The Shrine

<div style='font: 10pt georgia; text-align: left; '>The racing model is great, the karts have a really nice weight to them, the weapons are neat, but the single-player grand prix circuits are MIND-BOGGLINGLY FRUSTRATING. Like most other Nintendo racing games you have a nemesis for each grand prix who will ALWAYS place either first or second, meaning that to win a grand prix you need to win a majority of races, and place second in those that you don't win. This is really, really hard to do. Every racer has it in for you, and a twenty-second lead can be eliminated by a couple of blue shells with a red or green chaser (times this has happened to me today alone: fucking TWICE). And I'm not sure about this, but I'm pretty sure there's the usual Mario Kart handicap for lagging computer racers - I'm not sure how else to explain Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in their Baby Cart, mad accelerator with piss-poor top speed, catch up to me as Bowser and Yoshi in Bowser's monster machine at the end of a long straight (three mushrooms wouldn't do it: I've tried!).

I'm no lightweight. I've beaten all but one of F-Zero GX's grand prixes on Master difficulty. But Mario Kart has me screaming into pillows. If you don't have ready access to co-players, and have a competitive bone in your body, Andrew recommends: AVOID.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>And yes, I think that giving the people losing a boost has been a part of Mario Kart since the SNES days.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt georgia; text-align: left; '>Ho ho ho, wiseacre :).</div>

<div style='font: 9pt Arial; text-align: left; '>All but one!? Amateur :p</div>

<div style='font: italic bold 14pt ; text-align: center; '>Holy shit. It's Andrew Tamsoifhsdkjhasbgjbg and god damn are you right. vewy vewy haad.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Yeah, the AI racers get miraculous speed boosts, but they're not that tough. The strategy is to be blue-boosting at ALL times EVERYWHERE. Even on straightaways.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '><b>Link:</b> <a href="http://www.david99.co.uk/">just sick</a>

Btw, check this motherfucker.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Yeah, well, I'm not the one who had a blog with no contact information. None! I think I found one of your old email address using Google, but I never got a reply.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Those are crazy. Man, I want to play me some Super Mario Kart for the SNES now. It's been a long, long time. (Why the old one? It's the only one I'm good at.)</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Original SMK? Man, talk about screaming into pillows... I'd give it a close second to DoubleDash though. SMK64 was somewhat uninspired</div>

<div style='font: 12pt "Cooper Black"; text-align: left; '>original doesnt have quite the cheese factor since the weapons arent as awesome. A zippy start and power turns makes you uncatchable in the original unless you make a mistake (which is the way is should be, dammit!)</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "arial narrow"; text-align: left; padding: 0% 5% 0% 5%; '>You got nothin', baby.</div>

<div style='font: bold 9pt ; text-align: left; '>I like SMK64 the best, personally. The original bores me most of the time. Plus, I kick butt in 64.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>Though I have to agree Nintendo racers don't seem to be fun anymore at least single player. At least with Mario Kart racing well mattered until you're in the 150 CC (then you just have to never make a mistake to win). Also it doesn't feel like control was as responsive as it was in the SNES days. The new Rainbow Road level is pretty nice looking though.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>I really don't like this idea you've to do some power slide on straightways to get more speeds. I think the original had it right with the slides... it's a way to save time on corners but it is still slower than if you can just make the turn without, not something you do on every possible area.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>I liked it back when racing games about me not making a mistake and win rather than hoping you don't get nailed by a weapon that you can't avoid that drops you back to 7th place</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>It's only faster if you can get the blue boost quickly and reliably (and in the right places) Racers should maximize the amount of time you're powersliding anyway. Just turning is no fun</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>It wasn't that hard, man....the only one taht took me a while to beat was the 150CC All-Cup in mirror.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Not really. I cleared all of that without ever blue boosting on straightaways. It can slow you down, too</div>

<div style='font: 10pt georgia; text-align: left; '>I replied! I'll re-send.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt georgia; text-align: left; '>I still find it mind-bogglingly frustrating, however. You know, if they eliminated the arch-nemesis thing I think I'd be okay with it. There's just so much luck involved in winning, and fucking Wario and Peach are always doing it if you're not! Graaah!</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Hmm, I get like 40 messages of spam a day, and I delete based only on the sender and subject line, I might have accidentily deleted it.... heh-heh, whoops.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt georgia; text-align: left; '>How the holy heck do you blue-boost along straightaways without veering around like a drunk driver?</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Get really drunk, then you'll think you're going straight.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>I thought one of the cool parts about Mario Kart was knowing when to turn to gain time on someone who only slides. It's easy to powerslide and the skill is not sliding to gain time, IMO.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>The problem is, unless you designate one or two rivals, and give everyone equal skill, they're going to all be pretty average and you'll win the cup handily.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>So did I, actually, but it's still the best strategy.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Aside from Kupek's advice, move to one side of the track and powerslide toward the opposite side, then repeat. If you're fast you'll stay on the road.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>I think the problem is more with the fact that the tracks in DoubleDash are so much wider so it becomes not so much how well you can take the turns as how much of a straight line you can stay in. You can keep boosting all the time because you don't have to worry so much about not making it around the turns. I don't really like that idea very much myself, but I still like the boosting.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>The only weapon you can't avoid is the blue shell....and the lightning bolt, but that hits everyone.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>It'd have to be a game where skill can't get you to first place reliably then.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>I don't know if I like the idea that you can get through a game without ever slowing down. There should be limits to what you can slide. In SMK there were some turns you have to slow down on 150CC to make (like Rainbow Road)</div>

<div style='font: italic bold 14pt ; text-align: center; '>Yeah but K oopa Troopa ruled all in that game. almost unbeatable if you knew how to do it</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>in SMK or SMK64? Koopa Troopa/Toad might be the easiest to use characters but in versus mode if you let a high top speed person get ahead (Mario/Bowser class) you'll never catch up if they're good.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Bah, slowing down is for the elderly, pregnant women, and daytime commuters. Keep it outta MY racing games, please!</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>then you might as well have a track that's just one straight line</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>No, because maintaing top speed around turns presents a challenge.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>If you know ahead of time they're all power slidable what's so hard about going through them?</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Um, maintaining the correct pressure on the control stick? It's not brain surgery, but it's much different than going straight.</div>

<div style='font: italic bold 14pt ; text-align: center; '>SMK. They took him out in SMK64. in SMK he was faster than anyone but kong and bowser, handled better than everyone but toad. and accelerated better as well. He was the most all-around badass. SMK64 sucked cause he wasn't in it</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>Koopa Troopa/Toad had the lowest top speed. Vs. computer top speed don't matter (they're always just barely slower than you on 150cc), and versus plalyer it's hard for Princess/Yoshi to maintain top speed due to horrid handle, and Mario/Luigi takes a while to get top speed too.</div>