Mario Kart Wii - Gen. Discussion & Info

I wasn't interested in this game but the removal of the left-right boost mechanic in order to play well has me interested in the Mario Kart series for the first time in years. (We'll see.) Snaking isn't difficult, but it also isn't very fun. I'm getting sick of this "no pain no gain" mentality among the MK hardcore.

I'd rather play a crappy-looking but great-controlling "Cheap No Skill Blue Shell Fun Kart", than play "OMG TEH GRAPHIC Carpal Tunnel Kart". Go ahed and blame gamers like me if you hate the new direction of the series.
 
[quote name='bluesyncopate']I wasn't interested in this game but the removal of the left-right boost mechanic in order to play well has me interested in the Mario Kart series for the first time in years. (We'll see.) Snaking isn't difficult, but it also isn't very fun. I'm getting sick of this "no pain no gain" mentality among the MK hardcore.

I'd rather play a crappy-looking but great-controlling "Cheap No Skill Blue Shell Fun Kart", than play "OMG TEH GRAPHIC Carpal Tunnel Kart". Go ahed and blame gamers like me if you hate the new direction of the series.[/QUOTE]
I pre-ordered OMG TEH GRAPHIC Carpal Tunnel Kart for the 360. Though I've heard rumors that the game may cause carpal tunnel syndrome. We'll see.

The method of making MTs happen could be anything, it just happened to be the countersteer. As somebody who's put a lot of gameplay into serious time trailing on the 64 and DD versions, though I'm comfortable with how MTs have been done up until now, I don't doubt that there's a different, maybe even better, way of making it happen. My concern re: MTs in MK Wii was that stunts and motion control were going to be the only way of consistenly hitting MTs (if they were even available), but it's clear that ain't so. All I'm worried about now is that the 'dead zones' are only present in the wheel control--that is to say, other inputs aren't somehow made to control similarly to the wheel and have synthetic dead zones.

People are comparing the new way (which is basically just sliding or stunting to get the MT) to Crash Team Racing for the PS1, which I liked, though I don't see how it's similar exactly: in CTR, you'd slide and release the boost with a shoulder button as the boost accumulated through the slide. So you could get multiple bursts in a turn. But it sounds like in MK Wii you can only get one MT per turn. Is that true? I'd like to see more gameplay.

And as far as graphics go, who's complaining? I think they look good for a title that's got to keep track of 12 racers. With everything going on in the game, it's unfair to expect it to look as good as SSBB or SMG.

An aside to this "no pain no gain" thing. Are 64 and DD now worse in retrospect because they secretly contained "snaking"? "Secret" is to say most gamers weren't aware of it until they went online with MKDS. Why won't people just see it as a way to add depth to the control? I liked the 64/DD MTs simply because they went so well with their respective controllers. Both controllers were so comfortable, and as a result, chaining MTs wasn't crippling (as with MKDS's input).
 
[quote name='dothog']An aside to this "no pain no gain" thing. Are 64 and DD now worse in retrospect because they secretly contained "snaking"? "Secret" is to say most gamers weren't aware of it until they went online with MKDS. Why won't people just see it as a way to add depth to the control? [/QUOTE]
I can't speak for everyone, but for me I don't see it as adding depth because it does jsut the opposite. It's cheap. Yes, it requires skill to master, but once mastered it ignores many of the other skills the game requires. Many races become snaking matches, and in doing so "break the game." I would appreciate it more if that was the only way to accelerate, or something of that nature, but as is it kills much of the enjoyment of the game when racing against others. Just my opinion.
 
[quote name='dothog']
And as far as graphics go, who's complaining? I think they look good for a title that's got to keep track of 12 racers. With everything going on in the game, it's unfair to expect it to look as good as SSBB or SMG.
[/quote]To be fair, F-Zero GX had 30 racers and looked a lot better at a permanent 60fps.

Though the 1200kph might have had something to do with that.
 
[quote name='elwood731'] It's cheap. Yes, it requires skill to master, but once mastered it ignores many of the other skills the game requires.[/QUOTE]
What other skills are these exactly? Memorizing where the fast lines are in the tracks? Remembering that it's A to accelerate, B to brake? I love SMK, 64, and DD to death, but I'm not going to pretend that mastery of these games requires the skill set of, say, pro-level CS or Smash.

Without sparkage and MTs, given the existing lack of speed, it's a goddamn snoozefest skill wise. It's really the only mechanic in the game that requires anything close to experienced-level game skills. I understand that the game is supposed to be accessible. The controls are supposed to be nap inducing. The MTs and the countersteer method just threw a bone to the people who played it enough to uncover it. It's arbitrary, but I wouldn't call it cheap.

[quote name='elwood731'] Many races become snaking matches, and in doing so "break the game."[/QUOTE]
I'll admit that I quit MKDS after 3 months because it was killing my hands. But in that time, I did a lot of online karting, and in my experience most of the people who were chaining MTs were doing a piss poor job of it. You need MTs to go fast, but you have to use them in the right places. When you're arbitrarily sliding ass all over the track, all those MTs do is get you back on the fast lines in the track you should've been on in the first place.

So I didn't feel like a lot of games were "broken." IMO what "breaks" MK online is the underlying assumption that a 4P race holds excitement from race to race. It's what makes 4P local boring most of the time, especially if you've got one racer who's much better than the other three.

Even when everyone's on par with one another, 4P just leaves too much room on the track. That's probably part of what inspired the 4P co-op in MKDD: get everybody on a controller and put them in a grand prix with 6 other karts. It worked for me and my peeps, but then I actually participated in a fair share of 4P local co-op grand prix, unlike most of the people who decried the two-racer thing in DD as gimmicky.

EDIT: In describing the snaking I saw as piss poor, I realize that I was playing in the first 3 months after release and probably didn't see the worst of it. Still, though, why the need to compete online with everyone, including people who've taken the time to master chaining MTs? When I go on Live for Splinter Cell, as someone who plays only occasionally I know when I'm outclassed. I just try to stay within my skill level and have fun.
 
[quote name='buttle']they did say that the game wasn't all that pretty. they even went on to say that it looked like the game was made by one of nintendo's B teams.[/QUOTE]
If it's got a good sense of speed and 60 fps throughout, I don't care.

12 people online + 60 fps + Mario Kart insanity = WOOHOO! :D

--R.J.
 
[quote name='rjung']If it's got a good sense of speed and 60 fps throughout, I don't care.

12 people online + 60 fps + Mario Kart insanity = WOOHOO! :D

--R.J.[/quote]

i definitely agree. pure insanity.
 
[quote name='rjung']If it's got a good sense of speed and 60 fps throughout, I don't care.
[/QUOTE]
Crotch mentioned F-Zero GX above, which ran 60 fps in multi-player split screen (!). And despite trying to be positive about the screens we've seen thus far, I agree with Crotch--it's fair to expect that MK Wii should outperform GC titles in graphics.

Though frame rate may be dicey with online 12P. We'll see.
 
[quote name='dothog']Crotch mentioned F-Zero GX above, which ran 60 fps in multi-player split screen (!).[/quote]To be fair, F-Zero dropped to only four vehicles rather than the usual 30 during splitscreen races. Probably the biggest problem with that game, as far as I'm concerned.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']To be fair, F-Zero dropped to only four vehicles rather than the usual 30 during splitscreen races. Probably the biggest problem with that game, as far as I'm concerned.[/quote]
If they had the full 30 vehicles during 4 player splitscreen the framerate would almost certainly be in the single digits.
 
ign's wiik in review said that this game will give you 7 pages of stats. that's a crazy amount of information. i always loved checking the stats on smash brothers melee. this makes me really happy.
 
[quote name='ArthurDigbySellers']Has anyone else seen the article on gonintendo.com that says Mario Kart Wii will allow you to create lobbies with text chat? It also says that if you have a friend who is currently racing, you can join the race as a spectator and join once the race is over. It is actually from the Nintendo UK site so it seems legit.

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/wii/mario_kart_wii_7387.html

Pretty cool stuff for WFC.[/quote]

that's awasome. i hadn't read that before. that sounds very easy.
 
[quote name='Kaijufan']With Europe getting Mario Kart in April hopefully we wont have to wait to long here in the States, I'm hoping for June or July. I doubt we'll see it here in April since Super Smash Brothers is coming out in March.[/QUOTE]
Reggie or some other Nintendo folk said something along the lines of simultaneous Q2 2008 release. I think. I would say you nailed the NA release with June.

However, the few rumors out there on the NA release say late April. I don't buy it with SSBB and Wii B Standin already due to drop so close together.
 
[quote name='Kaijufan']If they had the full 30 vehicles during 4 player splitscreen the framerate would almost certainly be in the single digits.[/quote]True, but as it stands, it's boring as hell. No collisions or anything. I'd have taken a bit of a frame-rate drop to have, say, 8 AI racers during multiplayer games.

Great, now I want a new F-Zero. Thanks a lot, CAG.
 
Thanks, Dothog. Reading now.

EDIT: Liking the ability to choose item frequency like in Smash Bros, but not feeling the 100cc being bikes-only. Eh. Anything short of 150 is for pussies Strell.
 
Ok, the text chat "Feature" in Mario Kart Wii is apparently not text chat at all but just pre-set messages that you can select.

I swear to god. On one hand, I feel like Nintendo needs to move development of some of their franchises out of Japan. On the other hand, would any other studios deliver the same quality of gameplay? Maybe Nintendo needs to develop the offline portion of their games in-house and farm out the multiplayer to western developers.

I think it is the Japanese mindset about online gaming, not Nintendo as a whole, that is holding back the Wii's online possibilities.

EDIT: I realize that Next Level Games (of Canada) developed Strikers Charged, but that was the first online game for the Wii so I wasn't expecting too much. AAA titles like Brawl and Mario Kart should be much more fleshed out.
 
After finding out they'd have 16 classic tracks from old Kart games to go with the 16 new ones, I got excited. I can't recall the last time I was actually looking forward to getting a game the day it came out. This is going to be a must though.

My only present gripe is the wheel. I don't want to spend $XX to get 3 more of them, assuming one will be packaged with the game.

I also want a Wii F-Zero. The 64 F-Zero with its endless X Cup was brilliant, and I really enjoyed the difficulty Sega brough to the series for GX.
 
The only thing I'm weary of is this new trick system that gives you boosts. If in 150cc its a mix of karts and bikes, won't the bikes have an advantage by being able to do tricks for boosts? It would be weird for karts to have tricks. It'll also be weird to have more jumps in tracks. They should have saved the bikes for Excite Bike.
 
Dude I don't think any Mario Kart has had the feather since the original. Even in Mario Kart Arcade, which has a shit load of different items, don't remember seeing a feather.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Wasn't it in the N64 version?[/QUOTE]

I don't remember it... and I played MK64 like crazy with friends.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']I'm all for more jumps. Though I'm curious what this means about the fate of the feather.[/QUOTE]

Alas, the feather was and is still long gone... In fact at this point the fate is sealed being in only 1 of 5 games.
 
Yeah, the feather isn't supposed to be in. I'm not sure, but jumping may be done through wheelies and bursts (not MTs) of some kind. As for text "chat," given Nintendo's history it wasn't difficult to see that one coming.

I think this is all coming together nicely. I don't believe the 15 April date for NA, but Jeux-France is usually on top of things. An April release would be delicious. However, why not announce it around GDC? You'd think there's some kind of meaning in the fact that they kept NA to themselves but let JP and EU drop, but who knows. Maybe they forgot to mention that one of the top 10 titles in the library is going to show in NA in almost a month.

And the news on the control from that hands-on is very encouraging. The dude seemed to like the look of the game, so maybe Nintendo is releasing some particularly assy media to confuse us. You know, for fun.
 
The feather was definitely only on the SNES. Same with Donkey Kong Jr, who was replaced by DK himself, and Koopa Troopa was dropped in favor of Wario for awhile in there.
 
[quote name='Zenithian Legend']The feather was definitely only on the SNES. Same with Donkey Kong Jr, who was replaced by DK himself, and Koopa Troopa was dropped in favor of Wario for awhile in there.[/QUOTE]
DK replaced Magikoopa. When you bring MK64 lore, you bring that shit hard, son.
 
i liked the lack of jumping in double dash. i just feel like i have a little more control when my kart is hopping around. and i preferred the system of needing mushrooms for shortcuts rather then needing feathers for shortcuts. and the same for dodging shells. it just made the game feel faster.

i'm assuming that this one will be exactly the same. unless anyone has seen any different?

edit: upon further investigation of the mario kart video's there is a small hop before sliding around turns. but it's not near as high as the hop on the ds version. i preferred the no hop on double dash, but this looks like a good compromise.
 
[quote name='Zenithian Legend']The feather was definitely only on the SNES. Same with Donkey Kong Jr, who was replaced by DK himself, and Koopa Troopa was dropped in favor of Wario for awhile in there.[/QUOTE]

This is a dumb sidetrack, but technically, doesn't DK Jr. grow up to become the tie wearing DK we know today? Meanwhile, the Donkey Kong that kidnapped Pauline and winds up imprisoned in the Donkey Kong Jr. game is now Cranky Kong?

I'm busting out my DK Family Tree, which, now that I think about it, might've been in one of the Donkey Kong Country instruction booklets.
 
[quote name='theflicker']This is a dumb sidetrack, but technically, doesn't DK Jr. grow up to become the tie wearing DK we know today? Meanwhile, the Donkey Kong that kidnapped Pauline and winds up imprisoned in the Donkey Kong Jr. game is now Cranky Kong?[/quote]
According to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, yeah. Seems a bit daft to me, but if Donkey Kong 1981 == Donkey Kong 2008, then where did Donkey Kong Jr. go?

--R.J.
 
The feather is what made the battle modes so classic in the first mariokart. If there going to bring back old tracks they best bring back the first battle arena and the 4th one from the original. Wait, that wouldn't work because the driving is sure to not be as clean and perfectly balanced like the first game. It just wouldnt be the same.

They should just scrap this game and put out the original on the VC with wifi and allow us to use old school snes controllers. Thats kind of the thing I was hoping for when I bought a Gamecube 1.5!
 
[quote name='MidnightMetal']ANYONE SEE THAT MARIOKART WII RELEASE DATE ON IGN IS APRIL 28TH!!!

I'm crazy excited, and it's coming out so soon, in respect to SSBB, WOOT!!![/quote]

If I were a betting man, I would be a lot of money that it will be delayed. Don't get your hopes up.
 
I bet Mario Kart will come out before October, based on the previews it sounds like the game is pretty much done.
I wouldn't be surprised if they delayed the US release to June or July, releasing only one month after Brawl is a little bit too soon.
 
This looks like a November release. The only logic I have behind it is that this is the next big Nintendo franchise game coming out this year. They need SOMETHING for the holidays. Wii Fit will sell, but it's new. Mario Kart is familiar, so people will easily buy that shit. It's perfect for the holidays.

It doesn't remind me of a good summer game. That belongs to whatever other Mario game comes out. I think that new Mario Baseball will make a perfect hit for the summer.
 
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