Monday, 19 October 2009

  • Top 5 Most Frustrating Moments in Mario Kart

    If you've played a game of Mario Kart, then you know how damn unfair the games can be. The items can range from helpful to useless, the courses are either moderately challenging or freaking difficult, and the computer AI knows how to be a little bastard. If you ever feel like playing nothing but Mario Kart for two weeks straight, you're probably going to risk overdosing on Tylenol because at least one of these things has had to happen to you.

    As such, I've decided to compile a list of the most frustrating Mario Kart happenings -- and it wasn't that fun; needless to say, as it was from experience. So, park yourself in that seat, and read on if you're curious to see what I find to be the most aggravating in Mario Kart.

    #5: Running into someone heavy (Mario Kart 64)

    This seems to happen in later Mario Kart games, but the worst offender here is in Mario Kart 64. Say that you're Luigi, Toad, or Yoshi, and you finished in 3rd place, while someone heavy like Bowser finished in 1st. Should you try to get a speed boost at the start of the race, you'll crash into Bowser and spin out. By the time you regain control of your character, you're already in 8th place.

    Ah, but it's not just at the start. At any point during a race, if you're above a certain speed and drive into a heavy racer, you'll spin out. This poses a problem if you're on a narrow bridge with lava underneath it (Bowser's Castle). But then again, if you drove into anyone at that speed, wouldn't you CRASH as opposed to spin out?

    Wait, am I really bringing logic into a game where three plumbers, a dinosaur, a midget, an ape, a princess, and a dragon turtle race each other?

    #4: Drifting off the edge

    "Okay, there's a left turn coming up…I'll just power slide by it and pass by Funky Kong to take the…crap, I drifted too far off the track…and off the edge!"

    Well, what's better than being shoved off the edge by another racer? Why, driving off the edge with no help from the computer whatsoever! Now, if you think this is a bad choice for the #4 spot, stop and think about it. Doesn't it sound a little more frustrating that you can't blame anyone for overshooting a curve?

    Oh wait, you still end up off the track either way. My mistake.

    #3: Last minute recovery

    The finish line is in sight! You're about to cross it and get first place while Baby Daisy is in third place. That's a relief, because if Baby Daisy gets 1st, she'll get the 9 points needed to win the cup. After crossing the finish line, the standings show up…wait, why are you in 2nd!? How did Baby Daisy get 1st!? It's not like she was drifting right behind you…and then realization hits..."I didn't get a Star Rank!! I have to race through the Special Cup...again..."

    Congratulations, if this has ever happened to you, you're a witness to Rubber Band AI, in which the computer AI can make an almost miraculous comeback, no matter how far your lead is. This happens quite often, and not just in Mario Kart. I'm looking at you, Street Fighter.

    But we'll save that for another time.

    #2:The Blue Shell (Mario Kart Wii)

    The question: How do we reward players for sucking whilst simultaneously punishing the good players?

    The answer marks the origin of the Blue Shell.

    Appearing from Mario Kart  64 onward, albeit, in a slightly different form from its current iteration, the Blue Shell is practically a flying war machine that attacks the person in first place. Always. Now, does this sound helpful? It does, but it really doesn't benefit you, so much as it benefits the computer. Granted, in Mario Kart DS, you could look at the bottom screen to see what items everyone had, and if someone had a Blue Shell, you could pull over to 2nd and let the unfortunate soul in first take the hit. In Mario Kart Wii, once that alarm starts ringing, you have about two seconds to think ahead. In those two seconds, I found that I could only think of saying the word "dangit" five times consecutively.
                               

    #1: Combos

    In fighting games, combos are when one player strings together a series of moves to rack up damage on the other player, usually ending with a super combo, or whatever the hell they want to call it. In Mario Kart, one person doesn't initiate and go through with the combo. One person suffers through the entire combo.

    In comparison to some of the other moments on this list, it's pretty rare; but when it does happen, there's not a worse feeling in the world.

    If you still don't understand, allow me to paint a picture for you: You're racing on the DS Rainbow Road, it's the start of the final lap,and you've got a solid lead. Then, the other four racers pass by the item boxes. The racer down back uses a blue shell, and since you're in first place, it's inevitably hitting you. After getting hit by the Blue Shell, you're hit with a Red Shell, lightning, and by someone using the Bullet Bill, which knocks you off the edge. By the end of the combo, you're in…8th place. Yeah, what did you expect? 7th? Pity.

    Is there a reason why being combo'd out of the lead (or behind the lead) is #1? The Blue Shell takes one person to use. Combos in Mario Kart require at least three different racers. Think about it, that's three racers working together to bring you down the ladder so that one of them can win the race and take the cup to RULE TH-

    Sorry, maybe I should stop reading conspiracy theories at 3AM. But of course, these are just my most frustrating moments in Mario Kart...what are yours?

    Original Post: http://8th-circuit.com/?q=content/most-frustrating-moments-mario-kart

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Comments (40)

  • theacematt2@xanga

    Blue shell defense is to carry a green/red shell behind you while you ride in first... no?

    I can't recall if the blue shell would break through the green/red shell, and hit you Aaaanyway, but I seem to recall doing so in Mario Kart 64
  • Camouflaged_by_night@xanga

    I completely agree with this list. I've had all of these moments happen to me.
  • Toetally_surveysx3@xanga

    @theacematt2@xanga - I'm pretty sure there's no way to defend against a blue shell. Well, besides slowing down to second place. Correct me if I'm wrong though.


    But this was a great list.
  • Icecold4u@xanga

    #5- I always played heavy, or avoided hitting anybody flush by any means possible...it can get alil annoying.

    #4- I am the a-hole that helps push the drifter off the cliff xD yes!

    #3- I'm usually the guy that has to do this (See a pattern? I'ma violator)

    #2- Ah...the blue shell...how I love the...back in 64, I honestly felt like the blue shell was slightly more fair? It came up alot less often, and hit almost everybody on the felt...acted like any other shell and not completely destroyed you like MK DS does, bombing you.

    I'm still a violator though =3 I hold out on blue shelling until the last lap, or until I feel like they're getting too far.

    #1- This is the only one I...no, I do violate again xD. There is nothing like a tag-team shell/bomb/hit combo. Red shell, Bomb when they're still recovering, then heavy character hits them, possibly knocking them off the road..its horrible! So evil it is.

    The worse combo to happen though...when I was well out in first, Blue shell, Fall on two red shells, bombed, lightning, crushed. Well back in last that time.

    @Toetally_surveysx3@xanga - Bullet Bill can defend blue shells..and mushroom boosters at the right time can get you out of the way. Not in the older version though.
  • The_Aftershock_3650@xanga

    In Mario Kart Wii, slowing down to avoid a blue shell no longer works.

    It targets the person it was meant for throughout the shooting...

    boo

    - John
  • ebondeath@xanga

    Another one is after several hours/days/weeks of this crap you look down to realize you've smashed the controller in your frustration. :\ 
  • shunny@xanga

    I have played snes version and it is fun. Have played the wii and ds version but not as happy with it. I felt like I had more control in the old one. Maybe I didn't give the newer versions a fighting chance.
  • yujuwong@xanga

    i only agree w/ combo and blue shell, which are both game design "flaws". the other 3 points, though, are things you can train yourself out of. :)


    #3: Last minute recovery - Try to read the map and think ahead how to prevent a computer from taking back the lead. I used to get this a lot when I first started, but now I do the reverse: I can jump from 4th to 1st even on the last lap.


    #4: Drifting off the edge - Practice makes perfect, so go ahead and try the time trial mode and practice your drifting skill via different routes: both outside edge and inside edge, and everything in between.


    #5: Running into someone heavy (Mario Kart 64) - The heavy characters all have slower karts, that's why they've got the advantage on the collisions. Learn to use your speed to drive around them after gaining a draft.

  • toddimyre@xanga

    Hehe... I've been hit by all of these at least once, especially the last one while playing multiplayer. Another annoying feature comes from Mario Kart DS in which you're playing on a team, have first place, and a teammate launches a blue shell. How it's supposed to work (note that it doesn't always), is that it's supposed to tag the first person on the opponent's team in front of the person who fired it. I believe the glitch occurs when you and your 3 teammates own the first 4 ranks. Nonetheless, it is annoying and has actually allowed me from 1st to last against those cheating AI karts. Just thought I'd share from one Mario Kart fan to another.

    ~Toddimyre~
  • fizard85@xanga

    I hate when I go to drift around a corner and for some reason it goes the opposite direction I want to go. So I get turned around and fall way back. Grrrr!!! I love playing Mario Kart Wii with the Wii wheel!!!!
  • Kappatappa@xanga

    AHH I hate number three.
  • discostu95@xanga

    JAjajaja

    well i Hate the wireles play in mario kart wii.

    When you are racing, and literally see someone fall of the road, and less than a second later that person is in front of you taking a boost from.... nowhere... they simply do a boost @_@.

    That could be the thing i hate from mario kart wii.

    The blue shell, i dont hate it, cause is really posible to avoid, not as simple like the red o green ones, but still you can.

    The first way is to do a very, but realy close to the wall ... (ahh, i dont how to properly said the action of moving in a curve-.-) while doing so, you must start the mini turbo, and when the blue shell is close to hit you, you simply release the mini turbo.
    Whit a lot of timing, the blue shell is going to hit the floor and you will be free. (or still would explode, but not in the center of the explosion, and the ones who are hit in the perimeter only are shaken, but not sent to the air, so you will not lose a lot of time.

    For the other option you need a miracle and have a mushroom. (or simple the musrhoom)
    When the blue shell is close to hit you, and you see that the blue shell is fallin to explode, simply use the mushroom.
    That will sent you far away of the explosion.
    You only need to see front of you so you will not fall or something (hit a heavy character, hit a banana, etc) 

     
    The other 4 things you hate from mario kart , jejeje i love to make them....

    Discostu95::::
    Omar-----------


    (sorry if i make some mistakes in my writing, but im from a spanish country)




     
  • bhndthemask16@xanga

    I hate Rainbow Road on Wii. Basically anything on Wii where I can fall off, I will, and I keep count of how many times I fall off in a game, because I can be proud of that instead haha. And yes, all 5 of them are so annoying, unless you are the person doing them to someone else!
  • sheflourishes@xanga

    The worst combo to ever happen to me is referred to as the Peach Beach Upset. Track: Peach Beach Wii. Lap: 3. Place: 1st -- by a loooong shot. About 12 seconds away from the finish line. Blue shell. Recover. Red shell. Recover. Then a duck (you know what I'm talking about) throws me up in the air. I got 9th place.
  • sheflourishes@xanga

    @discostu95@xanga - The magical boost you referred to at the beginning of your comment isn't random. If you fall off the track and press the gas just right before you are set back down on the track, you can get a boost. It is similar to the boost available at the very start of the race.
  • The_James_Blog@xanga

    It's these dirty tricks that make Mario Kart so unpredictable though -- 1st place is never, ever guaranteed to stay first place. It's always anyone's guess.

    And despite the pain, we keep coming back for more...
  • snidget84@xanga

    @theacematt2@xanga - I don't know about any of the versions of Mario Kart, but the shells don't work against the Blue Shell on the Wii. I've used bananas & green/red shells for other shells, though. If I'm not mistaken, I think there are only a couple of ways to avoid the Blue Shell.


    If you go through one of those cannons--I'm thinking the kind on Rainbow Road & DK Summit? Or if you have perfect timing (and skill), I think a mushroom(s) or boost (using manual) will get you out of the way only just in time.


    I'm not even sure if slowing down will work. I don't know if anyone else knows the Blue Shell is on them before you get the alarm goes off, but I'm not aware of it until then, and I think once it's locked on you, even if you dropped into 5th to avoid it, it'd still hit you? I would think you'd have to know before it locks onto you. Anyone know?



    The ones I hate the most are the Blue Shell, the Combos, and Drifting of the edge (because I know if I was just paying a little bit more attention, it possibly could have been avoided). Getting hit by a bigger character (happens frequently as I'm often Toadette)... yeah that one infuriates me.


    I don't think I've ever seen a last minute recovery (on the Wii anyway). It's been so long since I've played the 64 version that I really don't remember. And I haven't played any other.
  • dactylion@xanga

    once, i think i avoided the blue shell by drifting continuously
    i am not totally sure
    can someone confirm this, please????
    : )
  • xTwilightAlchemistX@xanga

    Ugh. Blue Shells. >.<


    I think I've only ever avoided one once  in Double Dash because I was about to fall off the edge and the impact of the shell caused me to fly back on the road...  that was convienant. 


  • articulate_silence@xanga

    I hate when you either spin out (from running into someone larger) or runover a banana or whatever, and everybody goes whizzing by, running into you and consequently, knock you off the edge.
    "-_-
  • forkss@xanga

    Hate the blue shell....
  • xchinkylaydee@xanga

    Rainbow Road is horror.
  • johnjihoonchang@xanga

    I think any situation where I simply cannot possibly avoid being taken out frustrates me. Blue shell being one of them, but another is if I fall off the track and on my way back, I get bumped hard or knocked off the track again before I can even try to dodge it. I don't mind lightning so much because it hits everyone else too. Overall though, I've used the blue shell as much as I've been hit by it, so I can't really complain too much. In the end, I still win eventually, despite combos, blue shells, drifting off the edge and whatever else is thrown in my face. So I don't get that frustrated.
  • chapstick099@xanga

    I have played Mario Kart Wii so much, and have been hit by the blue shell 2843753892 times. I have only received it to get someone else with once.
  • discostu95@xanga

    @sheflourishes@xanga - I know that if you fall, in the recovery you are able to perfomn a turbo.
    What happens in the wirelles game, is that you see other player fall, and in the next second he is again on the floor (whitouth the lakitu scene) and gets a boost.

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