The VG Resource

[video=youtube]]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGtpleM0W0[/video]

What people don't realize is that once you get past and master the distinct controls, the game becomes extremely fun and challenging to play. The game is definitely very far from a 'pick-up and play' title. In fact, I hate everything about this game BESIDES it's quirky physics, it is the only reason as to why I actually keep running back to it every now and then.



I usually never knock stuff until I master it first to give a true opinion.
Unfortunately because of how hard it is to get into, no one gives it a chance and calls bullshit. I don't blame them though considering the CPU AI is an absolute monstrosity.

Am I the only one who likes the challenge of a racing game being the actual driving and not the spamming of items from non-cpu players? When track layouts actually mean something?

(04-26-2014, 09:46 PM)TomGuycott Wrote: [ -> ][video=youtube]]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGtpleM0W0[/video]

I love the fact that Peach was literally untouched. Just because.

(04-26-2014, 10:04 PM)Iceman404 Wrote: [ -> ]What people don't realize is that once you get past and master the distinct controls, the game becomes extremely fun and challenging to play. The game is definitely very far from a 'pick-up and play' title. In fact, I hate everything about this game BESIDES it's quirky physics, it is the only reason as to why I actually keep running back to it every now and then.

I usually never knock stuff until I master it first to give a true opinion.
Unfortunately because of how hard it is to get into, no one gives it a chance and calls bullshit. I don't blame them though considering the CPU AI is an absolute monstrosity.

Am I the only one who likes the challenge of a racing game being the actual driving and not the spamming of items from non-cpu players? When track layouts actually mean something?

Okay, I'm gonna be honest - I played the absolute HELL out of Super Mario Kart. Countless hours after school, and breaking a controller over the game's difficulty (that same controller actually has bite marks, too from when 7 year old me couldn't quite handle his frustration with the cheating 150cc AI properly)
Part of the fun and satisfaction from the title was learning the game's control scheme and then utilizing that to master the rest of the game, finding shortcuts and what have you to wreck your friends at SMK over the weekend.
But that's the problem - Mario Kart 64 onward changed the control scheme so much that it's literally impossible to come back and pick the game back up. Rocket starts are difficult now. There's no elevation changes to better utilize your (fairly useless) ability to hop. Some of the items were downright broken as were their places within the RNG used to acquire them (there is no way a Jump Feather had to be a last-place item; it's a defensive item I don't care what you say) and most frustratingly, the power-slide system was completely reworked, so you weren't mashing out opposing directionals: you had to put up with each character's previously godawfully sensitive turning arcs, cope with not getting actual speed boots and not manage to drive into a wall upon coming out of a power slide.
As for the enemies' item abuse and rubberband AI, it was understandable - I assume the game itself was hard enough to get actually working utilizing special chipsets within the cartridge. It feels like there was really no time between pushing the game out on time and space on the cartridges' storage at the time to write up an actually decent racer AI.

It's a good title in its own right - if nothing existed beyond the SNES.
After the sequels the game was just downright impossible to pick back up.

Like I was also going to say: people also pretty much dislike it because they've adapted to the later games' playstyles, which have been consistent since (excluding Super Circuit). Super Mario Kart is just nothing like the later games in terms of focus, as it's aim 80% of the time is to reward you for good driving. This is done by oddball physics and insanely difficult layouts.

Quote: There's no elevation changes to better utilize your (fairly useless) ability to hop.

It's actually the least pointless in this game because all of the layouts are built with it in mind, and you jump high enough to make cutting corners a legitimate thing in competitive play. Never once have I used hop in the later games to get faster times, whereas here I use it to alter my drift angle and cut several gaps in places like Ghost Valley and Rainbow Road. Hell, if you so as managed to touch the pixel of a corner while on the floor you fell through it.

The issue is mainly that all the mechanics changed, and there were no later titles besides Super Circuit to improve on all of SMK's faults (if they had kept it's playstyle).



EDIT: Also, Saltonora, I feel like this topic was intended for me in a way...

(04-26-2014, 11:28 PM)Iceman404 Wrote: [ -> ]EDIT: Also, Saltonora, I feel like this topic was intended for me in a way...

We were playing Mario Kart 7 last night and we were talking about the "best" Mario Kart games and I said Super Mario Kart was the worst and CBL and Mit agreed then CBL said that if I said that Super Mario Kart sucked you'd go on a rant about it so after we finished the track we were on I posted this thread.

I already knew.

One man's garbage is another man's treasure.

Super Mario Kart is better than Mario Kart 64. Better controls, better AI, better track layouts (64 has better track variety though). I'm glad I skipped 64 when it came out.

(04-28-2014, 10:31 AM)AuraLancer Wrote: [ -> ]Super Mario Kart is better than Mario Kart 64. Better controls, better AI, better track layouts (64 has better track variety though). I'm glad I skipped 64 when it came out.

Mario Kart 64 was actually the first game I ever played. Of course, your statement could be debated. At least from my point of view, they seemed about the same

(04-28-2014, 10:31 AM)AuraLancer Wrote: [ -> ]Super Mario Kart is better than Mario Kart 64. Better controls, better AI, better track layouts (64 has better track variety though). I'm glad I skipped 64 when it came out.

I'd personally say that SMK has better track potential, not design. Most of them are shaped like a capital B rotated every way to Sunday; case in point: Mario Circuit 3, Ghost Valley 3, Rainbow Road, Donut Plains 1, etc.
That said, it's awesomely fun to hack.

Super Mario Kart is super primitive. The tracks are repetitive and kinda blend together, there's not much of a difference between most of the courses (FIVE MARIO CIRCUITS). The controls are slippery and difficult, and the items are pretty hard to use. It was a good jumping off point for the later games in the series, but on its own it doesn't really stand.

(04-29-2014, 10:31 AM)MoneyMan Wrote: [ -> ](FIVE MARIO CIRCUITS)

*four

(04-29-2014, 10:31 AM)MoneyMan Wrote: [ -> ]The controls are slippery and difficult, and the items are pretty hard to use. It was a good jumping off point for the later games in the series, but on its own it doesn't really stand.

I don't think the controls are that slippery, and as I said earlier, SMK has huge potential. I'm currently developing a hack of it, and the new Rainbow Road in it takes 1:20/lap on a good day, so it's certainly possible to have unique/challenging level design.

Difficult but it gives this sense of old times for some reason. I can feel like being that kid on front of his TV back in the 90s. It has just that sort of vibe due controls and aesthetics.

The game's not IMO that bad persay, IceMan nailed on the head about it pretty well. Adaptability...

And yet that's exactly why I like it. If possible, I'd remove AI items but increase the dodge rate.

(04-28-2014, 10:31 AM)AuraLancer Wrote: [ -> ]Super Mario Kart is better than Mario Kart 64. Better controls

Whaaaaaaat. Seriously?

I'm assuming part of this has to do with the fact that SMK is played on a digital pad and the later Mario Karts (bar DS) were played either with an analog stick or a steering wheel.

...or maybe the fact that power sliding in MK64 actually allows you to keep drifting in the direction you were intentionally sliding. I like how I can adjust how sharply or loosely I'm drifting based on the direction I'm holding the analog stick.

When you try to do that in SMK after playing MK64, you end up snaking around the track like an idiot. ):