After two decades, I finally got the last of the big three cart racers on the N64 and the last Rareware N64 game I didn't own. Long ago, I recall a lively discussion on this game and questions on it's quality especially compared to the likes of Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing.
Graphics: Visually, this game looks great, for an N64 game I mean. In fact, I'd say as far as graphical prowess, on a technical level it looks better than Diddy Kong Racing. This is to be expected, since it was such a late release. Rare knew how to really push the N64 by this point, and it shows. Mickey and the gang are nice and big and detailed and the animations are well done. The carts themselves show a lot of that "billboarding" technique that other cart racers on the system used, but that's no mark against it since the visual trick is done well. Beyond that, the house of Mouse are all lively, animated well and reacting to things happening around them. The animations of impact and item use are well done, and the details of the levels are nicely done too. The big criticism here is on an artistic level. I'll return to this later, but the decision to set this game in various US locations hurts the level of creativity they could have shown. The levels are just kind of dull and a bit too realistic. I'll give props to a few choices like turning the statue of Liberty into a mouse but otherwise they certainly could have done better. Mickey's Speedway Disneyland would have been far more interesting.
The game keeps a very solid 30FPS which keeps the racing smooth and responsive. F-Zero X managed 60FPS famously, and in that regard this one falls short but what it does manage it does well and the tradeoff in graphical fidelity may well have been worth it.
Sound: The music is fine- but hardly exceptional. Nothing is all that grating, but most of the tunes feel like they'd fit a platformer better than a racing game. There's just a lot of energy missing from a number of the tracks. A few of the tunes are memorable, and they're all competently done, but I can't even credit the composer because the game's very short list of credits omits the composer or simply doesn't put them in their own category. The sound effects are well done and have a good sense of impact or speed when needed, but then there's the voices. Let me be clear here. They used Disney's own voice talent, so every one of the characters are extremely well acted and the banter between them comes off entertaining. That's what I would say, except as we all know by now this was the start of a long era where constant "banter" was becoming an expectation in games. Mickey's Speedway is no exception. The banter is CONSTANT to such a degree that for the first cup, I could barely even hear the music. It's so bad I have a compliment to the game's option menu. You can turn off the character chatter without shutting off other sound effects. Do this. The game and the music become a lot more enjoyable without the voice samples. It's a shame. Had they just scaled things back a heck of a lot, we could have enjoyed the samples a lot more in the rare moments they did appear.
Controls: This is a Rare game, a Rare racing game, coming at the tail end of a pedigree that started with R.C. Pro Am on the NES. The controls are absolutely amazing and smooth like butter. Every single input you put in is reflected as you intend on screen. I'd even say the controls manage to beat out Mario Kart 64, but for one thing. There's no turbo boosts. Now, this doesn't kill the game at all, but sliding turbos as innovated by Mario Kart 64 added so much to the sub-genre that this is the only one since then I can think of that forgoes the convention. As a result, the skill cap is lower than it could be (nearer to Super Mario Kart than Diddy Kong Racing). You'll master this game quick, but then there's very little room to grow. To break it down, there's acceleration, braking, using an item, and the "power slide" button (no hop).
Gameplay: Everything you need is here, but nothing more. There's multiple cups adding up to a standard number of tracks. There's a time trial mode complete with developer ghosts and racing your own ghosts. There's a battle mode complete with CPU opponents (something I don't think I've ever even seen outside Mickey's Speedway), and there's solid 4 player multiplayer besides.
Much like Diddy Kong Racing, the items are the standard set lifted straight from R.C. Pro Am. You've got oil slicks, missiles, nitro boosts, and a shield to temporarily protect yourself. Beyond that, there's additional items inspired by the things Mario Kart brought to the table, like a homing missile (remote control car) and an invincibility powerup that also makes you more responsive and powerful for a limited time. Like Super Mario Kart and Diddy Kong Racing (but unlike Mario Kart 64) the track is littered with a golden collectible (in this case medals instead of coins or bananas) that boosts your max speed by a small amount for the duration of the race for each one you snag (maximum of 20).
Tracks are relatively straightforward, but again come off as a little dull visually with very few gimics. There's a few shortcuts, and enough twists turns and obstacles to allow you to plan an ideal route that shaves the most time off. Beyond that, nothing that stands out. None of them are designed for different vehicles, because there are only carts in this one. They didn't provide the variety of Diddy Kong Racing.
The game is incredibly easy at low difficulty, but quickly scales up becoming that special breed of "Rare Hard" at the highest level. Without drift boosts, you'll really need to learn every last aspect of each track to win by that point. It's challenge is "mostly fair", but it does use AI rubberbanding like many racing games do. An understandable necessity, or the game wouldn't be challenging at all.
Completion: This game is a lot closer to Mario Kart 64 in terms of completion and unlockables than to Diddy Kong Racing. That said, there's a few things of note. Firstly, while the game doesn't track your "end score", completing every track in first place on a cup grants you a rainbow trophy over and above the standard gold. Full completion means getting first in every race in every cup. This becomes especially challenging at higher difficulties. There are also a few simple unlockables. They're all done by completing cups, and include a few unlocked characters and cheats (the cheat codes are standard Rareware classics like "Rainbow goo"). One character in particular is locked behind the transfer pak. This is that "DLC unlock" stuff that frustrated back then. While Perfect Dark gave you in-game ways to unlock everything, there is no way to unlock one of the three duck nephews without linking up the GBC version of the game. To date, the only game that used the transfer pak as more than a way to "gate" content behind an additional purchase were the Pokemon Stadium games. That still remains the sole good use of the accessory.
Story: The Weasels dognapped Pluto for his diamond collar and e-mailed Mickey and the gang bragging about it. Mickey gets his scientist goose friend to lend him and his friends carts so they can follow the clues and rescue Pluto. So... the plot makes no sense. Not since Mr. Burns kidnapped maggie just to get the diamond she was sucking on (in the Simpsons Arcade Game) has a villain been so pointlessly evil. Just take the collar/pacifier and go! Why add the extra headache of dealing with a dog/baby on top of it? What's worse is this plot does a terrible job of setting up a reason of any sort to actually race. Just- get where you're going then hop out and grab those weasels. Why are you racing each other? On tracks that just go in a circle? There are so many well established tropes to get this thing underway. Aliens invade and threaten the earth into a racing competition because they're THAT obsessed with sport. Races are magically tied to ancient powers in whatever strange location you're in and that's how you defeat some evil wizard. Everyone just felt like racing and even the bad guys want to win out of pride. Literally any of those do the job just fine, because racing games don't need a plot! In short, there's really no point at all because this game doesn't have a full on single player campaign like Diddy Kong Racing or Crash Team Racing. It's just a set of cups with no connective hub world, so why even bother with a story? You don't even get to race the Weasels.
So that leads to the final verdict on this one. Mario Kart 64 was and still is an amazing kart racer, and as far as multiplayer is concerned it still is the best on the N64. However, for single player Diddy Kong Racing set an entirely new bar that Nintendo STILL hasn't matched with their own series since then. Diddy Kong Racing had three completely different vehicle types and tracks that were specialized for all three, but usable with all three types anyway! It had bosses, unique creative challenges like coin hunts, all kinds of unlockable cheat codes, and a truly incredible and addictive sound track to match all of that. Both it and Mickey's Speedway are impossibly adorable and- (to use a term I haven't heard since the late 90's/early 2000's) "kiddy", and they make that work for them well, but Mickey had the misfortune of coming years after Diddy Kong Racing, and thus it sadly lives in it's shadow, and heck back on Playstation we had Crash Team Racing which took everything Diddy Kong Racing added to the genre and expanded on it even more, with a unique boost mechanic that still feels amazing to this day with it's recent remaster (available on Switch if you please).
Here's the thing, it's entirely understandable. Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing were both made by much larger teams than Mickey's Speedway USA. It's a common phrase these days (especially talking about Dark Souls development), but this is a distinctly "B Team" endeavor. I hate that term (and in Rare's case it's not even fully accurate, since they actually had more than two projects going at any one time), but what else do you call a team that's intentionally limited in scope and spending making use of talent that weren't exactly Rare's "rockstars" (another term I hate). Fact is, this was the team normally relegated to Rare's Gameboy offerings at the time, and this was their fist shot at an N64 title. Considering how much more work goes into developing a 3D game than a 2D one- especially in the art department- that they managed to churn out such a beautiful looking game that also played so well is a testament to their skills. Maybe if they'd been given a bigger team and a bigger budget (and more time), we really could have seen what they could do. As it stands, I can say this. If Diddy Kong Racing didn't exist, or if this game had come out first, it would have been much better received than it was. It isn't a bad game. It's a good one that deserves to be counted, but it forever lives in the shadow of Rare's earlier masterpiece and the likes of Crash Team Racing. It just can't stand up to it when compared. It was also marred by a few bad decisions, like not including power slide boosts and the odd decision to make the tracks a tour of America rather than of the Disney-verse (if I want to race across America on my N64, I have Cruis'n USA).
Do I recommend it? I do with that caveat. If you really want to see all that Rare had to offer, it's still a very well done game. Approach it the same way you would any of Rare's portable renditions of their properties from the time and I think you'll enjoy it. Just don't expect it to outshine Rare's eternally wonderful Diddy Kong Racing.
And it's done, we have the very last character and smash costume.
Doomguy didn't make it in as a character, but he's in as a Mii Gunner costume.
Sora however is in. It makes complete sense all things considered, and based on that intro trailer, it looks like the actual Sora just opened a portal into trophy world. While we may not all agree on every character choice (personally while I'm not a fan of Minecraft, a minecraft character made total sense as well and is a delight to play), we can all agree that most of our wildest ideas did manage to make it in in the end. It's been a wild ride. Banjo Kazooie, K.Rool, Ridley, Eh Steve, Ryu, and even Sora made it in, not to mention oh so many unexpected trophy fighters like Shovel Knight and Mii costumes like Doomguy. This is such a ridiculous dream roster, and it's all here.
Now, if only they could provide a Mii costume based "season pass" so we can save a little money on that ridiculous list.
Chris Pratt is Mario, and it's being made by Illumination. That's the studio that has substituted ridiculously oversized advertising budgets for actually having compelling stories. The CG may be nice, but they're simulating disgusting drool and fart jokes with it almost exclusively.
I think Miyamoto got played on this one. Illumination is making exactly the movie their executives WANT to make, and they're lying to Miyamoto so he gives his seal of approval on it. I'm fully expecting this to be as bad as Boss Baby or whatever the heck.
These famous people are NOT voice acting talent (well, except Jack Black, he's got a compandaing case as a solid VA), so it's already clear they're not picking the best names for actors. This... this is going to be bad. The recent Sonic movie wasn't actually terrible. Not good really, but not rage inducing. It was tolerable. Heck, the Pokemon detective movie turned out actually good, not great but enjoyable enough. This however.... I have reservations.
Got my hands on a early draft of the Arizona audit. The final conclusion:
Sorry GOP the votes were correct.
The not so final longer stupid filled GOP undertone:
We can't accept it.
Instead they chose to sow more decent and look for alternatives reasons for the report to be wrong.
Get ready for a audit of the audit.
And get ready for Fox News to read the opposite thing, and more and more stupid ideas to fly out of trumpist idiots.
This narcissist, stupid crap really needs to stop. So absolutely tired of this.
Nintendo just had a Direct earlier today, and they had a bunch of announcements but one, for me, was the best by far.
I have been Kirby fan since the first game in the series, but in all that time, for all of the Kirby games that have been made over the years, one thing has long been missing: a 3d platformer! I have wanted to see what a 3d Kirby game could be since at least the later '90s, but it has never happened...
Until now. Launching in early 2022 Nintendo just announced Kirby and the Forgotten Land for the Switch. It is a 3d platformer. Starring Kirby. Based on the trailer it looks like so much fun, I'm really excited!
The game does seem to sometimes have a pulled-back, kind of overhead camera, but other areas are directly behind the character so the game will have various camera views. This clearly is a real, full-on 3d platformer. It looks like a mid-budget title, but the Kirby games generally are that. The footage looks great, with elements somewhat reminiscent of 3d Mario games, but this is a distinctly Kirby adventure in terms of enemies and music. Kirby 2, 3, and 64's power-combining feature returns as well, which is pretty cool! That always was one of the best things about those games.
The big question isn't answered here, though -- what about the thing that always was going to be the hardest part about making a Kirby game in 3d, his power of flight? I am expecting limited flight, but in this trailer they don't show it eitehr way so we will see. Unlimited flight is the best way for a Kirby game to work but it would be nearly impossible to make a 3d platformer with actual challenge if you could just fly anywhere at any time, heh...
Oh, as for the setting, it's somewhat surprising for a Kirby game -- it's set in an empty, abandoned city on an island that Kirby just washed up on. What happened here... and what is with Nintendo and abandoned-world themes, two games in this Direct have them, both Kirby and Splatoon 3. I think both settings will work well though, they sure are looking interesting in the trailers.
So yeah, this game doesn't look like a 3d Mario game or Breath of the Wild-tier budget game but it looks great and I'm just thrilled that Nintendo announced it!
So, we are out now. Our 20 year long "forever war" is finally over, thanks to Joe Biden doing what nobody had the courage t odo for over a decade now and actually withdraw from a war we could never win.
What do I think? Well, like most people, deeply conflicted, I would say. On the one hand, we did not invade to reform Afghan society and improve status of women and such, we invaded because the Taliban supported Al Quaida and gave them a place to launch the 9/11 attacks from. That could not be ignored. But that doesn't mean we had to do a 20 year long occupation, of course. It just ended up that way because of mission creep and inattention.
On the one hand, civilians died because of the US action in Afghanistan. But on the other hand, the Taliban before were far worse, and many people were glad we got rid of them (for a while). But as the corruption of our puppet government got worse and worse, we lost a lot of the gains we had made, and clearly the US government didn't adjust well to that. And then there's the whole debate over growing opium poppies... and way more. America is very good at blowing things up, but not nearly as good at building lasting systems in the aftermath, clearly. We tried nation building, increased the literacy rate by a decent amount, built schools, and such, but in one of the poorest and least educated nations on the planet, way more was required, if it was even possible at all to modernize that nation... or, more accurately, that grouping of tribes who never really have had a real national government.
So yeah, I was deeply conflicted over Afghanistan for many years. On the one hand, it was obvious we couldn't win, and that our efforts to modernize Afghanistan and make it a less horrible place for women were, while somewhat successful, not nearly enough. But on the other hand, leave and things probably go right back to being incredibly horrible, particularly for women, probably in short order. So yeah, it's tough.
But, the American people finally tired of the war within the last few years, and both candidates in the 2020 election campaigned on a full withdrawl. Trump made a peace deal wit the Taliban that year which set the stage for the collapse to come; Trump's deal is why things have happened as they did. So Biden had a choice -- stick to the withdrawl, or send in many thousands of troops again, to once again fight a hopeless war in the name of "try to keep the status quo going". And yes, that was the choice, it was one or the other.)
And Biden, to his great credit, did the very difficult thing, defied the war-loving media, and actually withdrew. It is extremely impressive he stuck to it, given the pressure than the media and extremely hypocritical Republicans are putting him under for it. Joe Biden has a stubborn streak at times and he's showing it here. To anyone who thought he'd just be a pushover generic moderate, he's proven that very wrong this time! Because even if withdrawl was supported by a large majority of the American people, as the press has shown it is a very difficult thing to accomplish without taking some significant political hits. But Biden is following through with it because he is not willing to send any more Americans to their deaths in the name of the forever war. Again, extremely admirable actions there. It is honestly stunning that it's actually happened! As far as winning or losing the war goes, obviously we surrendered the territory and lost the 'defeat the Taliban' part of our mission. However, the original goal wasn't that, it was 'get Bin Laden and Al Quaida', and that part was accomplished over a decade ago, so it is something of a mixed legacy as far as success goes. Why did we stay so long after that despite having no clear mission apart from the always-struggling nation-building effort? Honestly, my offhand guess is that it's about a lack of political will to retreat, mostly. That finally changed last year and now it has happened. Though who knows if it would have happened with Trump still in office, the optics of this are bad and with an incompetent idiot in charge things would be very very dramatically worse! He might have reneged on the withdrawl or something, you never know. But Biden is sticking to his beliefs, and he is right to do so.
I mean, it'd have been good to be able to stay if the people of that nation wanted us there and the security situation was safe, as it is for, say, our bases in Europe or Japan and South Korea or such, because that is an important part of the world and America has nothing very close to central Asia now, but the people did not want us to stay and it was extremely unsafe, so that is a quite thoroughly moot point. (And yes, I do think American bases are overall better than the alternative, which is Russian or Chinese bases. We have our major faults, but theirs are far worse.)
And Biden is very cautious with drone strikes too, he has only ordered a few, when they are absolutely necessary. We may see drone and special forces warfare in Afghanistan against ISIS or Al Quaida or something in the future, but I'd like to hope we can actually have peace for once, or at least more of it than that poor, war-torn part of the world has had for the last 40-plus years since their wars started in the late '70s! A lot of that will depend on if the Taliban can follow through on their hard-to-believe 'we're more moderate now' talk or if they start behaving as insanely horribly as they did in their initial 1996-201 reign, though...
But yes, ideally it'd have been nice to get even more people out in that airlift, but every additional day came with a high risk of more ISIS attacks. You can't control only the airport indefinitely. I hope we can figure out a way to get more people who want to leave out of that country. But with over a hundred thousand evacuees getting out of that airport, after a rough start I think the evactuation mostly went pretty well. That is the most people ever airlifted out of a place in a hostile situation, I believe.
There are no real final answers here though, just a sad situation, particularly for the women of Afghanistan, and always more questions. But I am glad it is finally over. (Can we finally end the AUMF now? That'd be nice... the House passed it, but I don't know if its chances in the Senate are great. Here's hoping, however.)
This absolute legend has done the research. Those million dollar sales of Mario games that are absolutely and definitively NOT worth a million dollars? Yeah, that was open market manipulation. Don't trust WATA games. VGA seems better at it and don't have a motive to manipulate prices.
Anyway, the takeaway here is that there's no way us being smart about this is going to keep the general public from being fooled. If you're collecting old video games, take a break for a few years and wait for the bubble to burst. It's going to be ugly for a while.
Apparently this is how long the community name is. I understand and respect what each of those letters stand for, but frankly it's so long it's comical at this point. Can we all agree to find a way to shorten this just for the sake of regular conversation?
