Mario Kart Wii - Progress Report 2

So, we're back karting motorbiking for some reason. I was going to write up about the rest of the "New Courses", but real life has gotten in the way and I have to settle with just one this time. The next update though! No videos since they'll be boring to watch (I won't be putting up a video of EVERYTHING I do, just the stuff I feel the need to show off). So, let's get to it!

Flower Cup

Character

Wario

Mario Circuit

The Mario Circuit, being the first circuit of the cup, is pretty simple. It's almost a figure-8 and the only real obstacles are a few Goombas and Chain Chomps. Managed this one without any real troubles.

Position - 1st
Points - 15

Coconut Mall

This one takes place in a mall, funnily enough. A pretty fun circuit, the main gimmicks are the escalators that either go up or down and the fact you're in a mall. There's also a part where Mii's drive cars back and forth and you have to dodge them. Alas, that caught me out a couple of times but nothing major.

Position - 1st

Points - 30 (+15)

DK's Snowboard Cross

For some reason this is called 'DK's Snowboard Cross' in Europe, but elsewhere it's just 'DK Summit'. As you can see from the picture, the main gimmick of the circuit is half-pipes. You can use them to get some sweet air and grab some more items. Also, the course layout looks a bit weird doesn't it? That's because you get launched from a cannon from one end to another. 

Position - 1st

Points - 45 (+15)

Wario's Gold Mine

Our home circuit! If you're not careful you could end up falling into the pit of doom. Luckily I managed to avoid doing that, a huge achievement for me! However, Mario Kart being Mario Kart, it doesn't make it easy. Sure, there's boost pads but they can serve to send you to the great depths if you're not paying total attention. In addition, there are mine carts to avoid and enemies that can slow you down. As well as your opponents and their stupid power-ups, gah. Still, a fourth first place means..

Position - 1st

Points - 60 (+15)

Overall Position - 1st (Star rank!)

Unfortunately, looking ahead, Wario may end up being the only person with a Star Rank...

Next: Finishing the New Courses, honest this time!

Mario Kart Wii - Intro/Mushroom Cup

Mario Kart Wii

Well, enough excuses and experimenting, it's time to get back on track on whittling away my games backlog. Actually, when I say "enough experimenting", that's a complete lie as I'm kind of using Mario Kart Wii in order to test out my game capture device. You'll be seeing my exact playthroughs of each 100cc tournament (as long as I finish 1st overall). Once I have beaten each 100cc cup, I will consider that as 'beaten' and then move on. This is a secondary game after all, they're meant to be swept away as soon as possible.

Mario Kart is something I'm very familiar with, I've played just about all of them and the only ones I don't own are Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart 7. The latter will be fixed in time. I played 'Super Circuit' and 'DS' to death, but I don't have as much experience playing the console versions. This will be my excuse for any silly mistakes that are ahead. Although I bought Mario Kart Wii pretty much the day after buying a Wii, I've only played it once. 

So, here's how this will work, I will post a video of my playthrough of a tournament. Underneath it I will basically provide circuit-by-circuit commentary. I will show off a different character per tournament, so we'll see half of the cast of Mario Kart Wii as played by me. I'm playing with the Gamecube controller, half because I don't want to use the wheel and half because I don't want to use the wheel. Simple as that. So, let's go!

(note: all circuit images are taken from www.mariowiki.com)

Mushroom Cup

Video

Luigi Circuit

We open up the tournament with the Luigi Circuit, a simple enough course that will be the first one that many people who play this game will race on. There's not much to say about it, I never really had any problems with this stage at all. The biggest obstacle, and this is a common theme with any Mario Kart game, will be your opponent's power-ups. If you don't get hit by one in the whole race, it probably means you're in last place.

Position: 1st

Points: 15

Moo Moo Meadows

Now, stop if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's very safe to have cows wandering onto the track. Where is this incompetent farmer? But yes, most circuits have a gimmick, this one is cows. Try to avoid the McDonalds fodder or else you'll be in for a delay. They honestly aren't going to be a huge problem. What is a problem is a mixture of my own god-damn stupidity and that god-damn blue shell. For those who don't want to watch the video, basically towards the end of the third lap I noticed a blue shell heading my way. In slight hope of stopping someone before they could overtake, I launched a green shell behind me. It didn't work and when I recovered from the blue shell I was down to 3rd. And then my green shell came back and hit me. Luckily I managed to recover enough to get up to 2nd place.

Position: 2nd

Points: 27 (+12)

Mushroom Gorge

THIS. The gimmick to this one is the red mushrooms are bouncy. Now, skilled players (and by that I mean anyone whose ever played this game) shouldn't have much problem with them. But I'm not a skilled player. There's a section with a number of these in a row, if you don't hit the first one well enough you have a chance of falling into the abyss. Which is what I did. Three times. Coupled with being blasted by opponent's power-ups and well, let's just say I never finished very high up the course. Luckily my nearest rival on the scoreboard, Wario, finished dead last. If this was most other Mario Kart games, he'd be pretty much in the same position every time, so that's nice at least.

Position: 10th

Points: 29 (+2)

Toad's Factory

(Apologies to those who actually watched the video, I wasn't particularly in the mood to watch the track intro after the last race...)
Well, I do much better here at least. There are a few gimmicks in this track, being the finale for the tournament it would make sense for it to be the hardest one (though for me it wasn't because it didn't have bouncy mushrooms). There are conveyor belts that either help you go faster or slower, there are crushers that will crush you and also mud, which will slow you down unless you hit the boost pads. It's a really fun track and there is a lot of item boxes along the way.

Position: 1st

Points: 44 (+15)

Overall Position: 1st...somehow.

One cup down, seven more to go. The next update will have either the next two or three. See you then.

My Backloggery

In order to keep track of what's left to do, I've compiled a list in Backloggery. I'm pretty much finished, though there'll still be a handful of games I've forgotten, but I'll add them in when I come across. The list is here: http://www.backloggery.com/SuperLemons 

The website also has a handy feature that picks a game from your "unbeaten" list for you, and that is what I'll generally be using to figure out what comes next. There will be a couple of exceptions, mostly when I simply want to play a certain game, or if I no longer own the game. In the latter, I'll do my best to replace them. There are also games I refuse to play for the sake of my sanity. Also, if it is a direct sequel then I'll change it to the first game of the series I've not played.

So, with that in mind, Backloggery has told me that the next five games I should play are: 

1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PS2/PSP)
2. Puzzle Quest (PC)
3. Super Mario 64 (N64/Wii (VC))
4. Star Wars: Dark Forces (PC)
5. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

It's been rather kind to me. Thanks, Backloggery!

Now, back to Assassin's Creed II...