Mario Kart Wii Is So Skill Based!

[Phoenyx]

Yeah. Skill. A synonym for luck in this case.

This is one of the reasons why I don't play many console games anymore. The developers have lost the whole point of skill. If you were losing that late in the race, you shouldn't be able to just suddenly come out of a far last place with a lucky item (or string of them) and steal the lead last second, and if you were winning, you shouldn't be able to lose out of bad luck.

[Zephyria]

Most pc Exclusive games these days are shooters anyway. So you're not showing a good case.

[Lair]

http://xkcd.com/290/

I got tired of this game, it did nothing but cheat. I don't dislike it, I just dislike its cheating.

[Phoenyx]

Most pc Exclusive games these days are shooters anyway. So you're not showing a good case.

Actually, those are just the popular ones. There's a ton of RTS games, several racing games (that aren't a roulette wheel like MKW), and even a freeware 2D fighter (if you know where to look). Not to mention a bunch of city builders and the fact that if you don't like what you see, you can make your own without having to jump through a console developer's hoops.

[Sonic322]

I don't like to play Mario Kart Wii because it is just plain boring. I mean what kind of company would make a racing game based solely around their most popular character and expect people to enjoy it? Oh wait, Nintendo would.

I would much rather play Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. It has more characters from other SEGA games and more tracks based on those games. The controls are a lot easier to use too. It's just far more fun to play.

[Phoenyx]

I don't like to play Mario Kart Wii because it is just plain boring. I mean what kind of company would make a racing game based solely around their most popular character and expect people to enjoy it? Oh wait, Nintendo would.

I would much rather play Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. It has more characters from other SEGA games and more tracks based on those games. The controls are a lot easier to use too. It's just far more fun to play.

I understand what you mean and fully agree - once you've played a lot of these console games there's really no point, seeing as the skill cap is pretty low and single player is usually repetitive.

I need to point out a contradiction, however.

You said that only Nintendo would make a racing game based on their main character, yet afterwords you bring up Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. From what I remember, the Sonic games have the largest representation, with other SEGA titles only having one or two characters (and they completely ignored Chu Chu Rocket for the Dreamcast and GBA) in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Thus, Nintendo isn't the only company that would make a racing game based on their main character.

Maybe that was a bad example, but you remember Sonic Riders, Sonic R, Crash Team Racing, Crash Nitro Kart, Pac-man World Rally (why did I even bring that poor excuse of a game up?), etc...

[Cirevam]

Mario Kart has never been about skill. It comes down to either knowing how to exploit the game (short lap glitches, especially in the first two games) or praying that the rubberbanding works in your favour. I'll say this much: the item set has never been as unfair as MKWii's. You could block or otherwise avoid most items up until Double Dash where special items started to unbalance things and the blue shell could not be stopped by terrain. MKWii made it worse by adding more unblockable/unavoidable items and tacking on an additional four racers. More blue shells + POW Block + more lightning + hot potato lightning cloud + Bullet Bills + Mega Mushrooms = recipe for disaster. The addition of bikes made things even worse since all of them could boost their speed whenever they wanted... which didn't matter much to me because the game seemed so slow even on 150cc. I think it's the slowest in the entire series.

[Minifig9292]

Ah Mario Kart...

Just saying it brings back so many frustrating rage filled memories... :)

[TheDoctor]

I've dodged a blue shell before on Double Dash. End of story.

[Fluffy Cupcake]

I. LOVE. MARIO KART WII! (Its even with SSBB as my top Wii games) I actually hack it (and play offline with those hacks) to make it even more chaotic for my bro and I.

I don't like to play Mario Kart Wii because it is just plain boring. I mean what kind of company would make a racing game based solely around their most popular character and expect people to enjoy it? Oh wait, Nintendo would.

I would much rather play Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. It has more characters from other SEGA games and more tracks based on those games. The controls are a lot easier to use too. It's just far more fun to play.

I disagree, MKW definitely seems funner, especially when playing with someone else. All Stars Racing on multiplayer takes out all track obstacles, and if you get hit or fall, recovery is way to quick for anyone to gain much distance. Also, when playing online, you can only have one player, unlike MKW.

I've dodged a blue shell before on Double Dash. End of story.

and I dodged some on MKW.

More blue shells + POW Block + more lightning + hot potato lightning cloud + Bullet Bills + Mega Mushrooms = recipe for disaster. The addition of bikes made things even worse since all of them could boost their speed whenever they wanted... which didn't matter much to me because the game seemed so slow even on 150cc. I think it's the slowest in the entire series.

It's not like multiple of those items can be at play at once, if one person holds one of those items, no one else can get it. I think karts might be a tad faster, comparing the default bike and kart, I think the kart had a tad more speed. 150cc didn't seem slow to me..

[Lair]

I don't like to play Mario Kart Wii because it is just plain boring. I mean what kind of company would make a racing game based solely around their most popular character and expect people to enjoy it?

A lot of companies since a lot of people would enjoy that kind of game? The whole second sentance is assuming everyone in the world thinks/feels the same way you do. Stop acting like your opinion is a fact.

If Nintendo insists to make racing games, then I would, however, like to see something more expansive than Mario. Super Smash Bros Racing lol.

I mean what kind of company would make a racing game based solely around their most popular character and expect people to enjoy it? Oh wait, Nintendo would.

lol

[Sonic322]

But those were before there were so many video game characters. If you make a racing game with the exact same characters in the exact same situations then it is just going to get boring and repetitive over time. I mean there's Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP2, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 7. I mean when SEGA comes out with a Sonic racing game then they normally try to change it up. It might not always work out well but they at least try something different.

[Phoenyx]

It's not like multiple of those items can be at play at once, if one person holds one of those items, no one else can get it. I think karts might be a tad faster, comparing the default bike and kart, I think the kart had a tad more speed. 150cc didn't seem slow to me..

1. You're right about there being one of each, but I've seen lighting being used while a blue shell was in flight and while I had a POW block and while someone had a TC AND while someone used a bullet bill AND while someone was actually TC Glitched due to lag (there was also someone who forgot to disable custom tracks, they timed out soon after)! If that's not item insanity then the only thing that is would be using the "truly random items" code on Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

2. Karts are slightly faster stat-wise, but Bikes run better lap times when used by skilled players and can boost their speed more (albeit not without risk).

[Minifig9292]

You all know what's a good cartoony item filled racing game that actually needs skill?

Mod-Nation-Racers.

No I mean it, it's very rarely based on luck.

It has the racing mechanics of Mario kart such as drift boosting.

The vehicle slamming of F-Zero.

The reward/item/kartpart unlock system of LEGO Stunt Rally.

AND the item upgrade system strait out of LEGO Racers.

The game's challenge comes not from luck (or lack of luck), but from actually using all the above in an strategic way.

In Mario Kart, drifting was a small little thing you could do to gain some ground.

In Mod-Nation-Racers, drifting is an essential skill. Unfortunately if you suck at drifting, you'll be stuck at the 3/4ths mark. There's a track designed for drifting, and the main track favorite guy is pretty much the drifting king. Seriously, I'm freaking stuck, it blows, it blows hard.

But I mean I'm not losing becuase of some blue-shell bulls***tery, I'm losing becuase I've yet to master drifting. Frustrating as it is, it's a legitimate challenge. If you want a good, fast paced, funny, challenging, cartoony, kart racer; Get yourself a PS3 and get this game.

I mean what kind of company would make a racing game based solely around their most popular character and expect people to enjoy it? Oh wait, Nintendo would.

[Phoenyx]

You all know what's a good cartoony item filled racing game that actually needs skill?

Mod-Nation-Racers.

No I mean it, it's very rarely based on luck.

It has the racing mechanics of Mario kart such as drift boosting.

The vehicle slamming of F-Zero.

The reward/item/kartpart unlock system of LEGO Stunt Rally.

AND the item upgrade system strait out of LEGO Racers.

The game's challenge comes not from luck (or lack of luck), but from actually using all the above in an strategic way.

In Mario Kart, drifting was a small little thing you could do to gain some ground.

In Mod-Nation-Racers, drifting is an essential skill. Unfortunately if you suck at drifting, you'll be stuck at the 3/4ths mark. There's a track designed for drifting, and the main track favorite guy is pretty much the drifting king. Seriously, I'm freaking stuck, it blows, it blows hard.

But I mean I'm not losing becuase of some blue-shell bulls***tery, I'm losing becuase I've yet to master drifting. Frustrating as it is, it's a legitimate challenge. If you want a good, fast paced, funny, challenging, cartoony, kart racer; Get yourself a PS3 and get this game.

Played it on PSP (which killed my hands). It's pretty skill based but even then there's some luck involved with random weapons, and I found that due to my skill with racing games and the AI's ability to keep up even without rubber-band programing it was coming down to items.

Btw, there's another rage-inducing racing game out there - Wipeout: Pure. Basically F-Zero GX's infamously aggressive AI and annoying handling combined with Mario Kart Wii garbage.

[Sonic322]

Will you stop doing that Lair. I suppose what I really mean by that question was what company would make a whole series of racing games based around their main character and pretty much name all of them the same thing.

The Sonic the Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot racing games at least have different titles.

[Fluffy Cupcake]

You all know what's a good cartoony item filled racing game that actually needs skill?

You know the good thing about MKW? You can't get tired of being able to beat the crap out of everyone all the time because of skill, because you at least have a chance at losing.

[Phoenyx]

You all know what's a good cartoony item filled racing game that actually needs skill?

You know the good thing about MKW? You can't get tired of being able to beat the crap out of everyone all the time because of skill, because you at least have a chance at losing.

You always have a chance at that. I'd rather lose because I took a turn wrong and fell off the track than because I got destroyed by a POW-Blue-Shock combo before getting Starred or Red'd off the track.

[Minifig9292]

Btw, there's another rage-inducing racing game out there - Wipeout: Pure. Basically F-Zero GX's infamously aggressive AI and annoying handling combined with Mario Kart Wii garbage.

The majority of the Wipeout series is like that.

Especially the older ones like Wipeout64 or the first one, the control is kinda horrid.

I'm a huge fan of the series. The way to play it is to practice alot. Learn the tracks and where the weapon picks ups and speed boosters are.

[Phoenyx]

Btw, there's another rage-inducing racing game out there - Wipeout: Pure. Basically F-Zero GX's infamously aggressive AI and annoying handling combined with Mario Kart Wii garbage.

The majority of the Wipeout series is like that.

Especially the older ones like Wipeout64 or the first one, the control is kinda horrid.

I'm a huge fan of the series. The way to play it is to practice alot. Learn the tracks and where the weapon picks ups and speed boosters are.

I've been more of an F-Zero guy myself. The SNES version of F-Zero was technically my first racing game so it's more of a title affiliation thing.

These days though... Trackmania 2 is all I need.

[Fluffy Cupcake]

I'd rather lose because I took a turn wrong and fell off the track than because I got destroyed by a POW-Blue-Shock combo before getting Starred or Red'd off the track.

Wrong turn = not likely. Those combos can be annoying, especially when your inches away from getting first.

[Phoenyx]

Wrong turn = not likely. Those combos can be annoying, especially when your inches away from getting first.

It can still happen. Even on my own tracks in Trackmania2 Canyon I sometimes make one mistake that forces me to restart the entire run. No one can be perfectly consistent.

Also, there's a reason why someone who's really good at a game (no matter what game it is) tends to dominate less skilled players. At least in my mind there's no such thing as negative skill - a less experienced person doesn't lose to a better player because they lack skill, instead they lose because the other player has more skill.

There's some things I'm absolutely horrible at (flying RC helicopters, for example), but instead of thinking of the learning curve as a steep climb out of a pit, to me it's a steep climb up a mountain. How can someone start in a pit, anyway? To climb out of a pit you have to fall into it first, which means you'll have to loose skill to the point of being worse than when you started, and that's pretty much impossible - you'll never be worse than when you first started because you'll at least retain the knowledge of how to do things.

As for combos, yeah. No amount of skill in the world will save you from rolling snake-eyes at the very finish.

[McJobless]

Even on my own tracks in Trackmania2 Canyon I sometimes make one mistake that forces me to restart the entire run. No one can be perfectly consistent.

I know the feeling. Happens to my consistently before I post some God-like time no-one ever beats.

Anyways, I'm a Race Fan. A big Race Fan. My two first games where Gran Turismo 1 and Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit, and the game that introduced me to level building was Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000. As you would note, however, I am very anti-Nintendo. I despise everything they do, usually for no good reason.

Point of the matter is this: Mario Kart and all these stupid racing games made based around some comic character are rubbish. YES, maybe in a family setting they do quite well as an entertainment package, but there is nothing satisfying about driving around as a stereotypical Italian while getting hit with red turtle shells.

If you start life playing Mario Kart, God help you, because I sure won't.

PS: There's a hidden context in the above joke, but I ain't gonna say it.

[Phoenyx]

Point of the matter is this: Mario Kart and all these stupid racing games made based around some comic character are rubbish. YES, maybe in a family setting they do quite well as an entertainment package, but there is nothing satisfying about driving around as a stereotypical Italian while getting hit with red turtle shells.

I give F-Zero and its sequels an exception since the entire F-Zero series is Nintendo's only competitive game series besides, on a technicality, Super Smash Bros and Pokemon. Too bad there likely won't be another F-Zero, although SEGA seems interested in making another title even if they end up having to buy franchise to do it. (Do they even care that Nintendo killed off F-Zero's market with F-Zero GP Legend, or is it more because they enjoy the process of developing games?)

Brawl actually rubbed me the wrong way (and just as I figured out how to wavedash too...), I find Melee more serious. That's another entire topic's worth of info, evidence, experiences, ranting and good old fashioned yelling of "Objection!" though so I won't go into detail here.

However most of whatever Nintendo does (especially most of the first party stuff - Game Freak, Intelligent Systems, HAL Labs and Ape Creatures inc. are actually decent developers who just got caught in the mess) in my opinion is absolute garbage designed to mainly increase Nintendo's consumer base rather than solidify it, thus the overuse of gimmicks and lack of quality.

Motion control doesn't work in the way most companies implement it. Even the Razor Hydra and Microsoft XBOX 360 Kinect have their flaws.

Touch Screens aren't as bad, but can be seriously overused (Starfox command comes to mind).

Turning a console system into a home entertainment system was probably the worst decision I've seen companies make quality-wise. It started with the PS2, which I thought would hopefully be as far as it would go, but then came the 6th generation systems. Microsoft kinda dug their own grave in a way, since their biggest product is still Windows and the XBOX 360 indirectly competes with it.

Finally, there's the "look but don't touch" attitude that the console companies have about their product. Can you believe that console systems aren't sold, they're licensed?! I'm surprised that Nintendo didn't decide to mass-revoke all licenses to the use of the Gamecube after the Wii was released! They also yell at you if you change the contents of a single RAM address! Hey! I payed money for the system, I should be able to use it however I want!

All of these factors are why I am personally hostile towards console and handheld systems (notice a trend with that last reason?) and their developers. Not the slightly ignorant (as in didn't read the fine print) people who buy them, but the systems themselves and the companies that make them.

[Fluffy Cupcake]

I despise everything they do, usually for no good reason.

Disliking something for no good reason = Extreme fail.

Point of the matter is this: Mario Kart and all these stupid racing games made based around some comic character are rubbish. YES, maybe in a family setting they do quite well as an entertainment package, but there is nothing satisfying about driving around as a stereotypical Italian while getting hit with red turtle shells.

You have to like their characters to like their games, and I so happen to like their characters so I like their games.

Brawl actually rubbed me the wrong way (and just as I figured out how to wavedash too...), I find Melee more serious. That's another entire topic's worth of info, evidence, experiences, ranting and good old fashioned yelling of "Objection!" though so I won't go into detail here.

I like Brawl, then again, the only other smash I really played was the N64 one. I played Melee only once a long while ago, so I don't remember how it is.

They also yell at you if you change the contents of a single RAM address!

All of these factors are why I am personally hostile towards console and handheld systems (notice a trend with that last reason?) and their developers.

I hate how they do that.

I myself am not really so hostile for consoles.