Countdown to Mario Kart!

[The Former DMiller]

iTunes has Skillet. They don't have the new one yet from the looks of it, but they haven't uploaded the new releases for this week yet. Anyway, if there are a few songs you are interested in then I won't be mad at you for buying the CD. :)

Anyway, from what I've heard the Mario Kart music isn't all that special so I think you can have permission to listen to whatever you want while playing MK.

[OB1]

Gamestop over here won't have the game until 6 pm tonight, so there was definitely a shipment problem. But it's alright with me since I get off work at 6 anyhow.

[Dark Jaguar]

Well, I have it now. The demo disk is actually packed into the game, which leads me to ask if the demo disk isn't JUST for pre-orders only but will be there for everyone...

Anyway, nice demos. Not much new. There's a movie of Pokémon Colloseum in it, and again, it seems like there's a FULL RPG in there (little clips of fun FPG stuff like talking to people in a pub and such), but not as emphasized as it could or should be. The movie advertised both aspects about evenly actually.

And now, for more Kartin' action!

Edit: I want Sonic Heroes now...

Edit the second: LOVE this game. Some things have been changed, but all for the better if you ask me. You can't avoid banana peels with that one trick any more, but oh well I wasn't any good at that so it evens things up for me, and plenty others I'm sure... *cough*. Also, while you can still easily control if you toss shells, bananas, trick boxes, and so on (like fire balls), in front or behind, you can't actually HOLD them behind you. Removes the trick where you hold something back there and back into another racer to dessimate them, but to be honest that's alright too. Makes people actually have to GET shields to use them. Also, the jump/power slide is now JUST power slide. Makes a lot more sense to me. Never did get what that whole jump was about except for power sliding... More than that, the slide is pressure sensitive. More you press, more you slide. That's good. Switching characters about and deciding on karts is loverly :D.

Alright, now to see how far along the various GCN tunnel projects are. I'll now try to get online!

[Great Rumbler]

I ordered Double Dash online and it won't be here until tomorrow. :(

[OB1]

Best Buy has some broadband adapters in stock but first I need to find out how successful the warp projects are. Or better yet, ask DJ since she's already looking into it.


...


So?

[Dark Jaguar]

So, having checked around, I have found that first off, Warp Pipe isn't done yet, but they promise it will be released "soon"! There's a set date for ya!

Second off, the OTHER project I had read about a while ago, one that basically just adds Cube support to an XBox tunnel, making it a tunnel for both systems, well, I can't find out anything. I completely forgot what it was called, and thus don't even know where to start looking for it. News sites generally ONLY talk about the Warp Pipe. The one I think I read it at to start with is too large for me to find it without knowing what it was called. Oh well, I'll look into it later then. I'm busy Kartin' it up!

Oh yes, I registered MKDD at Nintendo's site (you can do them whenever you like and seperatly, it's all in your profile). I "unlocked" various stuff for it. You know, standard things like wallpapers and AIM icons. Also, they have a cool remix of the main theme for Double Dash in an MP3 you can get. Anyway, after getting Mario & Luigi (the other two games don't quite interest me enough to get them, never been a fan of extreme sports and I already know more than a few friends who have been buying every single incarnation of Mario Party since the first one, so since that game is only TRULY fun WITH friends, I'll just go over to one of their houses and play it that way. The second Mario Party goes online though (never :D), I'll snatch that one right up.

[The Former DMiller]

The other tunneling project may be getting the kibosh because Warp Pipe accused them of pretty much ripping them off. I believe the project was called XLink.

And I registered both Double Dash and Mario & Luigi today so my Zelda disc should be at my house in a few weeks.

As for Double Dash, it is what I expected: a rehash of a great game which I have no problem with. I'm just pissed off about the battle mode arenas because, well, they just suck.

[Laser Link]

Thanks for checking on that Derek. There are a couple of older Skillet songs I'd like to get, and I wouldn't want the whole cd for them. So that is good news.

I played through each of the cups on MK, and I don't know what to think. I don't really like how the karts control, but I think I should try a few other sizes too. The battle arenas are bad. They are small and there isn't much in them. The GameCube arena one is particularly bad. It's just a big open space. Boring. If they couldn't be more creative, why not just put in the old Mario Kart arenas like Double Decker? That is a great course.

Yeah, the other tunneling software is called XLink. PGC just had an interview with them a couple days ago, so check that out. I was very impressed with it, and I think it is sounding like a better solution than Warp Pipe at the moment. But there is the whole accusation that they stole Warp Pipe's code.

[A Black Falcon]

http://www.xboxlink.co.uk/

Cube version isn't out yet. Warp Pipe is all we've got so far... DJ, it isn't done, but isn't a test version out that you can use?



Also... http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/driving...index.html

7.9. Main complaint: its more of the same. Some other stuff too, but mostly the complaint is that its barely changed since Mario 64 seven years ago...

[Dark Jaguar]

I actually love how the karts control. I actually prefer it to previous incarnations. To each their own anyway.

As for the tracks, they are new enough for me. Love the racing tracks because they are just fun to go through. It helps that I first played this in multi with some siblings I suppose.

As for battle mode, I love those new modes, especially shine get :D. That's just fun there, regardless of the track designs. As for the actual battle tracks, don't really have too much of a problem with them. Never really liked Double Decker from MK64 anyway myself, so I don't miss it. It was just too easy to get completely seperated from the action and have the match take forever there. Things are a bit more closed in, which I think is good in a battle match. Keeps things moving and interesting. However, I must admit I wish some of the oldest tracks, from Super Mario Kart, would be realized in 3D instead of them making new ones. I especially loved that one on top of the building with the pits you could ramp over. Not sure why, just reeked of fun. Then again, that might just be my naustalgia... Anyway, the GCN track is actually something I've been waiting for :D. I always wanted ONE track that was completely barren with not a single thing in it except the racers themselves :D. Not all of them of course, just one, just for the heck of it. Sorta like Final Destination in SSBM, it's sometimes fun to have an arena that's completely ambient, with only the competitors mattering. Then again, I would have preffered it if it was what I originally thought it was. That is, I would have enjoyed a cube I could have circled around on any side, suddenly switching angle. Could lead to some nasty surprises when that shell suddenly comes up over the horizon :D. Then again :D, that might mean the level would be TOO big, which as I said I find a problem for battle mode.

Well, with the 3 battle arena levels I've played, I can say I didn't find them all that terrible myself. The cookie one I loved, but that might just be my bias towards delicious sugery confectionaries. Actually, thinking about it, it reminds me of those little games where you navigate a bead through a maze to the center of a disk. Sorta... I found it rather fun myself anyway. Already said my confusing opinion on the cube thing, well, actually that wasn't much was it? Okay, I found the match fun while the level didn't really add or remove anything from it. I suppose that's a nice quality in and of itself, or it would be if there were more than 4 levels. The last one I played was the funky warp pipe level. I actually rather enjoyed it. Had multiple levels, and that odd warping thing going on.

Well, to be honest overall I love this game. I really can't complain about anything I've seen thus far. It's all been very enjoyable. A great multiplayer game to be sure for me. Single player? Well, if there's stuff to be unlocked, I'll play it, but generally I've ALWAYS found single player mode to be the least enjoyable part of the games. This is how I felt with MK64 as well. I didn't see the flaws others did with it. I actually liked it more than SMK due to the 3D nature. Never had a problem with the track designs. They were and still are VERY fun to me. I just liked the 3D nature. The one thing I could come to a flaw with in the sequels compaired with the original would have to be the lack of the coins. I understand why they were removed. It allows anyone to take a lead at any time as opposed to someone having no chance only because they failed to get a lot of coins. However, at times that sort of thing can be fun too. I do wish they had added a nice multiplayer option for "coin mode". Also, in the future it would be nice if Nintendo went the way Rare went and really made a fun single player experience. Finally, I wish that in the future, Kart games would include all the previous game's tracks in addition to the new ones. It's more of an upgrade than a true sequel after all, and as such this should be expected. However, as it stands I find MKDD, personally, to be the greatest in the series so far. Perhaps I just am not able to really critic on kart racers. I dunno, I just know each new game has been an improvement to me. Note I haven't played the GBA game for but a few seconds in a store somewhere (the full name of the game I don't even recall), so I can't say anything about that.

I'll only say that so far I find it to be everything I wanted and an improvement. This is without playing co-op control mode I should add. I've heard this is a very fun mode, so it should make me like it even more. Also, when everyone at TC gets together for some online matches when one of those tunnels is released (Really? One says the other stole code? Hmm, a serious accusation, I wonder...), I'll be sure to love it even more.

I'll only say this. I can expect I'll be playing a LOT more battle mode in this game, if only because my friends enjoy battle mode a lot more in this incarnation. They are partly why I formed the opinion that many tracks in MK64 were just TOO large thus leading to a lot of boring "searching" (especially Double Decker, just too large), though I think I would have come to this myself anyway. These smaller levels more than make up for lack of detail in the designs (which come to think of it, I did notice) simply because of how much more often I spend actually fighting than trying to find someone to fight.

In any case, that's just my opinion. Obviously a lot of people don't quite agree, and with such a large number that means there must be merit to it. However, it's enough for me if my friends and myself love the experience.

[The Former DMiller]

Well, I won't be able to play MK the rest of the week because of a paper and some exams, but I'll post my impressions so far.

I'm through 50cc and 2/3 of 100cc mode, and I must say Double Dash is much more challenging than previous Mario Kart's. Your opponents actually know what to do when they get a good item. They will sometimes hold onto it until they really need it, but they never seem to just randomly shoot it off like previous games in the series. I don't think the difficulty can be attributed just to learning new courses because by the time I had reached this amount of playtime in Mario Kart 64 I was already working my way through 150cc.

The controls are great, even if they took some getting used to after I had perfected the jump-and-slide maneuver in MK64. Switching between characters is fun and adds a great deal of strategy when choosing characters. I prefer Bowser and Yoshi. I use Yoshi in back when I'm behind in a race so I can use his eggs on the racers in front of me. I use Bowser in back when I'm winning so I can try and clear out racers behind me with his giant shell. Of course, I use Wario's lowrider as the cart because it kicks ass.

As for the courses themselves, I think they are much better than Mario Kart 64's courses although a lot of them seem to be inspired by courses from that game. I don't know why Fran had such a problem with the courses in the game, but I think they are pretty good. The cruise ship and DK's mountain are two of my favorites so far.

Multiplayer racing is fun, of course. I haven't tried out cooperative racing yet, but I've been told it's fun. I'll try that out with my cousins at Thanksgiving. Battle mode, as I said, lacks good arenas. Until DJ, I do not like the open arenas because you don't really get good, long battles. I wish they had at least included the MK 64 arenas so we would be able to choose which type we liked best.

Anyway, I think Fran's review wasn't too far off. I probably would've scored the game somewhere in the low 8s. All those complaints about too little to unlock, however, are going too far. Unlocking something after getting a gold in each cup is fine with me. I don't need some new skins that I could care less about.

[EdenMaster]

Words cannot describe this game, it's so awesome. I've beaten 50cc and the Mushroom and Flower cups in 100cc. I attempted 150cc in the Mushroom Cup...the difficulty has definitely increased from previous incarnations of the game. I've unlocked a few new karts but as of yet, no new racers...

To be honest I haven't even fired up the demo disc just yet. I got Double Dash and Final Fantasy X-2 on the same day, so I've had no time for such things.

Blast! I must work today!

Oh well, afterwards I'll lasso a friend and try out multiplayer.

[A Black Falcon]

The reviews have made me think that this game goes lower on my list than I thought before it came out... I want single player. Adding some challenge is good, since Mario Kart 64 didn't have much... but it needs far more than it has. Without a (real) internet multiplayer mode or a full-fledged single player mode, I just don't have enough intrest to make it worth the money... note how I haven't bought Mario Kart 64 and it still isn't on top of my N64 list though its finally down to $20. Now if it was more like DKR...

Oh, and I had a little bit of money, went to the game store... and left with a $20 copy of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. Its like Legends Plus... awesome! Very fun game. Better than Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, too... :)

[Laser Link]

Well after spending a lot of time in the TIme Trials exploring each of the courses and getting some more racing in, I am liking this game much more than yesterday. The controls are good, it just took a little time to get used to it. I haven't really been able to play the battle modes yet, so maybe they actually are more fun when you are playing with 4 people than I think. I loved Double Decker because it was so big, and these are so small. I want places to hide and prepare for attacks, not just random chaos. But we'll see how it is when I get to try it out.

And right now Warp Pipe is not working either. The plan is to get it out by the end of the year, whihc is probably when XLink will be done. We'll see.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, big is good... like in SSB:M, how most all of the multiplayer I have played has been in the giant Zelda level...

[The Former DMiller]

I just beat 100cc mode, and unlocked the Special Cup even though I should be writing a paper. Rainbow Road is the best RR yet. I didn't much like the MK64 Rainbow Road because it was just long with no challenge or surprises. There is plenty that will challenge and surprise you in Double Dash's Rainbow Road.

All of the Special Cup courses are pretty cool, and when I was watching the credits I noticed an interesting credit:

Debug Support
Ichiro Suzuki

Huh? Ichiro helped out with the game? I imagine he just played it as kind of a celebrity debugger and they credited him for it.

[Great Rumbler]

Huh? Ichiro helped out with the game? I imagine he just played it as kind of a celebrity debugger and they credited him for it.

Or there's more than one Ichiro Suzuki. :)

I should be getting my copy pretty soon as Fed-Ex said it would be at my house before 4:30 p.m. [that's Central time, btw.]

[Dark Jaguar]

Yesterday, I didn't really like single player (though I only played ONE track and stopped because I wanted to play more multi). However, today, I must say I think single player in this game is better than any previous Mario Kart game. It's not as good as Diddy Kong Racing's single player, mind you, but it's certainly fun at least. Also, you DO unlock a lot of stuff via single player, namely karts so far. Like others here, having more time with a lot more of the game's racing tracks, I also don't see why some people complained about them. They ARE new tracks and all have their own unique bits of challenge. The only thing recycled are the basic themes, but I really can't find a fault in that because they are all classic Mario level themes. What's there to add? I was racing on one track and didn't even realize until a couple laps that the track actually made you go backwards on itself, which is why some racers were going the wrong way (which I was wondering about). It was nifty.

Still haven't played co-op, but I'll snag a family member and do that today. I'll also play some more battle mode, playing that last level I didn't play. Having heard some explanations of why bigger is better to some (hiding out and camping and such), I can see why a gigantic level would actually be desired. My friends and I never really played that way though. That goes for SSBM as well. We tended to play on medium to small battle arenas there, saving the Zelda one for 4 player matches where we actually wanted some more space.

Ichiro Suzuki, should I know who that is?

[A Black Falcon]

I'm sure that I've spent over 90% of my time in SSB's battle mode on that one Zelda level... its just far and away the best one. There aren't any others that big, and I love the size of that map...

And you'd know Ichiro if you knew anything at all about baseball.

[Great Rumbler]

When I play SSBM I always choose a random level. It makes it more exciting that way.

[OB1]

So far I'm really liking the game, but I do agree that it's pretty much just more of the same. More of the same and a whole lot of improvements, but still. I really like the new kart controls and I think the whole buddy system was a great idea, but I'm terrible dissapointed with the single-player mode. EAD--the biggest developer in the world--couldn't come up with anything more than "race through a few cups and unlock some stuff). No big adventure mode ala DKR, no engaging story mode ala F-Zero GX. That's a massive dissapointment for me, and is why so far I don't like it as much as FZGX. It's still a great game and my favorite MK so far, but I'm just sad about the pathetic single-player. Hopefully the warp project thing will help matters. If only Nintendo had included official online support... *sigh*

[Dark Jaguar]

Ah, well that explains why I don't know the person ABF. Not exactly a sports fan.

As for SSBM levels, now that I think about it I tend to choose random most of the time as well. The temple comes and goes. I don't really have a favorite in that game. ALL the levels are good to me. I love close quarters, and sometimes something a little more open. I also love the occasional match in some rapidly changing level like Big Blue or Kanto Skies (I think I got that last one's name wrong, it's the one with all the cel shaded Pokémon balloons).

[OB1]

You know what would have been really nice in Mario Kart DD? A story or adventure mode (like DKR or F-Zero) where you'd make your own character (in a PSO-like character design menu), design your own cart, and then play through a comprehensive single-player mode, racing for money and customizing your cart. It could be like DKR meets Gran Turismo meets the GBC version of Mario Tennis.

[Great Rumbler]

I finally got DD and I've been able to play it for about an hour. I havent' played any of the single player yet. The multiplayer modes are just tons of fun. Especially the mode where you get the bomb-ombs and try to blow each other up.

[Dark Jaguar]

Story mode ala GX? Hmm, I don't think that would work in a Mario game. They seem to relish in creating massive plot holes and totally lacking a cohesive story, and that's how I like it :D. Diddy Kong Racing style adventure mode? I really do wish they would do that in the next game. That's just the thing Mario Kart needs to get the single player as good as the multiplayer.

Customizing the karts? Hmm, not sure I care too much for that. A bit complex for a Kart game. I like it simple in that regard when it comes to kart games.

[OB1]

Oh come on, simple customization would be great for Mario Kart, and just the touch of innovation that it needs. I'd prefer an adventure mode like DKR's with some elements from Mario Tennis GBC (where you played as this kid going around, training and playing other people, growing and learning new abilities, etc.). If not that then I'd settle for a story mode like F-Zero's. The story isn't all that important (although Nintendo could do some funny stuff), but having specific story tracks and missions would be great.

[Dark Jaguar]

[A Black Falcon]

You don't think it would fit? Huh? Added customization always fits! It makes games more interesting, at least when its really customization and not just 'this part is better than that part is better than that part'... for instance the car customization was a huge part of Rush 2049. Compare that to either of the first two Rush games where there is customization but not to the same degree (especially not to the same game-relevant, and not just graphical, degree), and the difference is noticable... it'd fit just great in Mario Kart, like it does in F-Zero GX! Make the game more interesting, for sure...

[Dark Jaguar]

Exactly what are you attempting to do here?

[A Black Falcon]

Be confused that you don't like the idea of a bit more depth in the game? Oh, sure, Mario Kart isn't supposed to be a deep game by any standards, but still... adding more variety is always good. :)

[Dark Jaguar]

Well to each their own I suppose.

[A Black Falcon]

So are you saying that you dislike depth and complexity in games? That would be kind of ... strange ...

As long as its well done, giving the players more options is never a bad thing.

[OB1]

Just so you know, I think that Mario Kart's gameplay is perfect as it is and really doesn't need any complexity added to it. What I'm suggesting is a more comprehensive single player mode, which wouldn't affect the core gameplay at all. F-Zero is actually a little bit less complex than Mario Kart is, but the whole story mode and vehicle customization worked wonderfully with it. An adventure mode ala DKR with the customization aspect of GX would do wonders for Mario Kart.

[A Black Falcon]

Mario Kart more complex than F-Zero? Huh? I'd say the cars in MK are simpler... I don't even remember Mario Kart 64 telling you the car stats in the game when you choose them...

And GX's customization is quite limited... its hard to make a car markedly different from one of the 30 available, I think... but I haven't used that much. I don't know if you could get a faster or better handling (slips around corners so nicely) car than Gomar & Shioh... :)

[OB1]

I'm talking about the actual races. F-Zero is pretty much all about racing as fast as you can while smashing into other racers or dodging them, all while trying to keep your craft from blowing up. Mario Kart has most of that but then the weapons added into the mix.

[A Black Falcon]

Sure, you go fast in F-Zero, but that's hardly all there is to it... you vastly undersimplify it. For one thing there's the 30 car field. That changes the gameplay a lot from many other games in this genre. Also, there are the spin and slide attacks... you seem to discount them, but if you can kill a critical rival in one race in a circuit you can go from second to first overall in a flash... key to strategy when used well. I'd say the racing is more complex than Mario Kart, actually... MK has weapons, and that's about it... the actual racing isn't as complex or challenging as F-Zero. Never has been...

[OB1]

Nonsense. Hell I probably love F-Zero more than you do, but I don't think it's a very complex game. It's pure arcade racing at its finest. The weapons and powerups in Mario Kart add a little more depth to it than F-Zero. F-Zero definitely wouldn't be the same with weapons and I like GX more than DD, but I can still admit that MK is the more complex of the two series.

[A Black Falcon]

F-Zero's lack of weapons doesn't mean lack of strategy. Weapons bring added complexity and another layer of strategy, but their lack is fine too... it makes for a purer racing experience, where the strategy focuses more on what is happening on the track than which weapon you have. F-Zero has both ways, of course, with its closerange weapons... those weapons are strong, but require great strategy to be used effectively, unlike many weapons in racing games. Best of both worlds? :)

And I doubt you love F-Zero as much as me. That genre as a whole for sure.

F-Zero with weapons would be very different. In some ways I'd say it would definitely be simpler... the weapons part of the game would become as important as the racing, diluting that... oh, I love weapons-based racers too, but admit that the weapons can consume a lot of the focus of the game. F-Zero keeps focused on the racing... but that doesn' mean a reduction in strategy or complexity! It means a stronger focus on the racing... Mario Kart's actual racing is very, very simple. All kart racers are. F-Zero may not have huge layers of complexity, but theracing has far more strategy to the actual races than Mario Kart does... oh, Kart racers are fun, but simplistic. A kart racer with no weapons, for example, would be no fun at all... the racing under the weapons is so simple. F-Zero shows that futuristic ones can work both ways. :)

[Dark Jaguar]

Co-op is great fun indeed. There are in fact two moves one can't do unless they are IN co-op. One is the side dash, which aside from it's ability to steal items is pretty much like the one in F-Zero. The other is the Double Dash, which happens if BOTH players hit A just as the race starts. (I find the best way to do that is not to time it yourself, that last "ding" seems a millisecond off so the timing will always be wrong. Rather, watch the lakitu's hand to see when to hit the button. Ever since I started doing THAT I ALWAYS hit A at just the right time.) Interesting techniques to make co-oping it up more interesting. Too bad those who decided to stick with one player per kart end up lacking these moves, meaning a match with a mix will give a good team an unfair advantage. With the whole team thing, one's attention can be fully focused on one specific task, and I've found I can break all manner of records when I team up with a good player.

Also, I've unlocked mirror mode, but only after one special little mode. There's an All-Cup Tour mode. That's right, all 16 tracks one after the other. It's interesting. The funny thing is on 50cc, I ended up winning so many matches that I could have flat out lost in the last 3 and STILL won 1st overall. On 150cc, it was a struggle to stay ahead. In any case, now for mirror mode. I believe it's in 150cc, or it feels that way at any rate. What I'm not sure about is how fast time trial is set at. I assume 150cc, but I haven't played that much in that mode.

[OB1]

Yeah, co-op is a blast. The whole double-character racing adds another level of complexity that puts it even higher above F-Zero in that regard.

F-Zero's single-player racing is probably more complex than MK's single-player racing, but MK's mutliplayer is definitely more complex than F-Zero's single and multi.

And I may not like some of those other futuristic racers that you like, ABF, but I'd bet the farm that my love for F-Zero exceeds yours. But that is getting pretty silly. :)

[Dark Jaguar]

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, co-op is a blast. The whole double-character racing adds another level of complexity that puts it even higher above F-Zero in that regard.

F-Zero's single-player racing is probably more complex than MK's single-player racing, but MK's mutliplayer is definitely more complex than F-Zero's single and multi.

And I may not like some of those other futuristic racers that you like, ABF, but I'd bet the farm that my love for F-Zero exceeds yours. But that is getting pretty silly.

Oh, I was only talking about single player. I haven't played GX in multiplayer yet, but if its like X like I have heard then its a pathetic shadow of the greatness of the single player... fun for a couple of races once in a while, but nowhere near as good as the single. Same with time trial, actually... in X the timetrial bored me quickly because of no cars. F-Zero DESPERATELY needs a full field in multiplayer... hey, if Wipeout 64 could do it can't F-Zero GX?

Well, with that all done, I only need find out how many expert track ghosts are in the game, if any, and unlock them. MK64 only had 3, but I think this time around ALL the tracks have them. I'll just be racing my own ghosts until then (well, times, I don't really want to waste memory card space on ghosts).

F-Zero X had timetrial ghosts on all the tracks... not sure about F-Zero GX. I haven't played timetrial mode. :)

Also, two questions about gameplay remain unanswered. The first I'll likely find out after a LAN game. That is, I wish to know if everyone is able to use the stuff one person has unlocked, or if people are only able to use what everyone in the link has unlocked. I imagine it's the former, and that would be best. I'd hate to have the unfair advantage of being able to choose whatever racer I wanted while everyone who hasn't unlocked them (though they are easy enough to get I suppose) has to pick from the rest.

Hey, this shows you didn't read any reviews of the game. See, in LAN mode you can't actually choose a character -- kart and characters are randomly selected for some bizarre reason.

[Dark Jaguar]

I HAVE F-Zero X. Why'd you bring that up? I wasn't even talking about it and it's programmer ghosts.

Well duh. I tend to ignore reviews. However, that steams my turkey! Why would they not let one choose karts and levels on their own? Just let us design our own match! It'd be just like any other lan game. There'd be a list of games already made waiting to be joined, and the option to create one's own game, right there. Why didn't they do that? Oh wait, they don't let different people choose the same character... Well, maybe they should allow that. A simple pallette swap for all involved would do the trick. Still, this makes me very angry. Very angry indeed...

[OB1]

Because, silly, people choosing their own carts in LAN would be the smart thing for Nintendo to do, and you know much they hate doing the smart thing!

[Laser Link]

Dang, you guys already saw all the cool things I was just going to talk about. I didn't think anybody else watched the credits, so I figured you didn't see the Ichiro thing. I wonder if it was THE Ichiro.

And I guess they saved all the good courses for Special Cup, cause all 4 in Special Cup are far better than any of the other 12 courses. I especially love the first one, but Rainbow Road is also really fun. It feels sort of like an F-Zero course with all the zippers on the big banking turns. Very good stuff.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, its a totally bizarre decision... it sounds like you can choose the mode and level to play, but not character. Very weird and stupid... but yeah, from Nintendo you've got to expect these things.

[The Former DMiller]

Originally posted by Laser Link
Dang, you guys already saw all the cool things I was just going to talk about. I didn't think anybody else watched the credits, so I figured you didn't see the Ichiro thing. I wonder if it was THE Ichiro.

It wasn't THE Ichiro. I asked Nintendo and they just said it was a coincidence.

[Sacred Jellybean]

I read that there isn't any single-player battle mode in this game... color me disappointed. :(

[Dark Jaguar]

Has there ever been single player battle mode? Though, I do agree that some bots tossed in to battle mode would have been a nice addition. Well, depending on how well the AI could work there. I imagine the AI would have to be completely redone for battle mode. Oh well...

And yes, Wario's Colloseum is fun! It's like an extreme cage of cool!

[EdenMaster]

Warios Coliseum is my favorite track! Insanity!

I like the Rainbow Road song, remixed from MK64.