Shortcut > >Jerad, > I have made some major improvements on the Toad's Turnpike shortcut for MK64. I can now do it on a semi-regular basis, which is about 10% of the time and climbing. I have also found that it is possible to land on the track, and it can be done without the aid of the mushrooms. Anyway, here it is: > > In Toad's Turnpike, select any driver and make sure to have the map selected on your screen. Drive along the regular course until you come to the part where the map overlaps itself. Now make a sharp 90 degree turn to the right, and head for the guardrail, but keep jumping with the R button until your kart lands on top of the guardrail. At this point Lakitu will tow you back onto the course as usual. As soon as Lakitu sets you down, hold both the A and B buttons down and hold the analog stick to the right, so that your driver will do a spin turn. Do the spin turn until your kart is facing 90 degrees to the right, and release the analog stick and the B button. At this point, you will see your kart driver from a profile view. Now jump with the R button before you make contact with the guardrail. If all goes well, you will jump through the wall and off the course into a lake. Depending on where you land, Lakitu may tow you onto a later section of the course! > If you don't end up going through the wall and end up on the guardrail instead, then repeat the process beginning with the spin turn to right. You should eventually get this to work, but it takes a LOT of practice. Lakitu always tows you to whichever part of the track is closest, so make sure to aim for someplace near the later section of the track. If your jump is really precise, you may end up landing on the track below instead of in the water. Sometimes Lakitu will tow you ahead even if you just land on the guardrail, but this is quite rare. With this trick, I have managed to improve my overall score to 2'07"67 and my lap score to 34"96, both with Toad. Don't be surprised if it takes a long time before you get it to work the first time. It is possible to get this trick to work on a semi-regular basis if you are really good at it. > David Wonn > (a.k.a. "Glitch Man" & "Shortcut King") > Gahanna, OH >