Mario Kart: Super Circuit – A Review

July 25th, 2010

mario-kart-super-circuit

Developed by Intelligent Systems rather than fixed regulars EAD, Mario Kart: Super Circuit plays the Mario Kart formula pretty safe between the lines of the first 2D and 3D iterations of the series (Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, respectively). Rather than attempt to break new ground by introducing new play mechanics, Super Circuit sets its focus on being a well-executed hybrid of previous games.

For players of Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, the mixed blood elements, namely the combination of the hop and power-sliding, are readily apparent. In Super Mario Kart, a push of the right trigger causes the player to hop, making it possible to leapfrog over minor obstacles, while, at other times, the hop can be exploited to displace your kart at an angle advantageous for sharp cornering. In Mario Kart 64, players could slip into a power slide allowing for long drifts around corners, closing with a speed boost if the player could sufficiently wiggle the control stick back and forth. Super Circuit kinda does both, leaning a little more towards the Super NES iteration. Hopping is still useful for bookending long turns and avoiding minor obstacles, however, if the player holds their slide down long enough a boost will automatically be granted—no wiggling required. Part of the problem with this design is that rarely is there a turn wide enough for players to earn a boost. Or putting it another way, the duration of time required to stay in a power slide is largely incongruent with the nippy curves and bends Super Circuit‘s tracks provide. Furthermore, the tipping point at which you’ll gain a boost (or not) is too difficult to judge, leaving you dependent on the safer bet of bunny-hopping each corner in a spasm of undercutting leaps and slides.

mario-kart-super-circuit-sc

In regards these twist and turns, Super Circuit is a constant barrage of immediate, oncoming corners which leave you ill-prepared and exasperated. The flashing direction markers become a point of reliance, yet, through the brief visual disconnects created against the player’s place on the track, these signposts work to frequently hinder the player as much as aid them. Coming into a corner I found myself fraught with anxiety, thrown off by the directional aid and unsure of how to first judge the bend; at which angle to enter, and then whether or not to hold a slide, bunny hop or break-stop my kart. The split-second immediacy of the corners hampers flow and throws any form of tactical strategy out the window.

Intelligent Systems’ pragmatic, hardware-concious approach shines through well on the GBA. The use of bright colours help boost the back-light-lacking GBA screen and cups are streamlined to fit in around a portable-friendly 5-6 minute time frame. A quick run mode where you can play any track is also included for short bursts of play. The fact that the 2D character sprites are now modelled on 3D models (as opposed to the flat, textureless SNES sprites) visually make the competition easier to interpret

Intelligent Systems also display an astuteness in the track designs which draw and build upon prior games. Previous games featured shortcuts, yes, but Super Circuit almost goes overboard with hidden routes. (Such a generous number of shortcuts is quite rare in most racing games). Rainbow Road is an excellent example, ramps outline almost the entire track, peppered for all sorts of creative short cuts when teamed with a mushroom or boost pad. As this video below shows, it’s very easy to shave time off your position with a little bit of risk and initiative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PzfeGcaKwg

Those awesome loop-around ramps from Mario Circuit 3 return in various permutations, as do obstructions which can be avoided by hopping over, like water puddles. Overall, there’s a fine degree of creative nuance permeating each track, from shortcuts (both major and minor), to weather effects which change per lap, and course-specific obstructions.

On reaching the end of this article, I’m feeling a little uncommitted to my criticisms of the boosting system. I stand by what I say, of course, but I can’t also help but get that lingering feeling that I still haven’t grasped the way the Super Circuit is intended to be played. Having gold-medalled all of the cups (bar the SNES ones), at this point, I feel that if I’ve gotten this far without having properly understood the power sliding mechanics, then there must be something awry with the intuitiveness of this mechanic. I’m really unsure to be honest, if you have any experience with this title, then please do give a holler.

DP’s Gaming Videos #1

March 5th, 2008

game video film

Ever since I started working on some video content for the site last December, I’ve had a couple of ideas floating around about what I could offer beyond the video retro reviews. So far I have a few, very ambitious ideas for upcoming posts which you’ll probably see a long way down the track.

What I also plan on doing is capturing anything that I find interesting while I am playing a game and then share it with you readers. So with this in mind I have four videos which I have recently uploaded which are worth discussing.

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams PAL Options

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuHh0ey4Ti4

This is a quick snippet from Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams for the Playstation 2. The video is of the frequency and language select screens (PAL regulations) with some fantastic localization.

GameBoy Camera – Run! Run! Run! Speed Run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwr5Gw6gQZs

Remember the GameBoy Camera? It was that dodgy, first party camera peripheral for the Gameboy Pocket. If you have used one of these before then you’ll know that the camera cart comes with a surprising number of extras such as some primitive photo editing tools, slide shows and mini games. The mini games are notorious for having insanely high scores, this video displays me hitting the 15 second mark for the impossible, button mashing mini game; Run! Run! Run!

I hooked my camera up to my Super GameBoy and then used a SNES turbo pad to cheat my way to this high score. By past memory, I reckon that the set high score to beat is 15 seconds which I could have beaten depending on the timing of my jumps.

Today Tonight – Red Ring of Death Article

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SA1jG6Y7h8

Today Tonight is a current affair program which plays weekdays in Australia. They ran this segment about the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death problem. In typical Today Tonight fashion there is plenty of cringe worthy mistakes, I think that the worst one is how the guy in the clip states that EB Games pay for his replacement consoles which I found quite hilarious. My apologies on the out of sync voices and meh quality.

Mario Kart 64 – Awesome Finish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIb3m7HlBYs

I played a surprising amount of Mario Kart 64 multiplayer last holidays, this 3 second snap is of one of our great finishes. I (Toad) was about to hit a bomb (another friend) while my brother (Luigi) was floating in mid air.

I’ll be keeping a close eye out for any other unique video ideas that come my way over the coming weeks.

Posted in General Gaming | Comments (3)
Tags: gameboy camera, mario kart, onimusha, red ring, today tonight, xbox 360

Nintendo’s Autumn Conference Wrap Up

October 12th, 2007

With the University year coming to a close I have been run off my feet with work left right and centre. I just don’t have the time to think up ideas for my usual gaming essays. So lately the news has been a great resource for geting ideas pumping.

Unfortunately last week wasn’t overally interesting. Thankfully the announcements over the past few days have been a god send, literally flooding my out with creative ideas. With a slew of great releases, Syphon Filter and Final Fantasy Tactics both going fairly well on the PSP and this rumoured bomb shell announcement by Capcom, there are so many possibilities to write about.

But for today I am going to wrapping up Nintendo’s Autumn Conference as there is such a large volume of content to waddle through. The announcements made at here really should have happened at E3, I guess they just weren’t ready. So lets get on with it

Wii Ware takes Centre Stage

It was clear that the Wii Ware announcements dominated this event. Nintendo showed off a number of strong 1st and 3rd party content for the new service. Overall its a pretty impressive list:

Pokemon Farm
Minna de Puzzloop
Dr. Mario & Bacteria Extermination
Moji Pittan Wii
Maruboushikaku
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
Star Soldier R
Okiraku Ping Pong Wii

What was even more impressive was that Iwata stated that they have had around 100 game ideas put forth for the service that is launching in March 2008(Japan).

pokemon farm wii

I just want to elaborate on some of these titles.

Pokemon Farm = Pokemon Box(GCN) with some neat Mii integration
Minna de Puzzloop is a Wii version of Magnetica
Dr. Mario & Bacteria Extermination features Mii integration and Wifi play
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land is an RTS-esque title, where you build your own country, this is a WiiWare exclusive sold for 1,500 Wii points
Okiraku Ping Pong Wii is made by Arcsoft, the guys behind Guilty Gear

Extra Media

Pokemon Farm – Video| Screens
Final Fantasy CC – Video | Screens
Dr Mario – Screens
Minna de Puzz Loop – Screens
Maruboushikaku – Screens

More Wii Channels, downloadable DS demos and more!

It seems as though Nintendo is starting to get the message when it comes to online play. With Wifi included in games like Smash Bros and Dr Mario, the online connection is slowly (but surely) improving.

Although Nintendo didn’t announce any real online infrastructure for upcoming Wii titles they did announce some useful Wii channel dr mario wii ware information. Firstly they are revamping the Everybody Votes Channel to now include ratings for various game titles. Users can go through, rate games and find out what games best suit their taste. The Mii Contest Channel was also announced, this is the Mii beauty contest channel that Miyamoto briefly suggested at E3. But the real news comes from the new Everybody’s Nintendo Channel. This channel allows users to download DS game demos via their Wii. Finally they are getting the message!

New Games Announced

Monster Hunter 3 for Wii

This announcement seems to have been quite overlooked by Wii fans which is a real surprise. The Monster Hunter series is huge in Japan, even more so this game was removed from the PS3 and brought over to the Wii. This definetly highlights Capcom’s once questioned dedication to the Wii. So far only a short clip and a screenshot have been released.

monster hunter 3 wii

Video

Fire Emblem DS

This really isn’t much of a surprise. The new Fire Emblem is sporting a new look. Firstly the ap is now brought to life with a lovely textured 3D look. Sprite shading effects have been used to add a little depth to the characters. It also appears as though the face portraits are a bit more high res. So its a similar graphical upgrade the Advance Wars Dual Strike but only better.

fire emblem ds screenshot

Screens

Kousoku Card Battle Card HeroThis title sparked my attention, its a card battler made by Intelligent Visions and Nintendo. Looks like we now kno what Intelligent Visions are up to:

Kousoku Card Battle Card Hero
Fire Emblem DS
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Screens

Super Mario Stadium Baseball for Wii

Once again, another updated installment in the sporting franchise.

Screens

Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe

Yup, new Kirby platformer for the DS.

Screens

New Information for Upcoming titles

Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I have been doing my best to not think about this game. Its just the fanboy following, it really offends me. In anycase, with the recent inclusion of Solid Snake(which got me very hot), I have had no choice but to stand up and pay attention.

Along with Snake we’ll be seeing Sonic, thats right after years of rumours its finally true. Its a pity that poor Sonic’s credibility had to plunge so low before this was announced. With Smash Bros, Sonic Rush 2 and Mario and Sonic at the Olympics this may be another come back.

sonic is super smash bros brawl

An online co-operative mode was metioned and two new trailers released. One being for Sonic and the other a general trailer show casing some of the adventure mode of the game(which looks pretty sweet). Although one of the biggest announcements was the Japanese delay, pushing the game back to early 2008. This announcement was followed with the announcement of an American delay till February 10th 2008 at Nintendo’s Media Summit.

General Trailer | Sonic Trailer | Delay | Hands on(Media Summit)

Mario Kart with Motorcycles

Thats right the new Mario Kart game will support the option for motor cycles. Initially this sounded pretty retarded but after watching the clip it looks to be pretty neat. The game will also come bundled with a steering wheel mold.

Video | Screens

Wii Fit and Wii Music

Miyamoto participated in another Wii Fit demonstration, he seems pretty apt about this title. With this he annonced that the game will cost 8,800 yen and be released on the 12/1. Some gameplay video was also shown of Wii Music.

Advance Wars named, screened and dated

Unfortunately not much was said about the new Advance Wars(again) but not much really needed to be said..I guess. The game has a more ‘realistic’ graphical style as it and has been named Advance Wars: Days of Ruin set for an American release on January 21, 2008. Check out the screens.

mario party ds title screen

More Screens for Mario Part DS

Conclusion

Man, so many announcements in such a short time. Overall I think that Nintendo have covered excellent ground, everything from changes to the Wii channel(that actually sound impressive) to new games for all consoles and services. This really is what Nintendo needed at this years E3. But its good to know that these announcements eventually did come.

Posted in General Gaming | Comments (1)
Tags: dr mario, final fantasy, fire emblem, kirby, mario, mario kart, monster hunter, patriots, Pokemon, smash bros, wii, wii ware