Kingdom Grandprix...Help

[ATTRACTS]

I always use Chitta (the blue chick), sometimes I won't hit anything at the start and I'll begin the race with a first or second place lead very quickly. But other times, the race will start, and despite not bumping/hitting anything and moving to the top of the screen, I'll be in fifth or sixth, unable to gain any ground. Is there anything (other than moving the stick up) that determines speed/how fast I am going? I'm catching powerups etc, but they seem to just make my firepower stronger....is there something I'm missing?

Thanks!

[trap15]

Holding the shot button increases your speed. Actually shooting drastically lowers it.

[Zerst]

How early you gain a lead also plays a role. Offscreen rivals will "advance" slower than onscreen ones, who are hard coded to boost ahead of you no matter how fast you're going (to the point where they sometimes tweak out if you're going at the fastest speed possible). Shot power affects your speed, so getting more coins early is good. It also seems like there's a "stage counter" for how much time you spend shooting that inversely affects your max speed. If you shoot a lot, holding shot to accelerate has less of an effect, which is why "Hurry Up" sometimes appears even if you're boosting ahead.

[ATTRACTS]

Wow, ok thanks very much guys for the info, I really appreciate it. Helped me a bunch.

[MathU]

Shot power affects your speed, so getting more coins early is good. It also seems like there's a "stage counter" for how much time you spend shooting that inversely affects your max speed. If you shoot a lot, holding shot to accelerate has less of an effect, which is why "Hurry Up" sometimes appears even if you're boosting ahead.

Where in the world do you people come up with this stuff sometimes?

Kingdom Grandprix's speed system is very simple. If you bump into an object or you push on the bottom of the screen you slow down. If you fly up to the upper half of the screen your speed reverts to the default (which is usually enough to stay ahead of or catch up with other racers). Holding the shot button brings you up to max speed for a particular segment but as soon as you let go you return to default speed. It is important to note that your default speed and your max speed depend on the particular stage segment you are in. Maybe this is where people develop these wild misconceptions about how speed works. There are some stage segments where it really favors your rivals' speed over your own (a good example is in the Air Circus stage past the under construction area). When a racer is on the screen with you it can randomly move faster than you--this is when holding the shot button for max speed is most important, but even then it often isn't enough.

The reason why racers will get a lead on you at the start sometimes even though you're playing at the same speed is simply due to randomness. The best way to handle this is to prevent them from getting ahead of you in the first place. Try to fly right in front of a ship to cut it off in the safer stage start areas, and even better if you can manage to push it into the sides of the screen because then you can bump on it from above back down to the bottom. As soon as you get a rival off the bottom of your screen you'll begin to pull further ahead of it if you're flying at default speed (unless you're in one of the aforementioned stage segments that favor rivals). If it seems like more than one racer is going to pull ahead of you it's usually best to just use a bomb, but don't waste them on rival-favoring segments where they're just going to catch right back up with you.

[ATTRACTS]

Shot power affects your speed, so getting more coins early is good. It also seems like there's a "stage counter" for how much time you spend shooting that inversely affects your max speed. If you shoot a lot, holding shot to accelerate has less of an effect, which is why "Hurry Up" sometimes appears even if you're boosting ahead.

Where in the world do you people come up with this stuff sometimes?

Kingdom Grandprix's speed system is very simple. If you bump into an object or you push on the bottom of the screen you slow down. If you fly up to the upper half of the screen your speed reverts to the default (which is usually enough to stay ahead of or catch up with other racers). Holding the shot button brings you up to max speed for a particular segment but as soon as you let go you return to default speed. It is important to note that your default speed and your max speed depend on the particular stage segment you are in. Maybe this is where people develop these wild misconceptions about how speed works. There are some stage segments where it really favors your rivals' speed over your own (a good example is in the Air Circus stage past the under construction area). When a racer is on the screen with you it can randomly move faster than you--this is when holding the shot button for max speed is most important, but even then it often isn't enough.

The reason why racers will get a lead on you at the start sometimes even though you're playing at the same speed is simply due to randomness. The best way to handle this is to prevent them from getting ahead of you in the first place. Try to fly right in front of a ship to cut it off in the safer stage start areas, and even better if you can manage to push it into the sides of the screen because then you can bump on it from above back down to the bottom. As soon as you get a rival off the bottom of your screen you'll begin to pull further ahead of it if you're flying at default speed (unless you're in one of the aforementioned stage segments that favor rivals). If it seems like more than one racer is going to pull ahead of you it's usually best to just use a bomb, but don't waste them on rival-favoring segments where they're just going to catch right back up with you.

Very interesting, thank you for the clarification, the guys above were just trying to help (and they did by telling me to hold down shoot, so it wasn't all misinfo)...I absolutely love this crazy game. Thanks for taking the time to help. It really makes the game a million times more enjoyable knowing what I'm doing.