Topic: The Mario Kart Thread

[STM]

If Sonic & Sega doesn't, then ModNation Racers hopefully has to, because it's insanely good.

I've been meaning to pick that one up. It looks fantastic and I love the versatility of the level creator.

[Protoman Blues]

I've been meaning to pick that one up. It looks fantastic and I love the versatility of the level creator.

You really really really should.  To me, it makes MKWii and even Sonic ASR serve little purpose.

[Hypershell]

Sadly I don't see a PS3 in my near future, but any idea how the PSP version compares?  If I check out another kart game it'll be either that or the Wii version of Sonic SAR.

[Protoman Blues]

I'm not sure about the PSP version.  I'd hope it's as good.

[Phi]

Sample music tracks from MK 3DS, Paper Mario (short gameplay clips for both) and Pilotwings.

Gotta love dat Mario Kart 64/Super Circuit remix!

[VixyNyan]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCpxTWujmQo#t=0m35s[/youtube]
CPU silliness at 0:35

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfuimrY5mAQ[/youtube]
Koopa Beach Secret Island

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9jIGPwLY2M[/youtube]
Dodge the Blue Shell on Wii.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MD2n5qrcg4[/youtube]
Blue Shell chase on 64.

[Hypershell]

Gotta love dat Mario Kart 64/Super Circuit remix!

Sweeeeeeet!

Damn, I want this game.

[STM]

Sadly I don't see a PS3 in my near future, but any idea how the PSP version compares?  If I check out another kart game it'll be either that or the Wii version of Sonic SAR.

There is no PSP version.

Also: BLUE SHELLS.

[Hypershell]

I'll take that as a "bad" for PSP Modnation...



Well, scoped out Nintendo's website, and I must say, this level looks especially awesome:

High jumps in a classic pipe/block setting?  Yes, please!

[Satoryu]

There is no PSP version.

Yeah there is, if the official website is to be believed.

[Hypershell]

I assumed that was an exaggerated criticism of the game's drifting mechanics (from what I understand they're a lot more rigid than PS3's).  But yeah, clarification would be nice.

[Jericho]

Sample music tracks from MK 3DS, Paper Mario (short gameplay clips for both) and Pilotwings.

Gotta love dat Mario Kart 64/Super Circuit remix!

Holy [parasitic bomb], I like it, but I still prefer the instruments and composition of the original theme waaaaaay more than this.

Here's hoping this means MK3DS is more of a fusion of MK64 & MKDS.

[RetroRespecter]

Mario Kart is sill going on strong!!!

[Protoman Blues]

There's no snaking in Wii.  That's why we have, and despise, bikes.

Because snaking makes the game SO MUCH FUN.

Bikes rule.

I don't care about the other argument, but I'll just say this:

Snaking wouldn't be a [tornado fang]ing problem if the items were balanced. Bikes would also not be a [tornado fang]ing problem if the items were balanced. It wasn't a problem in MK64, and if it was, you just plain sucked. This is why every Mario Kart after MK64 has progressively gotten worse, because of how poorly the items are balanced. This is why no Mario Kart game will ever be as good as MK64, because they'll never go back to that item system again.

[Bueno Excelente]

I don't care about the other argument, but I'll just say this:

Snaking wouldn't be a [tornado fang]ing problem if the items were balanced. Bikes would also not be a [tornado fang]ing problem if the items were balanced. It wasn't a problem in MK64, and if it was, you just plain sucked. This is why every Mario Kart after MK64 has progressively gotten worse, because of how poorly the items are balanced. This is why no Mario Kart game will ever be as good as MK64, because they'll never go back to that item system again.

Yep. Join us in the Sega All-Star Racing brotherhood! We lack blue shells! =P

[Protoman Blues]

Yep. Join us in the Sega All-Star Racing brotherhood! We lack blue shells! =P

LoL, Blue Shells aren't the problem at all. Granted, I so much prefer the original Spike Shell of MK64, but Spiny Shells aren't the main problem. The main problem is the fact that only 4th place or lower get them. This is where the primary primary problem of the game exists, in the sense that it is no longer a game meant for 1 on 1 racing, or even a 4 player free for all. It's only meant for a greater level of multiplayer, and it shows in the item balancing, and is so clearly evident in Mario Kart Wii. Essentially, they've made a game in which 2nd and 3rd place cannot get into 1st place without the item help of 4th place or higher, because 2nd & 3rd place no longer get the items to stop 1st place. The most powerful weapon it gets is primarily 3 spinning red shells, which wouldn't be a problem if the Red Shells weren't so gimped, but mainly if 1st place didn't get everything to stop it with, including the now bullshit 3 Banana Peel. The 5 Banana Peel in MK64 was much more fair because they would all drop if you hit them with a shell, whereas the 3 Banana Peel provided three shell blockers in a row, along with another Banana Peel/Green Shell to block another one.

I could go into so many more items based reasons why the MK games after 64 pale in comparison to it. Hell, Cloud AIDS in itself is a prime example!

[xnamkcor]

One thing I hated about MKWii was no 1 vs 1.
I just wanted to race my brother.
But no! There had to be 8 or 10 other PCs.
They better fix that in MK 3DS.

[Bueno Excelente]

LoL, Blue Shells aren't the problem at all. Granted, I so much prefer the original Spike Shell of MK64, but Spiny Shells aren't the main problem. The main problem is the fact that only 4th place or lower get them. This is where the primary primary problem of the game exists, in the sense that it is no longer a game meant for 1 on 1 racing, or even a 4 player free for all. It's only meant for a greater level of multiplayer, and it shows in the item balancing, and is so clearly evident in Mario Kart Wii. Essentially, they've made a game in which 2nd and 3rd place cannot get into 1st place without the item help of 4th place or higher, because 2nd & 3rd place no longer get the items to stop 1st place. The most powerful weapon it gets is primarily 3 spinning red shells, which wouldn't be a problem if the Red Shells weren't so gimped, but mainly if 1st place didn't get everything to stop it with, including the now bullshit 3 Banana Peel. The 5 Banana Peel in MK64 was much more fair because they would all drop if you hit them with a shell, whereas the 3 Banana Peel provided three shell blockers in a row, along with another Banana Peel/Green Shell to block another one.

I could go into so many more items based reasons why the MK games after 64 pale in comparison to it. Hell, Cloud AIDS in itself is a prime example!

(Insert MK = Mortal Kombat joke here)

By the way, how do we stand on Double Dash?

[Protoman Blues]

(Insert MK = Mortal Kombat joke here)

By the way, how do we stand on Double Dash?

Oh, I hate Double Dash with a passion. It's what started the downfall, IMO. Granted, I'm a bit biased because MK64 is my 2nd favorite game of all time, but even fairly reviewing that game, I hate it. It's where the item balancing issues I mentioned up above first started, I was not fond of the "specials" because it makes certain characters better than others (and made Koopa Troopa the worst character in the game), I thought the handling was absolute [parasitic bomb] (that could've been because of how extremely loose the GC Thumbstick was, but something was definitely off from MK64).

To boil it all down, Double Dash was the start of the imbalance, both in terms of weapons & characters/karts. In Mario Kart 64 & even the original Super Mario Kart, every single character had an equal chance to win, both in terms of what items they got and how their characters handled. The handling, speed, and acceleration was different, but flawlessly balanced to a point of fairness in which no one character had an advantage over another. Double Dash changed all of that, with specials, with different stylized Karts, with how items were distributed as well as how some items were overpowered and others gimped. Plus, the overall racing also felt slower, as MK64 was very fast paced. I mean, if I were to get picky, even the music pales in comparison to MK64, and I thought the levels weren't as awesome either (the levels in Double Dash weren't bad though. That's probably just the MK64 bias talking). Double Dash essentially transformed Mario Kart from maintaining a fun & awesome level of racing skill, 4 player party awesomeness, and pure friend douchebaggery to being more and more about just having cool looking and unbalanced karts/bikes and how to punish a person for being in first place. Racing skill is almost gone, 1 vs 1 matches are completely lost, item balancing and distribution is awful, and we won't even get into how royally they [tornado fang]'d up Battle Mode in MKWii.

IMO, the best Mario Kart since 64 is MKDS. If Mario Kart 3DS is as good as MKDS, I'll be happy, especially if I can once again make 8-Bit Blues my avatar!

[Bueno Excelente]

Oh, I hate Double Dash with a passion. It's what started the downfall, IMO. Granted, I'm a bit biased because MK64 is my 2nd favorite game of all time, but even fairly reviewing that game, I hate it. It's where the item balancing issues I mentioned up above first started, I was not fond of the "specials" because it makes certain characters better than others (and made Koopa Troopa the worst character in the game), I thought the handling was absolute [parasitic bomb] (that could've been because of how extremely loose the GC Thumbstick was, but something was definitely off from MK64).

To boil it all down, Double Dash was the start of the imbalance, both in terms of weapons & characters/karts. In Mario Kart 64 & even the original Super Mario Kart, every single character had an equal chance to win, both in terms of what items they got and how their characters handled. The handling, speed, and acceleration was different, but flawlessly balanced to a point of fairness in which no one character had an advantage over another. Double Dash changed all of that, with specials, with different stylized Karts, with how items were distributed as well as how some items were overpowered and others gimped. Plus, the overall racing also felt slower, as MK64 was very fast paced. I mean, if I were to get picky, even the music pales in comparison to MK64, and I thought the levels weren't as awesome either (the levels in Double Dash weren't bad though. That's probably just the MK64 bias talking). Double Dash essentially transformed Mario Kart from maintaining a fun & awesome level of racing skill, 4 player party awesomeness, and pure friend douchebaggery to being more and more about just having cool looking and unbalanced karts/bikes and how to punish a person for being in first place. Racing skill is almost gone, 1 vs 1 matches are completely lost, item balancing and distribution is awful, and we won't even get into how royally they [tornado fang]'d up Battle Mode in MKWii.

IMO, the best Mario Kart since 64 is MKDS. If Mario Kart 3DS is as good as MKDS, I'll be happy, especially if I can once again make 8-Bit Blues my avatar!

I honestly just hated it because it touted cooperative play, and the guy in the back did absolutely nothing. I can't even make any sense of the "forcing two players into one cart" logic. It felt slower-paced, yeah. And heck, I could more than forgive that if they had something interesting, but it seemed to me like it was too few tracks, and you could only access them through Grand Prix. No free play, just tournament play. What the hell? I mean, even Super Circuit (one of the best out of the Mario Kart franchise, IMO) had more options. The graphics also felt short than they could be, and hell, it just wasn't any FUN. When Mario Kart games stop being fun, you know there's a problem.

I'm honestly done with the Mario Kart franchise. I'll go back to MK64 anytime, but I seriously prefer stuff like Modnation Racers, Sega All-Star and Crash Team Racing. Hell, get Naughty Dog to make Mario Kart. They'll make it interesting again.

[Protoman Blues]

I honestly just hated it because it touted cooperative play, and the guy in the back did absolutely nothing. I can't even make any sense of the "forcing two players into one cart" logic. It felt slower-paced, yeah. And heck, I could more than forgive that if they had something interesting, but it seemed to me like it was too few tracks, and you could only access them through Grand Prix. No free play, just tournament play. What the hell? I mean, even Super Circuit (one of the best out of the Mario Kart franchise, IMO) had more options. The graphics also felt short than they could be, and hell, it just wasn't any FUN. When Mario Kart games stop being fun, you know there's a problem.

I'm honestly done with the Mario Kart franchise. I'll go back to MK64 anytime, but I seriously prefer stuff like Modnation Racers, Sega All-Star and Crash Team Racing. Hell, get Naughty Dog to make Mario Kart. They'll make it interesting again.

The front guy was the driver while the back was weapons. One thing I'll say is that the idea of the Double Racer system was an interesting idea. It could've added a whole new strategic element to the game. But once again, the items unbalancing & distribution essentially made that possibility null and void. The main problem with it is that certain characters were better than others, especially when it came to the whole "specials" dealio.

I didn't play enough of Double Dash to remember if you could have 4 players racing at once, each having 2 choices of characters, or if the game forced you to always play team mode, 2 vs 2. If there was no option for either or and was just the latter, then yeah it was a stupid idea, just like it is in MKWii's unplayable Battle Mode.

Overall though, I'll disagree with you on the fun part. Except for Double Dash, which again I hated, the Mario Kart games are still fun. I'll be the first to admit that the series is a spiky shell of its former self, as again I consider Mario Kart 64 to be the perfect kart-style racing game, but it is still fun. As I mentioned before, Mario Kart DS was actually a pretty decent karting game, and the best one that came after MK64. Sure, the problems I mentioned still do exist, but the items felt more powerful (especially Red Shells), the level designs are easily among the best in the series, the music was pretty solid, the handling was much better, the customizable icon thing for your kart was genius, and they got rid of the Double Kart system. Plus, even though the kart imbalance is still slightly there, there are still multiple multiple kart options which all have a pretty good chance to win. Sure, some karts are slightly better than others, but it is in NO WAY as blatantly unfair as the 3 Bikes are in MKWii. MKDS's battle mode would have been fine if not for the blowing into your mic to blow balloons thing.

Mario Kart Wii was definitely a step back from Mario Kart DS. The item imbalance is much more apparent, as well as the distribution and gimping of said items, and if you master one of the best 3 bikes, you never need to use another again. The level designs weren't as good as DS as well. It's still fun, but only if you are playing with multiple people who are your friends, and even then the problems of the game can be apparent.

With Mario Kart 3DS, I hope they at least go back to the Mario Kart DS engine, since I know they'll never go back to MK64 style.

[Solar]

MKDS's battle mode would have been fine if not for the blowing into your mic to blow balloons thing.

You mean the thing that can be done with buttons too?

[Bueno Excelente]

The front guy was the driver while the back was weapons. One thing I'll say is that the idea of the Double Racer system was an interesting idea. It could've added a whole new strategic element to the game. But once again, the items unbalancing & distribution essentially made that possibility null and void. The main problem with it is that certain characters were better than others, especially when it came to the whole "specials" dealio.

I didn't play enough of Double Dash to remember if you could have 4 players racing at once, each having 2 choices of characters, or if the game forced you to always play team mode, 2 vs 2. If there was no option for either or and was just the latter, then yeah it was a stupid idea, just like it is in MKWii's unplayable Battle Mode.

Overall though, I'll disagree with you on the fun part. Except for Double Dash, which again I hated, the Mario Kart games are still fun. I'll be the first to admit that the series is a spiky shell of its former self, as again I consider Mario Kart 64 to be the perfect kart-style racing game, but it is still fun. As I mentioned before, Mario Kart DS was actually a pretty decent karting game, and the best one that came after MK64. Sure, the problems I mentioned still do exist, but the items felt more powerful (especially Red Shells), the level designs are easily among the best in the series, the music was pretty solid, the handling was much better, the customizable icon thing for your kart was genius, and they got rid of the Double Kart system. Plus, even though the kart imbalance is still slightly there, there are still multiple multiple kart options which all have a pretty good chance to win. Sure, some karts are slightly better than others, but it is in NO WAY as blatantly unfair as the 3 Bikes are in MKWii. MKDS's battle mode would have been fine if not for the blowing into your mic to blow balloons thing.

Mario Kart Wii was definitely a step back from Mario Kart DS. The item imbalance is much more apparent, as well as the distribution and gimping of said items, and if you master one of the best 3 bikes, you never need to use another again. The level designs weren't as good as DS as well. It's still fun, but only if you are playing with multiple people who are your friends, and even then the problems of the game can be apparent.

With Mario Kart 3DS, I hope they at least go back to the Mario Kart DS engine, since I know they'll never go back to MK64 style.

The theme of double-person racing was frankly stupid, because you don't get to use weapons all that much to necessitate a whole gameplay style versed on it, and the FUN part of Mario Kart is racing WITH weapons. You take away the weapons, and it's just racing. With a guy next to you asking when it can be his turn and pressing a button once in awhile when you get a shooteable weapon. It's the very same thing as having an FPS where one player plays as a monkey on your back who just throws grenades when you get them. It was possibly the worst move they could have done.

I remember when it was hacked to play online. Man, that was fun. The only fun times I've had with the game, honestly. This was already the time when my family considered I was too grown up to have friends come over to play all the time. =P

And yes. The games are pretty fun, but they just don't really appeal to me anymore. Seeing that I've played a superior incarnation of these games way back then, playing them currently among friends feels cheap and stale. I play it socially, but I got overdosed two summers ago when i went to spend a couple of weeks at a beach house and the only thing everyone wanted to play was Mario Kart Wii. Mario Kart DS felt like a sort of remake of Mario Kart 64, but not really as fun. A few new gimmicks, and it was widely superior to Double Dash, but I only bought it because back when the DS had no good games except Mario stuff, I had to get something to be distracted with. =P

By the way, what's people's general opinion on Super Circuit? I never hear much talk about it, and it was the first MK game I owned, and didn't just go to a friend's house to play. Aside from Rainbow Road not being the ALL TIME FABULOUSNESS that it is in every other Mario Kart game, I really like it. Felt like the first GBA game to use the power the machine had.

[Solar]

I remember loving it when it came out and having a lot of fun doing shortcuts on Ribbon Road. Getting start ranks was a [tornado fang]ing pain in the ass IIRC though, but maybe that was just me.

[VixyNyan]

By the way, what's people's general opinion on Super Circuit?

I loved it~

The Japanese version even had Mobile Adapter features where you can download ghosts from other players and see ranked lists of every player that was connected to Nintendo server at the time. I don't remember if it had online multiplayer functions tho, but it did have the download content feature tho, with time attack and replay ghosts and things like that.