I seem to recall on the old N64 version, you just jammed the stick forward and your little throttle thingie on the side slide upwards until it was yellow, then you could tap your A key to go into boost.

I can't seem to get that to work in the GOG version, and I'm not sure what I've done wrong. I've tied throttle to my 360 controller's Y axis, as well as to the triggers, and nothing allows me to activate the boost feature. Am I missing something?

Aaaagh! I forgot about holding 'up'. That was on the N64 version, too. I guess I should have just read the manual =p

Thanks -- for some reason setting up custom mappings broke everything. I didn't even realize there was a default -- but setting the joystick mapping back to default fixed this issue, and then the X button explanation you provided worked like a charm.

I play with a N64 controller (RetroLink) bind the thrust and the boost to the same button and it will function just like the N64 version

I play with keyboard (yeah, I'm a tough guy) and it took me some time to figure out as well.
Default mapping is: keep arrow up pressed until yellow light, then press shift to activate.

I only ever played it with a keyboard when I was a kid and still managed to complete the game (except the infamous Abyss), I didn't even realize you could use anything else on the PC for input (apart from a mouse of course). As a matter of fact, I also just kinda assumed that consoles as a gaming platform stopped existing after the MegaDrive/SNES era. Yeah, I was such a bright kid...

I even managed the abyss. After many painful tries.

This was very helpfull.Thanks

I completed the game 3 times - once as a kid and twice as a grown-up using only keyboard. And I never learned how to use a booster. Will try now and see if I can improve my results.

Which shift key do you press? Left or Right?

Left.

There are so many meanings for the word "boost" in English. It can be some item or special option which is going to speed-up your progress or your speed (sorry for my tautology) in the game or racing. But in terms of multiplayer games it is something which you allow to the third-party to boost your account and your characters.

It is magic in a big variety of meainings in this beautiful language!

P.S. I am sorry for the off-topic message. I am just impressed with my own ideas :3