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The Mario Kart World charge jump is a completely new movement ability that lets you get some air and a boost without having to drift or go over a ramp. However, the game doesn't explain the trick especially clearly and it's also not that easy to pull off consistently.
As well as providing a boost to help your straight-line speed, the charge jump also acts as a traversal tool in Mario Kart World, helping you hop up onto rails and barriers that you can grind along, providing even further opportunities for turbo boosts. While it's finnicky, mastering this manoeuvre can be vital to topping the podium, so here's everything you need to know about how charge jumps work in Mario Kart World.
Mario Kart World charge jump explained
The charge jump is a new move you can pull off in Mario Kart World, essentially behaving in the same way as drifting but in a straight line. Here's the basic method for pulling it off:
- Start by driving dead straight and at full throttle. Having your thumb completely off the left stick to avoid an accidental nudge is ideal.
- Press and hold R to begin charging up your charge jump. Just like with a drift, colored sparks will shoot out from your tires.
- Release R and your kart will leap straight up, gaining a turbo boost when you hit the ground. The duration of the boost depends on how long you charged the jump for, exactly like a drift. Before releasing R to perform the charge jump, you can also hold the left stick to the left or right to jump in that direction rather than just straight up.
The difference between initiating a drift and a charge jump is incredibly narrow, with even a slight steering input causing you to veer into a drift – that's why I suggest keeping your thumb clear of the left stick! However, you can still steer while preparing a charge jump, just not as well as you normally would, so bear this in mind when approaching corners.
As for applications and benefits of charge jumps, there are a few:
- Speed boost: Where drifting helps you maintain speed while cornering and boosting, charge jumping is functionally the same but for long straights.
- Mounting walls and rails: Charge jumps are best when combined with the new Mario Kart World rail riding and Mario Kart World wall riding capabilities, letting you perform extra tricks and gain speed away from the regular track or even take some shortcuts.
- Dodging items and obstacles: Civilian cars and items from enemy players are everywhere in Mario Kart World and you can use charge jumps to quickly evade by jumping over or to the side.
It's well worth practising your charge jumps and combining these techniques if you want to gain positions and hold your lead, especially in more competitive Mario Kart World online races!
There are quite a lot of new and returning Mario Kart World items, so make sure you know how these all work too.
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