Video: Mario Kart 8's controversial Fire Hopping technique
Top players discover time-saving trick, we show you how it works.
Mario Kart 8 players have spotted an ingenious technique to speed up race times by performing jumps after a boost - but not everyone is happy about it.
Fire Hopping works by reducing the amount of time your tyres contact the ground after a drift boost or a boost from a Mushroom item. This means your kart is at boost speed for longer - almost double the amount of time as other racers.
Download one of the game's top Time Trial ghosts to practice against and you'll frequently see the best players using the sneaky skill to their advantage. But some players are calling on Nintendo to patch out Fire Hopping entirely, as those not in the know are at a disadvantage.
Nintendo has yet to officially acknowledged the trick - Fire Hopping is not in the manual and it's unclear whether the game is designed to be played in this way.
We've asked Nintendo UK if it has any comment on the matter.
In the meantime, Eurogamer's YouTube Ian Higton has been practicing the skill himself and is ready to pass on his learnings. How does it work, and how easy is it to speed up your track times?
