Hacker News Reader

Heavy characters in Mario 64 have tighter handling than lighter characters and can cause them to spin out when bumping into them.

How, if both your acceleration and your top speed is worse?

I'm not sure what exactly "how" is referring to, but by "tight handling" I mean having a smaller turning radius and losing less speed when turning.

It's not a big difference and you can't be at top speed for long.

Yes, except for items and doing better in the pack.