Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Boo(Ster Course Pass) This Man)

Finally got round to trying this round of DLC. S'alright. Although I've realised now: those Tour tracks are a bit off aren't they? Essentially it's a regular Mario Kart circuit with models of slightly famous landmarks in the background. It'd be nice if even attempted to create a recognisable shape.

Yeah I think we can all agree what we already suspected, nothing good can come from Mario Kart Tour.

They all just follow the same level design idea of shifting the track slightly on the final lap which just isn't very Nintendo like at all.

Having real world locations feature in Mario Kart feels off to me too. Mind you, I suppose this is a series in which you can rocket about in a Mercedes if you fancy.

I like the real world location thing, but the shifted final lap doesn't always feel like it's done perfectly. Even in Kalimari Desert, the arbitrary cutoff of where you can drive on the train track rubs me slightly the wrong way.

Minor complaints though, mostly I am still very happy to have more Mario Kart 8 to mess around in.

Maybe it's just because they're tougher, but with the exception of the unmatched excellence of Ninja Hideaway, I liked this set of tracks a whole lot more than the first eight. I'll even go so far as to say that I prefer this version of Kalimari Desert to the original, which I found rather dull for 9/10s of its time. The new sweeties track was pretty good too.

The Tour ones still aren't the best.

It's kind of funny we seem a bit down on it in our recent posts there because the other week we had probably one of our best ever MP sessions. About 8/9 of us in discord chat with the banter flying all over the place.

Well, Mario Kart 8 is as close to a perfect game as it gets, and we're 8 years and 12 pages into effusively praising it . . . The only things that remain unsaid are minor gripes!

In some ways, is the original on Wii U not the better game? The poor quality battle mode and some baffling character choices allowing for at least some discussion of material improvements that could be made?

(No. No it isn't.)

I saw red before I got past your first sentence and was cracking my knuckles ready to go at it . . . disappointing.

Something that there Scullion said about opening up to guest tracks to more franchises - which I'm all for, because I like driving part references, and would like to race through Zebes / the Gerudo Desert / Fourside. I'm repeating a tweeting here - but actually, you know what needs more tracks based on its games? Mario! A lot of the tracks are e.g. a desert course with a Nintendo character's name randomly associated with it; but actually I wanna drive through New Donk City / Gusty Guardian Galaxy / Delfino Plaza / Lou Albano's House.

Wait - also; the real world tracks from Mario Kart Tour could be improved by making them actually like the real world, as opposed to sticking landmarks around a shape.

I was brave/foolish enough to disagree with Scullion there, the main reasons being that (a) I like Mario Kart being mostly Mario for no good reason other than we don't need another crossover (the next reason is better I promise) and (b) I don't feel like Smashing it up would add anything that Mario couldn't add on its own.  That's basically what you're saying Jimbob!  (Apart from the references thing.)  Let's have more Mario deep cuts before we feel the need to resort to Zebes et al.  Give me races around not just New Donk and Gusty Garden, but also through Rogueport, or giant Bowser's guts, or over a Mario Party board.  Would be a darn sight more interesting than two courses based around Wuhu Island.

Also you'd get five Fire Emblem tracks. You know you would.

Or we could have both! We could have more Mario and then other things also which are cool. I'm basically bored with "Exciting Factory" and "Shy Guy's Penis"

<- Also add Spinch

See I'd be super keen for Nintendo Kart, as I don't really know where you go with Mario Kart now but hey look at this racer with Mario, Link, Samus, Ike, Chrom, Bayonetta etc

Mario, Link, Samus, Ike, Chrom, Lucina, Marth, Corrin, Robin, Byleth...

I thought that until I read Jimbob's post, there's so much of Mario they've yet to explore, they just go there, gimme me courses based on some of the best Mario stages (you could probably do loads on Odyssey alone), gimme some obscure characters from Paper Mario. Mario is huge and it could easily keep going.

More Mario just isn't as exciting, still MKX just being more still be fantastic though.

On the contrary, I think new Mario courses have the potential to be more exciting. Think about it: what's the most you need to do to make a memorable Metroid course? Have some nice Metroid scenery. That's it. You have to go a lot harder on the course furniture to make a memorable Mario course. I also think there's just as much untapped potential in there: what about a Paper Mario course that folds up halfway through? Or a Galaxy course that fires you between planets? I can't think of anything a Fire Emblem or Donkey Kong course could do, or even a Zelda course, that's more interesting than that.

I wouldn't be opposed to a Nintendo Kart, but I also do like what Balla and Jim are laying down.

I really love the Mario Kart tracks that do a thing; think of that one on the DS where you get shot from an airship at a castle a la SMB3.

I think the reason a lot of people bring up a Nintendo Kart is because they can't imagine how Mario Kart 8 can be topped, but I think a different angle could be taken.

Balla said something mad a while back about a Mario Kart where you have to get out of your kart. I'm not down for that, but how about a Mario Kart where the basic cups are replaced with a rudimentary story, and where the tracks feel genuinely grounded in different Mario locations. A Super Mario: Kart rather than a (Super Mario) Kart.

Treesmurf wrote:

gimme me courses based on some of the best Mario stages.

This Is such an obvious idea. I want a track based on Gusty Graden Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, or one based off of Lake Lapcat from Bowser’s Fury. I don’t want shite like Ike’s Porn Dungeon and Xenoblade's Nonce Land. Although I'm sure we'd all like to read more about Shy Guy's Penis...

I'm definitely enjoying Xenoblade but I'll never be able to disassociate it with that post now.

Anyway Mario Kart, I think you only need to look at the god awful result of that Twitter poll on the best course and all those Link filled lobbies to see how Nintendo Kart will probably be the popular choice. It won't be the correct one but I can see it happening, then again would Super Smash Kart hold the same kind of mass appeal that Mario Kart does, Mario is arguably a bigger name than Nintendo as a whole.

Even beyond that, Mario Kart is more popular than Mario! I know a lot of normal, non-gaming folks who will play Mario Kart but couldn't tell you what goes on in a regular Mario. Remember, Stormy Daniels didn't describe Trump's knob as the mushroom from Mario, she described it as the mushroom from Mario Kart.

I was trying not to remember that actually.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Although I'm sure we'd all like to read more about Shy Guy's Penis...

That's what that big dragon was.

Changing the subject
My biggest problem with the Tour stages is that I'm too stupid to remember 3 similar but not identical laps' worth of time trial perfection. Also why is Roy Koopa my "main"? Why is he anyone's main? Am I going to find out he's a far right symbol or something?