With the latest installment in the Mario Kart franchise coming out within the week I thought we could discuss both the present and past of the franchise. Mario Kart Wii is getting some pretty good reviews thus far. I've seen some clips and it looks pretty good. They say you can't snake anymore. And you get the power slide thing by simply jumping while turning. It does it automatically for you, which I don't like. I like having to develop the skill of getting the boost on your own. The tracks seem wider since there are now 12 racers. Some seem to think it slows things down. Hopefully its not too slow. I say the faster the better. Everyone says the 150cc is ridiculously hard because of a cheap AI. I'm sure that's frustrating but the big draw of this game will be its online play which is being touted as very good. Battle mode now consists of teams and 12 racers. The only knocks I've heard against it are that you can't have a free for all and the courses are very big as to compensate for added racers. But as long as I can destroy people with some green turtle shells (red shells are for *******) I'm sure it will be all good. You can also race people's time trial ghosts online. That could be very fun and time consuming. Overall I'm looking forward to being even more shelled up in my house than I already am. As for the rest of the franchise, the last one I purchased was Mario Kart 64. I still love playing that game, especially when I can find someone man enough to play me in battle mode. Anyone who does usually quits after a few matches of being dominated though. If the new one is half as fun as this one it will be worth it.
I got Mario Kart double dash, I thought it was pretty good. the original and 64 were still the best though. my favorite is the banana. I loved to pass people, cut them off and drop a banana right in front of them when I played a lot and was good I knew how far thew would travel if thrown forward and I would land them right in front of people I was trying to pass
But only two people could play. It goes (for me): Mario Kart 64 Super Mario Kart . . . . . . Double Dash I'm sure the new one will be really good too.
went to gamestop at lunch to check out the preorder list and box. It is going to come with a racing wheel that the wii-mote locks into, looks pretty sweet.
thats awesome you get asked that in job interviews......i only get asked..."why'd you punch your boss at your last job a kinkos"?
I picked up Mario Kart Wii yesterday. Its pretty fun. The online part is cool. I love kicking *** in battle mode. I'll take any and all challengers.
Mario Kart 64 was the height of the series for me. Double Dash, the GBA game, and Mario Kart DS all seem to lack the charm and fun that MK64 oozed back in the day. I think I may have to skip this iteration. I don't want to get burned again.
I didn't play any Kart after 64. I just didn't care to for some reason. 64 will probably still be the high point but I'm enjoying the new one so far. That charm you talk about might not quite be there and the handling isn't as good compared to 64. But the online component is what is doing it for me.
It doesn't have the exact Block Fort level that was on 64. It has some bastardized version of it, which is not nearly as good as the original. That is my big problem thus far with battle mode. They took old levels that I didn't care for and left out the ones that I liked.
Instead of having three levels there is only two. The top level is really bland. The bottom part is too cramped. There are too many twists and turns. They should have just gone with the 64 version and maybe widened it to accomodate 12 players.
Just got it, gonna try it out...Ill try and post the codes to play online when i get home after work.
My record on battle mode so far is 48-9. I'm not sure how they got those numbers since I haven't played 57 matches. But I'd guess I've done well so far. I don't care all that much for the Wii wheel. It might be because I'm so used to the N64 style, but I like using the classic controller. I'll post my code after the next time I play.
Just bought a Wii (after waiting for like a damn year for stores around me to get one) and Mario Kart, I'm digging it. The wheel steering is very easy to get used to and its a lot of fun. I'm not sure they can ever recapture the pure fun that the 64 version had but if you have a Wii its worth the coin IMO. For the others that own the Wii, what games are a must?
The Wii Wheel is horrible, IMO. Steering is too twitchy, especially on the vehicles with better handling ratings. I'm happy with the GameCube controller. Check out the Virtual Console lineup (available through the Wii Store) as well as Zelda: Twilight Princess, Resident Evil 4, Okami, and Battalion Wars II. And remember that it's backwards-compatible with GameCube games, so if you want to pick up an older GC game, feel free.
Hmm I'll have to try it with the other controllers too but I haven't been having any problems with the wheel, but then again I just got it and haven't gotten that far in the game. Zelda is on my list for sure.
If you're comfortable with the wheel, that's fine. I just found it way too sensitive to the slightest unintended movements. It threw me off, but I can see the appeal of using it. If you like Zelda, you'll love Okami. Some believe Okami to be superior to Twilight Princess.
I'm not a big fan of Zelda but I've heard from just about everyone that is a fan tell me Twilight Princess is good. Mario Galaxy is pretty good. And I'm a bit of a Madden junky. If I get hit with a blue turtle shell when I'm 10 ft away from the finish line one more time I'm going to freak out. I heard the game could be cheap and I'm starting to see it firsthand. Its not too bad so far, nothing to keep me from getting gold. But its just annoying when you run a near perfect race and get hit with a cheap shot. I've even been hit with a blue shell in battle mode, which is insane. My id thing is 1633-4590-7527 if anyone wants to play online. If I can team up with another really good player I think I can dominate even more than I already do. The time trials are pretty cool. I like being able to race someone's ghost from across the world. I've only done Luigi's course and I'm like 15 seconds off the world's best.
Mario is a great game. Most of the Wii games I play are the multi player ones so Mario is the only real one-player one that I've played. Smash Bros. is a good time also if your into the Smash series.
I've got about 6500 points on battle mode online. The last time I checked my record was 133-49. One thing about battle mode that pisses me off is sometimes I get hit with a blue turtle shell. Those shells have no place in battle mode because its just completely cheap. I'd even say they are cheap in every mode because you are essentially punishing someone for running a good race.
Blue turtle shells suck... But, how do they work in Battle mode? Do they target whoever has the best score at that point? Gotta get the Wii -> 'puter WiFi hookup...
I think they do target the player with the best score because when its happened to me its been during coin runners and its when I have a huge stack of coins. I remember being really pissed off every time because I had a lot of points.
I played the 64 version yesterday and it was crazy how much different it looked and felt. The Wii version doesn't have jawdropping graphics but it made the 64 version look like a NES game. Battle mode for the Wii has ensured that I will stick with it for a good while.
Along with the blue turtle shells, I really hate the 'POW' thing too. It spins out your whole team on coin runners.
