Topic: The Mario Kart Thread

[VixyNyan]

This is the Mario Kart Thread~




Super Mario Kart (Super Famicom / Super Nintendo)
1992.08.27
1992.09
1993.01.21
1996.05.20 (Player's Choice)
2009.06.09 (Virtual Console)
2009.11.23 (Virtual Console)

Cups & Courses
» Mushroom: Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Ghost Valley 1, Bowser Castle 1, Mario Circuit 2
» Flower: Choco Island 1, Ghost Valley 2, Donut Plains 2, Bowser Castle 2, Mario Circuit 3
» Star: Koopa Beach 1, Choco Island 2, Vanilla Lake 1, Bowser Castle 3, Mario Circuit 4
» Special: Donut Plains 3, Koopa Beach 2, Ghost Valley 3, Vanilla Lake 2, Rainbow Road




Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)
1996.12.14 (with or without Controller)
1997.02.10
1997.06.24
1999 (Player's Choice)
2007.01.25 (Virtual Console)
2007.01.29 (Virtual Console)
2007.01.30 (Virtual Console)

Cups & Courses
» Mushroom: Luigi Raceway, Moo Moo Farm, Koopa Troopa Beach, Kalimari Desert
» Flower: Toad's Turnpike, Frappe Snowland, Choco Mountain, Mario Raceway
» Star: Wario Stadium, Sherbet Land, Royal Raceway, Bowser's Castle
» Special: DK's Jungle Parkway, Yoshi Valley, Banshee Boardwalk, Rainbow Road




Mario Kart Advance / Mario Kart Super Circuit (Game Boy Advance)
2001.07.21
2001.08.26
2001.09.14
2006.09.25 (Player's Choice)

Cups & Courses
» Mushroom: Peach Circuit, Shy Guy Beach, Riverside Park, Bowser Castle 1
» Flower: Mario Circuit, Boo Lake, Cheese Land, Bowser Castle 2
» Lightning: Luigi Circuit, Sky Garden, Cheep Cheep Island, Sunset Wilds
» Star: Snow Land, Ribbon Road, Yoshi Desert, Bowser Castle 3
» Special: Lakeside Park, Broken Pier, Bowser Castle 4, Rainbow Road
» Extra Mushroom: Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Ghost Valley 1, Bowser Castle 1
» Extra Flower: Mario Circuit 2, Choco Island 1, Ghost Valley 2, Donut Plains 2
» Extra Lightning: Bowser Castle 2, Mario Circuit 3, Koopa Beach 1, Choco Island 2
» Extra Star: Vanilla Lake 1, Bowser Castle 3, Mario Circuit 4, Donut Plains 3
» Extra Special: Koopa Beach 2, Ghost Valley 3, Vanilla Lake 2, Rainbow Road




Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo Gamecube)
2003.11.07
2003.11.14
2003.11.17 (Normal & Special Edition)
2004.11.05 (Platinum Pak)

Cups & Courses
» Mushroom: Luigi Circuit, Peach Beach, Baby Park, Dry Dry Desert
» Flower: Mushroom Bridge, Mario Circuit, Daisy Cruiser, Waluigi Stadium
» Star: Sherbet Land, Mushroom City, Yoshi Circuit, DK Mountain
» Special: Wario Colosseum, Dino Dino Jungle, Bowser Castle, Rainbow Road


Mario Kart Arcade GP (Arcade)
2005.10
2005.Q4

Cups & Courses
» Mario: Mario Highway, Mario Beach
» DK: Donkey Kong Jungle, Bananan Ruins
» Wario: Diamond City, Snow Panic
» Pac-Man: Pac-Mountain, Pac-Labyrinth
» Bowser: Bowser's Castle, Castle Wall
» Rainbow: Rainbow Coaster, Rainbow Downhill




Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS)
2005.11.14
2005.11.25
2005.12.08
2006 (DS Bundle)

Cups & Courses
» (Nitro) Mushroom: Figure-8 Circuit, Yoshi Falls, Cheep Cheep Beach, Luigi's Mansion
» (Nitro) Flower: Desert Hills, Delfino Square, Waluigi Pinball, Shroom Ridge
» (Nitro) Star: DK Pass, Tick-Tock Clock, Mario Circuit, Airship Fortress
» (Nitro) Special: Wario Stadium, Peach Gardens, Bowser Castle, Rainbow Road
» (Retro) Shell: Mario Circuit 1 SNES, Moo Moo Farm N64, Peach Circuit GBA, Luigi Circuit GCN
» (Retro) Banana: Donut Plains 1 SNES, Frappe Snowland N64, Bowser Castle 2 GBA, Baby Park GCN
» (Retro) Leaf: Koopa Beach 2 SNES, Choco Mountain N64, Luigi Circuit GBA, Mushroom Bridge GCN
» (Retro) Lightning: Choco Island 2 SNES, Banshee Boardwalk N64, Sky Garden GBA, Yoshi Circuit GCN


Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (Arcade)
2007.03

Cups & Courses
» Mario: Mario Highway, Mario Beach
» DK: Donkey Kong Jungle, Banana Ruins
» Wario: Diamond City, Snow Panic
» Pac-Man: Pac-Mountain, Pac-Labyrinth
» Bowser: Bowser's Castle, Castle Wall
» Rainbow: Rainbow Coaster, Rainbow Downhill
» Yoshi: Yoshi Park 1, Yoshi Park 2
» Waluigi: Stadium Arena, Waluigi Stadium


Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii)
2008.04.10
2008.04.11
2008.04.27

Cups & Courses
» Mushroom: Luigi Circuit, Moo Moo Meadows, Mushroom Gorge, Toad's Factory
» Flower: Mario Circuit, Coconut Mall, DK's Snowboard Cross, Wario's Gold Mine
» Star: Daisy Circuit, Koopa Cape, Maple Treeway, Grumble Volcano
» Special: Dry Dry Ruins, Moonview Highway, Bowser's Castle, Rainbow Road
» Shell: Peach Beach GCN, Yoshi Falls NDS, Ghost Valley 2 SNES, Mario Raceway N64
» Banana: Sherbet Land N64, Shy Guy Beach GBA, Delfino Square NDS, Waluigi Stadium GCN
» Leaf: Desert Hills NDS, Bowser Castle 3 GBA, D.K.'s Jungle Parkway N64, Mario Circuit GCN
» Lightning: Mario Circuit 3 SNES, Peach Gardens NDS, DK Mountain GCN, Bowser's Castle N64


Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo 3DS)
2011.12
2011.12
2011.12




PB, if you had a PC, you would pick up this netplay emulator with kaillera plugin, RIGHT NOW!

Any emulator with kaillera plugin is a online multiplayer experience~

[Protoman Blues]

PB, if you had a PC, you would pick up this netplay emulator with kaillera plugin, RIGHT NOW!

Any emulator with kaillera plugin is a online multiplayer experience~

I don't know.  Unless I can find a way to plug in my N64 controller to the PC.

[Solar]

Nothing the internet can't solve though.

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/gc_n64_usb_adapters/index.php

[Nekomata]

Mario Kart 64 is perfect.  We're done here.

no it isn't
it doesn't have a playable Snifit.

[Protoman Blues]

It's all about the Snifits with you, isn't it?

[Hypershell]

The game is still perfect.  The system it was on was not.

The mechanics and presentation were perfect.  The cast was not.

I may not share Neko's love of Snifits, but a Mario Kart without Daisy just isn't right.  And don't you dare tell me that Rosalina and Dry Bowser mean nothing to you (even if MKWii is not the most impressive of Mario Kart titles).

[Protoman Blues]

The mechanics and presentation were perfect.  The cast was not.

I may not share Neko's love of Snifits, but a Mario Kart without Daisy just isn't right.  And don't you dare tell me that Rosalina and Dry Bowser mean nothing to you (even if MKWii is not the most impressive of Mario Kart titles).

Horrible, HORRIBLE example of why Mario Kart 64 wasn't perfect, due to the fact that #1, Daisy wasn't popular nor did she serve much of a purpose in Mario games previous to Mario Kart 64 and #2, no matter how awesome "HI, I'M DAISY" might be. the game in which Daisy made her Mario Kart debut is my most hated Mario Kart game and is also the Mario Kart game that started the ruining of the franchise.  Daisy, Rosalina, and Dry Bowser do NOT make up for shoddier controls and massive item gimping.

[Hypershell]

Controls are fine, it's the CPU that got shot to hell.  Starting with GCN they were seemingly trying to axe the rubber-band driving, which means you either make the game really freaking hard (F-Zero GX) or have dumbass drivers that a granny could outrun throw a seeker missile at the leader every five seconds (MK:DD).  You'd think somebody would have learned to be careful what they wish for.

The thing is, you can say that Double Dash was the start of Mario Kart's downfall, but future titles fell for completely different reasons than Double Dash.  Double Dash fell because they tried something new and the transition was far from seamless.  I may miss item-dragging, triple shell barriers, and such, but customizable team-ups, signature items, All-Cup Tour, and the best damn Rainbow Road theme on the face of the Earth offer some saving grace.  DS and Wii both discarded Double Dash's direction completely, axing every single thing that it introduced save for cast and Bob-ombs, and yet they still found their own ways to screw things up.

[Protoman Blues]

There are quite a few things I think lead to the downfall of Mario Kart since 64.  The first, and absolute main problem, is Item Gimping.  I'm not just talking about the lack of the shell barrier, or my hatred of the Spiny Shell as oppose to the Spike Shell.  Removing the Lightning Bolt's ability to not only shrink someone down but flatten them was god awful.  The triple banana's allowing for almost unfair blocking capability in first.  Due to this, 2nd and 3rd place cannot hope to catch up with 1st place, if they have a decent lead, without help from 4th-8th or now 12th place, which is awful.  Again, people bitched about snaking in the DS game, but if the items hadn't been so royally gimped, snaking wouldn't be an issue.  Removing the power of the items also removed how much of a total douche you could be to your fellow karters, which makes the game less fun.  Also, we won't even get started on Cloud AIDS...

The second are the karts.  I'm not fond of the fact that they made the Karts more important than the actual driver.  I didn't play Double Dash enough to see if this was a problem in that game, but it could be seen in MKDS.  This fact is compounded in MKWii, because once you get 3-4 specific bikes, there is NO reason to ever go back to any other Kart/Bike.  Say what you will about all the new cast, but I think it's part of the problem.  In MK64, every player had a chance to win, and the characters were equally balanced with their individual strengths & weaknesses.  In later Mario Kart games (again I won't say DD because I didn't play it enough to notice) the player is next to irrelevant and the Kart is the main factor, and the Bikes in MKWii make it absolutely unbalanced.  And yet, it wouldn't be all that unbalanced if the items weren't so god awfully gimped.

The third is Battle Mode.  No need for a long description, just one real phrase... ABSOLUTELY [tornado fang]ing RUINED!

That is all!

[Solar]

The second are the karts.  I'm not fond of the fact that they made the Karts more important than the actual driver.  I didn't play Double Dash enough to see if this was a problem in that game, but it could be seen in MKDS.  This fact is compounded in MKWii, because once you get 3-4 specific bikes, there is NO reason to ever go back to any other Kart/Bike.  Say what you will about all the new cast, but I think it's part of the problem.  In MK64, every player had a chance to win, and the characters were equally balanced with their individual strengths & weaknesses.  In later Mario Kart games (again I won't say DD because I didn't play it enough to notice) the player is next to irrelevant and the Kart is the main factor, and the Bikes in MKWii make it absolutely unbalanced.

Yeah, they should just remove all the extra karts crap and add more characters that are actually different.

The third is Battle Mode.  No need for a long description, just one real phrase... ABSOLUTELY [tornado fang]ing RUINED!

This man speaks the truth.

[Gaia]

I have no problem with triple banana threats, I can Green Shell 'em if you have perfect aim if I had said item. Another factor about characters is the unexpected addition of Baby Daisy, seeing Baby Donkey Kong or Baby Bowser would have made sense that if A: They played a major role in the last main or side mario game, such as Rosalina. which makes sense, since Waluigi before her just came out of nowhere from the 64 era (adds the fact that Daisy is a regular tomboy, as stated in her profile).

Yes, having extra karts does make your racer stand out like a sore thumb a bit more, but that was an unecessary factor. As the roster grows, sacrifices are to be made in general, I thought a few stages were eyesores coupled to certain character renders. Keeping the origional render for Mario Kart SNES did not help (if anyone notices the re-use of certain stage renders in each passing Mario Kart).

[Hypershell]

See, in Double Dash, as many items as were gimped, the signatures made up for it (assuming you weren't playing as Toad/Toadette, anyway, 'cuz the Golden Mushroom blows).  There's nothing quite as insane as a Bowser Shell or two flying through Baby Park.  And the Yoshi Egg was another of my favorites, effectively a red shell that drops random items on the floor on impact (and you don't need to be in a low place to get one, either).  With good timing and a little luck, you can nail someone, pick up a Star/Mushroom off the ground, and leave them pretty much screwed in your dust.  I don't know if it's necessarily better balanced or not, but signature items do make the game a bit more character-based and less kart-based.

I do feel that the presentation has consistently suffered since 64, though.  In 64, when you hit someone, you knocked the hell out of them.  Loud SFX and they're sent flying through the air.  The same applies to SNES's crazy spins.  In Double Dash onward, that was pretty much deadened.  It's like every impact is in slow motion, which in a race is all the more painful.  Also, DS completely forgot how to animate shells, which is quite a huge WTF.  I know a Nintendo fan isn't supposed to be a graphics whore, but a single static 2D frame for a shell?  It makes the game look like a tech demo.

The second are the karts.  I'm not fond of the fact that they made the Karts more important than the actual driver.  I didn't play Double Dash enough to see if this was a problem in that game

Karts have stats in Double Dash but the individual kart doesn't have nearly as high an impact as it does in future titles.  There was no sliding/off-road/item luck bull, just your basic acceleration/top speed/handling, and the weight class (determined by the heavier of your two characters) made infinitely more difference than the individual kart.  It's like the difference between Mario and Dr. Mario in Melee.  They're not the same, but if you want to base your decision on appearance, you can get away with it without too much trouble.

Battle Mode.  No need for a long description, just one real phrase... ABSOLUTELY [tornado fang]ing RUINED!

I don't think anyone in their right mind can play Wii and argue with that one.

[Protoman Blues]

See, in Double Dash, as many items as were gimped, the signatures made up for it (assuming you weren't playing as Toad/Toadette, anyway, 'cuz the Golden Mushroom blows).  There's nothing quite as insane as a Bowser Shell or two flying through Baby Park.  And the Yoshi Egg was another of my favorites, effectively a red shell that drops random items on the floor on impact (and you don't need to be in a low place to get one, either).  With good timing and a little luck, you can nail someone, pick up a Star/Mushroom off the ground, and leave them pretty much screwed in your dust.  I don't know if it's necessarily better balanced or not, but signature items do make the game a bit more character-based and less kart-based.

Oh, it's in NO way balanced, and you gave one of two perfect examples.  Toad's signature sucked in that game, and my friend was always Toad.  Also, I was always Koopa Troopa, and his signature also sucked AND was random.  It wouldn't be too bad of a signature if they actually circled around you, like their suppose too!

I do feel that the presentation has consistently suffered since 64, though.  In 64, when you hit someone, you knocked the hell out of them.  Loud SFX and they're sent flying through the air.  The same applies to SNES's crazy spins.  In Double Dash onward, that was pretty much deadened.  It's like every impact is in slow motion, which in a race is all the more painful.  Also, DS completely forgot how to animate shells, which is quite a huge WTF.  I know a Nintendo fan isn't supposed to be a graphics whore, but a single static 2D frame for a shell?  It makes the game look like a tech demo.

Pretty much goes back to my point of item gimping.  Items were not only better in 64, but had so much more power to them.

Karts have stats in Double Dash but the individual kart doesn't have nearly as high an impact as it does in future titles.  There was no sliding/off-road/item luck bull, just your basic acceleration/top speed/handling, and the weight class (determined by the heavier of your two characters) made infinitely more difference than the individual kart.  It's like the difference between Mario and Dr. Mario in Melee.  They're not the same, but if you want to base your decision on appearance, you can get away with it without too much trouble.

Fair enough.  As I said, I didn't play Double Dash enough to notice.

I don't think anyone in their right mind can play Wii and argue with that one.

Oh, the DS version is god awful as well.

[Fxeni]

*walks in*

Mario Kart Wii is terrible. While Double Dash had it's issues, I find it to be far better than MKW. That is all I'll say here.

*walks out*

[Hypershell]

Very much agreed.  Unless you're a fan of the new cast members (and even if you are it's still a big tradeoff), Mario Kart Wii is simply a game that you buy to enjoy an unusually competent online setup by Nintendo.  The game itself is easily the worst CPU of the series, the most severely gimped Battle Mode, and overall the most over-item-saturated-blinside-hits-plus-some-schmuck-will-run-you-off-the-road-while-you're-recovering-just-to-[acid burst]-you-off experience.  12 racers really does over-crowd the track.

Also the most senseless unlock requirements, because if by some miracle you put up with all of that long enough to get a [tornado fang]ing PERFECT SCORE IN 150CC, the game will STILL very likely deny you that 1-Star Rank.  That's an invitation to whip the CPU's asses with WiiRD-coded infinite Starmans if there ever was one.

Double Dash is probably my favorite due to the balance between cast and play mechanics.  It doesn't handle as good as 64, but you get to enjoy the more modern characters in a more unique title that is definitely better thought out than MKWii.

Oh, the DS version is god awful as well.

I dunno, DS had plenty of options without axing the classic gameplay mode, which was nice.  But I'll still agree that it lost something, mainly because for presentational issues I mentioned last time, it's just less fun to blast the hell out of someone in DS compared to blasting the hell out of them in 64 or SNES.  That and I feel the track design, both battle and regular, was pretty lackluster.

On the other hand, it's very satisfying to hack an online battle course just to [acid burst] off a snaker and wait for them to crash their game, thus taking the Disconnect Loss.



...you know, all this talk of the oldies makes me think I should download SMK on the VC.  I was hesitant at first because all the tracks are in Super Circuit, but there really is nothing like the original original.

[Protoman Blues]

I dunno, DS had plenty of options without axing the classic gameplay mode, which was nice.  But I'll still agree that it lost something, mainly because for presentational issues I mentioned last time, it's just less fun to blast the hell out of someone in DS compared to blasting the hell out of them in 64 or SNES.  That and I feel the track design, both battle and regular, was pretty lackluster.

Oh, I just meant the blowing into the Mic for Balloons bullshit.  Awful, awful idea.

[Irgendein]

I'm not going to get into this argument (since I've never player MKWii), so I'm here to just ask one question: Has anyone (besides myself) ever actually played Super Circuit? I see no mention of it in here except the start of the topic.

Oh, I just meant the blowing into the Mic for Balloons bullshit.  Awful, awful idea.

You know you can just hold Select, right?

[Protoman Blues]

You know you can just hold Select, right?

Honestly, I forget.  I didn't play the Battle Mode that often enough to remember if I did or not.  Overall in terms of racing, I'd say DS was 2nd favorite.  My problem is that I have MK64 on such a high, high pedestal that I know any other Mario Kart is inferior to it in every way.

[Hypershell]

I've played Super Circuit to 100% completion.  It basically plays like the SNES, just with "shaded" visuals and some of the 64 items.  Handling is very, very loose.

Oh, I just meant the blowing into the Mic for Balloons bullshit.  Awful, awful idea.

Oh, that.  I didn't see that as necessarily bad, but pretty darn pointless.

[Protoman Blues]

All I know is that the SNES Mario Kart had the best battle mode theme EVER. 

[Hypershell]

Can't argue with that one.

Ah, the memories of me power-sliding like a mad man to tick off my brother...

A shame that Wii finally remembered the darn thing, and yet its Battle Mode sucks incredibly.

[Protoman Blues]

That song is nowhere as good as the original.

[Solar]

Oh, the DS version is god awful as well.

I'll never agree to this idea, if only because I find ramming someone from behind with a mushroom and then stealing their balloons in the process so damn satisfying and fun.

[AquaTeamV3]

Wow, lots of interesting stuff said here.  In my opinion, I loved Double Dash, especially the 2 player co-op mode.  I let my buddy do all of the driving, while I get to be strategic with items and such.  The rear player even has the nifty ability to punch other karts that are adjacent to it, often stealing an item in the process.  You could even use it to save the driver from running off the road in some cases!  I agree that the signature items were pretty nice, and it seriously blew me that my best friend insists on maining Toadette; the Golden Shroom is really pointless IMO.  I'm quite partial to Mario's fireball myself; it's like throwing a 5-way Green Shell in a sense, and often hits multiple racers to boot.  The Hearts and the Yoshi Egg were pretty nice, although the only problem I have with the latter is the fact that it's often easy for someone behind you to pick up said dropped items as well, but it's not a bad item overall.

I have MKDS, and I honestly don't enjoy it as much as DD.  It has it's good points (like drafting), but it doesn't have much else in the way of presentation.  That and the online is annoying, as most people DC before the races are even over. 

The only other game I have a lot of experience with is Super Circuit, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  The one thing I don't like is the coin system, because once you run out (not hard when you're getting constantly rammed), you're pretty much a target, and every hit you take from then on spins you out.  Not to mention it makes getting good rankings annoying to get.

[Hypershell]

Rankings shouldn't even exist in Mario Kart, but they're easily ignored in all games save for Wii.  A perfect score is a perfect score, dammit.