Tag: Mario Kart

Mario Kart 8 – Get-Together #4

This afternoon, I held my 4th (and likely final) Mario Kart 8 get-together. Squishy and Qwerty joined in as we raced on the original courses and DLC tracks. I played as Link, Qwerty played as Shy Guy, and Squishy started out as Rosalina. We raced in four cups (although Squishy left after the third one), and I’ll give a brief recap of each cup. I chose 100cc for all of today’s races.

Cup #1

SNES Donut Plains 3 was the first race, and Qwerty raced ahead for a big win. Squishy and I battled back and forth, with me passing her in the final turn for 2nd place. DS Wario Stadium was next, and it was a fun, competitive race. All three of us were bunched together the entire race. Qwerty won the race, and I got third…but less than one second separated us all.

Hyrule Circuit (The Legend of Zelda DLC track) was the third race, and I led most of the way. Until the final straightaway, that is, when I got hit by a red shell and Qwerty passed me for the win. Ouch.

Link gets hit by a red shell right before the finish line and loses the race in Mario Kart 8.A banana peel or shell would have saved me, but coins were the only power-ups I got in the final lap. Mount Wario was the final race of the cup, and Squishy beat out Qwerty for the win. I was in a distant third place, unable to mount a comeback. Here are the final standings for the first cup:

1. Qwerty: 14 points. 2. Squishy: 8 points. 3. JVGS Jeff: 6 points.Cup #2

Sunshine Airport was the first course here, and it was another fun, close match. It came down to the end, with Squishy winning the race and me coming in 2nd. 3DS Music Park was next, and Qwerty beat us for an easy win. Squishy passed me up at the end for 2nd place.

Mount Wario came up again as the third race, and just like the first time, Squishy won and I finished last. The cup wrapped up with the Animal Crossing track, which took place in winter this time. Squishy was the one crossing the finish line first, while Qwerty got 2nd, and I finished last once again.

Flying through the Animal Crossing track in winter (Mario Kart 8).Squishy won this cup. Here are the final standings:

1. Squishy: 14 points. 2. Qwerty: 9 points. 3. JVGS Jeff: 5 points.Cup #3

The third cup started out with N64 Rainbow Road–always a fun track. We had a close race, but Qwerty came away with the win and I got 3rd place. Excitebike Arena was next: Squishy won the race, and I got 2nd place. But before the third race, aliens abducted Qwerty and Squishy!

Squishy and Qwerty rocket away from Earth in Mario Kart 8.It must have been a brief connection issue. They were able to rejoin almost immediately, but their scores for this cup were reset. GCN Dry Dry Desert was the next course, and Qwerty won the race. I got 2nd, while Squishy (now playing as Isabelle) finished in 3rd. Mute City was the final race of the cup, and Qwerty again won and I came in 2nd.

Despite being the only one who kept credit for all four races, I still didn’t win the cup. 😀 Qwerty got the win.

1. Qwerty: 8 points. 2. JVGS Jeff: 7 points. 3. Squishy: 2 points.Cup #4

Squishy left before this cup, so I announced to Qwerty that this would be my final cup. Qwerty easily beat me in Excitebike Arena, Electrodome, and N64 Yoshi Valley. For the final race, I had trouble deciding on a course. Time ran out on me, while my cursor happened to be on Wii Moo Moo Meadows. That was the chosen course, and surprisingly, I actually won. That was my only win of the entire get-together. 😀

Here are the final standings for this cup:

1. Qwerty: 10 points. 2. JVGS Jeff: 6 points.Final Thoughts

Thanks to Qwerty and Squishy for coming and racing today. It was fun, especially those races that were really close. I did horrible, but that’s nothing new for me. I never got into Mario Kart 8 the same way I got into Mario Kart Wii, and I never got as good at the game (not that I was great at MKW either).

I’m not planning any more get-togethers for Mario Kart 8, but I’m sure I’ll do more once the next game comes out (probably on NX).

I won’t be posting any videos of today’s races, but here is one of my older MK8 videos: It shows what the Animal Crossing track looks like in each season.

Mario Kart 8 – DLC Pack #2 Impressions

Mario Kart 8 received a new update today, which takes the game to version 4.0 and adds a speedy 200cc mode. The long-awaited DLC Pack #2 also became available today, featuring eight new tracks in two cups, three new characters (Villager, Isabelle, and Dry Bowser), and four new vehicles. The new tracks are the main attraction of course, so I’m going to give my first impressions of each of them.
Crossing Cup

mk8-crosscupThe first track of the Crossing Cup is GCN Baby Park, from Mario Kart: Double Dash on GameCube. Set in an amusement park, it features a small oval track. The track is quite short, but races consist of a whopping seven laps. I wonder why they can’t make SNES tracks with five laps as they were originally intended, yet this one can get seven laps. It’s a pretty fun and frantic course, though. Even if you get way out in front, you still have to deal with other drivers as you lap them, thanks to the short track. It takes place entirely in anti-gravity mode.

Next up is GBA Cheese Land, a retro course from Mario Kart: Super Circuit. The track is made out of cheese, including cheese craters–do some tricks for a speed boost as you jump out of them. There are a couple of chain chomps here, one of which can reach across almost the entire width of the track. About two-thirds of the track takes place in anti-gravity mode. This may be my least favorite of the eight tracks in this DLC pack.

The third track is a new course called Wild Woods. This cool course takes you through a forest, where sunbeams shine through the treetops. You’ll ride on a boardwalk through a village of Shy Guy homes before going down a river, Koopa Cape style. You then cross a pond by racing across lily pads before another boardwalk takes you to the finish line. It’s a beautiful and enjoyable course.

The Crossing Cup wraps up with the Animal Crossing track. It features many characters and sites from the Animal Crossing series, including power-up boxes that are held up by balloons (like the balloon presents in Animal Crossing) and Resetti pops up out of the ground like the Monty Moles in SNES Donut Plains 3. Since I’m a big Animal Crossing fan, I decided to make a video just exploring the track for a while to see some of the details (such as K.K. Slider singing and watching the train cross a bridge). Here is the video: (view on Youtube)

The Animal Crossing track takes place in different season each time you play (unless you play the Time Trial, which will always be summer). Each season has its own look: Winter has snow, snowmen, and northern lights; autumn has piles of leaves you can drive through; spring has pink cherry blossom petals falling down; and summer has green grass and sunny skies. I think the winter season is especially gorgeous. I made a video showing one lap of each season to give you a taste of what it’s like. (view on Youtube)

Bell Cup

mk8-bellcupThe Bell Cup starts off with 3DS Neo Bowser City. The neon-filled city is quite appealing visually, and you race in some fairly heavy rain as well. There is a short anti-gravity section towards the end of each lap. This is one of my favorite tracks in DLC Pack #2.

GBA Ribbon Road is next; it takes place on a miniature track in a child’s bedroom, oddly enough. Some mechanical wind-up Koopa toys are on the track as obstacles to avoid. True to its name, the course takes place on a ribbon track, and in certain parts, the track undulates in the breeze.

Super Bell Subway naturally takes place in a subway station (and on the tracks). You’ll actually drive alongside trains at some points. All in all, it’s a pretty cool track.

The Bell Cup ends with Big Blue, based on the F-Zero franchise. This anti-gravity course has some Toad Factory-style conveyor belts, which can speed you up or slow you down, depending on which one you’re on. The track doesn’t have an overabundance of speed boosts like the Mute City track from DLC Pack #1, so it lacks the extreme speed that made Mute City really feel like F-Zero. Big Blue isn’t a bad track, but it is a bit disappointing in comparison.

200cc Mode

Even if you haven’t bought the DLC packs, a free update brings a 200cc mode that you can enjoy. The 200cc races are fast…very fast. Some tracks are a lot more fun with the extra speed. However, the extra speed makes it hard to control your vehicle (and/or stay on the tracks) on some courses. Even vehicles with tight controls can have trouble making it around corners at that speed. It may take some practice (or even some braking?!) to keep things manageable. But the 200cc definitely makes for some wild, frantic races.

I’ll be uploading more videos of Mario Kart 8, so subscribe to my Youtube channel if you don’t want to miss them. Or if you don’t have the game yet, you can still buy Mario Kart 8 at Amazon.com or elsewhere. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all next time!

mk8-ww

Mario Kart 8 – Get-Together #3

Today I held my third Mario Kart 8 get-together. Since the release of DLC Pack 1, I’ve been using Link and his bike, the Master Cycle. When I opened the lobby this afternoon, I was joined by Khalid188, Poizon (Mike), Meli, and Ash.

Cup #1

The first cup started out with N64 Rainbow Road: I did awful and came in last place, while Ash picked up the win. The next track was the regular version of Rainbow Road. Khalid188 won this time, and I got 4th place. The third course was the Electrodome, which is one of my favorite (and best) tracks. Wendy joined in here, so we had six racers. I was in 2nd place headed into the last turn, but Meli zoomed past me and I finished in third. Ash won the race. The final race of the first cup was GBA Mario Circuit. Khalid188 won the race, and I finished in 4th. The final standings for the first cup were:

  1. Ash – 22 points
  2. Khalid188 – 19 points
  3. Meli – 12 points
  4. Poizon – 11 points
  5. Jeff – 10 points
  6. Wendy – 2 points
Link racing in Electrodome in Mario Kart 8.Cup #2

The second cup started out in Toad Harbor. Khalid won the race; I made lots of mistakes and finished in 5th. Twisted Mansion was the next course. I benefited from some lucky power-up grabs–a few invincibility stars to be more specific–and I did well. I was actually in 2nd place as I crossed the finish line, just barely beating out Khalid188, who was using a Bullet Bill. But the game apparently saw things differently, and it awarded 2nd place to Khalid while I had to settle for third.

DS Tick-Tock Clock was next, and it was a close, frantic race. At the end, I hit Khalid (who was winning) with a red shell, and Poizon and I overtook him right before the finish line. The cup finished off with Bowser’s Castle. Here, I was in 2nd place going into the final turn, but then I got hit by a Bullet Bill and finished in 4th. Here are the final standings:

  1. Ash – 22 points
  2. Khalid188 – 18 points
  3. Poizon – 17 points
  4. Jeff – 14 points
  5. Meli – 13 points
  6. Wendy – 4 points

Here is a gameplay video of the second cup:

Cup #3

We had some turnover after the 2nd cup: Khalid, Meli, and Wendy all left. But Jose and Danny joined in, so we had five racers. The first course of this cup was Sunshine Airport. I was actually in the lead for most of the race, but I got overtaken in the final lap and finished third. Next up was N64 Royal Raceway. I was in third place heading into the final turn, but a Bullet Bill hit me and I ended up in last place. The next two tracks were Rainbow Road and SNES Donut Plains 3. In both of them, I finished in third behind Ash and Poizon. The final standings were:

  1. Ash – 22 points
  2. Poizon – 16 points
  3. Jeff – 10 points
  4. Jose – 10 points
  5. Danny – 6 points
Link about to be hit by a Bullet Bill in Mario Kart 8.Link falling after getting hit by a Bullet Bill in Mario Kart 8 (MK8).Cup #4

Jose and Danny left after the third cup, so we were down to just three racers for the fourth cup. Here, we raced in Wii Moo Moo Meadows, 3DS Music Park, Cloudtop Cruise, and Mount Wario. Ash dominated here, winning all four races. Poizon and I each got second place twice to finished tied. Here are the final standings:

  1. Ash – 16 points
  2. Jeff – 6 points
  3. Poizon – 6 points

After that, everyone left. The get-together fizzled out just one hour after it began. But I had a good time, so thank you to everyone who came. See you next time!