Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers - A Garden Top Guide

Because this one also needed a video guide. This thing can be BUSTED in some tracks to do comebacks if you know how it works...and that's where this video comes in for ya.
Music used:
Magnetica - Versus
Sega Rally Championship - Around a Letter
Magnetica - Boss
Neo Contra - Speed Run
0:00 Garden Top Basics
0:45 Garden Top and Tripwires
1:12 Demostration in Marble Garden
1:29 Waterrunning Examples
1:42 Off-Road Examples
1:58 Charging over Booster Panels
2:47 Influencing the Garden Top's speed
3:05 Garden Top while Underwater
3:28 Spindashing with the Garden Top
4:04 Weight-checks and Auto Discard
4:31 Clashing with Grow/Invincibility
4:40 Throwing as an Attack Weapon
4:59 Weaknesses
6:10 Discard to Fly Forward
6:38 Other Strengths
7:40 Thanks for Watching

[@Miimbambop]

Oooh one thing I think thats also important to know is that the amount of charge you gain increases not just with boost panels but also just increasing your speed in general while charging. One thing I love doing is holding drift in the air to fall faster as it won't bounce you the same way E-Brake does, although you won't immediately fall you just heavily increase the top's gravity. But because of that, if you happens to land on a downward slope when fast falling the speed of your fall causes the top to build a lot of ground speed when you land thus tons of charge to do the silly 200%+ speed dash. It's really fun lol

[@FanMSMK]

Crazy coincidence that the Garden Top works perfect on it's own stage lol

[@patg500]

I be a proud goat for testing this first often in the srb2 discord server

[@NIMPAK1]

It would've been nice if the game taught you these things from the get-go.
Personally, I think the game should've had a shorter tutorial but then have single-player challenge levels designed around a specific mechanic, starting from the basics until eventually teaching you advanced tech. Think of them like the missions from Mario Kart DS. There could even be a ranking system to encourage mastering said mechanics.

[@Wimpyfox]

This ☝️

[@pommybomber]

I see... So in summary... The top turns you into the Swerve Star from Air Ride.

[@djoshawott2850]

I'm not the only one who thought of that, thank goodness.
CRUISE! STOP! CRUISE! STOP!

[@cookie-qb6mu]

as someone who learned this crazy ass item through a lot of trial, error, and heartbreak, im glad newer players will have something to reference in the future lol

[@krimsonsoul2876]

Garden top i didn't know you were chill like that

[@nokiasnakes]

oh thank you, I used to always immediately throw the top forwards when I got it because I didn't understand it lol

[@OlmiOP]

I knew this item had potential but I didn't realize it went THAT deep! This was very informative, thank you :)

[@aarter2913]

Wow, i did eventually figure out the drift charges existed and let you turn instead of bounce off walls aimlessly. But damn there's a lot to this thing, it's sick

[@Mr.needlemose]

I was testing out the garden top when I got a ring capsule and got a way stronger boost than you get from ring capsules normally

[@EeveeEuphoria]

very good video, i had no idea of the true potential of this item

[@GuiltyBadguy]

Hey, thanks a lot for making this tutorial! Hopefully it'll help me to get better at using that item. 😄

[@jpzarde8734]

VERY good video
love to see an informative video about the garden top. Never got used to it, now I might have a better idea of how to use it effectively.
Many thanks ^^

[@AnimatedLoopHD]

I like this art style

[@boredmalek4420]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. The Garden Top was my most frustrating item in this game and I have been trying to condition myself to improve with it. Thanks again!

[@fixitemknockback64]

This is so Helpful, Thx Man!

[@ArcadeStriker]

I'm surprised to run with the one and only Fix Item Knockback player that I remember from my first days with Ring Racers- glad to know it has been helpful to you :D

[@fixitemknockback64]

@ArcadeStriker oh of course, bro! Any support to this game is awesome! I gotta get back to makin content for this game for reeeeaaal lol

[@grantlove6118]

Very best garden top

[@mushroomdude123]

Never would have figured this out on my own. Could you make a Tethering guide next?

[@ArcadeStriker]

While there's no ETA on any future guides nor a set-in-stone plan for Tethering specifically [I was considering to make one, but I also had something started for general RR basics that includes tethering], but in the meantime, just know that if you know how slipstream/drafting in Mario Kart games work, its pretty much like that:
Stay close to another racer and you'll start gaining speed- only that tethering has the spark trails that indicate you are doing it, and you get a distinctive dust + sound effect if you are at max speed with it. Some characters build tethering faster and have longer range, while others get a higher maximum speed from a full tether. Which class has which is explained in the online manual, I think, but in any case...
Glad to hear this was helpful.
Again, no ETA on upcoming guides, but I'll tackle showing tethering in one way or another in the future as I mentioned before.

[@noodlegumm_]

i love you

[@achiiro]

Top Gaming

[@liquidthefox]

bestboy garden top

[@DynamicLemons]

I was wondering, does having higher amount of rings give you a higher base speed when you're not using them? i assume not, but i have no actual idea if it does

[@ArcadeStriker]

Nope, rings don't affect the base speed on the top, and you can't use rings while riding the top either [remember, pressing the item button while active throws it or makes you leap forward, as detailed in the guide].
But at least that means you don't have to worry about what to do or not do with rings, and in the case you drop it or get knocked off the Top, having 20 rings when back in safe ground is always helpful.

[@DynamicLemons]

@@ArcadeStriker i meant more in general, but i should've been more specific, oops

[@ArcadeStriker]

@@DynamicLemons At first it was assumed that it did [due to the lack of manual at launch AND how Mario Kart coins do work like that], but I think that by now it has been confirmed to NOT work like that.
As in...no, they don't give a passive speed boost. They only boost your speed whenever you are using the rings [including when you get more rings than the max through cpasules or ringboxes.]
Still really handy to have 20 rings on hand though when you can patiently use ring by ring to boost your speed patiently, or use 10 or 15 at once for an immediate burst of speed.
I did want to make a Ring video since, while it is something covered in the in-game tutorial, there's that interesting level of nuance on the ways you can use rings to help yourself. And someone had asked me about it, so I had considered it.

[@Wrench55154]

Wait. It's just controls like Slick Star.

[@T.T_CenrryTH]

Ah, that fuckin' top that I hate

[@PKPKPKE]

and here i thought the top was dogshit

[@evdestroy5304]

Why does one item require an eight minute tutorial?

[@jess648]

because the developers overcomplicated even basic options. this game has a full massive online manual and the ingame tutorial barely scratches the surface of all the mechanics