Powerups
Throughout each track are multitudes of powerup opportunities. They are white spheres with black diamonds inside, and when you drive through one you recieve a powerup. You can hold up to 2 powerups, and use either at any time by pressing the appropriate powerup button. Powerups take 5 seconds to respawn.
Some powerups will counteract the effects of others. It's important to remember that the counteraction will take place before the effects of the more-recently-used powerup.
Powerups can also be turned off in the main menu. Why bother turning them off, you ask? Turning them off allows you to practice your track strategy and stunt sequence without those powerups distracting you or messing with your lap times. You will still get Nitro from stunts, but that's it. Being that your track strategy and stunt sequence should be completely independent of your powerup strategy, this gives you a good opportunity to practice that. Just be sure to turn them back on before running an actual race.
Here are some common alternative names for the various powerups:
Nitro: Turbo, Boost
Super Traction: Grip
Invincible: Shield, Invuln
Big Hit: Ram
Landslide: Rocks
Freeze: Snowball
Joker: Question mark, That &$%@ question mark, etc.
- Nitro
Gives you an extra 17 mph for 8 seconds. Also gained through stunts, with variable duration. Each dot around the powerup is two thirds of a second. Best used immediately.
Nitro will counteract the effects of Bad Gas.
- Bad Gas
Makes opponents go 10 mph slower and eject smoke from their exhaust for 7 seconds. Launched in front of you, it will fly towards the closest car to you, bouncing off of walls. It will slow anyone within its blast radius. Dropped behind you, it will slow whoever hits the can.
Bad Gas will counteract the effects of Nitro.
Note: If you had a Nitro active, and you were in the draft, your Nitro will be cancelled and you will lose the draft. Any time you're hit with a Bad Gas, your speed is dropped to 10 mph below your standard max speed.
- Super Traction
Gives you super grip for 14 seconds. Your tires will light on fire while you have the increased grip. Best used in tight corners.
Super Traction will counteract the effects of Oil Slick.
- Oil Slick
Makes opponents lose grip and slide around the track for 5 seconds. Launched in front of you, it will fly towards the closest car to you, bouncing off of walls. It will affect anyone within its blast radius. Dropped behind you, it will affect whoever hits the can.
Also quite nasty when combined with the Freeze.
Oil Slick will counteract the effects of Super Traction.
- Big Hit
An orange shield-like thing will appear in front of your car, and stay there for 14 seconds. Now, when you come into contact with any non-coop player, they will be sent flying. Jolts you forwards a bit when used, so be wary of activating it during a stunt.
- Shockwave
Sends a sonic wave out from around your car, sending anyone caught in its radius flying. Best used when the target car is approaching you from behind, or when you're chasing someone into a corner. Don't use it during a stunt, if you're not right side up the Shockwave will cause you to fall to the ground where you are.
- Bomb
Make your opponents fly through the air. Launched in front of you, it flies towards the closest car to you, bouncing off of walls. When it explodes, anyone caught in the blast radius is sent flying through the air. Dropped behind you, it will affect whoever hits it, plus anyone who happens to be nearby. Best used to launch your opponents off of the track in order to take their position, or to keep them behind you.
- Freeze
Snowball fight! Launched in front of you, it flies towards the closest car to you, bouncing off of walls. When it hits the ground, it will freeze the steering of any car caught in its blast radius. Dropped behind you, it will affect whoever hits it. Freeze effect lasts for 8 seconds. A car that has been hit by it will turn white and trail a snow effect behind them. Computer opponents seem to ignore it completely, so when racing single player or co-op 2 player, get rid of it harmlessly ASAP by launching it in front of you. Any human player hit with it will find themselves unable to turn very well for its duration. They can still turn, but they get no steering response for quite a while, then suddenly it's steering too much. The select button is your best friend if you've been hit with one of these. It won't cancel it, but you can at least try to get around the corners. The steering freeze doesn't affect stunts, or air turning, so drive off a ramp and turn without the stunt button before you land.
Also quite nasty when combined with the Oil Slick.
- Landslide
Chuck a few rocks at 'em. Launched in front of you, they actually start in the air and will go over most cars if they are right in front of you. If they hit, the target car is spun around and flipped over. Dropped behind you, it will remove those pesky tailgaters. They stay around, so don't fall victim to your own rocks. Best launched in front of you when the target is at a fair distance in front of you. Drop behind anytime.
Note: This powerup is unlike the Bad Gas, Oil Slick, Freeze, and Bomb in that it travels straight from your front bumper, regardless of where you're pointed at or where the person in front of you is. Make sure to properly lead opponents so that the rocks will hit.
Also, when dropping the rocks behind you, they will roll a bit before coming to a complete stop. So drop them just before where you want them to be.
- Tornado
Fear the wrath of the Tornado! You will only receive this powerup if you are in 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th place. It is very rare even then. When used, a tornado touches down and follows the track, occasionally taking a shortcut or two. Anyone caught in its high speed winds will be flung about. The closer you stay to it, the longer it stays around. Get close enough to it and get some free speed. Also will detonate any track-side preplaced explosive barrels. Best used when you need a few positions and the people ahead of you are bunched up.
- Invincible
Grants you invulnerability for 10 seconds. When used, all bad effects on you disappear, and are prevented for its duration. You will have a little aura thing flying around you when it's active. Also makes you more resistant to hits. Use this after getting hit by a powerup, or to make sure you don't get hit by one. Also, use it to win shoving matches. A nice quirk is that while it's is active, you gain an extra 2 mph. So, with an Elite car, drafting with Nitro and Invincible active, you get a max of 209 mph. Man, they pedal slow.
Counteracts all bad effects, including the Freeze and Tornado.
It also seems to prevent the Joker from giving you bad effects.
- Joker
Random powerup. Press the appropriate powerup button to see what it is. Can be either good or bad. If it's bad, it affects you immediately. If it's good, it stays in your inventory so you can use it to your advantage. Never gives the Freeze as a bad effect. Best to let these run out, or only use them in these situations:
- You're so far ahead it wouldn't cost you a position
- Just after landing a stunt, but before receiving the Nitro
- When you've got a Nitro, Super Traction or Invincible in your inventory already (It's best to use that Invincible before using the Joker)
In addition, don't use them, period, on the stunt tracks (Flip Out, The Gauntlet, and Wild Kingdom). You don't want the possibility of an easily avoidable Bad Gas taking away all the Nitros you've built up.
Like the Tornado, there appears to be a point at which the Joker is no longer given out, except that this time if you're lower down in the field, you don't get them. Thus, I don't believe it's possible to receive a Tornado from a Joker.
The Joker also times out much faster than any other powerup, in 10 seconds. This makes it worthwhile to let them just run out if you don't want to risk jeopardizing your race, as there are usually more than 10 seconds between powerup opportunities.