IS THAT LINK IN A KART????

[Fawfulthegreat64]

Doesn't mean Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi characters (who are owned by Nintendo) can't get in.

[Ishimaru Chiaki]

I didn't ses this topic earlier, but I learned it via Yoshi's official FB page :
Here's a screenshot : https://www.dropbox.com/s/2fcmo7nmcynv6p...4.png?dl=0

[Mystie]

Mario RPG's characters are owned by Squaresoft.
That's why you've never seen Geno or other characters in anything since.

He wasn't just talking about Super Mario RPG though.

[Vipershark]

...I'm aware. He also asked specifically about Mario RPG in parenthesis there.

[Iceman404]

Why isn't this topic merged with the usual MK8 one?

[Fawfulthegreat64]

...I'm aware. He also asked specifically about Mario RPG in parenthesis there.

I was referring to all the Mario RPGs, not just SMRPG. Paper Mario and M&L are also Mario RPGs.

[Koopaul]

Mario Kart is made by Nintendo EAD. This devision of Nintendo is famous for largely ignoring the games developed anywhere else.

This is why it's more likely that Link and Isabelle are playable in Mario Kart while anyone from Paper Mario isn't.

[NICKtendo DS]

So the first DLC pack is out. I love the new karts (not a bike fan), I love the new tracks (Ice Ice Outpost's layout was a pleasant surprise) and the characters are okay (love Tanooki Mario's horn sound though). Playing GP on 150cc/Mirror reminded me how terrible the CPU was. Easy *** stolen by that one Blue Shell... followed by a Red Shell and other crap the lower rank racers are carrying.
I think I've gained 7 new favorite tracks, which is probably more than the number of favorite tracks the game initially had. Wario's Goldmine is meh, but way better than its Wii counterpart. There's only so much you can do to fix a Wii track.

My main driver set-up is now Shy Guy (color may vary) and B-Dasher. The Blue Falcon is cool too, I absolutely love it, but it being in kart form (I know it couldn't be any other way) hinders the magic. I might be swayed once I have the C. Falcon amiibo, but that just puts a fake Captain Falcon (not Blood Falcon) in a fake Blue Falcon.

I love Mute City and Hyrule Circuit. Again, shame it's not based on an earlier Mute City, though I think it's would've hardly been better than the track we have now. Every detail is a true love-letter to F-Zero (You know what would've been a better love-letter? A new F-Zero game!) like the Hyrule Circuit is to the Legend of Zelda. I just love these tracks.
SNES Rainbow Road looks gorgeous, albeit unsafe for those with photosensitive epilepsy. The way the track waves more excessively gives it more body, while still being totally flat. The start/finish banner also helps. It also has a background that goes beyond just a starry sky for a change! I also love how it feels different from the other RRs. The MK8 RR feels cool, the MK64 RR feels warm and this RR feels electric.
Dragon Driftway is a tricky track and I love it. Like the name implies, it puts your drifting skills to the test. Anti-gravity is also nice, it's twisty.
Ice Ice Outpost is just amazing. It's the track I knew least about, so I was curious. It's an ice-themed track, but it didn't really feel slippery, though I may have not noticed it. It has a few cuts that are risky, but require no boost and one of them cuts a fair bit. The later two (one right after the first and the one near the finish line) are not worth the risk, at least not for me. The overall design is just so refined, that track alone justifies the already generous pricetag the DLC has.

Now to hibernate for 6 months until pack 2 is out.

[Kriven]

Here's my thoughts on the DLC (and I'm just going to warn you guys, some of it is pretty nitpicky).

Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach have grown on me after playing as them and hearing their personalities and watching their tricks. Tanooki Mario in particular at least looks adorable from all angles, like a soft, squishy teddy bear driving along. Link is neat, as expected, although it's a little silly to see him cramming into karts half his size.

I don't like that the past tracks and new tracks are all jumbled together... consistency is key to just about everything. I mean, if they wanted to do five new tracks instead of the four-four split (which is something else I take issue, but keep reading) it would have been nicer to have the one new track or maybe a seemingly remade track at the beginning of the new cup and allow the three past tracks to take a consecutive order. Rainbow Road, while being absolutely fabulous, needs to be the last track of the cup. It feels downright wrong that it's in the middle of the cup like that. This would have been my preferred cup order (while keeping all current tracks):

Triforce Cup:

Ice Ice Outpost - Dragon Driftway - Mute City - Hyrule

Egg Cup:

Excitebike Arena - Yoshi Circuit - Wario's Goldmine - SNES Rainbow Road

I choose Excitebike Arena to put in the past cup, because it can be viewed as a reimagining of Excitebike Mario Battle Stadium. I also reversed the cup positioning on the screen to reflect this.

Honestly when I first went through the tracks, I liked them all except for Ice Ice Outpost. It just seemed really bland on the first go. It's been growing on me, though, and it has a more complex gimmick (or rather, a simple gimmick that leads to more complex racing) than it seems going in. SNES Rainbow Road is fabulous, I wish Yoshi Circuit still had its shortcuts, Excitebike is bliss. Mute City could have done more with the F-Zero influence the way Hyrule did... Instead of Lakitu, they could have used the tractor beams. Instead of the typical countdown, I would give my left foot to hear the F-Zero robot voice. The track itself is great though, and I love the recovery strip serving as coins.

Hyrule as a track is also well-designed, and I like that they went ahead and swapped out the Swoopers for Keese and the Piranha Plants with Deku Babas, and particular the coins for rupees (although with the rupees I would have liked to see more than just green, even if they don't change the denominations. Rupees are just so pretty, and Mario Kart excels at multicolored beauty). The one thing I don't like about the Hyrule track are the audience members. The only Zelda ones are these weird knights that superficially resemble Link... and then the rest are all Mario characters. I would have rather seen Zoras and Gorons and Deku Scrubs cheering me on.

Wario's Goldmine stands out to me now as my least favorite, and not because "Lol MKWii Levels Suck". I actually liked that track in MKW. I remember in the Wii game, Wario's Goldmine was quite cluttered and full of things everywhere. MK8's verison feels kind of... empty. The bats aren't as intrusive, and the minecarts aren't hazards anymore. I mean, I like it, and I like the idea of the minecarts using anti-grav, but the track doesn't have the same kind of energy it did before.

The karts I can take or leave... they're there, that's cool.

Generally I'm fond of this DLC. There's mainly a few nitpicks I have with it, but it's otherwise great.

[Kosheh]

Kriven, I think your post is sorely missing something. I'm appaled that you were this "nitpicky" and overlooked this.

Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach have grown on me after playing as them and hearing their personalities and watching their tricks. Tanooki Mario in particular at least looks adorable from all angles, like a soft, squishy teddy bear driving along. Link is neat, as expected, although it's a little silly to see him cramming into karts half his size.

Did you forget to use Tanooki Mario's horn?

That's seriously the best part about Tanooki Mario. It makes him worth playing over Link or Cat Peach (with her super-shitty horn that sounds like screaming) I'm not gonna spoil what it is for you - just go and try it. Seriously.

(The other part is that with Tanooki Mario you can say dumb shit like "IM ROLLIN HARD TONIGHT", "GOIN' HARD IN THE PAINT", "Sorry if I'm going TOO HARD on you" and "ROCK SOLID" every time you turn into stone Mario during a trick)

I'm not sure what weight class the DLC Mario and Peach are supposed to be...though to me currently, they just seem like reskins of Mario and Peach - but at least the Metal reskins were heavyweights. Link seems to be in the same weight class as Rosalina and Waluigi


The weirdest part about Link though is that you can tell they just got someone from their existing voice cast to impersonate Link. It doesn't...really feel like Link out of Skyward Sword. He makes all these typical Link sounds, but then when he switches to the hanglider, he'll go "HYAAAH~T-- Oh~~"
and I just straight-up erupt into question marks when I come into first and Link shouts "Wahoo!"

That's Not Very Link-Like

I think even a jingle from the LoZ series would have sufficed in its place, lol.

[Ark Kuvis]

I just like when Tanooki Mario screams "TANOOKI" when you select him.

that takes balls man.

[Sengir]

fuck link; need isabelle

[TomGuycott]

[Mystie]

fuck link; need isabelle

Oh no you didn't!

(I like Isabelle and all, but how dare you diss Link)

[Sengir]

Oh no you didn't!

(I like Isabelle and all, but how dare you diss Link)

link x isabelle is my otp