: really read the instructions! Mostly, I was
: interested in the controls, and those looked
: pretty simple on the small booklet that came
: inside the game case (Were those supposed to
: be the "instructions"?). I guess
: my biggest reaction to the control scheme
: would be, why the Z triggers, instead of
: using shoulder buttons for items or
: drifting? It's been a while since I played
: any of the other games, but I'm also
: wondering what the item button has been in
: the past.
Now, I have read at least some of the instructions. Like you said, Rick, there is a trick button. Who knew it was the same as hopping or drifting? I wonder if they moved that from Wii to make things simpler? On the Wii, you could choose the animation of your trick based on the direction of the D-pad. In this game, I haven't been paying attention to whether you can modify the trick, since one is a backflip, and others are just one-handed grabs.
I went back to "Mario Kart 64" briefly, and their item button seems to be the Z trigger (steering with the control stick). Did I just forget that about the older games, or was there ever a different button for the items?
: Graphics: Well, the menus are crisp, but I'm
: not sure if the art style will grow on me.
: The first "race" for me was
: actually a time trial, and on the Mario
: track (the first one from Mushroom Cup). I
: liked that pretty well. It seems as if it
: could be running at a smooth 60 frames per
: second, but did I notice some jerkiness a
: few times? A weird added effect for me
: would be those "tire marks" that
: appear when you skid/drift around a corner.
: It's kind of a nice touch, but they're so
: bright that I was almost distracted by them.
The menus still look good.
Yesterday, something I noticed on a replay was how Mario seems to come out of a water section looking "wet," and then he transitions (quickly) to drying off. That was kind of neat.
I guess the jerkiness wasn't really there, so I'm not sure what was happening with my eyes the other day.
I know to expect tire marks, and probably what's different in some of the courses besides that first one is that they wouldn't be drawn in "Tron" neon blue. I mean, on a sand course, they're going to look like disturbed sand.
: Characters, Karts: The only characters I've used so far were Mario, Luigi, and Peach. All of them kept winning in whatever mode I tried, so it was
: hard to differentiate between them.
I've still just been using Mario and standard parts for all of the 50cc Grand Prix races. He keeps winning, but one track was a battle where I could barely hold on to more than two coins (usually cruising around with 10, 7 if I recently got hit, and trying to collect the rest, assuming that affects other drivers).
: Is
: there a way to import a Mii, because it's
: hard to picture a Mii logo appearing on my
: screen. After I beat one Grand Prix at
: 50cc, it unlocked Roy (Koopa) from near the
: bottom of the grid. I read on Miiverse how
: the unlocks might happen randomly.
You were saying, Rick, that a Mii is probably a random unlock. It hasn't showed up for me after winning six trophies. I almost wonder if that's the last unlock they'd give you (not exactly "random"). Until you have a Mii, I'm confused why the amiibo icon would be active at all. Yes, you could scan them in, but the regular characters can't even wear the suits?
: Game Modes: I started on Time Trial. My
: focus was just to have some
: "clean" races (minimal crashes).
: It's hard to tell how I rank, since I didn't
: choose to create a ghost, upload a ghost, or
: one of the other options.
:
: In Grand Prix, my only experience so far was
: 50cc Mushroom Cup with Mario and the default
: Kart combination (standard, standard wheels,
: triangle glider). I know it's not my first
: "Mario Kart" game, and that's the
: lowest difficulty level, but it was hard to
: tell that I was in a race with other
: drivers! From the start of the first race,
: I used the boost to move up the standings.
: After I took first place, I don't even
: remember being challenged or seeing another
: driver. If they did throw something from
: behind me, I was dragging a green shell or
: maybe a banana peel for protection.
Yesterday was all 50cc Grand Prix. I'm thinking it was Shell, Flower, Banana, Star, and Leaf cups. Star may have been the one where I struggled the most on a few courses. Wherever the Wario track is, the CPU was hitting me pretty often with all kinds of items.
: Difficulty/AI: I guess it's too early to
: tell? I have no idea what kind of items are
: in the game, because a first place driver
: only seems to get green shells and banana
: peels (similar to the Wii game). I've been
: hit by blue shells, so they must exist.
: Lightning was there. The things I don't
: know about would be invincible, mega
: mushroom, turbo/"spammable"
: mushroom, Bullet Bill, fake item boxes, ...
Maybe I should've made that last comment here instead? I realize that difficulty in 50cc probably shouldn't be like mirror or 200cc, but when there are so many tracks per cup, and now 12 Cups to think about, it was hard to tell when the difficulty may have increased even a little bit. There were still some races where I kept checking the rear view camera and couldn't see anyone near me at the finish. Blue shells have probably been limited to one per race. Maybe two of them have hit me per Cup. That already feels different from "Mario Kart Wii," but maybe not at 50cc level there, either? I just know how I could be in a race with three of my cousins, and either them or the CPUs would be throwing the blue shell, as lightning struck you and the POW block spun you out on the way up a ramp.
: Differences from other games:
: One thing that almost DEVASTATED me about
: Grand Prix (I hope that's not sarcasm or
: being too dramatic) was, NO PODIUM
: CUTSCENE?!! I've only played about four of
: these games, all on consoles. From the
: beginning, there was the podium, and you did
: something to open a bottle (pop the cork?),
: which hit that fish thing from the Mario
: stages where they keep floating up into the
: air.
Well, I still haven't seen one of those animations, at least in 50cc mode. I kind of wonder if they skipped it because of all the replays, and the emphasis on MKTV? The replays kind of fill in that gap for a celebration at the end of a Grand Prix, but part of me wishes for the podium scene. Also, maybe because races haven't been that competitive, I barely know who I beat in second or third place. In one Cup, it was Roy Koopa, but he only factored into maybe three or four laps from two of the races.
: Lakitu is a driver now? But he's still
: dangling the traffic light, which is kind of
: confusing?
I've apparently raced him a few times, even as he was still the guy with the traffic light, the lap counter, and a fishing pole.
Speaking of when he helps you, doesn't it seem like he barely lets you fall first? In other games, I can remember being in a frozen lake for a few seconds, or going all the way down a pit before he would show up.
: Tracks: I almost forgot this part! There
: should be 48 tracks in this game, and I'm
: not sure if the ones for battle mode are
: ever used in the other parts of the game.
: At most, I've only driven in 11 areas, which
: isn't even 1/4 of what's available. The sad
: thing is, what I've seen so far wasn't very
: difficult with the turns and such.
Now that I've probably raced on 25 or more tracks, my main observation is how those areas are so WIDE. I'm not sure if it's how the game is HD, the camera angle, or something else. Did they just widen them out because of the 12 player races? I almost think 12 is too much. In the first two games, they only had eight total characters, so I assume that's part of the reason for only eight people competing in a race. Now, just because they can do 12, does it mean they should?
It's definitely cool to see how the tracks from previous games are much more detailed, although how much of that do you notice during a race?
Based on going from "Mario Kart 64" back to the Wii U, I also felt like the retro tracks definitely weren't trying to throw you in a ditch or slow you down. One example might be "Royal Raceway." Even at 50cc (at least I think that's how I played the other day), I was falling off of turns into the water. Then, you know that incline for the ramp/jump? There's a way to fall off that edge and then you can't just drive back up, because the ramp section is elevated above the grass, and you'll probably have to reverse and come around again. In other words, I don't know if I like the new Royal Raceway better, or if they made it too easy to stay on course. What would be something in the middle?
Even with some of the newer tracks, there's a weird feeling like they copied pieces from a Wii track, so I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not. Doesn't the airport feel like the shopping mall, with one conveyor belt that could be in Toad's Factory? The snow mountain definitely has a section like DK Mountain, if that's the right name. Then, the ghost mansion feels a little Bowser's Castle at the beginning.
Speaking of that snow mountain, how is it three "laps," instead of a design where you keep going downhill, and they split it up into three sections? I guess that's a technicality.
With the underwater area, I didn't think that was realistic (but I guess Mario survives water levels all the time in his main game series, even without breathing gear). Then, why do they make it look like the pipes are traps/holes, instead of how you need them to lift you to higher ground? That section of the course kind of made me think of bouncing around mushroom caps inside a cave in the last game.
I forget if those were all the reactions to various tracks. Some were memorable. A few have been pretty generic (the jungle one with a DK theme?). In other ones, I was kind of focused on the track design itself. Like, if they keep making these splits where you could go on parallel sections of track that don't really intersect, how would that affect strategy or using items? I have no idea, since the races haven't been highly competitive yet. Why did a red shell hit me in the air as I was gliding across the finish in one race?
: Overall: Basically, a really incomplete and
: mixed review so far. I think it could
: become my favorite Kart, except for
: something as simple as SHOWING THAT YOU WON,
: and who finished second or third.
: There's "Mario Kart TV" that they
: added, but they left out something like a
: victory scene? I don't even like that the
: clips are maybe five seconds long, and then
: cutting to something else that's "out
: of context," and jumping around too
: much.
It took me a while to sort of understand what I was seeing in MKTV. I'm still at a point where it doesn't seem like the best additional feature. In a few of my races, it just shows "highlights" of where I drifted. At least it identifies who threw that blue shell (a driver with no chance of winning?), and the most "dramatic" scene of me passing someone was when we were both covered with ink, so I didn't really see him during the live race!!
I also like how drifting seems like the best strategy in this game, and there's no setting for letting the game give you what looks like really unfair traction control (or else I missed that, too!). I haven't driven a bike yet to see if they can do wheelies.
Basically, it's a game that's definitely in the mix for one of my favorite Karts. I just feel like, why did they ease back on some of the stuff from Wii that made that game my favorite Kart at the time when it was released? At low speed, these tracks don't make me feel like I could accidentally go off the edge. I'll have to update once I do get to 150cc or 200cc. There still aren't many obstacles, but I have bumped things like a cable car (trying to hold a drift between that car and the wall) or one of the penguins in the snow. I've only been able to get a horn from the item box on laps where nobody throws a blue shell (would it even work on other shell types?). The tracks aren't exactly bland, but I'm wondering which ones really stand out to me or bring something new to the series. I'd say Electrodome or Music Park are pretty neat in their visuals. The Wario Stadium area looked the most dangerous or complex (spinning fire chains on a sideways platform).
I guess I'll have to keep playing.
1
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